It’s been a helluva rollercoaster ride here at SG.
I don’t think it’s said enough but literally everyone that is a part of Steam Gamers deserves a huge thank you. You don’t have to be a staff member here to create change; there are plenty of people here who are content with being a regular member that are involved in some way that helps with the growth of this community. You’re all contributing to the community in some way; you can play on the servers, you can help support the community by donating to help keep the place running, offer to help in some manner, or you can make suggestions and share ideas you have. Each one of you has shaped this community in some way or form that it exists today because of you.
I want to personally thank each one of you from the bottom of my heart. I’ve been a member of the community for a decade now (ignore the forum date). I remember I found SG because of the Minigames server. I hopped on because the map was mg_south_park and I’m a sucker for South Park. I ended up staying because I didn’t know I’d have so much fun over a simple map. It led me to learning about other cool maps like re_skybunker and mg_speed_domination. Over the years I rotated between the other numerous servers SG had to offer back in CS:S.
For someone who has stuck around for 10 years in the community, I believe that all my interactions with the many people that I’ve come across here has helped shaped me as a person as well. I know that sounds funny to read but we’re all on a gaming platform socializing with each other that it becomes a part of our lives and it’s incorporated into our daily routine to come back here so often. There is something charismatic about this place and the people who engage in it.
Whether it’s for better or worse, words can’t explain how much I’ve seen this place change in 10 years. I wouldn’t be standing here as a Director of the community without the people who believed in my work as a CA that allowed me to transition to AO and eventually BD. The people who vouched for me know exactly who they are, so they are a part of my journey here and I thank them for trusting me. My time in SG has led me to coming across so many damn people that it would be absurdly long to list how each person has been influential in some way. I won’t be listing names because I don’t feel it’s fair to everyone and I don’t want anyone to feel left out because of it. Just know that I had the pleasure of getting to know you in some form; whether it was in voice on TS/Discord, playing on the servers, interacting on the forums, helping you whenever you had a question for me, etc. It’s obviously no secret that we all have our fair share of people we’ve come across that we can dislike, but it doesn’t mean I don’t acknowledge you for what you brought to the table, and I respect it and you for it. If you recognize me and we interacted in some way, I just want you to know that I cherish the memories we made together, and that I’m happy we met here in Steam Gamers. Thank you for the love.
Don’t give up on Steam Gamers. I’ve been a member of multiple communities across different games, and one problem I’ve seen is that most communities don’t last as long as SG has. I want to be able to come back here in another 10 years and see how far it's made it. Will I return once again for a hat trick? Only time will tell. In the meantime, please don’t give on up this place.