I am just going to start with the fact that I am a very weird guy. In a way I have wanted to win User of the Year for a very long time but now that I have won it I don’t quite know why. I guess I just like winning things. I can’t say that I am like Yoblazer where the victory itself means a lot to me, it is more in the details where I derive my satisfaction. I sat down at my computer yesterday and the first thing I noticed was Alec saying my victory was well deserved and long overdue. That meant a lot to me. I don’t think a lot of people really get why anyone would follow User of the Year or why anyone would want to win it. It has nothing to do with User of the Year, it just is a good chance for amazing people like Alec to give me praise I don’t think I deserve sometimes. User of the Year is nothing but a collection of people telling other people how they feel about them through their votes. For example, Zea and Maria like to mock everyone for their enjoyment. If that doesn’t shine through in User of the Year I don’t think you were paying attention very well.
Not to steal The Rock’s gimmick but it is about the people. The people behind the votes. On this little message board of ours I have always been lucky to have great friends. People like Red who I’ve known from way before I ever knew what a GameFAQs even was. I remember back in 2003 I made TheCalmness and DP my advisors for god knows what. I wonder if DP even remembers that. I remember bonding with Wigs over my AP History questions I did for bonuses in the Survivor contest I took over for MWIS. Alec I first knew on from the baseball board and when I saw him posting here it blew my mind that a person could be on two message boards at once for some weird reason. It shows Alec’s great patience that he can count me as a friend even after all of the one sided conversations we have had in regards to board 8 baseball. I am passionate, and that is probably the only kind word I can say for my behavior about that project at times.
Since I have been coming to board 8 regularly for nine years now I could make this a very long post highlighting a lot of people, but I don’t find much of a need to do all that, I just wanted to make sure I included my fellow finalists in here and thank both of them for the tremendous amounts of content and sheer fun they have brought to the board. It is them, along with so many others, that made me decide to stay year after year on this board like I have nowhere else. 9 years later very little about me is the same. I like completely different things, I have moved several times, and I am very glad to say I am not the same person who clicked on board 8 for the first time.
I love this place. I don’t regret a second I’ve spent here. I think everything in life is what you make of it. I feel I’ve learned a lot because of board 8 about the world and about people. I have had fun, I have found my motivation to pursue my dreams, and I have learned so much about being a better person. For many the idea of those last two would seem laughable about a message board to which I would say it seems I am just awesome at taking opportunities in unexpected places!
So all of that sappy and boring stuff said I have won User of the Year which means to keep all of the dozens of people I rallied quiet I must appease them. Appeasing rallied people isn’t easy, just ask XIII! It takes a lot of different promises being kept and what I like to call dynamic bribing. You see XIII’s rookie mistake was that he begged and pleaded with people, which just isn’t smart. No, what you must do to be successful is offer them cool stuff and then fulfill these bribes to the fullest extent! Only then will people keep their silence. So, in a completely unrelated segment, here is what I am going to do because I won User of the Year: