Account milestone threads have always been an interesting topic to me. With a community as large as this one, every single day is someone’s account birthday. Very often they can be nothing more than a cry for attention, but my favorite threads are always when someone hits a major milestone. Anyone that has hung around here for a decade has been through a number of changes around these parts. One’s candid reflections on their time here offers insight into what has kept them coming back. Their thoughtful suggestions for what they’d like to see help shape the future of this place. I ran that gamut for my 10 year account-iversary, however today is a very unique day. As of today, my account is officially 13 years, 5 months, and 9 days old. The day I conceived this incredibly creative and unique username, I was 13 years, 5 months, and 9 days old. I have spent exactly half of my life as a member of Bungie.net. I have been joking for a couple years now that my account might be older than some of the members of the community, but after today it will have been older than I was the day I joined. If you are to take any moment of my life, there’s a 50% chance I had an account here while it took place. I have reflected on the past and what the “good old days” were like in many threads before this one, so that is not what I wanted to discuss here. Instead I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you, the community, for all of the memories and the entertainment and the fun times I have had. This place has always held a special place in my heart because it was an introduction to depths of the internet that I hadn’t known existed. For every troll there are countless more connections I’ve made here on the various forums, both private and public, that have lead to a lot of laughs and a lot of friendships. Many of you I have spent hours of time with gaming, from Mech Assault, Ghost Recon, Unreal Championship and Rainbow Six 3 through the Halo 2/3 era into Call of Duty and Destiny. I’ve even been lucky enough to meet a few of you and shake a couple hands over the years. You guys are the reason I keep coming back, even if not as often as I once did, so I thank you for being a cool group of dudes and gals. And while the heart of the 7th Column has always been the players, enough love isn’t shown to the architects of our playground. Guys like Achronos and Stosh (even though he was just a fan at the time) helped build this place, and guys like DeeJ have kept it running. I know it’s an unpopular opinion among the old guard to send any praise Bungie’s way because of some of the changes around this place, and I’ve voiced my opinions when I have disagreed before, but you all have put in a great deal of effort to keep this place standing. I don’t want to say “thank you, Bungie” as others do because it’s very impersonal. I wanted to extend a sincere, heartfelt thank you to all of the individuals that punch the clock each day and grind through on minimal sleep and occasional hangovers to keep this engine running. I know not every change around here is your individual decision to make. At the end of a long weekday when you get home, tired, and are reflecting on what you have professionally accomplished, I want you to know you have had a significant impact on my life, and your contributions to this place have not gone unnoticed. I have had more joy in my life because of the things you guys do, and if nothing else I hope you realize the impact this place has on the lives of millions of people. Well anyway, thanks for listening to this internet-old man’s ramblings. I’ll be heading back into public forum cryosleep soon enough. Just remember to wake me…when you need me.