Let's Turn a Page

[Skull132]

Alright, so. Let's get the main thing out of the way: Effective this Sunday, I will be retiring from my position at Aurora. What's mildly funny is that this September is the 8th birthday of this community, so perhaps think of it like a small gift 😉

And now, before anyone goes out of their way to say something, please read and consider the following. Quick Q&A first, followed by a longer tangent.

Why are you doing this? Simple: time has moved on, my priorities have changed, and it's time to vacate the position so that someone else can use the role to further the community. My activity in general has been dropping over the last 3 years, and while before I could still review PRs on the weekend, I am just not feeling any of it anymore. Which is fine.

What's gonna change with Aurora?! Absolutely nothing (much). As I said above, I've basically been distancing myself from this community for well over 2 years now. And eversince this year, my activity just completely fucking ceased (due to school and my degree). The current leadership structure and staff team have well  proven themselves capable of handling both the day-to-date activities on Aurora and the long term planning of the community without my presence. My absence will not change much in that regard.

What's gonna happen to NBT?! It'll continue being worked on exactly as it has been for the past 3 - 4 months. My contribution to NBT over the last year has been the organization of a single meeting which sorta re-kickstarted the project over the summer. Everything else has been organized by Alberyk and Kyres at the helm, and supported by the other developers and spriters. My contributions after that have been non-existent.

What's gonna happen to the server hardware? The hardware will be transferred over to Arrow at the end of the week. Webservers have been paid for over the year and we've got extra time to figure that out. Someone else will be trained up on how to perform server critical tasks as well, to cover for the hole I'll leave. Plus, all of the present infrastructure has been built by Arrow, I've simply footed the bill. So we're good on that count.

Will there be a new Head Developer appointed? Almost certainly, yes. But a concrete decision will be made in the near future, separate from this post, so stay tuned for that.

I hope this Q&A covers all of the immediate concerns. I'll now lead into a bit of a longer diatribe about worthless things like feelings and saying goodbye

It's been a blast. The 7 years that I've contributed to this community have helped me immensely. Aurora is where I learned and started developing both leadership skills and programming skills. Both of which I've been able to very successfully apply in my life. And it is my hope that over those 7 years, I've been able to help foster an environment where everyone is able to get some benefit as well. Whether it be new devs learning how to dev, people trying out managerial and creative stuff, or just players having fun and having a good place to unwind.

I've also met and worked with some stellar folks over this time. I'd like to thank every past-present-and future staff member (and the players) who've contributed to the community alongside me. I know that most of you did this out of the goodness of your heart, and I thank you all for this effort. The fact that we have such a strong staff team, and community in general, is also a reason why I'm confident that this community will last a good few years going forward, at least. And I am confident that the staff will continue to foster a positive and cooperative environment.

I'll still be around on the general discord after this, so if anyone wants to chat with me about stuff, feel free to ping or write a DM. But, it's been fun, and thank you for the amazing and formative 7 years! I truly-truly hope that it's been positive for most everyone else as well that has been involved with the community!

Questions and stuff are also welcome here.

[KingOfThePing]

Farewell, Starman 

[Kintsugi]

Thanks for everything you've done for Aurora, Skull, I know we'll miss you. Best of luck with your future endeavors.

[VikingPingvin]

Wish you all the best Skull

[Garnascus]

By skull

Good luck in life. You taught me a lot. 

[BoryaTheSlayer]

sayonara, hope you move on to better things

[Butterrobber202]

Bye Skull, sad to see you go! I hope you find success.

[SatinsPristOTD]

We'll miss you so much, but I understand leaving. You've kinda been a staple in my SS13 life for as long as I can remember. It's been a pleasure, and I hope life gives you everything you need and want.

[incognitojesus]

I wish you all the best, and thanks for doing the thing for the last seven years. It's meant a lot to a ton of people.

See you later, space cowboy. 

[The lancer]

Thanks for everything you've done all these years, I wish you the best as you move on.

[Carver]

While it is concerning to see the architect leave after all this time, I can only wish you good fortune. Let us hope that this new era of NBT and your successor usher in times as wonderful as some of the past seven years.

[Skull132]

1 minute ago, Carver said:

While it is concerning to see the architect leave after all this time

Do not make the mistake of painting me out as something I am not. While I have been a constant element in leadership for a long time, my colleagues have greatly shaped Aurora's direction as they've come and gone. FFrances' era as Head Admin & with her team cardinally changed the roleplay directions of the community; the work of GarnItzal as the first shared Head Admins ushered in a new golden age as far as staff structure and cohesion went. Arrow has done a marvelous job introducing new systems & procedures for both staff and players. My departure is no more significant than the departure of one of the other Head Admins, that is how the modern management system works.

[Carver]

3 minutes ago, Skull132 said:

Do not make the mistake of painting me out as something I am not. While I have been a constant element in leadership for a long time, my colleagues have greatly shaped Aurora's direction as they've come and gone. FFrances' era as Head Admin & with her team cardinally changed the roleplay directions of the community; the work of GarnItzal as the first shared Head Admins ushered in a new golden age as far as staff structure and cohesion went. Arrow has done a marvelous job introducing new systems & procedures for both staff and players. My departure is no more significant than the departure of one of the other Head Admins, that is how the modern management system works.

I consider you such because you've meaningfully shaped it the longest, especially with key decisions such as the Bay fork in 2016 (and the head dev handover before then that ended an era of stagnation). The code is the foundation of the server, I'm not discounting what people built atop that foundation.

[Valkrae]

o7 

It was nice to interact with you occasionally over these many years. Take it easy, King.

[MattAtlas]

You taught me a lot about coding and even team management. I looked up to you as my boss and it's sad to see you go, but I'm happy for you that you can turn your sights to other stuff and not have me bother you at 2 AM about why my code isn't working.

Best of luck, man.

[SpaceBaa]

o7

[niennab]

Thank you for your work and I wish you the best in your future endeavors! 

[NerdyVampire]

I wonder if you will have a pet named after you now 😆

[Skull132]

1 minute ago, NerdyVampire said:

I wonder if you will have a pet named after you now 😆

I'm not even sure how I'd feel about that 🤔

[Skull132]

10 minutes ago, MattAtlas said:

and not have me bother you at 2 AM about why my code isn't working.

There's a selection of people from whom I will still happily take code related pings from at 2 AM 😉

[NerdyVampire]

15 minutes ago, Skull132 said:

I'm not even sure how I'd feel about that 🤔

Well, I am sure your pet would go well with Bones? 😆

[Mcfluff]

Still salty that Muncorn replaced me with you as co-owner of the Dubtrack

Seriously though, back before I started playing again and I'd only check in in OOC 5 minutes per year I always felt welcome seeing that "hey Mcfluff" message. Good luck with whatever comes next for you, and thank you for your work these past years

[Bear]

Fare thee well!

[SinfulBehaviors]

Goodbye, moonman. o7

[Scheveningen]

Your efforts and accomplishments are appreciated, Skull. Don't undersell yourself. I know I've both been on your good and bad sides, but hopefully you'll be able to part from the server community with an even greater journey ahead of you. Wish you luck and all the best.