Well, I'm surprised and humbled, to say the least. After my 'retirement', I stepped away to concentrate on other things, with a fair measure of success, but the lure of these forums was always in the back of my mind. Finally, after a break of a few years I picked up CK2 and started thinking about AARs once again. Well, that led me back here, and I've been slowly working my way through some titles. As they say, so much to read, so little time. But that's the positive side of being a 'fan' and not a Mod. I have a few more ticks on the clock to enjoy these tales.
It's extremely gratifying to be recognized as a
pillar, or the
foundation on which these forums was built. Hell, I came on board back in 2001 when the only game in town was the original EU. Those were interesting days, when what would eventually become AARland was finding its way. My very first AAR,
The Papacy - An Alternative History began as a simple log-style report of events, but along the way morphed into a
narrative (with thinly disguised forum members as characters), then became
interactive, ultimately giving birth to
The Free Company and its eight
books worth of interactive fiction. So, for those of you out there whining about too many narrative AARs, blame me. However, I'll take credit for founding the interactive part of it. Well, shared credit.
Warspite ran a Papal one where members played characters who voted on how his game would progress. Mine was more RPG, with me as the DM. But I digress...
For me, writing in the narrative style grew out of my desire to hone my craft and see if I could one day be published. Well, it worked, and now I have over 30 stories and a graphic novel to my credit.
And it's all because of these forums. This is the main reason why I have always encouraged writers here to take the plunge. AARland is the perfect place to practice. That's not to deride any other style of AAR. I like them all, and I never judge based on how poorly something may be written. We've all been there at one time or another. There's always room for improvement. And feedback. Feedback means a lot, from the beginner with their first attempt, to the veteran launching their umpteenth AAR.
I see a lot of new faces here, a few old, and a few new forums. Nice to see things still growing. I plan to get around to some more AARs, so bear with me, and many thanks for this honour. Like I said at the beginning. It's humbling.
LD
EDIT: Looks like my verbosity scared everyone off... But then, people like coz1 have heard it before...