Brian Glick's farewell message

The GIA has been an incredible ride over the past four years. I won't wax poetic about how our humble publication is the greatest thing since sliced bread; we're all incredibly proud of what we've accomplished, and I'll leave it to the readers to decide just how well we reached, or exceeded, our goals. But I can comment on the people and events that have shaped the site.

I joined the site before the site was there to join. We worked our asses off getting a site ready for public consumption, finally launched, and scoured the newsgroups and message boards looking for something -- anything -- being said about us. Each passing mention gave us a thrill. A recommended link made us beam. Outright praise sent us over the top. We wanted to know that we were making a difference; it's cliched, but we wanted to know that we were contributing in a significant way to the gaming community.

Things grew. Within a month or two, our first hosted server (thanks, Randy) could barely handle the traffic. We took on new staff, got settled into a routine of constantly growing the thoroughness of our content while spicing it up with wit and personality. If the site didn't change visually, it certainly changed in less discernable ways over the years: more irreverent, even jaded writing, and a widening genre coverage base as our own tastes in gaming changed.

Both before and after I retired from active work on the site about a year ago, I met some of the most talented people I'll ever know. The passion, skill, and devotion poured into the site by these fine folks has been astounding. I feel incredibly privileged to have worked with you guys, and have formed some pretty amazing, albeit unconventional, friendships.

And even after all the years, there's still a huge thrill in discovering that we've made a difference. Thanks to everyone out there for reading us, contributing to us, and supporting us. It's been a blast in so many ways, and I hope you'll check out the next effort, Gameforms.

Cheese mode off. Thanks again, and have fun out there.

-Brian Glick