On October 31, 2016, Benevolent Thomas announced his retirement from NationStates, at least for a while. BT was
the defender at the time. He was a huge personality and, indeed, celebrity in gameplay circles, and the de facto leader of defenderdom as a whole. Despite best attempts at smear campaigns and backlash against a proposed commendation, nobody could touch him. But he had had enough - Hurricane Matthew hit his home hard, and a long power outage forced him away from the game for a while. He realized in that time that he simply did not miss it anymore.
A day later, as he was crossing the Ts and dotting the Is on his going away, BT made a shocking suggestion, right in the public Wardens Discord: He suggested that I, that weird dude from the South Pacific that had been defending for barely over four months now, should be his successor as First Warden. I thought he was just trolling, but to my surprise, people started to chime in with support. This included not just Jack, Altmoras and Tim as Commanders, but also many other individuals, Warden or not, including some big non-Wardens in defenderdom like Red Dusk and Funkadelia (lol). After a few days of deliberation with myself and my friends on NS, I decided the following: I would accept the First Warden position, but would hold it only in a ceremonial capacity until my term as Minister of Military Affairs in TSP ended. On February 22, 2017, exactly one year ago today, it was time — I entered active duty as First Warden.
Overall, it has been a good year. Last February, the Order was sorely lacking numbers; these days the Order regularly outnumbers TITO for the big liberations. Similarly, only TITO had any sort of piler force worthy of the name, but through the Guardian program initially implemented last April we now have a solid base of endorsements to fling around wherever and whenever needed. We have innovated by introducing concepts such as the permacross and a variety of technological advances, in use by Wardens and non-Wardens alike. Protection of vulnerable regions has gotten better than ever through our Office of Native Outreach as well as the Sleeper Registry. We have defined and solidified our brand of defending. I can't claim to have solely implemented all of this, but I was at least substantially involved in every single one of these developments as well as other developments I haven't mentioned.
It has been exactly a year now, a year of bombastic and rewarding fun. The incredible community in this region is beyond comparison, and I feel privileged to have been a part of it. However, this job has not just been fun, but also incredibly tiring, and I haven’t had the drive recently that I did before. It's time to step aside as First Warden. And so just as last year, going from nothing to First Warden, I will take the reverse direction now, from First Warden to nothing. I’ll depart the Order to concentrate on my home, the South Pacific, effective today. I will still be around, of course - you'll see me chatting in #general, posting bad puns, and coming to update. I won't sink too far into the armchair (yet)
My final stats as Warden: 1041 defenses, 179 liberations, 116 detags, 60 supports, 34 sieges, 13 tags, 11 raids, 1 refound, 7 drive-bys.
And now, as my last act as First Warden (and, indeed, as a Warden), I have the honor to announce the new leadership lineup:
First Warden: This was a hard choice. I had announced a few months back to the other Commanders that I would resign from the post on this day, so this involved a long game of musical chairs, discussions, and in part even surveying select Wardens. We kept this process under wraps, because we didn’t want people to try to posture or influence anything, but also because we didn’t want to subject anyone to a UDL-esque conclave. As discussions went on, the choice became more and more clear -
Vincent Drake would ascend to be the new First Warden. Vinny is even newer to gameplay than I am, but he is almost a deity in his own right, rising quickly to become one of the best defenders seen in recent years. He is very active, has incredible presence and standing in the community (despite eating so many dinners), and knows when to be silly and when to be mature. I am sure he will be a fantastic First Warden, and I’m excited to watch him lead the Order to even greater heights.
High Constable: No need to change anything here - Mommy
Deadeye Jack will continue to hold the position of second-in-command. There is no man or woman better to have as advisor in the commanders chambers, as any former or current commander can confirm.
Chamberlain: With Vinny ascending to the top job, a new Chamberlain was needed, and we quickly found one. Our newest Commander
Nakari, lover of statistics and expert at telling people to go the fuck to sleep, is a perfect fit for the job.
I urge all Wardens to be supportive of the new leadership line-up, just as you have been supportive of me during the past year.
I couldn't even make a list of people to thank, because it would explode the size of this post and I would be sure to miss several. Even so, there are many
many Wardens and non-Wardens that I'm thankful for for one reason or another. You know who you are (just slide into my DMs if you want a personalized thank you). And even though I will no longer fly the Warden flag, I will always be a friend.
Roavin out.
In War, Victory. In Peace, Vigilance. In Death, Sacrifice.
Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 9:46 pm
been a minute, figured it was about time i officially get off my ass...