Hey everyone, honestly didn't think I'd be writing this post for a long time (or ever, my dream has always been to be activity demoted) but the time has come for me to step down as Tier Leader. A few of you may have seen this coming, but I'm sure this is surprising to most. There's a lot of factors at play, but for the most part I just don't feel like I'm what's best for this tier or this community anymore and I don't want to be holding it back.
I feel out of touch with the community and the tournament playerbase. I used to feel like I knew everyone who even touched the tier by name and I always felt like I could compete at the highest level, I'd be joking if I said I still thought I was one of NU's top players. I find myself leaning more and more on others than trusting my own instincts when it comes to tough decisions, and I think that if I'm starting to doubt myself there's something off there. Long gone are the days of voicing joke alts, trolling the room trolls, and venom. Sometimes I wonder if all the policy and red tape we've put up aren't hurting the community more than helping it. I'm not gonna say things were perfect back in the day, we definitely did some shitty things that we probably shouldn't have, but I always felt like everyone who played this tier was a community member, and I would have called every room regular a friend even if I disagreed with them about a the metagame or their opinion about a suspect test. I think the biggest reason I'm stepping down is a common sentiment among those who quit, Smogon has started to feel more like a job than a hobby. When I log on I'm not browsing sub forum threads to add my opinions or offer up cool sets I've been trying, I'm often times just catching up on policy discussion or forcing myself to try and build competitive teams and play at a high level again. The responsibilities I've gathered are the direct results of the contributions I'd put in when I was having fun, but recently they've only reminded me of better times and made me dread logging onto this site. It's hard to believe I've been TL for just a little over 2 years, it certainly seems to me that my time has passed...
Eternally is going to be taking my place as Tier Leader. He's an extremely passionate contributor with his hands in pretty much everything NU and he's the obvious choice to lead this community. Best of luck Eternally, you're now #NotMyTL
Thanks for everything guys, it's been a fun ride. I'll be around still, just with less responsibilities, and hopefully a lot more fun.
I feel out of touch with the community and the tournament playerbase. I used to feel like I knew everyone who even touched the tier by name and I always felt like I could compete at the highest level, I'd be joking if I said I still thought I was one of NU's top players. I find myself leaning more and more on others than trusting my own instincts when it comes to tough decisions, and I think that if I'm starting to doubt myself there's something off there. Long gone are the days of voicing joke alts, trolling the room trolls, and venom. Sometimes I wonder if all the policy and red tape we've put up aren't hurting the community more than helping it. I'm not gonna say things were perfect back in the day, we definitely did some shitty things that we probably shouldn't have, but I always felt like everyone who played this tier was a community member, and I would have called every room regular a friend even if I disagreed with them about a the metagame or their opinion about a suspect test. I think the biggest reason I'm stepping down is a common sentiment among those who quit, Smogon has started to feel more like a job than a hobby. When I log on I'm not browsing sub forum threads to add my opinions or offer up cool sets I've been trying, I'm often times just catching up on policy discussion or forcing myself to try and build competitive teams and play at a high level again. The responsibilities I've gathered are the direct results of the contributions I'd put in when I was having fun, but recently they've only reminded me of better times and made me dread logging onto this site. It's hard to believe I've been TL for just a little over 2 years, it certainly seems to me that my time has passed...
Eternally is going to be taking my place as Tier Leader. He's an extremely passionate contributor with his hands in pretty much everything NU and he's the obvious choice to lead this community. Best of luck Eternally, you're now #NotMyTL
Thanks for everything guys, it's been a fun ride. I'll be around still, just with less responsibilities, and hopefully a lot more fun.
