It's Not Really Goodbye, Afterall

[Caution]

I think that this has been a long time coming and most people have probably seen this on the horizon. With life keeping me so busy over the last few years being in the Middle East, I should have taken a step back a while ago, but I just never really got around to it. As you have noticed, a lot of rearranging has been going on in the higher up ranks - but I want to emphasize that this is for the best. Everyone who has stepped down recently has made it apparent that they just can't be around the way the community needs, and I applaud them for coming to this realization sooner than me. We have started to have a much better grasp on staff accountability at the higher level, and that's what it is. No one is abandoning ship or giving up hope: in fact, just the opposite. We are holding ourselves accountable and attempting to do what is best for the community, even if it means walking away entirely or just taking a few steps back.

 

In my case, I will be taking a few steps back, for now. I am in the middle of doing a career change into government contracting (think War Dogs), and I just won't be able to provide SG with that leadership that it needs for the time being. With that being said, I won't be stepping away entirely just yet. I will retain ownership of SG and continue to pay for SG expenses, so there is still no worry or fear of SG being shut down or anything of the sort. That will probably never change, as it never needs to. My 'front end' capacity will change to Director, as I still do want to weigh in on SG issues and decisions. I'm going to reevaluate this sometime around the end of the first quarter / beginning of the second quarter of 2023 and see how it's going. In the event where I'm just not providing the input / value that there needs to be, I will more than likely just walk away entirely (minus ownership). I'm not sure how that will all play out, but we'll see. If I'm able to switch careers up and get established decently, I'll just assume the role of President again. I won't, however, do this if I don't truly think I can come back the way the community needs.

 

With Gator stepping down, Revenga will be taking his role as the new permanent Vice President. With me being gone, he is going to assume the role of President, and during that reevaluation time we'll figure out in what direction to go in. Revenga is a great guy with a good head on his shoulders and a lot of eagerness to get the ball rolling on implementing some changes at SG that will hopefully steer us in the right direction. Revenga was part of the three-man BD team when I first assumed the role of President, and we were in worse shape then than we are in now. He was a huge help in turning that around back then, and I trust that he will be able to do so now. 

 

A captain is nothing without their first mate, so while I am away, Dominic will be assuming the role of Vice President while Revenga is the acting President. Again, we will figure out where to go if I do come back. Dominic is a prior BD with a good amount of ideas and experience under his belt, so he will be a great #2 to Revenga. 

 

In the event that I do not return to SG and slip sort of quietly away...I just want to say how crazy it's been. I started playing zm_lila panic on the Zombie Murder server back in 2007 when I was 13 years old. I became an admin back in 2008, when it was $9.99 a month to even be an admin. I became a CA in 2009~ish, an AO in 2010, a BD in 2013, and finally the President in 2014/2015 (I forget when we made it official). I've had so many friends come and go at this place, and just some amazing times. Over the past almost 16 years I've been here, there are so many memories that just stick out in my head...being fleshlight sales representatives on christian ventrilo servers, getting a strike for making fun of a mentally challenged kid (I know, I know...I was 13 - but I've still got the 40 minute recording and it comes on shuffle every once in awhile and makes me laugh so hard) who was rich as shit cause his mom was a VP for Pepperidge Farm, being a total fucking troll of an admin until I went in the Marine Corps and wised up a little, doing BD meetings as we were getting hit with artillery when I was in Afghanistan, all the countless sleepless nights building a server from scratch or when we integrated all the banned users manually from our old Mani Admin system onto the current Source Bans system, actually matching with a chick on Tinder who was already a part of SG after I had assumed ownership, movie nights, OMGPOP, Stickam nights, or the few summers where we just played pick-up games on the scrim server all day every day, with people just lining up to come in. I've spent thousands upon thousands of hours on the forums, on the servers, having BD meetings, and playing games with fellow SG members over the years. Playing PayDay2 with Roux and arguing with him about fucking colors of certain items, just to be reminded that he was color-blind and had no idea what he was talking about. I miss Roux a lot. I love going through my old photobucket account and just getting blasted with super old screenshots I took from back in the day. The majority of my life has had SG involved in it.

 

The list of shoutouts and thanks I could do to people here would take so long, and a lot of names most of you would not recognize anymore. All of the friends I've made throughout the years...even the ones I don't talk to anymore. I love getting random messages from old names on here and just shooting the shit to see how you guys are doing...maybe even playing a game or two. I appreciate all the VP's as being a close right-hand and being able to bounce ideas off of, all the BD's for doing that thankless job where you just get shit on, a huge thanks to all the TA's who truly do and have done a thankless job...this place would be so fucked without the TA's. All the AO's and versions of AO that we have had, busting your butt managing servers until all hours of the night...all the CA's having meetings upon meetings to bring forward positive change to the community...the admins who are in the thick of it handling servers so they're not full of dipshits...the supporters who have paid money from their own wallet to make sure this place still has the lights on...and, of course, all of the players. All of the people who just log into the servers or post on the forums. This community truly exists for all of you. It's not physically possible for SG to die, because these memories will never go away, nor the will to make new ones. If I could go back in time and get to experience all of these memories again, I would. Especially experiencing Prison Break for the first time...I've never had more fun playing a game than playing CSS Prison Break with the maybe 10-15 OG maps that the server ran.

 

As I said, this is just going to be in case I do not end up coming back. In that event, I am leaving you all in capable and trustworthy hands. I feel so lucky to have been a part of this place for so long and have made so many memories and experiences. If there was ever a major event in my life, there's a good chance that someone at SG was one of the first people to know or for me to talk about it with. A huge part of who I am today is because of my time here at SG throughout the years. I remember the absolute joy I had when I became an admin for the first time, and how I never ever would have thought that one day I would have owned this place. I haven't always made the right decision, but I have always had SG's best interest at the forefront of my mind when making any decision. And while this time around it took me a little longer to recognize that and act, it's never too late to do the right thing. I have also worked out a special deal with Revenga where we will still promote people for playing PayDay2 with me. 

 

I love this place, and truly think that this is the best decision possible in the current situation. And, in the event I do come back, this can just be used as a reminder of all of the appreciation I have for you all. If I do end up stepping down entirely, maybe I will create a personalized shoutout list. For now, hopefully this will do. Again, thank all of you for contributing to SG's success, and thank you to those willing to step up and steer the ship during rough times. I have full confidence that the new team will do right by everyone and get SG back on track. 

 

Thanks everyone, I wish you all nothing but the best.

[Dominic]

bump

[Hawks]

o7 Mr Caution I won't be able to play payday 2 afterall 🥲

[Gator]

See ya around buddy.

 

I won't tell Prez you said I was a better VP 

[Chad]

o7 

[cat-girls club]

o7 

[kabLe]

It's been a hell of a ride man. From you chasing down all my alts back in the day to working together to make this place for the newer generations what it was for ours. Enjoy semi-retirement and good luck to you in life.

 

-Modgers

[Caution]

8 minutes ago, kabLe said:

It's been a hell of a ride man. From you chasing down all my alts back in the day to working together to make this place for the newer generations what it was for ours. Enjoy semi-retirement and good luck to you in life.

 

-Modgers

lmaoooo it’s Modgers with a 1. That was such another crazy story when that dude AWACS filed an admin complaint against like 15 of us for all having Modgers1 as our name and then threatened to “russle up the sheriff” when we found a pic of him online. I’ll have to comb photobucket and find it. 

 

Modgers got married, had a kid, flew in the marine corps, and is a pilot for United right now. Such a solid guy and is still a great friend. 

[NIKO]

Good luck with your new career change

[kabLe]

19 minutes ago, Caution said:

lmaoooo it’s Modgers with a 1. That was such another crazy story when that dude AWACS filed an admin complaint against like 15 of us for all having Modgers1 as our name and then threatened to “russle up the sheriff” when we found a pic of him online. I’ll have to comb photobucket and find it. 

 

Modgers got married, had a kid, flew in the marine corps, and is a pilot for United right now. Such a solid guy and is still a great friend. 

fucking Awacs, that guy was a trainwreck.

 

 

Here's a few gems:

 

 

^Iscout CA promotion LMAO