So long and thanks for the fish

[Swith Witherward]

I'm not going to say "so long" for hanging up your jacket. You were a fantastic Mod, and you're still one of my favorite people. Plus, you're not leaving us forever. Should you decide to leave us forever, I'll hunt you down and shave all your wool off.

Thanks for all your help in the Mentor haunts. Take good care of yourself, Blaat.

[Zanera]

I'm not going to say "so long" for hanging up your jacket. You were a fantastic Mod, and you're still one of my favorite people. Plus, you're not leaving us forever. Should you decide to leave us forever, I'll hunt you down and shave all your wool off.

Thanks for all your help in the Mentor haunts. Take good care of yourself, Blaat.

I bet it would make a nice Christmas sweater.

[USS Monitor]

I'm not going to say "so long" for hanging up your jacket. You were a fantastic Mod, and you're still one of my favorite people. Plus, you're not leaving us forever. Should you decide to leave us forever, I'll hunt you down and shave all your wool off.

Thanks for all your help in the Mentor haunts. Take good care of yourself, Blaat.

I bet it would make a nice Christmas sweater.

I've been using it to make uniforms for my crew, and they love it. (That's how Blaat pays them back for feeding him.)

[Arctica-Aleutia]

I bet it would make a nice Christmas sweater.

I've been using it to make uniforms for my crew, and they love it. (That's how Blaat pays them back for feeding him.)

Wait a minute... aren't you at the bottom of the sea?

Oh, I get it, they must be undead pirates like in Pirates of the Caribbean. Duh.

[USS Monitor]

I've been using it to make uniforms for my crew, and they love it. (That's how Blaat pays them back for feeding him.)

Wait a minute... aren't you at the bottom of the sea?

Oh, I get it, they must be undead pirates like in Pirates of the Caribbean. Duh.

Max had me salvaged and refitted so I could patrol the forums.

[Arctica-Aleutia]

Wait a minute... aren't you at the bottom of the sea?

Oh, I get it, they must be undead pirates like in Pirates of the Caribbean. Duh.

Max had me salvaged and refitted so I could patrol the forums.

Oh.

*cuts Monitor off in a 120 mph go-fast boat*


Anyways, back on topic, I guess I've never interacted with the moderators much, but it's sad to see Blaat go. Hopefully he'll stay part of the community, but in any case I wish him the best.
Come to think about it, I think the only time I ever talked to him was one of my first days on the forum. I didn't know if he was a boy or a girl so I panicked and said "it". That incident might be why he now specifies his gender in his sig...

[USS Monitor]

Come to think about it, I think the only time I ever talked to him was one of my first days on the forum. I didn't know if he was a boy or a girl so I panicked and said "it". That incident might be why he now specifies his gender in his sig...

I always figured he put that in his sig as a show of solidarity with the female NSers who have to constantly remind people if we want to be called "she."

People would probably call him "he" even if he didn't put that in his sig, but the sig is a way to remind people that they shouldn't assume.

[Arctica-Aleutia]

Come to think about it, I think the only time I ever talked to him was one of my first days on the forum. I didn't know if he was a boy or a girl so I panicked and said "it". That incident might be why he now specifies his gender in his sig...

I always figured he put that in his sig as a show of solidarity with the female NSers who have to constantly remind people if we want to be called "she."

People would probably call him "he" even if he didn't put that in his sig, but the sig is a way to remind people that they shouldn't assume.

I know not to assume online. Back then I just wasn't very good at interacting with people.

I suppose I'm still not, a lot of the time.

[Faschistisches Land]

You will be missed

I salute you for your service

[Zanera]

I can see the headlines now:

MODERATOR SACKED

It will sell.
And it will be glorious.

I bathe in yellow headlines.

[Mushet]

You've been a mod for 4 years?

Man, I feel old.

[Giovenith]

You did good Blaat, you did good! Good luck!

[Lamoni]

Good work, Ewe!

Enjoy your time on NS!

[Katganistan]

You've been a mod for 4 years?

Man, I feel old.

Imagine how *I* feel.

[The Atlae Isles]

Baaaaaaaii!

We'll miss you! *hides rosemary and thyme coated lamb leg behind back*

[Hurdergaryp]

Baaaaaaaii!

We'll miss you! *hides rosemary and thyme coated lamb leg behind back*

Something smells good, but where is it?

[The Blaatschapen]

There's too much to quote, so I only took out a "few" posts. Nevertheless, thank you all for your kind words. See you around the forums somewhere <3

And don't worry about my RL, I'm doing peachy :)

Aww, please don't go, the football thread would be less exciting without you. :(

My name is as green as the playing field :)

Aww, please don't go, the football thread would be less exciting without you. :(

He's leaving moderation, not the forum. It is entirely possible that he shall remain with us in a more humble form.

Humble? Me? We must not have spoken a lot :p

If you're sticking around, thanks for being a mod etc.

If you're vanishing for a while, thanks for the script - was the main way how I learnt to 'code' (more fiddle), books etc. aren't as good as the real thing. Had a massive impact on both NS and RL for me, so good luck with whatever you end up doing, and thanks again.

You mean the perl script? That was mostly Ballotonia's. Shamelessly edited by me (after asking permission). I would likely never have picked perl for any kind of programming. Since I know nothing about it.

Here's hoping that you enjoy your 'retirement'... and hoping, also, that you do stay active in other aspects of NS...

*(sends over a gift basket of this nation's produce, including a large jar of high-quality honey and a large bottle of high-quality maple syrup as well as assorted fruits and nuts)*

*ferments it all and turns it into alcohol* Thanks :)

I'm running out of mods that I like.

Stop running then.

I await Some Point In The Future, when Blaat returns as Incognito McNationface or something like that and winds up in moderation again... :P

But regardless, best of luck in your return from moderation to just being another one of us. We'll miss you.

My plan. Ruined :O

You'll be missed. *hugs*

Aim better :)

You always struck me as a reasonable and fair moderator, Blaat, so I'm sorry to see you go. But thank you for your service to the NationStates community, and for putting up with our shenanigans for the past four years. :P

If I were fair and balanced I'd be the Yipping Foxes.

Awww... :(

I understand not wanting to do the mod thing forever, but I liked having you on the team.

There's no time for us,
There's no place for us,
What is this thing that builds our dreams, yet slips away from us.

Who wants to mod forever?

And I liked having you on the team as well. We'll talk :)

A GPer (albeit a former one) retiring? See you in a few weeks ;)

I hear TGW is taking openings for Sheep to join DYP in battle.

Retiring from modding, not from the game. Though that activity might just decrease now.

I'll definitely miss seeing you 'round the Lounge. Thanks for all your input into the Mentor team over the last four years. :)

Lamb, fresh mint, the other mods pretty much pushed me there and hoped for a nice dinner :P

Thanks Blaat for 4 years of Moderation. Enjoy your immoderateness :clap:


42

:O A wild Wordy spotted. Heeeeey! TG me? Please? It's been a long time since I hung out with fun gameplayers somewhere offsite. Too long.

But you'll still graze around, right?

I'll still graze the forums with my presence, yes.

You take care of yourself, Blaat - you've been a good peep. Sheep. Person. That. :P Best of luck with all the rest going forward, and I sincerely hope we don't have you up and completely disappear on us. You would be missed, just as your humor, and overall fair judgement will be on the mod team.

As for burning bridges, it really isn't all that hard. Nor all that great a loss, depending on the bridge and where it leads back to. ;)

Be well, boyo.

I'll be. <3

I'm not going to say "so long" for hanging up your jacket. You were a fantastic Mod, and you're still one of my favorite people. Plus, you're not leaving us forever. Should you decide to leave us forever, I'll hunt you down and shave all your wool off.

Thanks for all your help in the Mentor haunts. Take good care of yourself, Blaat. :hug:

I do need a haircut. Hmmm...

Max had me salvaged and refitted so I could patrol the forums.

Oh.

*cuts Monitor off in a 120 mph go-fast boat*


Anyways, back on topic, I guess I've never interacted with the moderators much, but it's sad to see Blaat go. Hopefully he'll stay part of the community, but in any case I wish him the best.
Come to think about it, I think the only time I ever talked to him was one of my first days on the forum. I didn't know if he was a boy or a girl so I panicked and said "it". That incident might be why he now specifies his gender in his sig...

Not really.

You've been a mod for 4 years? :shock:

Man, I feel old.

Imagine how *I* feel.

As young as a new born kitten *nods*

[The Blaatschapen]

And if the mods think they can catch a break:

viewtopic.php?p=9990725#p9990725

[USS Monitor]

Who wants to mod forever?

For a few months, I thought I did. Now, I'm starting to come to my senses...

[Nariterrr]

Thank you for your unique personality and positive attitude in helping bring Nationstates to light and thank you for doing all you can/could to help slowly bring it to its full potential. Hats off to you.

[Usual People In Life]

I hope it's still ok to post this without getting the Red Text of Mod Doom right below this one... Somehow I bet one of the Mods is already preparing to use it on me...

Blaat, I'm sorry for being late, I've had a huge volunteering workload of my own to handle, and I've only just had time to come onto NS, which is when I noticed the thread. I'm sorry to see you go, while we've not seen much of each other (as I don't really post on the forum as much as I once did), I have seen you do some stirling work, and your animated wool will keep on growing forever.

I've seen a great many Players, Mods and Admin alike come and go, and I've witnessed the rise and fall of thousands of regions in the eight years I've been here so far - no doubt you will have seen many more! While I admit I haven't always been on the best of terms with the NS Mods/Admin (mainly in my early days) things have changed since then, as have I, and everyone else on NS.

Back in my early days, we had the Admins Pythagosaurus (the Cute Purple Dinosaur), [violet] (I've even tried to get the colour right!), the Great Lion of SalusaSecondus (I even tried to to be brave and joined his region with one of my (now defunct) old puppets UPIL 6 ages ago!), and Reppy. I don't think I've seen much of Pythag or Salusa in a very long time, and I'm not sure if they are still active.

I also remember the days of the Issue Editing Hippo (it was his flag) that was Sirocco, when he used to be the Senior Issues Editor/Moderator and Game Moderator - it's been years since he moved on.

Czardas, Hack, Ard, Kryo, Nathi, Melkor, Erastide, Flib and Jenrak (plus more) are all Mods I've seen over my years - several of whom were fed to the ModHiveMind after I started playing who later retired, and i owe a great deal of respect to all of them, and now I honour yourself with that respect.

I will admit, that in my early days I was a lot more flamboyant and hasty, and I guess you could say that getting a Mod upgrade (alongside trying to convince the long gone Jolt/OMAC to recover the NS2 code and give it to Max) were sort of the "the things of my dreams" - which I will admit didn't please some of the Mods of the day, and I will admit I did fall out with one or two Mods over those matters. But that's water under the bridge now, those days are long gone, and I've matured since then.

I wanted to give you more than just the Fish, but my personal thanks as a player, not just for being great with the whole NSSheepMod++ V8.491 role, but for the great things you've done for NS as a player too. And no, despite Her fearsome looking Cannons, USS Monitor definitely didn't aim her cannons at me to make me write this post, and Salusa hasn't used any of those ancient bugs he patched eons ago (which back in the day those actually got him the Admin role!) to disguise himself as me, and I've not been thrown into the den of the ModHiveMind to await the fate of The Red Text of Mod Doom (at least not yet). In fact no-one made me write this - I really do wish to express my gratitude for the support you've given to NS.

Thank you Blaat, and may we see you again someday - as they say, the grass is always greener on the other side.

On a side note, I noticed that Blaat hasn't been fully released from the ModHiveMind yet, since he still shows up on the list of Active Mods in the All About The Mods FAQ, can someone release the last of the strings and update the post?

[USS Monitor]

And no, despite Her fearsome looking Cannons, USS Monitor definitely didn't aim her cannons at me to make me write this post

Good... That's just what I wanted you to say.

[Ruskland-Preuben]

Well, with his resignation from the post of mod, we might see the Sheep RP or something.

[Canton Empire]

Time to get you elected as a Feeder Delegate

[Honeydewistania]

We need to hire another sheep.