I have no idea if this will be long or short. It may seem blog-ish, but it's not really about me, it's about you. My fellow members of the community. I signed up to this site 10 years ago. To be honest, I had been lurking (a long lost art if you ask me) for years. It was a different time when I created this account. XBL was little known and it looked like Halo 2 (coming later that year) was going to make it into something amazing. So, I got off of my ass, made a WLID account (called a .Net account back then) and jumped into this site with both feet. My years of lurking on Bungie.Net, of visiting non-company sites (such as the Marathon Story Page) and nearly a whole decade of being a silent fan of Bungie and their games, those days were over. Feeling bold, feeling clever, feeling like I would "instantly fit in" I made my first post. A smart-assed reply to someone who was asking for help with a PC problem. I recommended that they "try ALT-F4". That first post under my belt and feeling pretty proud, descended into terror when I got my first PM just moments later. "If you can't be helpful, you probably shouldn't post at all" was the PM message I got. From Shishka. Less than 3 minutes on Bungie.Net and I had not only caught someone's eye, but it was an eye that I didn't want to catch and for all of the wrong reasons. Having not only lurked here, but also HBO and other relevant places, he had a reputation as a life-taker. So, my start was less than stellar. And yes, I peed in my pants. A little. Not the best of starts, I must admit. But it was fun times. Sure the community was smaller, but it was just as dynamic, just as rowdy and just as tight-knit. New faces came in, older names moved on, all as things tend to do. I don't need to recite the Bungie timeline, or even the events and highlights of this community over the years. If you were there, it was special, if you weren't there for one moment or another, you are here when similar special moments occur and they will stick with you, just as they should. You likely remember your own special moments. Drama, accomplishment, the good, the bad and the ugly. All things that are either water under the bridge, moments that "you had to be there to appreciate it" and maybe, hopefully, some that you will treasure for a very long time. I have been here. I have appreciated it. I've had the good fortune to have spent time, exchanged thoughts and words with some of the most interesting and yes, even some of the most annoying, of people. I've even gotten to meet more than a few fellow members of this community, and even some of our hosts. All in all, an impressive collection of people. All here for their own personal reasons that interestingly enough, overlap. We each come here and participate for our own needs, but we find people who we understand, who sometimes "get us", and with whom we can share some common ground, joke around, talk with, enjoy the time spent and maybe, even play some games. Pretty amazing to me. I know that it's not all that unusual now that the Internet is so ubiquitous, but I still am impressed. Not by the technology, but by the people. Both the individuals and the overall collective. You folks, yes YOU silly! You are amazing to me. Over the years, you have never been dull, never gotten stale, always had something new to show me or to teach me, and I am fortunate to have been able to observe and participate with you. It's been special, it's been fun, it's been enlightening and it's been an utter blast. Thank you. (pssst, yes you, again!) No, I am not leaving. I am just taking a moment while my coffee brews to look back on 10 years, and how fast they go by when you are enjoying them. ---- Cheers!