If I was the sort of person who got annoyed easily or who bore grudges or reacted badly to adverse situations or didn't have the laid back philosophy that I have I might have said..
"I gave that forum nearly two years of my spare time, I mean I was there from day one helping out, coming up with ideas for forums, developing clever little mycode scripts (Yes, you have me to thank for the likes of [hide], [imgfit] etc.), I donated a whole bunch of cash and even created custom Atheist Forum t-shirts which I either sold at cost or any small profit made, donated back to the forum. Plus of course, all the normal stuff of fixing quotes, deleting spammers, hunting down trolls, helping members etc. etc.
And then, when my hand is forced, or at least I'm put on the spot and I reluctantly retire, giving my reasons calmly and rationally with no hint of malice or ill-will towards the forum and only the wish that it continues to be the great place it used to be, what do I get in return? Well dear reader, I'll tell you. I get a limp 'that's a shame' and then a point by point rebuttal of my every reason for leaving. It would have been nice to have received a 'sorry to see you go' or perhaps 'thanks for all the work and time you've put in to the forum' or maybe even 'you'll be missed but good luck with any future projects' or just possibly a 'let's have a chat about this and see if we can resolve any issues', but no, nothing of the sort, or at least, nothing that I could interpret as such.
After all, I had done nothing wrong and only did what I thought was best for this community for the past two years.
It just goes to show, that in the cut and thrust of forum admin, loyalty and commitment don't seem to be particularly valuable commodities."
But of course I'm far too philosophical to even consider such an argument.
And now, let the rebuttals and character assassination begin
"I gave that forum nearly two years of my spare time, I mean I was there from day one helping out, coming up with ideas for forums, developing clever little mycode scripts (Yes, you have me to thank for the likes of [hide], [imgfit] etc.), I donated a whole bunch of cash and even created custom Atheist Forum t-shirts which I either sold at cost or any small profit made, donated back to the forum. Plus of course, all the normal stuff of fixing quotes, deleting spammers, hunting down trolls, helping members etc. etc.
And then, when my hand is forced, or at least I'm put on the spot and I reluctantly retire, giving my reasons calmly and rationally with no hint of malice or ill-will towards the forum and only the wish that it continues to be the great place it used to be, what do I get in return? Well dear reader, I'll tell you. I get a limp 'that's a shame' and then a point by point rebuttal of my every reason for leaving. It would have been nice to have received a 'sorry to see you go' or perhaps 'thanks for all the work and time you've put in to the forum' or maybe even 'you'll be missed but good luck with any future projects' or just possibly a 'let's have a chat about this and see if we can resolve any issues', but no, nothing of the sort, or at least, nothing that I could interpret as such.
After all, I had done nothing wrong and only did what I thought was best for this community for the past two years.
It just goes to show, that in the cut and thrust of forum admin, loyalty and commitment don't seem to be particularly valuable commodities."
But of course I'm far too philosophical to even consider such an argument.
And now, let the rebuttals and character assassination begin