Wow, this has been a long time coming. I'm sure some people will be thrilled, other's sad, and other's meh. Regardless, I've grown like most of us have who've played this game for a long period of time(8 years on this server and around 9-10 on Arma in general). I started playing this server when I was 19 years old, now I'm 27. I'm married to my wonderful wife and we've got all sorts of plans of traveling, buying a home etc. Most people have likely noticed that I've been much more distant and less active recently, I've flirted with retirement for 6 or so months if not more. Life is busy and there are all sorts of other great games out *cough* Helldivers 2 *cough*, and to put it plainly, I've grown bored.
I've pretty much done it all really, from being in Tree at the beginning, a short stop in MC, trying to "career cop", disappearing, coming back, streaming my "career cop 2.0", winning Civilian Rep voting(yeah we voted on two people back then, Matt the Savage didn't do anything), getting Sergeant, then Lieutenant, making probably my biggest regret in staging a coup on ChrisGG, then voting on @ sandman being couped after being salty, getting Deputy Chief after when @ Mr GOAT became Chief, some scuttlebutt over what is probable cause, working with @ Winters , then stepping down from Deputy Chief. All while becoming Administrative staff somewhere in there in September 2019. I never touched RNR other than doing their forum tags when we had to do that manually still, I got some whitelist out of it, that was pretty cool. I ran events, tried to help commentate with a Gang Wars until someone wanted to put a 15 minute delay on the stream so there was literally no interaction with the chat of over 100+ viewers(dumbest thing ever, Gang Wars stream was not about the actual fights, it's about bringing attention to the server and garnering new players.) I helped with running normal server events, obviously all the normal stuff like player reports, ban appeals, compensation requests, all the dumb casino restrictions. I'll even mention all of the sAPD stuff, the meetings, roundtable discussions, talking to players after doing an IA, tests, evaluations, all that stuff. I miss some of it from time to time admittedly, not enough to come back by any means but enough to think back on.
Arma 3, but more so this community helped me during times of struggle. During my time of leaving a job that made me stressed, anxious, and generally not in a good mental state. This game helped me not be so bored during COVID when we were all stuck at home left to our own devices. I spent more time talking to some of the great people I'll mention later than I have with some of the people I graduated high school with. But all things must come to an end, and that end is here for me with this server. I had plenty of great times and of course some not so great. I just want to thank all of you for helping me, whether you knew it or not, through some of the toughest times of my life.
Now this is the part when someone goes through and @'s a million people. Unfortunately I've been around too long that I don't think I can make this post in a reasonable amount of time. Instead I'll mention groups I was in and the staff.
@Tree members, y'all made this game way too fun, sometimes took things too far and certainly broke enough rules. It's amazing I never got a legit ban on my account but it was so much fun. The fights with MC, Evolved, Blackwater, and countless others I can't remember.
@MC I was only there for a month or so, but you guys were on another level that I don't ever think was topped with how things were run and how things were.
@APD This game is fun and challenging because you provide content for others as much as others provide content for you.
@Senior APD Member Look, you guys are the difference makers, I will always say that the Senior APD has the largest effect on the server from a balance stand point when you play. Remember that, always.
@Staff This server exists because of you, this server is the most content rich because of you. You have a thankless role, but the role you provide is the mode important.
@ Ryan Thanks for giving me a chance when things were all sorts of dark, I know I was a pain in the ass at times but I hope that I was the right decision.
@ Winters You and I were tight, things got more distant once I left Senior APD. I'm sorry things happened and we grew apart.
@ David Miller All love
@ Rafa I'm joining you man, thanks for all the recommendations on music.
@ -Shawn- Damn right the Bengals are winning a Super Bowl with Joe Burrow, namely this coming year in NOLA.
@ Cyanide The guy for sure!
@ Zahzi Short kings rise up!
@ Bubbaloo - Reusable P Cup Thanks for being the chillest person here, you're the best.
@ Pledge Miss you man, hope all is well
Alright, I know I said I wasn't going to @ people but what are you going to do, go for my rank? lol
Seriously, stay safe everyone, live your lives and grow. I wish you all the best. I'll probably still stop in to talk sports, events or other games, maybe even hop on occasionally. I truly wish the best for everyone, all love.