Let's pay our respects to six and a half years, as well as the ride of my life

[Dazuro]

Ah, shit... I haven't been here in ages, haven't played an FE in longer still... but this still hit me really hard for some reason.  I've a lot of really good memories here.  :\

It really bugs me that this bugs me so much, though.  I all but completely forgot this place existed, yet now that it's going away, I'm getting depressed.  I feel like that little kid that doesn't want a toy until his sister takes it.

But them's the breaks, I suppose.

Just a shame this had to happen now.  FEDS may have revitalized the series, at least a little bit...  Unless that already came out and bombed without my knowledge or something...

[theshim is the shimiest shim of all the shims that ever shim]

This...hits hard.  Really, really hard.

FESS is my one and only forum.  It's the only place on the 'net where I've really felt a community, where I really enjoyed being.  FE aside - and I was playing Path of Radiance earlier tonight, so yes, I am still a fan - this forum had some absolutely amazing people and times.  I refresh FESS every time I get back to my computer, and often when I'm sitting at it working on something else.  This site has meant a hell of a lot to me (enough that I was willing to put my money where my mouth is and fork over for it, if it came to that).

I might be one of the "lesser FESSers" - I've only been around for two and a half years, only active for one and a half - but I've loved this site a hell of a lot.  It is going to be a palpable void with FESS gone, and I mean that with all my heart.

Superbus -

...thank you.

I may move to SF; I probably will move to the Ashtray.  But neither will ever replace what FESS has become for me.  We had a damn good run, FESS.  Thank you.

[Jedor]

Despite my short time here, I love FESS. In the few months (actually I think it might be close to a year, who knows) I have been here, it changed my life a bit. It might not seem like it, but I looked up to some of the members of this place (inb4someonelaughs), they inspired me to better myself during a very rough patch in my life and I believe I have done so. Whether it was talking to Sword_Saint in FESSchat or reading one of Superbus' "Grow the fuck up" posts, FESS has changed me for the better by helping me get a better handle on life and mature a little. Thank you FESS, you've changed me for the better and I don't know where I'd be at the moment if it wasn't for that.

[Jeffer]

Rest in peace...

[quanta]

Parting is such sweet sorrow, I'm sad FESS is shutting down, but I'm much happier that I found FESS in the first place. It made high school a hell of a lot more bearable, and I've met some awesome people here. It's best for the Fire Emblem community to consolidate and for the older members around here to move on. I'll probably occasionally romp over to Serenes Forest, and I'll definitely be on the Ashtray. Cy'all around.

[Pair of Ducks]

Wow.  Never thought this day would come.

Seriously, I thought we'd always plow on stubbornly somehow.

I mean, I echo the sentiment that I really don't much care for FE, but I've been around here for years just for y'all.  I've made some good friends through here.  And even those of you who I never knew very well, I've come to learn your personalities and styles.  I'll have to say I'll miss this community, but hopefully I'll continue to see those of you who really matter to me anyway.

Bus; Thanks for your tour of duty man.  If I feel relieved by this at all, it's at least knowing that you can finally just be done with this now.

And I'll definitely be around this Ashtray shindig.

[RoyLover]

HOLY - -

After so much agonizing crap from recent events (here with FESS's struggle and my own personal agenda,) I finally come back to THIS!? (Argh, another thing to add to my bad-karma list of the month.)

FESS was the FIRST forum I've ever joined...and ACTUALLY the ONLY FORUM I've been with and dedicated to it for a good...five years, almost. D: My tale of FESS is a long one...as to be expected from a very old, old member. I've seen it die and revive over and over again...and often switched status from being an active member to lurker and back onto an active member...over and over again!  I may not have known it all as I was never part of the in-crowd, but I've always watched how FESS grown...and so it makes me quite sullen to see such a big part of my teen-aging years slip away like this. D:

I've started out as that goofy, funny, extremely nice fangirl who loved Roy...all the way back in FESS1.  I came to known FESS simply by stumbling upon Paola's (a girl who I adore but no longer hinders her presence in the community) site relating to Marth's series when I was researching facts about Marth and Roy.  Yes, I was part of the Super Smash Brothers Melee crew who got into Fire Emblem, but I was one of the few who actually went out of their way to research the game.  That's how I fell upon playing my first Fire Emblem game ever...Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 and loved it ever since.  It's still my favorite FE game out of the series even as of today.  And, yes, I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the community that FESS offered when I joined and stuck with it.  TerragimaFreak, the admin at the time, was hilarious and so kind; and to think I was hesitant to PM him about the silliness to his name of a game that I adored but no one seemed to know of.  That, and I've also made quite a few long-time friends and stuck with them even when they've grown out of the Fire Emblem love.  Heck, I can still recall Superbus joining at the time.  It all seems so distant now.

Haha, I still remember when Summerwolf, along with her two other friends (I don't recall their usernames) "attacked" me when I posted something along the lines of, "ME AND ROY = DE BEST PAIRING EVER" in the FESS2's FE6 pairing topic. Actually, I think in the post, I did state that "Lilina is the only girl I'd let Roy love." ... Haha, good times.  And I won't ever forget how good the Art section was and how crazy the Fiction section was.  The random pairing stories were hilarious to read sometimes and the art community was the best I've ever experienced.  I still remember when people told me that I did a good job...though, now I look at my old work and I am faced with disgust.  Haha.  Yes, I've grown out of my extremely fangirly stage and even lost my love for Roy. (That's why I feel my netname no longer serves its purpose since...I am no longer dedicated to Roy much at all.  Not at all compared to the beginning.)  Still, I loved and still love Fire Emblem...and only hope to look forward to a new universe unknown to me from the series.  For now, I will enjoy loving the bits of Fire Emblem that I still have and await for a new one (not a remake) to bloom me back into the fandom.  So, yes, I still love it; just sipping tea at the moment.

Without FESS, I would not have matured so without the serious debates I've ventured in and read.  Without FESS, I would not have grown out of my Mary-Suey fangirly self that no longer resembles me (but I'm sure many of you fear what's become of me after being chased away from my Sue-ness....hahaha! )  Without FESS, I would not have grown to love Fire Emblem in such a rich, truthful way as I would have if I had only been a fan of Fire Emblem purely from the Super Smash Brothers series.  Knowing that now, it would have been terribly tragic if I did.  And, finally, the biggest of them all...without FESS, I would not have pursued my interest in art and improved THIS MUCH to even imagine it as my career.  Art was a hobby I did for fun...and now it's my future.  Therefore, I thank everyone who's acquainted with me, enjoyed my work through all of its crappiness, and all the fun we shared about Fire Emblem even if we were merely...acquaintances.  I still love this community and will love it enough to lay it peacefully to rest on good memories.

FESS, we had good times - - crazy times.  No doubt about it.  And no forum will ever be able to replace you as the memories you've left me are irreplaceable.

As for special regards...I don't think I will do them as most of the people I'm regarding to no longer attend here...but I will say this; Superbus, you've done a good job.  I know because I've watched everything unfold.  The actions you took in order to accomplish what you did to make the years the best it could possibly be...that's dedication I've never will ever see in anyone else and probably what inspired me to keep breathing in this place.  That's why...don't feel like you've failed, Bus; you've truly succeeded.  But as all things go up and fly, they eventually lose their energy in flight and succumb into the ground.  It's honorable of you to lay it down slowly from the sky, preventing it from crashing, and letting it breathe its last words of nothing but fond memories of flight and adventures.  You, my man, will always be someone I look up to.  That's why you shouldn't drag yourself down for this; no, not even for a second.

Now that I'm done typing my chunk-o-contributions and thanks to FESS...I bestow upon everyone the best regards in the future;

RoyLover

[Draggy Dragon Dragger]

This, makes me truly sad. FESS has been a part of my life for a long time.(I started when I was a Freshman in High school, I am 20 and in collage now.) Times must move on however, so I will try to go along with it.

A second thought, even though I have been here for a long time and watched almost every major event, I didn't contribute a whole lot here, I still have my halfway completed Fe4 walk through to finish up to.

[The Burger King]

Fuck yeah, you were the best forum ever!

[TheIntermission]

FESS was the single most important community in my internet life. It wasn't the first (that'd be RPGlair), it wasn't the biggest (I'm thinking of AnimeOnline and its children communities here), but it was the one where I was the most active, the place where I made the most links. It's kind of sad to see it go like this, but it can't be helped; Bus can't handle it anymore, he hasn't found a successor, and the activity has gone terribly down.

I joined FESS a long time ago, a month after Superbus himself. In all this time, I met a few trolls (lol Tedious), some retards (mostly temporary), some crossdressers, a few rivals and a bunch of friends. I didn't go as far as Bus himself, who pretty much got a wife out of here, but well... that's what I get for living away from everyone. It was quite awesome, even when there was drama.

Rest in peace.

I thought of writing something bigger, but I suck at making walls of text. They tend to end up being stupid and redundant, so I guess I'll pass.

[Pukachi]

I hate to admit it, but somehow, I knew the day would come soon. FESS has been in a sad decline for a while. I've enjoyed my time in this community, sad to see it go, but it happens.

I still remember when I joined FESS1. At the time I had recently quit a Sonic community(I regret ever going there) and I was looking for something else video-game related and interesting. Relatively moderate in activity, full of idiots like me screwing around with the oldschool. Unlike most, I didn't first find FE through Smash; FE5 happened to be my first FE. I first found an old site run by someone called Ethlin who I fatedly met as an FE fan over Phantasy Star Online, and I got led to Sigurd's Pants, and eventually FESS. Ha, even back then I was modding FE; I had first garnered much public interest in FE5, if I remember correctly. Good times, those were.

I may not have been an active poster over the years, I've always had the intention of being only helpful and meaningful in my posts; but I still feel connected to the place. I suppose I should at least be glad I have left a mark on the FE community as a whole during my stay here, when I introduced the Nightmare modules, to at least make something interesting happen.

Well, cheers, FESS. I love you guys~

[Tir]

This.....wow. I'm....a bit stunned. I hadn't seen this coming after the 'new ideas to improve the board' and what not came up. I may not have been very active aside from my silly fanart topic, but I lurked nearly everywhere (I just don't post much...) for about...2 years now or so. I've met some awesome people through this place ( my ex-boyfriend, and at least 10 good friends), and the wittyness of the members often struck me as funny as well.
I'll sure miss FESS, but at least I feel a bit relieved that Bus'll get a break now >_>; me and some others got pretty worried there...
:[ Bye bye FESS, it was fun while it lasted.

[etellerannet7]

I feared this would be the major announcement  

Though not having been an active poster, I have seen the happenings on the site since early velthomer (I think) and felt the whole community-spirit-thingy. The backstory I read in an article looking back, think it was written by Gunlord. I must say that FESS is the only web forum I've ever looked at with a form of historical significance.

And Superbus, you have not failed in letting to forum survive onwards, you have succeeded in keeping it great during your time as admin.

[Darkslime]

Yes. It pains me, strangely enough, to know that in the god knows how many years I've been here(early FESS2), that Superbus and Lord Glenn feel guilty about this. Bus, you did about ten times more for this community as a whole than we could ask for, and I think I speak for most of the cynical RP crew that we thought this whole FESS thing was going to die completely a long time ago(see: various schisms, internal warfare, etc.). Lord Glenn, you were awesome too. I don't think a single person here blames you for not wanting to take over as root administrator. It's something a lot of people here - being older and less into Fire Emblem now - simply have no time or motivation for.

So please, don't think of yourselves as failures. I'm going to say two words to all of you: thank you. (You have no idea how much weight those words carry.)

Now that that's out of the way, FESS has been a pretty big part of my life for quite a few years now... from early attempts at hacking FE3, to obsessing over FE4, to the amazing news that Fire Emblem would be localized, to participating in roleplays with an awesome group of people. There were people back then I'll never forget, like Jet, Eaichu(haven't seen him lately), Togie, Traces of the Blue Flame, and people now I'll hopefully still be able to hang out with at the Ashtray. It's a huge shame to see this go, but trends change. Fire Emblem has lost some of its charm, but it it what got me into the Strategy-RPG genre in the first place. I do still play the games from time to time, but FE has been mostly overshadowed by Super Robot Wars, Rondo of Swords, and various other doujin games. I'm almost ashamed to say(but not quite) that I've only been sticking around for the purpose of roleplays lately, but as that board is next to dead, and as no one has the time or enthusiasm they did when Crazed Machinations started, that's fallen apart as well.

Anyway, I kind of saw this coming, not only because of Blacky Wacky's last-ditch efforts to save everything, which you can't help but commend a little, no matter how much you hate that elitist fucker(I mean that in the nicest way possible, Blacky Wacky <3) but because of some of the shit that we've gone through in the past as well.

...What I'm trying to say is this, I guess: rest in peace, FESS - I'm gonna miss you. But in perspective, this is an online community, and not the end of the world. I'll go ahead and urge all you computer nerds living on your computer to get out a little more, to socialize more, and to generally live life to the fullest. This doesn't apply to some of you, but it does to others, and I assume you know who you are. I was like this in high school, and regret it a little now.

So long, FESS; I guess I'll see a lot of you at the Ashtray. I might join SF just because I am still attached to Fire Emblem in a certain way, and because VincentASM is an awesome guy, but I'll probably be a lurker over there.

[Shir Gold]

I was never the biggest poster here.  Nor have I been here that long.  (The vast majority of you guys probably don't know who I am. ) Nonetheless, I'm still incredibly saddened to see FESS go.  FESS was my favorite FE board; I always loved to read what people had to say here. 

I'll miss you guys and I'll miss you FESS.

[Art]

Whoah. This hits really hard.

Lately, I haven't been too active on this site what with conservatory life being the way it is, but I cared about this site a lot because I would still check back every once in a while to see how guys were doing. And now to hear that it's going to cease to exist in a week is just, whoa. And to think I found this site through a Google search...

I have some pretty fond memories of this place (even if I was a complete dumbass when I first came aboard; you remember my GEOS'ing in FESS 3, right, Sword Saint?), and the people are really nice. I've lost my FE fan-ness due to deprivation of the games, though, so I'll probably relocate to The Ashtray when it comes up.

Still, I'm gonna miss this place. Thanks for a fantastic two years, Superbus.

-Art

[Popo]

I've been a member of this community for nearly four years now--my anniversary falling on December 7th, just short of the mark--and have been amazed countless times by this community's strength and devotion throughout my duration as a member. It hardly needs to be said, but we've been through so much as a group--several moves, a handful of falling-outs, disappointment, and even an uprising or two. However, we've made it through it all with great fortitude, and that's something to be awfully proud of. It saddens me to see that FESS's life is coming to a close, yet I'm heartened to go on with the knowledge that this is due to natural causes--the ebb and flow of a fandom in general--and was not caused by some of the hurtful and malicious behavior we've seen in the past. Like a great beast that knows when it's time is drawing to a close, here we are, bowing out with grace and dignity, though I would expect nothing less from FESS.

I've learned so much during my time here, about people, about responsibility, and about growing up. I give my thanks to Superbus in particular; whether he intended to or not, I feel as though he took me under his wing and showed me the value in being a strong, dependable leader and a team player. For that, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. The experiences and opportunities I've been given while here have been invaluable to me, as a member and also as a person.

To the members of the Art Board, I thank you all as well. As I've mentioned to Tir in the past, I've always regarded you as my children to an extent. You were my responsibility to nurture as artists, and I can only hope that I've managed to impart as much insight on you as you've imparted on me. At the very least, I hope I've been able to provide you with a comfortable, relaxed place to post you artwork. While it saddens me that I will not be continuing my duties elsewhere, I encourage all of you to join Serenes Forest alongside the rest of the community and post your pieces there. You all are so talented, and SF needs all the help they can get in their art department.

So I'll catch you on the flip side, FESSers. It's been fun. More than fun, actually. It's been an experience quite unlike any other I've ever known, and most likely, unlike one I'll ever see again.

[AceNoctali]

Hello, this is Ace, replying from Japan, where I'm currently for a one-year long study trip.

Since the time I got Internet in my appartment (about one month ago), I couldn't bring to myself to go back to FESS for several reasons : my studies in my new university, my own Fire Emblem forum to take care of, the resurrection of the Réseau Pixalgo (which is dearer to me than FESS, even if FESS is one of the Internet places I cherish the most) we're preparing with Pixalgo, and the fact I didn't liked what FESS had become in the last weeks.

In fact, to tell you the truth, I was about to give up with FESS and only come for Fujimori Nuts' manga translation project releases annoucements, just like TheEnd does with the Hasha no Tsurugi translation project. So, in a way, I think it is indeed for the best to close FESS now, instead of letting it pitifully rot. And to tell you the truth, at first, this announcement haven't affected me that much, for the reasons I've mentioned earlier, but also because there's always Serenes' Forest (and the Fire Emblem LiveJournal Community) to fall back on for manga translation releases announcements, and if I ever want to talk about Fire Emblem with English-speaking people.

Plus, I dunno if that was coincidental or not, but the date of closing, November 21th, is the date of both my birthdate and Terranigma Freak's.


But, when I thought about how much time has passed on, and how FESS has influenced my life, I had a tinge in my heart.
As you may (or may not) know, I'm one of FESS long-timers here, having been there since FESS1, and thus seen the forums go through lost of things. Plus, FESS was my very first big introduction to the Occidental Fire Emblem fandom (and was so far the only English-speaking FE forum I've ever participated in), and thus has a special place in my heart. I'll always remember the good times I had there, and the kind members, both in the past and present, I met there, such as Starwolf, TheEnd, Summerwolf, NoBaka, Superbus (who I witnessed his arrival in FESS and rise in power ~_^), Gunlord, Iris, MageKnight 404, Fia, FireLizard, VincentASM, and many others I probably have forgotten mentioning T_T

So yeah, parting from FESS is hard, after such a long time and such wonderful memories. But I'm sure we will meet again somewhere, very probably on Serenes' Forest forum.


In fact, I think this pretty much sums up what are my feelings currently towards this news.
I've taken some time to translate the lyrics from Japanese to English (original lyrics are findable here), just hope my translation isn't too sucky :


On a Sunday afternoon at the riverside, as you were playing amateur baseball with other boys,
Sitting on a bench, I was staring at your awe-inspiring back

Looking inside your innocent eyes, which were then as playful as a kitten’s,
I became aware of your big dream

Even if you meet new people, even if time elapses and today becomes yesterday,
Don’t lose to this and face it, and become stronger
If you stay true to yourself, you’ll always shine
“Farewell” is the word of the beginning
Hello and good-bye
Hello and good-bye

“Don’t go anywhere, I want to be at your side forever”
That moment where I hug you vanished under the evening sky

“So you’ll separate from your friends…” No matter how hard it will be to be separated from you,
I said this, pretending to be tough

That smile from that time, the future you’re searching for,
I will cherish both of them in my mind, so I won’t cry
If you stay true to yourself, you’ll always be in my heart
Even if I know we’ve chosen different paths
Hello and good-bye
Hello and good-bye

Even if we don’t meet again, even if we never meet again,
I’ll never forget this wonderful feeling you gave me
I will run after my dreams, I will run after you
“Farewell” is the word of the beginning
Hello and good-bye
Hello and good-bye


So, hello, and good-bye, FESS. Thanks for all you gave me since 5 years ago. ~o~

[Crystal Shards]

I am not going to waste everyone's time writing a long post (or rather, I'm not going to waste MY time since probably no one will read the whole thing), but while I am sad FESS is going down, in part I am glad, because Superbus was killing himself over it. Most of you really have absolutely no idea how much he's put into this site.

And while I still maintain that my week off didn't affect anything (and that Chris did not, in fact, need to cut his week off short) since nothing got done anyway (we had discussions of the place shutting down BEFORE that; I doubt my week off really had THAT much of an impact), I do apologize that life got in the way. Emotionally, I could not handle the fact that my boyfriend found his roommate dead in his apartment and was taken in when he called the police. As a suicide survivor myself, I knew I had to drop as much as possible to be there for him through all the conflicting emotions. I don't know that Chris wouldn't have done the same thing for Aileen, which is why I'm a bit resentful that he keeps pointing it out, to be honest. None of this is important in the end, however, because what happened happened, and we can't change that.

The point is this: Chris and I did have a bit of help on the website, and I would like to thank them here. Hyde, RoyLover, and Jyosua helped out on the website, and if he hadn't have gotten suspended when he did, Judas would have been coming back. I will admit I was not an effective leader in this regard. I was used to doing everything myself (since Furby was often of no help whatsoever and as Chris mentioned, Judas ended up sitting on his hands) and on Mercury Ice everyone pretty much did what they needed to do automatically. I am not as good at guiding as Chris is. So I apologize that the website flopped, despite the hard work of everyone involved.

I guess this is turning out longer than I wanted it to, so... thank you to the staff. Thank you to the few members that I got close to. Thanks to everyone else, I guess, for existing. I will not be joining SF as I have no interest in FE whatsoever and I think it's time I moved on, and I am not interested in the Ashtray for other reasons that don't need to be mentioned here. If anyone is interested in talking to me, they can PM me within the week with their AIM/YIM/MSN and I will add them, or they can join Mercury Ice. If not, then... it was nice knowing you all.

[Laylea]

FESS was the single most important community in my internet life. It wasn't the first (that'd be IBWF), it wasn't the biggest (lRO and its number of reincarnations/wipes), but it was the one where I was the most active, the place where I made the most links. It's kind of sad to see it go like this, but it can't be helped; Bus can't handle it anymore, he hasn't found a successor, and the activity has gone terribly down.

I joined FESS a long time ago, a few months before the end of FESS1 I think. May, 200X, of god knows how long ago. In all this time, I met a few trolls (lol Tedius), some retards (mostly temporary), some crossdressers, a few rivals and a bunch of friends. I didn't go as far as Bus himself, who pretty much got a wife out of here, but well... I'm stealing her anyway. FESS was quite awesome, even when there was drama.

Rest in peace.

I thought of writing something bigger, but I suck at making walls of text. They tend to end up being stupid and redundant, so I guess I'll steal TheEnd's post just like old times.

Yeah, I haven't been active in forever, and I was never truly active on the forums in the first place -- I was always behind the scenes.

But I've made and kept some amazing people from here, and those friendships mean that FESS will never die in the way that's most important. In the interim, I say goodbye to FESS itself -- not with tears but with a smile, for the people that made this place what it was.