runouw.com

bryce was the only reason I kept coming here, see you losers later

Kevin was the only reason I kept coming here, see you losers later.

Redlink was the only reason I kept coming here, see you losers later.

Dunno how many of the three posts above are meant to be serious ... (Ven's definitely isn't, if anyone was afraid)

There are not just only friends and chat and FoA etc. here, and not just only LDing. There are also forum games in general, Serious Discussion, events like Runouw Votes and more stuff going on. If this can persuade any of the hinted members to not leave entirely, here it is.

I admit, the speculation about who could post here is scary ...

This wasn't a rushed decision for most of us. We've talked about it for a while and we've come to the conclusion that there's nothing keeping us here. Things like games or serious discussion can be subjects within any group of people, we don't need to remain connected to this community to have that. I'd even say that those topics are enhanced by discussing them in a live chat with a smaller group of people you understand better.

Also, Kevin and Red's posts are real (Red practically quit ages ago).

In the string of people who have decided to leave the forums, I guess I'll be the next one to announce this.

Yup. I'm leaving the forums, the discord server, and such. This means Chaubot is moving off of the Discord server.

My leaving shouldn't affect too much to be honest. I had not been extremely active on the forums as of late, and was only active on the chat server. I don't play SM63, stuff like forum games and Runouw Votes for me seem trivial, and I was even completely outside any drama or major issues that had risen. None of it seemed to really matter.

I came to these forums and found some great friends who I'll keep in contact with. That's really all I needed. People to play games with, share hobbies with, and laugh with. I've found that and those sort of things will stay, but I've realized that, for me, there's no need to be connected to the forums.

I don't really have that much to say other than that so, I'll be around for a few more days, say your farewells to Chaubot. Good luck with all the life and stuff.

This is becoming some red wedding ♥♥♥♥ yall.

As for me I'll probably come back after this cancer ♥♥♥♥ works out which it nearly has. I mean, the whole concept of LDing is still fascinating as ♥♥♥♥. If anything that's what keeps me here more than the different Discord communities. I will say that as it stands, we as staff, even my dead on my feet ♥♥♥, is aware of this and we are in the midst of planning for and around it. Everything's gonna be cool y'all, so treat those departing with respect and remember what's most important from you is how you interact with things and what you bring.

Much love all.

I feel a little bad now tbh, I really wanted to talk more with you folks leaving but never really got the chance to. Oh well.

It was really great getting to know you guys and I hope I can talk to you again at some point in the future. You've all been part of what feels like a second family to me so I'll never forget any of you.

(hopefully you won't forget me or the rest of Runouw either haha)

I tried really hard to find a reason to stay. When the others started talking about it, I didn't actually think I would be one of the guys leaving.

So I'd like to apologize to my fellow staff, whom' I've had the pleasure of working with for almost six years since becoming a level moderator. I talked with none of you about this because I no longer feel responsibility over this beautiful place; its just memories for me now.

---

This isn't really a post with any sort of direction or organization, just thoughts that I've wanted to get out before I left.


I felt an obligation to see through changes that I've thought were cool; I wanted to learn web design sometime in college so I could help add neat things to the site; change the stylesheet, or even the entire layout; add non-obtrusive popups (Think polls and surveys sliding into the corner for event-related things), make a new animated header, make new medals and icons, the custom profile idea from one of the early art contests seemed pretty appealing to me given a few restrictions.

At some point I wanted to LP Super Mario 63, both to use for the wiki and just as something to do. Despite being out of designing, I still had a small craving for at least one gold trophy. I don't think I won any art contests, nor have I finished a forum story much to my dismay. Call it a joke, but I still want to animate my times here, good and bad, and maybe that's what really kept me here.

I'd often imagine the camera panning through a small city, somehow maintained by a hundred or two kids. I had a vision that it would be a coming-of-age story for a lot of the veterans. The flash games would be VR in this world, other sites would be other islands scattered across the sea. When some of my closer friends here, Avo, Sax, MIC, etc. started leaving, it was disheartening. It probably fueled my nostalgia even more, and I figured that if I were to animate the site, I would just shift the focus to newer friends and the friends that stayed. There was an orientation last year where I was reading a post that physically aggravated me; heads turned and I tempted the idea of ending a season with someone's realization that the web was another world; an escape. I'm revisiting this idea right now on a personal level, and tearing up a little because this was an idea that I didn't want to believe was true for myself.





The years passed and the only things connecting me to Runouw were the friends that had stayed and my stubborn dream. Meanwhile, in real life was this growing notion inside of me that tradition is silly. I've probably told a few of you how little I regard family values. I guess I'll shed some light on that, since I don't see myself posting here again, at least for a very long time.

I think it was around May of 2010. Star fawful was still a user; one of my closer friends at the time, because of videogames. When I found the site, and the friend code thread, I would look forward to coming home from school to play with him and other users for awhile. He and Xpo20 were my biggest rivals in Brawl, and we had a blast.

That day, I had to leave for a gathering sometime in the afternoon and it was an hour or two away. Star and I were in the middle of a match when it was time to leave, but this is probably when my tendency to focus on one thing at a time stubbornly started.

I blew up when my mother called to get me. She said that he wasn't a real friend, that he was just a stranger, that he meant nothing.

They still have the same opinion about how I use the internet, but I have more reasons to disagree with them morally now. Though now, I realize that that little debacle brought me to be very defensive about the time I spent here. It probably made me feel possessive of this place. I had amnesia a lot the same year I became a level moderator, and I would spend those night weeding out spam from the old portal, writing my stories, or designing my levels. The only reason I'd open my phone during school was to catch up on posts; I wouldn't text anyone.


I think the point I'm trying to get here is that I've held on too long for no good reason. It was just stubbornness and nostalgia. I have already made the friends that I can here. There was a struggle in me to push for change and scrap some traditions, both for the newer users and for my own changing values, or to hold on the the staples we've set up for my friends and other veterans that might hold the same possessive, nostalgic emotions that I did for this site.





The past year or so for me, a lot of bad things have happened in my eyes, but by no means are they the larger reasons that I've decided to leave. It's just the straw that broke the camel's back. As of late, I've realized that I just can't play the negotiator anymore. Maybe in the past I've had the patience and words to deal with people on an individual basis, but these past few months have pushed that out of me. I've avoided the site and even turned off notifications in the staff chat when subjects that I've had an opinion on have been brought up; every time I have peeked has not made me feel any better. My word doesn't calm people down any more because they just can't anymore.

Suyo quietly left (believe me, it wasn't quiet on the staff-end of things), I felt pity the first time Shroom started discussion in 2014, trying to assist him, Doram took one objection to his promotion a little personally, April Fools 2015 heated up, Runolympics saw the end of Star King's (another person I held in high regard) activity here, I put my foot down for the first time in awhile and banned Shroom, giving warnings to other people (who I've promised to myself not to disclose) with questions from both sides, I turned it around and supported a promotion of Shroom that recently ended with fire; Normal users will have no clue, but I scolded practically everyone, including Doram. And today there is a continuing argument to keep or change the judging system. And of course, there was no shortage of self-deprecation in these past few years.

As much as I would like to be neutral in all facets, it's just impossible now, and with this revelation, I realize that I can't keep all of my friends, at least not all in the same place and same time. I know there are things I can talk about with all of you in other areas, but right now, Runouw.com is not something I can agree with anyone on anymore. If any of you know me on other sites or programs, feel free to keep talking to me, but as a person, and not a moderator of Runouw.com.



I guess the reason I've decided to leave is because this site has become more political than fun for me.



For what it's worth, I still want to animate at least my first few years here. I'll probably only base characters off of us though.

Best of luck to whoever moves up. Make your decisions fully aware of what they entail. Enjoy the position whether you push for your own changes, or follow your users.


I guess a final word of advice that I at least think was useful for myself: Remember to have fun, because it is my hope that this is why you joined the site in the first place. Connect positively with people.

Peace out.