A thank-you to you all

Question

I am retiring as a moderator this week.

I made this decision with my heart a few months ago, made it with my head and let my fellow moderators know a few weeks ago, and now that the paperwork is sorted out, I'm letting the rest of the community know. The decision reaches back farther though, and I think has been percolating in my head for at least the past year.

Some of you may have noticed me fading to the back more and more. I think I can trace this back to when I first started fading out of chat, which… was a good while back. Part of this long fade out has been the pull of other things outside the site, and some of that has been the site just not needing my personal moderation contributions as much as I felt it did when I first started, and some has just been the lens of moderation taking me too much away from the parts of the site that drew me here in the first place. The community has grown substantially since 2015. Though engaging less with the site has been a bit sad, seeing how much the community has matured and taken up tasks I used to think only I cared about has been a joy.

RPG.se has been a regular part of my life since 2010, and for the last four years as a moderator it has been a daily part of my life. The gravity of the moderator's diamond has been a privilege and a weight during all those days, and I'm ready for a change of pace.

I miss little things like being able to just vote to close or reopen a question, without it being the Big Deciding Vote. I'm looking forward to being able to engage with edits or comments on a marginal post, without weighing whether I should use bigger mod tools — or wondering if by making an appearance but not using bigger tools, other community members will see that as a signal. I'm looking forward to participating as just one input into the machine rather than as a mechanic with a heavy override wrench. I'm looking forward to the privilege of not needing to carefully weigh every decision.

I hope to be less active than I've been, but for good reasons: because I am running face-to-face games more, reading more of my too-large games collection, or taking more walks. I hope as well to stay active here, but maybe in a less daily way.

I know the site is in good hands. We have a good moderation team in our three other mods. And I can't have asked for a better community. You have always and continue to make me proud to be a member. Ultimately, the quality of the community here is what made it easiest to set down the responsibility of the diamond: the site doesn't need me, because it has all of you.

Thank you all. It's been an honour and a privilege.

Answer 1

Thanks for all your hard work!

I've always appreciated your presence and the good work of you and all the other diamond mods of RPG.SE! You've definitely made the stack a better place, and RPG.SE's moderation is one of the reasons it's my favorite site on StackExchange. I hope your in-person games and other "off-screen" activities go well, but hopefully you'll still stick around and pop into chat from time to time!

Answer 2

Thankyou for everything you've done!

I may not have been around for as long as some others and didn't see you when you were most active, but I firmly believe I have felt your influence on the site. Reading old meta-posts, your high voted posts and your communications with users as a mod, I am constantly impressed at your thoughtfulness and communication. You have set a standard for the site and for moderation that has made the community better.

I believe RPG.SE's standard of moderation is better than any other site on the network, and you have played a huge part in making it this way. You helped create a community I am proud to be a part of. I hope you are proud of everything you achieved here. Good luck and enjoy your free time for gaming!

Answer 3

Thank you for the greatest of gifts to give: your time

We each have a certain amount of time to spend each waking day on all of the things that life puts in front of us. For the last four years, you have (at $0 dollars per billable hour, as it were) given a great deal of your time, effort, wit, wisdom, and judgment.

All of this was offered, gratis, for the benefit of other people so that they might have more fun in this hobby, and get more from this site. That's a great gift, and is deeply appreciated.

On a personal note, I appreciate your course corrections when I first began to participate on the site, so that I could "grok" how this SE thing works. Yours was the most helpful early voice for me.

Changing of the Guard

Answer 4

You've been a great contributor to the site and a great fellow mod. It's been an honor to work alongside you. Thanks for all the work you've put in, and enjoy your future on and off the site!

Answer 5

Thanks, things won't be the same without the prime die

The moderation of this site is outstanding and one of the main reasons I choose to participate here. In the short time I've been active on this site I've come to appreciate your mod-ness and sensibilities. Wishing you all the best in your more relaxed participation here and all that you pursue and enjoy IRL.

High seven for doing so much to help make this site what it is!

Answer 6

As a steady user on the site the last few years, I just want to say that I really appreciate everything you've done for and contributed to this site. Even though you may not have been visibly super active during my time, your presence and expertise were still distinctly felt and appreciated. Enjoy your normal userhood and I hope to see you around :)

Answer 7

As a casual, mostly lurker, user, I read a lot of your answers. I am glad you take the time to get back your life and I hope to see you around whenever you want to. Moderating and contributing is a heavy stressful work for a silent crowd. Thank you for everything you did for this community. May your critical successes memorable and your fumbles comical.

Answer 8

Whew! The other answers are really good and have said so much, but I would like to show my appreciation as well. Damn....you will be missed as a Mod! What is it, 7.2 million people reached! If only this number included a fraction of all those your moderation has helped. Though even if we had that number in total, it wouldn't properly represent all of your hard work!

Thank you.