Goodbye for now

[velcrozombie1]

I've been coming to this site for about two years, initially just to go through
the enormous archives of reviews.  Almost a year ago I became a member of
this forum and began actively reading and replying to posts, along with creating
a few of my own. Checking the forums and the new reviews Dave posts has
become a daily ritual for me, along with a way to reach out to other people
interested in video games. Although I am a member of the Escapist and I've
been going there ever since the end of 2007, I find the sheer size of the
readership to both overwhelming and the discourse itself to both repetitive
and depressingly nihilistic. On the other hand, this forum has both a manageable
size (I see a member name and I know exactly who they, along with their personality
and their interests) and, in general, a thoughtful and enthusiastic disposition.
There are a number of members here where my eyes light up when I see them
make a new post or reply to something that I wrote.

However, I simply can't justify the amount of time I have been spending here.
Without getting into details, my personal life is a wreck. I've been "circling the
wagons" over the past couple of days. All my video game consoles are sitting
unplugged, and all my Steam games have been temporarily deleted. Now it's
time to dismantle all other distractions, starting with the various websites that
have been time sinks, and this forum is maybe the number one culprit. On top
of that, the writing I have been doing on this forum lately has been half-hearted
and careless, since the fact that I have more important obligations to take care of
is constantly in the back of my mind. There are plenty of games that I would like
to play and talk about on this forum, but now is not the time.

I very much want to thank everyone that I have interacted with on this forum, and
do plan on being back in the future (when I'm satisfied with the direction of my life),
and I want to thank Dave for both his website and this forum.

[Paul1231]

Totally understandable.  Good luck with those indians...

[darkrage61]

Sorry to hear that man, i'm going to miss your posts and I hope everything works out OK for you.

[Sut1]

Hope you get to a better place soon - all the best

[JustLikeHeaven1]

Sad to see a quality forum member leave..but totally understandable.  Good luck in getting things straightened out and I hope to see you back in the near future!

[Rev1]

best of luck. hope to see u back sometime.

[Astrosmasher1]

I also enjoy your stuff.  I can sometimes be moody but mostly feel lighthearted.  I wish you all the best.

[VideoGameCritic]

I think this post really puts things into perspective.  Video games are a heck of a lot of fun, but in the scheme of things they are not very important.  Your life - including your social life, work life, and physical well-being - have to come first.  Video game-related stuff should probably be near the bottom.

Personally I consider video games to be a great way to let my hair down AFTER I take care of everything that needs to be taking care of (including an exercise routine).  Still, I'm guilty too, and sometimes I feel the need to just step away for a while.

Velcrozombie feels the need to get his priorities in order and I salute him for that.  Maybe one day he'll be back when things settle down.  In the mean time it sounds like the site is a distraction he doesn't need.

[Tron1]

Best of luck to you in your endeavors velcrozombie.

[gleebergloben1]

Hey Velcrozombie, I enjoyed reading your posts. You seem like a level-headed and easy-going dude. I hope you can straighten things out, and hope to see you back here soon.