: I like this community.
: I like it because it is small and the members are articulate enough that we
: get to know each other as individuals. On the Halo Waypoint forums, you
: don't have a clue who anybody is or what they believe, except for surface
: details like whether they like Spartans or ODSTs more. There's a few
: people who rise above it, but they are a few bright shining individuals in
: a swarm of buzzing drones.

: You get to know people here. You know them as neighbors and friends, and you
: get to know who they are beyond their hobbies. Everyone has beliefs and
: ideals, which shape everything from their politics to what they like in
: their fiction. By coming here and talking and celebrating the fiction we
: love, we slowly learn what the other believes in. Or we think we do.

: Sometimes, you read something that makes you re-evaluate what you know about
: a person. You find that you may share more than just a common interest in
: a game about a transhuman space marine shooting aliens in the face. And
: while your beliefs don't overlap, they are at least congruent.

: Thank you.

: (Also, is there any more where this came from? It's beautiful.)

Ah jeez man... Not knowing where that link was leading, I can honestly say that nearly brought me to tears when I heard something we worked so hard on begin to play. That was unexpected, and a great way to start my day. I'm glad I logged in here before heading to work.

EVO is still very near and dear to my heart. Strangely enough, just two days ago I received a call from a Chicago news station's employee saying that they were looking to highlight SomeFriends Studios in a 3-part feature that would air locally. I still haven't had the heart to call them back and tell them that SomeFriends disbanded almost a year ago.

I'm holding on tightly to all the material we finished for EVO (half of one of the walls in my room is plastered with EVO concept art) and I'm going to continue to make the necessary payments to ensure SomeFriends Studios remains a legally-viable entity. My hope is that at some point in the future I'll run into the proper programmers and designers who can use the preproduction work we got done to build the kickass game that already exists on paper (perhaps after my upcoming move to a greener state?). I'm still very emotionally invested in the goal of seeing this game come to fruition, in fact I still turn on that SoundCloud from time to time and just let the sounds of EVO wash over me. The simple fact is I can't do that on my own, and a lot of the team got impatient and walked out on me after our programmers left. Understandable, given our status as recent graduates with the need for paying jobs, but still disappointing after all the potential we had.

I won't ask anyone else to hang tight and wait with me, because I don't know how long it'll take, but understand that I'm still very committed to seeing EVO become a reality at some point.

Also, thanks for all your words about the community. I think it's people like you who are able to step forward and state their opinions clearly, firmly, and still with respect for the other community members who might disagree, that makes HBO the awesome place it is. I know there are other forums that allow this or practice it to a lesser extent even if the majority of them fall into very sophomoric debates ("Who would win in a fight...", but I really do like to think that this applies to the Halo community at large.

I don't know many other places where people can take the works they love, pick them apart for sociopolitical implications, and have a mostly civil discussion about it. Sure, things get heated at times, but that's just because this is a very passionate group of individuals, no matter what it is they might be passionate about. The fact that this scifi universe we love even gets us talking about these issues in the first place is...

... it's fucking awesome. :)