I'm not really interested in crying over spilled milk; sometimes
these things work out, and sometimes they don't. I've had a wonderful
two years at Penny Arcade, and the few times I worked directly out of
the office I enjoyed the commitment and joy that everyone found in
their work.
I've learned a ton covering PAX while getting a taste at what it
takes to run that sort of show, and I was able to write many, many
stories of which I'm very proud.
This is to say nothing about the great work that Dabe Alan, our
photographer, Kristin Lindsay, who both edited and copyedited the site,
and Andrew Groen and Sophie Prell delivered on a regular basis. The
goal was always to be enthusiastic about the games we loved, and to be
ruthless with the games we hated. I think we succeeded in those two
goals.
I couldn't have asked for a better crew, and I'm proud of the
things we were able to pull off with such a small, dedicated team. This
is the way I like to work: Lean, hard, and with great purpose.
I want you to know that I read every e-mail, every comment, and
every tweet that comes my way, even if I don't respond directly. This
was always a two-way relationship, and I enjoyed our interactions and
getting to know everyone out there as a community of readers.
I met many of you at PAX, I've enjoyed the thoughtful conversation
in the comments, and I know that you have a nearly infinite amount of
sites to read. The fact that you came around here from time to time to
give us a bit of your attention, and hopefully get something out of
each story, is an amazing thing for me. You gave me your time, and I
hope I gave back something of worth.
I'm very happy with PAR, and if this is how it ends, that's not too
bad. We had a good run. We didn't fix game journalism, but the whole
idea of it being broken and needing a white knight to run in and make
everything better was arrogant and more than a little pigheaded. There
was good game writing before PAR, and there's going to be good game
writing after we go away.
I'm just so very happy that I was able to contribute to that flood
of ideas in even a modest way, and I wanted to thank you very, very
much for coming along with us.