Announcement the end

[MajorBowman]

Lot of road up ahead
Not covering my eyes
...
All good things come to an end
To make room for new beginnings
All good things come to an end, an end
But it's not the end​

I have been Tier Leader of Doubles OU since April 1, 2018, and it’s been a great three and a half years. Getting to lead a tier and a community I truly love has been incredibly fulfilling and I’m very thankful for this experience. However, it’s time for me to move on.

The writing has been on the wall for me for a little while, really since the end of last year. I finished my master’s degree in August 2020 and started working towards my PhD, but I got pretty burned out by working from home 24/7 that summer due to COVID quarantine. The remainder of that fall semester was a huge slog, and it started to take the fun out of things I had previously found enjoyable. By the end of January, I knew I had to make some kind of change or I just wasn’t going to be enjoying the next few years. I made the decision to leave grad school at the end of the spring semester and spent the next few months stressing over switching career paths and finding a job. My anxiety flared up really badly, which meant that it got harder and harder for me to enjoy putting time into the staff side of DOU.

This was also compounded by a couple Smogon-related things at the end of last year, notably DOU getting removed from SPL. SPL is what got me into DOU and onto Smogon, and it was such an important event for the tier and the community and to me personally every year that it felt like a limb got cut off when we got dropped. After I spent a week campaigning my heart out to get DOU added back to no avail, I think that was the beginning of the end. I don’t really want to dwell on this happening since I think it sort of worked out in the end; the DOU community really rallied together, and I felt the support behind me big time. We got OSDT out of it, which I think was a big success. Also just to be clear - I, of course, am not blaming this situation or anything in my personal life for my loss of motivation here, that falls solely on me. I just wanted to provide some insight as to why I knew that I had to start working my way towards the proverbial door.

Much like talkingtree when he retired in November, I am hopeful that vacating the leadership positions I’ve been holding for a few years now will pave the way for others to step up. While I know I wasn’t the perfect leader, I am very proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish throughout my time in DOU, even before I was a tier leader. Putting together the first full DOU circuit with kamikaze and co back in 2017 was so much fun for me, and I was so honored that he asked me to take the helm of the circuit and then the whole tier the following year. Our circuit and tournaments have been my favorite child through the entirety of my time here, and I will forever be proud of the work I put into them. C&C and PS get honorable mentions as well, and while they may not have been my main focus, I still got a lot out of those contributions. More importantly, I'm super proud of the community that we've fostered over the past few years. I always wanted to make sure that DOU is a place where everyone feels welcome, and I think we've done a good job learning and growing together. While the pokemon part of DOU is great, how we treat each other is way more important to me, and I've loved sharing this experience with our little family. I can’t wait to see how every aspect of DOU evolves now, as with new leadership comes new visions and goals which I’m confident will be fantastic.

As for my replacement – the next DOU tier leader joining Yoda will be Paraplegic. Having worked with Paraplegic on various things for the better part of a couple years now, his passion for DOU is preeminent. There is no doubt in my mind that he will continue to move DOU forward both as a tier and as a community.

I’m not going anywhere – I’ll still be around and will get back into playing more again soon. I’ve just come to realize that DOU deserves more than what I can give to it as a leader. I’ve moved twice in the last three months and started a full time 9-5 job in June so my free time plummeted, and my motivation to work on DOU projects has yet to rebound. I would be lying to myself and to you all if I told you that I thought I was doing a good job as tier leader for the past few months, so it’s time to let go and make way for people who can do the position justice. Despite a bit of a slide at the end, I hope you all remember me for the good times we had.

I started a new chapter of my life when I started graduate school a few months after I became TL, and now I’m moving on to the next chapter of my life both on- and offline. Think of this as the next chapter of DOU as well. As the title song says - all good things come to an end to make room for new beginnings - but it's not the end.

some shoutouts

This is not an exhaustive list so please don’t take it personally if you’re not on it - there are just a few people that deserve an extra bit of thanks.

talkingtree - sharing this position with you for the majority of my tenure was such a blast. There isn’t much I can say that hasn’t already been said, but I’m beyond thankful that DOU brought me a friend. And always remember - if you’re in a burning building and can’t find the exit, you probably didn’t want to live anyway.

tennisace - who knows if you’ll even see this but I wouldn’t be writing this post had you not taken a chance on me 6 years ago. It was an honor to develop the Tigers Dynasty with you, thanks for always being someone I can message at 2am with my latest woes.

Zodiax - the May to my Cody, the Yuumi to my Twitch, and the Except For to my Serena. If one good thing came out of covid quarantine it was playing way too much league and couples counseling simulator with you. Happy to call you my friend.

Coconut - I don’t even remember when we first spoke, but I’ve always felt some sort of bond with you. Us lower tier TLs gotta watch each other’s backs, and I really enjoyed getting to work with you on 1v1 and vent about random shit. Keep holding down the fort and keep an eye on DOU for me.

kaori and Dawg - if SPL is what brought me to DOU, you two are what kept me there. We haven’t talked in a while, but I still treasure the early days of us staying up in call with the rest of the Aussies late into the night and having a great time together. Hope you two are doing well.

TonyFlygon - I’m not sure I ever expressed how comforting it was to always feel like I had an ally on the TD team when you were there. Thanks for always being willing to help and hear me out when it came to tournament matters, that meant a lot to me.

I love every single one of you reading this post. When I first became active on Smogon back in 2015 for SPL 7, I had no idea how much of a bright spot in my life it would become. You all have been a big part of my life for the last six years, and for that I thank you.

Your favorite weatherman,

Jake

 

[zee]

goat npa manager. best of luck jake!

 

[ryo yamada2001]

i can't believe it's been so since the "VGC takeover" already...

thank you for your service Bowman. while i haven't been active in the tournament circuit much you've done a tremendous job fighting for DOU representation in major tournaments and establishing a fully-fledged circuit. but more than anything you can be incredibly proud of fostering one of the safest and healthiest communities on Smogon. for a site that's often rife with hostility and incidents, DOU has always felt like a safe haven because you (and the other mods!) do a great job hearing its users out. it's no surprise that DOU has retained so many of its core users over its years. i think everyone'll be happy to see you continue being around DOUcord :)

also Para show your tattoo

 

[zoe]

I know i've only been here for, what, 8 months now? But still thanks for all you've done for the tier! Best of luck!!

 

[kaori]

love you jake, getting into DOU with you, dawg, zach etc was so much fun and im really happy to be able to call you a friend still all these years later. some of my fondest pokemon memories are with you and the aussie gang, or the disney trip at worlds 2017. you did a fantastic job leading the tier and i really hope we can see each other soon when (if) vgc events start back up again. stop by church more you dork

 

[sawamura]

Well I literally grew up with you and I really don't think you did a bad job as you said. you have done the best job possible MajorBowman don't put yourself down as I said above I grew up in this community with you as a reference of this and I am proud to be part of a community where you were the leader. Thank you very much indeed. I hope someday to be part of the council where you were part of it, where thanks to you I became a tutor of this format and I have no words left to express how grateful I am for your leadership. Good luck on your way and we will always be here to play doubles.

 

[n10siT]

Thanks for everything Jake. You've been a good friend to me and a good role model as a staff figure. Your patience and kindness have really helped me over the years, and I really appreciate all that you've allowed me to do with DUU.

When DOU was removed from SPL, seeing you stand up for us in the way that you did was awesome. I'll never forget that feeling. Love you buddy, hope to see you at VGC events in the future.

 

[Paulluxx]

I’m not a DOU player(I used to play VGC but now I play singles) but looking at what you’ve done, and the passion for the metagame you lead is an inspiration to anybody that has ever played this game. Good luck in the future.

 

[Toxigen]

I am getting old. Thanks for everything MajorBowman

 

[Earthflax]

I’m no DOU main, but you’ve done a lot for the tier and had a great run as a leader. I wish you the best in anything you hope to do.

 

[Light Sanctity]

Best of luck moving forward Mr. weatherman but can you please talk to your news team and tell them to turn the heat down? Pretty please

 

[Yoda2798]

I'd like to personally thank Jake for all he's done over the years, the title of Tier Leader can be a heavy burden to bear, but he's worn it well for a longer time than most.

Many outside the DOU community won't know this, but back in the XY era, VGCers were largely seen as scary outsiders who popped in once a year to destroy us in SPL. An example of this friction, aimed at MajorBowman himself, can be seen here. Despite this, he stuck around and integrated into the community (after wooping us, of course), proving to us that VGC players were actually people too. There were also others, but Bowman is the one who's stuck around the longest and made the biggest impact. Him becoming Tier Leader was a real landmark in terms of VGC representation in the DOU community, lighting a beacon that Smogon Doubles was a tier and community worth participating in beyond the glory of SPL. Without Jake to lay the groundwork, we definitely wouldn't have had such an influx of VGC players joining over the years, and it's difficult to imagine how DOU would look today without names like emforbes in it.

During generation 6, the DOU community was in general more rough around the edges, more of a typical online community with its fair share of 'edgy' humour. This was exemplified most by a certain now-banned TL, who is by far the worst DOU has ever had to offer. It was under the leadership of MajorBowman and talkingtree that we seen a real culture change and the DOU community transform into one of the most accepting on Smogon, under their guidance. As others have stated, the DOU community is very welcoming and largely avoids the toxicity and drama that plagues other parts of the site, and that comes from an atmosphere that is intentionally shaped so through hard work and effort.

I believe that the period of SM DOU under Bowman and tree was a golden era for DOU, and I'm sure many feel the same way. With the great atmosphere, and all the hype around heated matchups from the excellently run circuit, it just felt like everybody was having a blast and it was peak competitive Pokemon. With generation 8 the metagame shifts have been a mess, a number of people have lost interest or moved on in life, and sometimes I worry we'll never reach those same peaks again.

MajorBowman, it's been a pleasure working with you these past months and I hope I can live up to your legacy.

 

[Platinum God n1n1]

Thank you for advancing the circuit and always sticking up for DOU. I hope your experience here will help you achieve in many other aspects of life. Best wishes

 

[emma]

Good work MajorBowman. While I was gone for most of the SM era, I can still notice the stark improvements between back when I was around during XY compared to when I returned last year. It’s all thanks to you and the other TLs leadership that I was able to return to the tier in a much healthier state.

Thanks for everything and enjoy retirement. I’ll do my best to follow in your shoes as Doubles OU C&C Co-Leader. With Memoric and I running the show, you should have nothing to worry about

 

[Arcticblast]

who the fuck am I supposed to blame for every one of DOU's problems and also the weather now

 

[Katy]

Thank you for everything you have done for the Doubles Community and the playerbase. This hard work will never be forgotton. And I wish you the best, no matter what you're doing, and I hope you can achieve all the goals you have set for yourself!

 

[Paraplegic]

Better late than never I suppose, But thank you so much MajorBowman. You were the best leader this community could have ever asked for and it's still honestly scary as shit to imagine not you at the helm. Yoda said it well when he mentioned the period of dou under yours and Tree's leadership being a golden age, and I just hope Yoda and I can do even half as well as you guys did because then I imagine this community will still be in a pretty damn good place. 3.5 years is a hell of a long time with respect to anything pokemon related, but you did an amazing job and I hope you enjoy your time now that you've moved on from the leadership role. You will always be the goat TL in my eyes man.