This marks my 5000th post here on this Forum. Well, registered post, because if Forum Games were counted, I'd have been at 5000 ages ago. But I digress...
This isn't a farewell post, but I felt that it fit here much better than in another place, like General Discussion, although, in hindsight, this could have just fit into Off Topic Discussions.
So let's start with this. Recently, I've had some self-reflecting and realized my priorities were eschewed. Between engineering, personal life, games, and the Forums, I've found myself struggling to juggle everything. And on several occasions, metaphorically dropping them, leaving me to realize that I do need to reorganize my priorities and maybe taking a small breather from everything in my life. In light of that, I have a few words for some groups and individuals. Mostly self-deprecating comments that may hold true.
I apologize to the Card Designers, especially the 'veteran' Designers who have been stalking and filling the Card Ideas and Art boards with countless ideas, much to other members' disdain, and Annele, my fellow Curator-in-arms. With Annele having recently moved, it really fell to me to be the one to actively do the moves. But I found myself strained for time to get around and the weeks piled high. As much as I would have liked, I couldn't quite match the weekly moves that Curators past adhered to. While the polls stacked, so did my labs and reports. And it didn't help I maintained my constant stream of ideas in the few minutes I stole away in class, as Rutarete pointed out several times, when I look back at it.
I apologize to OldTress, the preceeding Idea Guru. It was a given that his shoes would be hard to fill, but I feel that I have barely filled a fraction of them. There has been almost no activity in the Idea Factory, which I had plans for but never got around to, and the Ask thread has become near desolate. But with the growth in Designers and the adoption of what I perceive of a better understanding of current card cost theory, there isn't much left to question until the next patch and when the next wave of implemented cards raises potential concern. Well, except for doing Card Idea of the Month, which seems to be the only constant with this position.
Honestly, I like Curating, looking through the ideas, reveling in the ideas that moved up in the polls, mourning slightly for the ideas I found myself archiving. I also like reviewing them as Idea Guru, particularly when you stumble across that novel idea that made you jealous you hadn't thought of first and seeing as others agreed on a balancing standard instead of choosing a random value. And most of all, I enjoy writing the Card Idea of the Month article. While some members clearly dislike the CI&A, it is, at least to me, a reminder that it is one of the bigger parts of this community and definitely one of most creative. And I find some pride in representing it in the newsletter, even if the material is sub-par.
I apologize to Team Water and our General, majofa. This was my first War and I was really looking forward to actually taking part. But between projects, I found myself neglecting what I should have done, leaving it to my team to construct the decks that I probably should have and investing more time to test them myself than I actually did, especially as a War newcomer, still trying to wrap his head around the supposed metagame and the nuances the rules held this War. In spite of my shortcomings, I thank majofa and Onizuka, who did take the bulk of the work regarding War and turning Water into a surprising contender this time around. And despite being, I think, a deadweight, I thank them and the rest of the team for allowing me to be a part of a spectacular team without a glaring issue.
I apologize to the poor souls who I dragged into reading my stuff. Even those who probably are just skimming this text. Even pursuing Computer Engineering, I still want to invest myself in writing, but I've found myself disappointing myself and my imaginary readers when I fail to follow up in the story, as seen in 'Petrichor,' featured in the Literary Arts section. This also applies to other pet projects I've attempted to start up, like the Community Sing, a gimmicky idea that remained that. A gimmick.
There's probably a lot more that I should address, but I believe my point has been made.
In short, as stated above, this isn't a farewell. This is a notice of absence. After the upcoming Spring Break, I'll hopefully be re-dedicating myself to what is left of my classes and pursuing other real life issues. So while I will definitely be popping in to do minor Curating and reviewing ideas, especially for Card Idea of the Month, I probably won't be able to take care of the bigger things as effectively as I should, but hopefully more than I am now, until the semester is over and I re-prioritize.
Hopefully that re-prioritization won't end in an actual farewell.
On a happier note, thank you for giving me some of the better Internet interactions I have had the pleasure of taking part in. And here's to more to come?
