Preface
So let me preface this little (or big, kind of depends on how much I end up typing) post by saying that this is not a rant.
This is not another butthurt post about another semi-known member of 3 years leaving.
This is my post, saying good bye to the people, game and section that literally changed the direction my life has taken. And saying a sentimental thank you.
Edit/Warning: It's long... Damn it!
Introduction
I guess I should introduce myself to the newer faces around here. Or the older faces that never got to know me. I'm a former noob that goes by the name "Justei". No I don't know how to pronounce my name either, it's really dumb. But it just kind of stuck.
I started working with kal and found RageZone around 2006-2007, at first lurking around the forum and once I realized I kept coming back pretty much every day, I decided to make an account.
That was almost 8 years ago. Holy shit time flies when you're having fun.
My journey
So everyone has a unique journey playing this game, some have a journey mostly related to playing Kal. Some mainly develop private servers. Some cheat, some play fairly.
Some fall in love with others, some hate each other with a burning passion. Some get addicted, and some just quit after 2 weeks and never come back.
Mine was a little of all of that, well except the falling in love part I guess, except maybe with the game as a whole.
My journey started with accidentaly stumbling upon a little Private Server named "NeoGenesisX" after playing int for a year or so. And I was hooked, and I mean really hooked.
I found it simply amazing that a single person or a small team could host a server and add custom things!
After that I started playing on KalMax and made some really good friends, I also got my first opportunity to work on a private server on that server. And had tons of fun working alongside CptK and MaX.
From then it was a string of projects and fun for years going from server to server, just doing it for the fun without any financial incentive.
That's where I discovered my passion for developing games. I realized that I never had as much fun playing the game as I had developing things for games, and I realized that if I didn't get to do this for a living I would most likely never be completely happy with any job I took.
I could go into all the details of all the things I have done during my time in this community. All the servers, all the projects, all the drama.
But in the end, none of it really matters to me except for the fact that I had the chance to meet some incredible people with incredible talent that I would never have gotten to meet if I was merely playing this game.
So finally...
I would like to thank the friends I made throughout the years. The friends that I havent spoken to in years, that will most likely never see this.
The friends that I wish I could have told this 5 years ago, when they were still around.
Before I thank anyone else...
I would also like to thank MentaL for being an awesome guy hosting this website for so long, being a personal friend of mine and an all around awesome person, and I really treasure your continued friendship, trust and honesty. Thank you.
Some of the people that I met throughout the years might not remember me, but I remember you. So I decided to thank some of you individually, in case I don't speak to you again but you happen to lurk around these threads in the future. Kind of like a message in a bottle.
MaX (aka ToXiC now) and CptK:
Hey man, thanks for letting me into your team (which was actually really successful at the time) even though I was pretty much just a kid with 0 knowledge.
Without knowing it, you started something that would a decade later culminate in myself running my own game development studio, (successfully I might add) and making myself a career out of something I love.
I don't think I can ever repay you for that. But thank you.
DarkMatter, Ez, Ninja, and everyone else on KalMax (all versions) and Shakra V2 +.
You guys were seriously awesome, and at some times were the people I had the most contact with within a day. At times my best friends.
I regret not having more contact with you guys, but everyone takes different paths in life and it's hard to keep in touch.
Regardless, I feel like I partially grew up with you guys. And I'm really happy to have done that. I will never forget you guys.
Kealy, Sirix, Erik, Strik3r and Bjorn/General (pretty much everyone from NWK)
I know things didn't really turn out like they should have.
And with 2 of you I didn't part ways in a good way. And I regret that.
Regardless of how things went, you guys also changed my life quite a bit. You guys caught me and invited me into NWK at a critical moment in my life. My business was just getting started, and I was getting burnt out from running it and was in a bad place in general.
Regardless, things were said. And since I like to think that time heals all wounds, I would like to be the first person to apologize to one of you. Erik, I'm really sorry for some of the things I said, and I should not have been insensitive about some of the issues that you were facing. I was extremely immature about that. And I'm simply sorry about that.
To Kealy, Bjorn and Strik3r. I appreciate all the time you guys spent with me, taking my side when things went the way they did (and btw, since I have literally NOTHING to lose at this point, I didn't plagiarize any code) made me feel comfortable and appreciated and gave me the confidence to push my own team and look at team confrontations in a different way later on, so thank you.
To the rest of the people that made this section the one it is today.
Thank you for being awesome. You guys were the people that gave me constructive criticism on my first shitty map that I released. You guys were the people that liked my releases and pushed me to continue to develop, both as a developer and as a person.
Without you guys, I would not be the person I am today. And I would not be where I am today. And for that thank you.
Does this mean I'm leaving the section?
I left Kal dev a long time ago. After NWK I decided that I needed to do something on my own, and Kal couldn't really fill that hole that I needed. I needed to create something myself that I could call mine.
But I stayed around on RZ because I still loved the people, the website and because I wanted to help around as a moderator and give back some of the time that I was given. Pay back so to say.
Lately I have been so busy that I feel that I have been coming back less and less. I had to step down as moderator because I didn't have time. And I left because I didn't have time.
So I wrote this now because I might never get a chance to again. And if I get wrapped up in life and disappear for 5 years. I don't want to look back and wish I had said something.
- - - Updated - - -
Oh and since it wont let me edit. I'm sorry for anyone that I missed.
There's so many people that I have spoken to and that made an impact from this community on my life, that it's really hard to remember all the names.
But regardless, thank you.
Originally Posted by powerdrift
