Thank you,
Saithis, for the honor, and thank you, everyone, for the kind words. I see I even lured some of my fellow old-timers out of hiding.
I don't mean to be clique-ish, but
coz1,
Director,
Storey, it's always a special pleasure to see you guys pop in (that's code for "Please visit more often!"
) Everybody else, though I don't mention you by name (there's too many of you!
), please know I deeply appreciate your verbal pats on the back.
I've been at these forums for quite a while now (actually, I prefer not to dwell on it too much - it makes me feel old) and I've always loved the atmosphere, the overall civility, and the sheer quantity and quality of writing that's on display. I'm pretty sure I've made the candy store analogy before, but it still perfectly describes my reaction to this place: goodies everywhere, and even better, it's all
free, unlike an actual candy store (AARland is also an efficient marketing tool, I have to admit - Paradox are the proud owners of, oh, a couple of hundred dollars of my money and I know I wouldn't have spent nearly as much if it wasn't for the AARs - so perhaps 'free' is a bit of a misnomer. But not one I mind.
)
All I can say is, I really like the stuff I can read here, and I like the ability to interact with the writers, be it simply to joke around, or to learn something about a game mechanic, or to find out what they intended with their writing (imagine reading Terry Pratchett - or insert your own favorite author here - and being able to ask him directly, at any point during the story: "I really liked that paragraph, and I think it meant this, is that what you had in mind?" I think it's just mindblowing that we actually have that opportunity here).
And then, of course, there's the fact that in commenting, I'm 'paying' for all this goodness I'm consuming. Not as a chore, but as a sincere token of appreciation of all those folks who sit down and spend hours to entertain us, the readers.
So, while accepting this nod, I would like to thank everybody else who makes this forum such a great place to visit: the writers, who provide the materials, the commenters, who provide the fuel that keeps this place going, and also the mods, always slaving away to swat the spambots, quell the arguments and keep things civil.
Thank you all for making AARland AARland.
Now I'm off to do some reading and find a successor.