User blog:Bondpedia/Leaving Soon

Hi again guys. It has been fun being back but I can't stay. This time, my departure will be permanent.

I have just nominated Awyman13 for our Innovation Award. Archiving that discussion will be my last act here before I disappear. That's 7 days away. If you need any help, you have these last few days to get it. Between now and then, I will be around to check on how the new forums are working out and how everything is running.

The reception the new forums has received has so far been generally negative, with Yuri being particularly scathing. If the reviews are still as bad in 7 days, I will switch it all back (or sooner if demanded).

I feel you deserve a reason for why I am leaving, so here it is:

I have edited this wiki for almost 6 years - the first 3 of them, I was here almost every hour that I wasn't asleep or at school. At it's peak, there were at least a dozen users active at all times of the night and day and 24-hour discussions and debates. Together, we built this place from nothing.

When I was upgrading our new b'crats, I gave a glance to the names of our inactive admins - the likes of SSD and Pete. I had some of the best years of my life working alongside them and ended up knowing most of them just as well as my real-life friends. Today, none of those people are here anymore and this is barely recognizable as the same place. It is just a shadow that has been left behind by all of them but me.

With both Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4 failing to produce significant numbers of new editors, the proposals I made at Forum:Changes were my last-resort idea for boosting participation here. Since 2 of the 3 were rejected and the other is hated, I can no longer think of any way to turn around the decaying user base here on the wiki.

There was once a goal to always be bigger and better. I feel that not only will this place never get any bigger than it is now, but it will never be as big as it once was. Unless something massively changes soon, those golden days will never return. Having helped build this place up from nothing, seeing the signs of that every time I log in is heartbreaking for me. With that in mind and with no hope left, I have to confess that I no longer enjoy being here.

We have 3 newly upgraded, capable b'crats - and Yuri if he decides to stay on - so there should be no need to leave me messages anymore. It's time to move on. This place is in your hands now.

Thank you for the good times.

02:55, December 8, 2013 (UTC)