So it goes, and so it went.
After 4 years, 5 months and 15 days, I asked Slyfox to remove my moderator powers yesterday morning. The reason I'm leaving is simple really, I am 26 years old and I spend too much time on the internet, and even though I am probably the least active of the moderators, I do still feel the need to check in here every day, and I want to free myself of the commitment. This also means that I will be spending a lot less time on here generally, but I'm not having a hiatus as it were. I knew it was time to go, because it was not a difficult decision in the slightest.
The truth be told, I have spent more than half of my adult life as a mod on these forums, and there comes a time to say enough is enough. I can't remember if I've mentioned my long running fight with depression on here, but it's been a constant battle for as long as I can remember and the only way I'm going to change it is to change my life to make it more fulfilling. There's a world outside the window and but I'm not even experiencing the world outside of Windows, and that has to change for my benefit.
I've been a mod for years, and I don't think there will ever be another mod who remains at the section moderator level for as long as I did. To do so, you have to be good enough to stay but shit enough to not make G-Mod. It's a niche skill that I mastered, and apart from about 5 months ago when Sly asked me if I wanted to step down, I've never been in danger of moving out the job in either direction.
When I started, the mod staff had a huge British contingent, I am now leaving as the last British moderator of an unbroken long line that has lasted years. The mod staff when I started was very much IC25 and Jake's team, and I have sat on KB's and Slyfox's panel until now, and loads of people have come and gone, and pretty much all of them brought something to the table.
It wouldn't be a self-indulgent leaving speech if I didn't give some pious advice. If you want to be a mod here, I have one piece of advice: don't try to be one. It was only when I stopped trying to impress here that I actually impressed anybody. Slyfox promotes on merit, so you don't need to be popular. To be honest though, I'm not sure why you would want to be one, frankly it's a thankless task (although the number of nazi-mod basement etc etc. pms that people receive is vastly overstated - in 4 years, I've had one snotty response, and even that wasn't that bad; if you are courteous to people, they aren't generally rude to you.). Nobody really uses the board room any more, I think it's because of the all star section, which is basically a bar room chatting about wrestling, and not the kind of boys club you'd expect. To be an effective mod, you basically have to devote your life to the forums. The WWE section has burnt out a lot of people - Ferbian, who used to live his life here and has now disappeared entirely is a prime example. You have to admire Dagger, but he clearly spends a huge amount of his time here. Dagger can be a pain in the arse because he takes everything literally, but he is by far the hardest working moderator we have ever had and in terms of getting the menial tasks of modding done, there has never been better. It is a pleasure to have been proven wrong by his appointment.
I also have to say thanks to many other posters. Slyfox is incredibly good at running these forums, he has mostly good ideas and is one of the most intelligent people on here, the forums will continue to go from strength to strength with him at the helm. I'd like to thank KB for doing everything I've ever asked quickly, including some rather laborious editing of my posts from a million years ago for reasons I won't go into. I doubt either will ever retire, but both will have left the forums better than they found them.
The rest of the mods are very good at what they do, and I think the stability we have in that department is great. It's rare for mods to come and go now, and that can only be a positive. In particular, LSN80 has been carrying the load in our section while I've been infracting people for sig size things and very little else. A great section partner, likewise Brain who I worked with back in the day.
Away from the board room, there are some great posters here. If you want to be educated about wrestling, listen to Shocky, he knows what he's talking about. Thanks to IC25 for giving me the chance in the first place. Thanks to the many, many intelligent posters that have given me something to say in the real world, Barbosa, Mustang Sally, the list goes on and on.
British posters who I've met in the real world, thanks for not being creepy and thanks for allowing me to enjoy what is after all quite an odd hobby in the company of actual humans who enjoy it too. It's been a pleasure, and long may it continue, even if I do have to protect you from Australian rugger buggers. Sam, I apologise for getting drunk and ruining our SummerSlam date.
Thanks to anyone who has ever given me green rep, I do check my rep quite often, and it is nice to receive validation that my attempts at sounding either funny or intelligent have worked or that someone is taking something from what I say. I suppose I'm saying I care about rep, but anyone who uses the system probably cares about it too, despite what they may say.
Thanks to BestWrestlingOpinions for being my last ever infraction. Your sig is still too big.
This isn't a goodbye as much as a reflection on my time here before moving to a different era. I love it on here, and having been through a couple of terrible break ups, my dad dying and growing up and getting into the real world whilst being a member here, this forum and its members have had a real and profound impact on my life, but I suppose in a way that's kind of the problem.
Thank you.
After 4 years, 5 months and 15 days, I asked Slyfox to remove my moderator powers yesterday morning. The reason I'm leaving is simple really, I am 26 years old and I spend too much time on the internet, and even though I am probably the least active of the moderators, I do still feel the need to check in here every day, and I want to free myself of the commitment. This also means that I will be spending a lot less time on here generally, but I'm not having a hiatus as it were. I knew it was time to go, because it was not a difficult decision in the slightest.
The truth be told, I have spent more than half of my adult life as a mod on these forums, and there comes a time to say enough is enough. I can't remember if I've mentioned my long running fight with depression on here, but it's been a constant battle for as long as I can remember and the only way I'm going to change it is to change my life to make it more fulfilling. There's a world outside the window and but I'm not even experiencing the world outside of Windows, and that has to change for my benefit.
I've been a mod for years, and I don't think there will ever be another mod who remains at the section moderator level for as long as I did. To do so, you have to be good enough to stay but shit enough to not make G-Mod. It's a niche skill that I mastered, and apart from about 5 months ago when Sly asked me if I wanted to step down, I've never been in danger of moving out the job in either direction.
When I started, the mod staff had a huge British contingent, I am now leaving as the last British moderator of an unbroken long line that has lasted years. The mod staff when I started was very much IC25 and Jake's team, and I have sat on KB's and Slyfox's panel until now, and loads of people have come and gone, and pretty much all of them brought something to the table.
It wouldn't be a self-indulgent leaving speech if I didn't give some pious advice. If you want to be a mod here, I have one piece of advice: don't try to be one. It was only when I stopped trying to impress here that I actually impressed anybody. Slyfox promotes on merit, so you don't need to be popular. To be honest though, I'm not sure why you would want to be one, frankly it's a thankless task (although the number of nazi-mod basement etc etc. pms that people receive is vastly overstated - in 4 years, I've had one snotty response, and even that wasn't that bad; if you are courteous to people, they aren't generally rude to you.). Nobody really uses the board room any more, I think it's because of the all star section, which is basically a bar room chatting about wrestling, and not the kind of boys club you'd expect. To be an effective mod, you basically have to devote your life to the forums. The WWE section has burnt out a lot of people - Ferbian, who used to live his life here and has now disappeared entirely is a prime example. You have to admire Dagger, but he clearly spends a huge amount of his time here. Dagger can be a pain in the arse because he takes everything literally, but he is by far the hardest working moderator we have ever had and in terms of getting the menial tasks of modding done, there has never been better. It is a pleasure to have been proven wrong by his appointment.
I also have to say thanks to many other posters. Slyfox is incredibly good at running these forums, he has mostly good ideas and is one of the most intelligent people on here, the forums will continue to go from strength to strength with him at the helm. I'd like to thank KB for doing everything I've ever asked quickly, including some rather laborious editing of my posts from a million years ago for reasons I won't go into. I doubt either will ever retire, but both will have left the forums better than they found them.
The rest of the mods are very good at what they do, and I think the stability we have in that department is great. It's rare for mods to come and go now, and that can only be a positive. In particular, LSN80 has been carrying the load in our section while I've been infracting people for sig size things and very little else. A great section partner, likewise Brain who I worked with back in the day.
Away from the board room, there are some great posters here. If you want to be educated about wrestling, listen to Shocky, he knows what he's talking about. Thanks to IC25 for giving me the chance in the first place. Thanks to the many, many intelligent posters that have given me something to say in the real world, Barbosa, Mustang Sally, the list goes on and on.
British posters who I've met in the real world, thanks for not being creepy and thanks for allowing me to enjoy what is after all quite an odd hobby in the company of actual humans who enjoy it too. It's been a pleasure, and long may it continue, even if I do have to protect you from Australian rugger buggers. Sam, I apologise for getting drunk and ruining our SummerSlam date.
Thanks to anyone who has ever given me green rep, I do check my rep quite often, and it is nice to receive validation that my attempts at sounding either funny or intelligent have worked or that someone is taking something from what I say. I suppose I'm saying I care about rep, but anyone who uses the system probably cares about it too, despite what they may say.
Thanks to BestWrestlingOpinions for being my last ever infraction. Your sig is still too big.
This isn't a goodbye as much as a reflection on my time here before moving to a different era. I love it on here, and having been through a couple of terrible break ups, my dad dying and growing up and getting into the real world whilst being a member here, this forum and its members have had a real and profound impact on my life, but I suppose in a way that's kind of the problem.
Thank you.
