Alkahest wrote:News time! Normally, I put what I have to say in the video itself, along with music. But there's too much to be said this time, and I'd rather do it without any distractions, musical or otherwise. (Quick updated note: Mediafire has changed its free account storage limits, rendering some of my files unavailable for download. Tsk! I'll be working to fix this as my time permits.)
The first point: I'm going on hiatus. Some (or perhaps all?) of you might have noticed that, in the past month or so, I've been having trouble keeping up with my weekly schedule. More than once I've had to end up delaying my releases, usually without any word or advance warning. It even happened with this news post! Eesh. For that, I am truly sorry -- suffice it to say that my life has become much busier recently, and shows no signs of slowing down any time soon.
Additionally, I've begun to fall seriously behind in answering comments and PMs from my inbox. I try to allow them through as soon as possible, but even that has been slowed down in some cases. And finally, although I truly do love music, and providing it in extended format, I've begun to feel a little burned out from the process. I'm thinking this hiatus will last until early to mid May; by then, I hope to have things in a little better order, personally and otherwise. I wish I could avoid this break altogether, as...
The second point: There's no easy to way to say this, so I'll just get right to it: 2013 is going to be my final year as a music extender. This decision was a difficult one. I enjoy sharing my passion for music with you all, and especially love hearing your thoughts and memories regarding the games from which the music originated from. But my life has been changing. I find myself having to shoulder new responsibilities in life and needing to overcome new challenges as well. It's also an issue of time. Did you know roughly twelve to fourteen hours can sometimes be how long it'll take me to make the music, then put it in videos, then write out the descriptions? Yikes. As much as I've enjoyed AET2k, as much as I love interacting with and sharing music with you... it can't go on forever, however much I wish it could.
In a sense, this is why I've begun revealing the tricks of the music extending trade, and even have begun taking requests. I want to make what time we have left together sometime special, where I give something back to you, my awesome audience. As it is, I do plan on more "mystery theme" contests for the future, right up to my intended retirement date of Dec 31st. That's assuming nothing changes between now and then, of course, forcing me to quit sooner than that.
I'll still be around, of course, both during my hiatus, and after my retirement, to try and keep up with comments and/or PMs sent my way. This has been a wonderful experience for me, getting to know each of you. I regret it has to end. But sometimes, an ending is simply a new beginning; I have dreams for the future of something bigger and more wonderful than AET2k. I can't say whether or not they'll come true, but if they do, I hope to share those results with you all.
I suppose I've said all I need to, for now at least. Take very good care, dear friends, and I pray that God will bless. See you soon!
-A
Posted: May 12th, 2013, 1:11 pm