Goodbye MikeJames?

So I was reading this blog - http://www.2old2play.com/Blog/MikeJames and said to myself wtf? I do not know MikeJames at all but I was bummed by the blog. I have only heard of him from the video that was posted with the the chicago lan info. I joined this site this year so am a noob, but I was really lucky to hit it off with a good group from the Maniacal Marauders. They happened to be recruiting and sent me a note when I joined the site - all luck.

Now I am not necessarily best friends with any of these folks but that's ok. We have a good time, very active clan site, play together pretty frequently and can discuss things not gaming related. Some of which make me blush to think about. Anyway, I think that I am extraordinarily lucky since I joiined during that big rush around the XBL playdate and have been able to get a lot out of the community.

I would guess not as many people are as lucky - especially if they join when not too many clans are actively recruiting. Then they do not ge a chance to play with certain people frequently - which is how friendships are born. But then again not everyone is here to make friends more to have a ready list of playmates. This is fine too. But perhaps there is a way to set up a part of the site to cater to that need as opposed to clans which are more group oriented? There are some "unofficial" FoF tags set up around here for people who play certain games (but don't necessarily want to be a clan) - perhaps that could be made more structured thorugh the site? Giving more people who are looking to play and either aren't in a clan or whose clannies are not online at that time, a place to find ready made playmates. As an example, there is a gearheads 2o2p fof tag set up here (a good idea BTW) but membership is totally arbitrary and people can get added and booted at will. If there was a place on the site that one could put their name and it was more an official list of people looking to play - that might help those who are just looking to play.

But I digress. MikeJames blog showed me how little I know of the site and its history. Yes things evolve in order to survive, but not knowing the past is a shame. I spend a fair amount of time on the site and have picked up some of the vibe via the leaders like doodi and dsmooth but it is only a little bit. Now I am not saying we should have a history lesson or anything but what if there were a way to "meet" some of the folks who have been around? Or interesting new ones? Perhaps - podcast interviews getting to know a member/founder/someobdy who sounds interesting? More official articles are interesting - for example I like waterborns new posting on digital memories since that appeals to me. He posts like a crazy man already so I knew what he was up to but others might not have. There are so many blogs and too little time.

end rant - so goodbye MikeJames, I never knew you, but feel that I owe you something. So my ideas here are an attempt to offers some positive change from someone who only sees 2o2p for what it has become as opposed to someone like you who sees it from the view of where it has been.

Thanks.