I wish I could thank Rich.

Everything else!

Moderators: Bakhtosh, EvilHomer3k

Post Reply
User avatar
snoleopard
Posts: 843
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 2:39 pm
Location: Michigan

I wish I could thank Rich.

Post by snoleopard »

I have great respect for Rich and for the GoneGold site he started. I will always believe if he could have, or if he'd been up to, letting us know the site was closing, he would have. He was (is) a good person, and was dedicated to his site. He was just too sick, or in pain, to give it the dedication it needed. He had the right to do with his site as he saw fit. Perhaps he would have told us, but maybe it would have been way to stressful for him. What I mean is, if he, or Mary Jo, had come to the forums, and started a thread saying the site was going to be closed, we all know exactly what would have happened. There would have been a 10 page (or more, time permitting) of us asking why, offering money, offering to take over the site, ect. ect. ect. It was his baby, and it may have been far too much for him to have to say goodbye to everyone. Unless he somehow tells someone the why of how it was done, we won't ever know for certain. That said, I wish I could thank him for what he did. For the great Roll Calls, that made me laugh, and some that made me cry. Most of all, for the greatest forums I've ever been a part of on the internet, and for him choosing the Mods that would help keep them that way. It was the only place I felt at home, and didn't have to worry about the 'leet dewdz' coming in and starting flame wars in every thread. We all became kind of friends there, and I'll always remember him for that. I, and I believe most everyone here, wish him and his family well, and if he ever gets his health back, and re-starts his GG, I'm sure a lot of us will wander over there. GoneGold will be missed... :cry:
That said, thank you to those of you who scrambled to get a place for all of us to go, and here's wishing that this site will be great also.
Now I'll get off my soapbox. Most of you know I'm not a very prominent poster, and starting posts usually makes me... :oops:.
Dirt
Posts: 11025
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 11:17 am

Post by Dirt »

I think Stephen was on the mark when he mentioned that well-wishes/thanks at this point is probably more of a burden to Rich's psyche than a help.
User avatar
snoleopard
Posts: 843
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 2:39 pm
Location: Michigan

Post by snoleopard »

Yes, I agree, and know that I can't thank him personally, but I do wish we all could, just so he'd know how much GG meant to everyone, and so he'd know that what he started was a success, in my eyes anyway. I do know that I can't really do that, but at least posting here about what I was thinking helped a bit.
Dirt
Posts: 11025
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 11:17 am

Post by Dirt »

snoleopard wrote:Yes, I agree, and know that I can't thank him personally, but I do wish we all could, just so he'd know how much GG meant to everyone, and so he'd know that what he started was a success, in my eyes anyway. I do know that I can't really do that, but at least posting here about what I was thinking helped a bit.
Someday, when he's ready to return to the web, he'll see this forum and the people who make it what it is and, I think, he'll know.
User avatar
Bakhtosh
Forum Moderator
Posts: 10899
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 12:24 pm
Location: The First Avenger
Contact:

Post by Bakhtosh »

We all appreciate Rich, and what he started. To be honest, I was more than a little miffed that the rug got pulled out so abruptly. Even a placeholder that said, "Sorry folks, I can't do this anymore. Thanks for everything, now let me get to work. - Rich" would have at least let us know immediately that we had to get something else up and running. As it was, it took us a couple of days before we knew enough to go ahead with plans for these forums.

Maybe it's different for those who had given a part of themselves to make Gone Gold better...for those of us who knew Rich well enough to expect something other than a slamming door.

I'm sure he had his reasons, and that they are good ones that would totally shift my paradigm, but I can't help but feel a little hurt at the way things went down.

It's like one of your best friends suddenly acting totally uncharacteristicly hostile towards you. You hold out hope that you'll be able to sit down and talk it out, but even if everything gets worked out in the end, that time will always hurt a little. If it had been someone you didn't love, it would have been a learning experience to put behind you...when it's someone you love, the wound's deeper.

I hold Rich in the highest regard. I've walked the streets with him and suffered as he went through rehab, surgeries, pain management, and crooked doctors. I don't think he's changed. I think Rich is one of the best humans I've ever had the chance to know. I'm proud of what his vision established. I'm exceedingly proud of this community of stranger-friends. I'm excited about the future here, and I hope I can sit down with Rich one day and share an adult beverage with him while he works the grill.

I think just saying this has made me feel better. Very threapudic. :)
“I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.” -Thomas Jefferson
Finding Red Riding Hood well-armed, the wolf calls for more gun control.
User avatar
dbt1949
Posts: 25688
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 12:34 am
Location: Hogeye Arkansas

Post by dbt1949 »

Yeh,to be perfectly honest I feel the way Bakhtosh does. I hold Rich in high regard and am not going to put him down but I wasn't happy about the way he ended it.
Ye Olde Farte
Double Ought Forty
aka dbt1949
kstevens70
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 9:35 am

Post by kstevens70 »

I gotta say I agree with dbt and Bakhtosh. I cant say that Im suprised that the site is gone. I think most people that have been visiting it over the years realized it was declining. Im stunned however at the way it ended. I just cant imagine it ending that way. Maybe someday we will hear the full story and it will be clearer. Anyway, this site seems to be off to a good start and a big thanks to the people who made it possible.
User avatar
snoleopard
Posts: 843
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 2:39 pm
Location: Michigan

Post by snoleopard »

I can understand what Bakhtosh and dbt are feeling. It must be much harder for the mods, and people that actually know Rich, and the ones who put so much time & work into GG, to accept the way it closed. I wish, Bakhtosh, that one day you'll be able to do as you said. If that day ever comes, raise one for all of us please.

:wink: Just one will do for all of us, don't think you could have for each of the GG'rs without having to be hospitalized.
Last edited by snoleopard on Thu Oct 14, 2004 4:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Asharak
Posts: 7907
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 9:11 pm
Location: Ontario, Canada
Contact:

Post by Asharak »

I never put work into Gone Gold, but finding out that it was/is gone without any warning whatsoever definitely threw me for an unpleasant loop, and I won't lie about being a little bitter about that.

I completely understand why it was done the way it was - like others have said, (1) a prolonged goodbye would have provoked unwanted offers of assistance that would only have made it harder for Rich, and (2) it always was Rich's private site, and as such he never owed us anything, including a goodbye.

All the same, I invested a great deal of time in Gone Gold - reading the columns and posting the forums - and suddenly to learn that all of that information, entertainment, history and nostalgia is gone is quite a nasty shock.

So ya, I would have liked a better goodbye. Even just leaving the front page up with a note of explanation for a couple of days, after closing the forums and all the content, would have helped.

I think the bottom line is that, after all the help and donations we gave to Gone Gold, while Rich may not have owed us anything, we still deserved better than that. I wish him all the best - he certainly gave us his for many years - but he could have done better at the end.

- Ash
Post Reply