Here listen to this while reading.
Back in November, The Dutch Plumberjack pointed out that I'm actually the longest-standing current section leader, having been appointed back all the way back in August 2014. I thought that was really cool; I'm kind of a bridge between the old smogon and the new smogon. Over the past four years, I have definitely seen the general tone of this forum change from really cliquey and exclusive to much more friendly and inclusive.
As much as I'd like to continue my record as the longest-standing section leader, I've realized it's time for me to retire. I had originally considered it back in August actually, because of some frustrations I had with the community at the time. However, I didn't want to act rashly and quit just because I was angry. So I stayed on and I'm happy to say I can leave on a high note and on good terms with all the wonderful people here, and that I'm leaving for the right reasons.
The simple truth is that I'm just too busy now to devote time to running the forum. I stayed on as long as I could to see if I'd be able to make time, and I really haven't been able to. I was first appointed mod of the forum a week before starting college. And it was really amazing to have both of those experiences happening at the same time, they definitely helped me to learn a lot. Now, I'm due to graduate soon and I'm trying to get into graduate school and a full-time job. At this point, it makes more sense for me to focus on getting my career in order and devote time to my creative pursuits, like my band and my writing. I've always been very critical of users that aren't involved in their community anymore but still hold on to their power, so it makes no sense for me to be a hypocrite and do the same thing.
When the former section leader, JabbaTheGriffin, handed over the IRC room to me (this was a REALLY long time ago, okay) he said "Good luck making Battle Spot big on Smogon." Back then, when Age of Kings and I were first appointed to be the leaders of the section, there really was no community. There were a few regular users that popped in and out, but there was no real community. The Pokemon Showdown room was not integrated with the forum at all, and the userbase on each was completely different. We didn't have any huge goals for the forum; we just meant to enforce the rules, settle disputes, and clean things up. I'm happy to say that it was the users, like cant say, like Theorymon, like NOVED, ethan06, or DragonWhale, who had a bunch of ideas for new projects on the forum. And cant say and I really felt pushed to keep up with the enthusiasm of our users and manage all of those ideas. It was definitely a good problem to have.
Because of that, we now have a full official C&C section, an active Discord room, bunch of twitch streams, and a new official tournament circuit. These kinds of things would be inconceivable back in 2014. There were a few times I had thought of retiring but ultimately decided against it, because I felt like as a leader, I still had a lot to offer, and the section needed me. I'm proud to say that now, I'm completely comfortable with all of the users who have stepped up in this four years and completely confident in their ability to keep the section going. At this moment, I can safely say if Battle Spot isn't big yet, it definitely will be soon.
AoK (and later cant say) knew we were basically building up the community from nothing and could set the tone of the forum early on, and build it on a foundation of inclusiveness and friendliness that, at the time, wasn't really in a lot of other forums. I'm happy to say that we were successful and we have one of the nicest and friendliest forums around. I won't get into specific shout-outs but I'd like to thank all of the awesome users here who make this place a ton of fun and really made the experience worthwhile (except Ullar, I will tag him because it's just too much fun to not do it). I'd also like to thank cant say and DragonWhale for not putting any pressure on me to make this decision and being really patient with my indecision (if anything, they both wanted me to stay, lol). It definitely says a lot about their integrity and makes me confident about the forum being in good hands. I also want to thank Stellar for appointing me section leader back in 2014, and I'm happy that his faith in me was rewarded.
Smogon wasn't the only site that I was a moderator for, but it was definitely the most rewarding and enriching.
On a final note, even though I'm officially retiring, I'm still not going anywhere. I still love Smogon and all the friends I've met here and I'll still go on every day. So feel free to message me on here or Discord or anything like that, my activity is not changing at all. I might even get involved in another part of the site as time goes on. So don't miss me too much!
Thanks for reading and thanks for the great experience!
Back in November, The Dutch Plumberjack pointed out that I'm actually the longest-standing current section leader, having been appointed back all the way back in August 2014. I thought that was really cool; I'm kind of a bridge between the old smogon and the new smogon. Over the past four years, I have definitely seen the general tone of this forum change from really cliquey and exclusive to much more friendly and inclusive.
As much as I'd like to continue my record as the longest-standing section leader, I've realized it's time for me to retire. I had originally considered it back in August actually, because of some frustrations I had with the community at the time. However, I didn't want to act rashly and quit just because I was angry. So I stayed on and I'm happy to say I can leave on a high note and on good terms with all the wonderful people here, and that I'm leaving for the right reasons.
The simple truth is that I'm just too busy now to devote time to running the forum. I stayed on as long as I could to see if I'd be able to make time, and I really haven't been able to. I was first appointed mod of the forum a week before starting college. And it was really amazing to have both of those experiences happening at the same time, they definitely helped me to learn a lot. Now, I'm due to graduate soon and I'm trying to get into graduate school and a full-time job. At this point, it makes more sense for me to focus on getting my career in order and devote time to my creative pursuits, like my band and my writing. I've always been very critical of users that aren't involved in their community anymore but still hold on to their power, so it makes no sense for me to be a hypocrite and do the same thing.
When the former section leader, JabbaTheGriffin, handed over the IRC room to me (this was a REALLY long time ago, okay) he said "Good luck making Battle Spot big on Smogon." Back then, when Age of Kings and I were first appointed to be the leaders of the section, there really was no community. There were a few regular users that popped in and out, but there was no real community. The Pokemon Showdown room was not integrated with the forum at all, and the userbase on each was completely different. We didn't have any huge goals for the forum; we just meant to enforce the rules, settle disputes, and clean things up. I'm happy to say that it was the users, like cant say, like Theorymon, like NOVED, ethan06, or DragonWhale, who had a bunch of ideas for new projects on the forum. And cant say and I really felt pushed to keep up with the enthusiasm of our users and manage all of those ideas. It was definitely a good problem to have.
Because of that, we now have a full official C&C section, an active Discord room, bunch of twitch streams, and a new official tournament circuit. These kinds of things would be inconceivable back in 2014. There were a few times I had thought of retiring but ultimately decided against it, because I felt like as a leader, I still had a lot to offer, and the section needed me. I'm proud to say that now, I'm completely comfortable with all of the users who have stepped up in this four years and completely confident in their ability to keep the section going. At this moment, I can safely say if Battle Spot isn't big yet, it definitely will be soon.
AoK (and later cant say) knew we were basically building up the community from nothing and could set the tone of the forum early on, and build it on a foundation of inclusiveness and friendliness that, at the time, wasn't really in a lot of other forums. I'm happy to say that we were successful and we have one of the nicest and friendliest forums around. I won't get into specific shout-outs but I'd like to thank all of the awesome users here who make this place a ton of fun and really made the experience worthwhile (except Ullar, I will tag him because it's just too much fun to not do it). I'd also like to thank cant say and DragonWhale for not putting any pressure on me to make this decision and being really patient with my indecision (if anything, they both wanted me to stay, lol). It definitely says a lot about their integrity and makes me confident about the forum being in good hands. I also want to thank Stellar for appointing me section leader back in 2014, and I'm happy that his faith in me was rewarded.
Smogon wasn't the only site that I was a moderator for, but it was definitely the most rewarding and enriching.
On a final note, even though I'm officially retiring, I'm still not going anywhere. I still love Smogon and all the friends I've met here and I'll still go on every day. So feel free to message me on here or Discord or anything like that, my activity is not changing at all. I might even get involved in another part of the site as time goes on. So don't miss me too much!
Thanks for reading and thanks for the great experience!
best of luck!
