This probably comes as no surprise to some, a relief to others, a gleeful triumph to a handful, and one big fat idgaf to most. But for those who may be easily confused, I'll put it plainly, and in simple terms so there is no misunderstanding, and all is crystal clear:
I'm no longer a moderator on NationStates.
How and why? The reasons are many and varied, depending on who you talk to. I have my answers, some of the other mods have theirs, and the site owner has his. At the end of the day, what started out as minor disagreements on policy, the handling of situations, attitudes, and assorted other issues became bigger, and made it impossible to continue in good faith on my part, and impossible to deal with me on theirs. Not my preference, not my choice, but then again, its not my site. And hey - it is all no longer my problem.
To those who've taken the time over the years to drop a line of support to myself, the rest of the team, to get clarification on a question, even to complain and talk it out over tg - you've my heartfelt thanks and appreciation. To those with whom I've made mistakes, again - I'm sorry for the problems created, and hope that the solutions were, in the end, adequate. To those who I was unable to help, I'm also sorry. There's only so much one can do, and sometimes, even the problem isn't one that can be solved within the site rules. I appreciate those who understood that, and kept on playing anyway. To those with whom I have had some lively discussions - no worries, not really going anywhere. And hey - now I'm not fettered by the 'moderator' tab, so the sky's the limit so far as civil discourse. I can be as goram 'biased' as I like now, honestly, instead of the communist-liberal-satanic-capitalist-conservative-christian-jihadist-peacenik-son-of-a-bitch one tends to get called, depending on the situation.
There are a number of moderators, past and present, whom I have always looked up to and admired for their tenacity, their honesty, and their attempt to help wrangle this site with as little bias as possible. Even if feeling cantankerous and fed up, or after a long day of work, school, or all-night gaming session. You probably know who you are. If you don't, hit me up via tg and I'll tell ya all about it. Much kudos. To those still hanging in, good luck - lord knows you need it. It never was in my nature to play it safe, or take the easy way on things, or toss my own ethics to the side - and it never will. I get why some keep your head down, doing what you can, where you can, while you can - tried it for a while, didn't really work, c'est la vie. To the newer ones, not that any are really all that new - don't let the bastards get you down. You can decide who and what that happens to represent. Every day is another challenge, neh? Even if it's just reams of reddit users spamming the site with new nations. The horror ... the horror ... *shudders* And you thought you'd seen all the creative ways to get around naughty names? Hah.
You can probably find me over in the NS forum, role-playing like like I always have, even if its been sporadic the past while. Or you can look me up outside NS (yes, Virginia, there is a world outside of NS - even *gasp* NSG *shock and awe*), with Stable-Tec Studios doing a bit of this and that, behind a couple meh arty bits on DA, or on the Book of Face, though I'm not usually terribly active there (more lurk and comment occasionally), or soon, with my own business of selling my own handmade bath and body products - all but the goats milk ones are all vegan-friendly, and everything is all natural. No, can't advertise here, but once its up, send me a tg or what not and I'll send you a link. I may even be on Twitter, though I haven't been too active there either - that may change, it may not. Social media is, after all, the apocalyptic herald, if not author to the downfall of the modern world, amirite?
In any case, there are no hidden messages here, or codes to work out. No huge axes to grind, or bombs to drop, or juicy juicy mod gossip to spill. (Frankly, its been pretty dry ever since the water cooler broke down.) If by some weird chance this gets edited, or moved, or shoved to the 'evidence locker', meh. Hit me up for whatever its worth. It ain't much, and it certainly won't be toppling any pillars, whatever the case may be. It's been real ... yeah. More or less what I thought it would be, so far as the work and the challenge. Surprisingly rewarding so far as being able to help folks. The exit, not so much, but it does have a hauntingly familiar feel to it. Or perhaps it's just me, and its all in my head. Its possible. After all ...
(In fact, its a prerequisite to modding. No, really. It's in the fine print. The extra small stuff that you have to max your 'zoom' out to see on most computers. Srsly.)
