A personal message to the Racketboy Community.

[AppleQueso]

For a second there I thought this was a "goodbye" post and you were leaving.

whew

[dedalusdedalus]

Generally, I find posts that announce hiatuses/returns/goodbyes to be completely self-indulgent and ego-stroking.

Not this time though, Mod. This is a fantastic post. I rank this right up there with Moz's goodbye and Ack's hiatus post as exceptions to that general rule.

I can really sense just from your tone that you've changed a lot during the time that you've spent off Racketboy, and it's great to see that you're coming into your own as a confident adult and created a life that's your own.

I speak for a lot of others when I say that it makes me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside to be part of a community that's helped you through some very hard times. Long live Racketboy.

[J T]

You're absence was certainly noticed because you contribute a lot to this online community, but there was no ill will or loss of respect for your absence. People come and people go, priorities shift around- this is understood. It's good to see you again though and I'm glad that this community has helped carry you through some dark times, even if we weren't all aware of it. So many online communities are more likely to lead people to suicide rather than pull them away from the edge. That makes me feel good about us for being a friendly and supportive pocket of the internet, and good for you because the road out of hell takes strength to travel.

By the way, the up-and-coming Yogurtland chain is awesome. Learn from them and don't let them defeat your local shop.

[Majors]

Now I'm starting to collect and fix up old arcade machines

About that...Fighting Vipers an't gonna fix itself I'm still hoping the Blast City will. Funny how nothing gets done when I don't do anything.

So April 7th?

<No I didn't read all your post...>

[Arbitern1]

this post was great. I noticed you kinds dropped off the grid. I don't post frequently but I do lurk like a boss. I do have to say I understand and respect your reasons for not contributing as much to RB. In the last year even my lurking has decreased. College and a management position at taco bell (hell yes) have pretty much taken away all the free time I have. But it is great to come back and read racketboy. I do have to say, this forum has changed allot, but at the same time, hasn't changed at all.

But live your life man, we understand. An online community is great, but cant even begin to offer the same amount of joy as you can achieve in the resale world. I would like to swear off online communities alltogether, but racketboy has shown me that good people exist om the interwebs.

[MrPopo]

I remember you. Weren't you that asshole who wouldn't change Gamestop policy for us?

[Key-Glyph]

That was nice. I don't know you, but I appreciate that you wrote all that. Good for you for getting back on your feet, and to everyone here who helped you get to that point again.

[hashiriya1]

Good to hear from you, Moddy.

[pepharytheworm]

Glad to see you're back. I only met you once in person about two years ago. But we seem to share a lot of the same ideals, I love the fact that this place has always been open, respectful and generally nice in comments.

Of late it has gotten a bit as you put "snarky" but with you back maybe we can go back to the love of games, and friendliness that brought me to this site during a depressive state of my life too. An example would be the former "finds of the day" thread and I totally agree with your last post there.

Thank goodness you finally quit Gamestop, maybe you won't defend them so much now

[xan_racketBOY_fan]

Thanks for sharing that, Mod! It definitely shows through your words that you've matured and have come out on top due the experiences in your life. It's post like these that remind us that we're more than just avatars and signatures congregating at a retro game site - we're kickass folks