Hey Gang,

I just wanted to drop in and give you all a quick update on what's been happening behind the scenes.

This evening, Ranch resigned as an Admin from these boards and transferred ownership to me. I asked him to stay, but apparently he has bigger and better things to move on to. While he will always be welcome here at MasterMinds, I doubt he will be returning.

So where does that leave us??? At the moment I am not sure - but I can assure you that these boards will remain open.

If anyone has any concerns about anything, please feel free to drop me a PM.

Carry on!!!

Not sure how to respond here. Never thought I'd see this happen. :(

I have all confidence in you though Friend and I'm here to help where and when I can.

Hoping you are not gone for long Ranch, you are an integral part of this group of friends/team and site and it will be very different with you not around.

Wow...I don't know what to say...We'll miss you, Ranch. I'm sure Friend will do an excellent job as our new team leader.

Wow..... words have left me at this moment but i just needed to say that Ranch: if your reading this we miss you already... as my thoughts clear ill say more but it might take a while.....

At the very least I think Ranch should remain Board Staff and be able to moderate all forums since he created this space for us. Frustrating and saddening at the same time. Although I did not join the Minds until sometime much later I met Ranch and was amazed that he had so many quest machines when I couldn't even get in Inner-Space Shop. I only ask what will happen to the arcade if the need comes for and update or addition of games and whats next in store for the space?

Nick,

There are many questions right now - most of which I don't have answers to - yet.

Please understand that I did all I could do to get him to stay - short of begging - which I just will not do.

Veteran members of this team have seen him act this way and threaten to leave several times before - and I am afraid this time I was just not willing to play his game. I believe that a person should want to be here, and not have to be guilted or threatened into it - we all deserve better.

Your concerns are valid, and I honestly am not sure which direction we will go - since I know nothing about how that arcade was put together.

This will all work itself out, and I may need to call on some of you for help or advice - because most of this is all new to me. What you can all count on is that I will not abandon all we worked to build here - you are all important to me, and I cannot dismiss that as easily as others can.

Thanks again to all of you for your support - it is the only thing holding me up right now.

:grouphug:

The arcade is great fun and all, but if it is unable to be upkept, that would be fine with me too. It's the friendships on the forums that I cherish the most. :grouphug:

:unsure:

That's hard. Very brave to do.

ok i suspect more things will come to me with time. Here is what ive got to say so far.

Friend you are/always have been and amazing leader and i know you will be able to lead this board into the future with the pride and dignity we have gained. Ranch taught us some pretty remarkable lessons here and we shall carry those through with us as we set out. I see it similarly to the passing of Walt Disney. Friend you were the publicly unseen partner in Ranch's ventures yet a vital part, well all of you were but thats another story, you were the Roy for us Master Minds. When Walt left he had some plans but under Roy they flourished into the wonderfull place known as WDW resort. If such fantastic things can come from the saddning departure of a friend/family member/partner then i have great confidence in our future success. Long live the Master Minds.

more to come as my mind clears and i finished final studying.....

Well..... I know that things wont be the same but we'll carry on. Best of of luck to you Friend.

- acelillor

I am sad but I know you will do a great job friend!

:grouphug:
You know I got ya girl!!
Anything I can do to help here, let me know!!

:wub:

Friend, I'm sorry to see you have to go through all of this. :flower:

:flower: :pixiedust: :pixiedust: :flower:

Please know I have not abandoned you guys. My internet at home is still not functional and I am at work at the moment. I am VERY busy during the day so getting on here is tough.

Friend I will do absolutely anything to help you with the boards, and of course I will continue trivia in the hopes that it draws and keeps members here as something fun we have that others don't have.

Love you guys!

Hey Girl - we know you have alot on your plate - no worries. We will be here when you get back into full swing!!!

Miss Ya!!!
:hugs:

Jessie, It has taken me a while to reply to your response - because every time I read it - I would start to break down.

Your words were eloquent and I can tell that they were heartfelt.

That analogy you used equating me to Roy Disney really hit home for me. I appreciate the confidence in my leadership skills, and I have actually gotten many private messages from some of you as well - and I just want you all to know that I truly appreciate each and every one of them.

I suffered a great loss this week, in fact many of us have, but with actions speaking louder than words ever could, at least now I know where I stand - and from there I can move on - I hope you all can as well.

Here's to the future!! :popcorn:

oh friend im sorry i didnt mean to make you sad :(

Im ready to move on as well but that doesnt mean ill be forgeting this any time soon. to the future :flower:

Jessie - it was not sadness - I can't explain what the feeling was, pride maybe? But I really did love that post - so again, thank you!! My emotions have been running high these past few days, and it just really touched me.

Wow... so much has happened while i've been away!

Friend, I really admire you for stepping up to lead this team, and also for not playing joey's game this time. I don't think he realizes how much he hurts us when he throws his little tantrums, and I really respect you for being above all that. Hopefully he will see his error and return someday, but most likely not.

Here's to the future, and i'm really looking forward to getting back into the full swing of this forum when i'm back from california!

Ok, that hurt Doug. I do owe you an apology for my response via pm during the peak of what has happened, but I'd NEVER blast you like that.

First, let me thank all of you who posted with such amazing heart, you truly do bring back the roots of what we've accomplished through the years. My heart ached with joy when reading posts like Jessie's, and I agree, Friend is the Royette to what I felt was time for me step down, and for her to step up, being that she's the new SmallWorldS front runner for our pad.

Granted, she was not happy with the suddeness over what I've done, and rightfully so. We have since worked it out, I'll be here to answer whatever questions she has with technical functions of the pad, and I'll say it again, I'm excited to see the direction this amazing gal is going to take this creation. Wont be posting much though, and for that, I'm sorry. I remember a n00b member telling me I post too much anyways, time to take some advice!

I keep seeing how people were almost expecting this. Core people. So again, I'm going to try and rehash the past (in full), and ask for the main page explaination to be removed, being that I've now been deleted from our main page in which I've funded and couldn't do it myself. Lol. Craziness.

Correct me if I overlook anything.

Freak out 1 - "Build Everest Month"
Around that time in VMK, there was theory I started amongst our vet members where if I were the start room, we probably wouldn't win squat due to VMK trying not to show favortism to players like me. Friend was elected to take charge in the event, and we did everything in our Trivia Team power to perfect this event, even visit AK for a passholder preview, first hand visual of what we were doing. It's probably one of the most overlooked efforts of the team, it has lost and gained builders, and is preserved forever by Grim and Jennings. Thanks for that fellas. And after an entire day of sitting in it's lobby to present it (mostly me and mellcat) to staff, they showed up, left, and we watched builds that were straight up terrible get the recognition of being #1 in VMK. Call me big headed I don't care, but if they would have recognized what we were doing all along, we probably could have saved VMK from any kind of doom!

Freak out 2 - "Quest Denial"
It wasnt until it's last few months of life, that VMK recognized -VDWQ-. When we were up to about 6 or 7 engines, and still -TT-, I announced my retirement from the -TT-. Mostly due to VMK's incompetence with it's purpose, but reasons included my part with staffing at DWT.com. On numerous occasions, I literally begged Lou to make time and merely visit us in the game, as I felt my purpose at his site was to help promote his book (which I loved) the best I can. With such fame arising for the -TT-, he still has no clue the potential VMK fan-base we had platformed for the book.

Upsetting Friend for the abrupt decision (much like now, except I wasnt trying to leave this time, just demote myself people.. jeez.) I came back (thank you again girl, those were the days), and felt renewed.. better than ever. The "Virtual Quest Arcade" was then built, and won it's award.. during construction! I didn't even bother Lou with the news, but he posted a basic hey wow wtg, and even then, he never logged in to say yo to his members. With Friend's amazing support, we then hijacked our creation as our own, instead of it declaring it for someone who didn't care. If you google VMK MasterMinds, you might catch a glimpse of our beta testing at a lame board we jumped into just to get er' done.

Freak out 3 - "Spaced Out"
During the "Space Race Event", I went crazy with eeyore'n and building all three rooms to the limit. I was content with the finished result, but it was still kinda ugly. People couldn't figure out the track switches and locked doors (omg rof), and when staff couldn't figure it out, I deemed it a failure, and it failed. But after much criticism from most of our "flyer" advertisements at a paticular fan site, I went there and posted a bunch of jibbajabba there to ger a rise out of them about owning and losing, and it worked lmao. In my big-headed defense, the room stayed "red mickey", but mostly because of quest engine. :rolleyes:

Freak out 4 - "COPIERS!"
Remember -Virtual MGM With Quests- winning a quest award?! Omg I'd pull my hair out right here right now if I had any! If I was personally copied with a game or something, I took my issue to VMK or just laughed with an actual feeling of flattery, but if the team was copied, YOU BET I THREW A "TANTRUM"!

Freak out 5 - "Drama"
A private, coversation with a member got leaked out and caused many trust issues in which the boards shut down, things got worked out, and the pad got a sweet make over for a dreamy future.

Freak out 6 - "The Current"
I have to thank all of you here that have stood by (and in shock I know), and have let this madness blow over (and for really touching my heart, thank you). It's sad (and shocking), however, to see how some members close to me chose to handle this outcome. Both I've given inferno to, whoop dee doo I know. But it was the best gesture I could possibly display amongst homies in the game to show that hey, I got your back. Not to mention all the long hours of creating this place for people like them. And now to see it continue with Doug's comments.. these hurt the most.

True again, my abrupt action in what has to happen was messed up, but never was I out to hurt this team or it's members. NEVER. Friend and I have since virtually cried and hugged and worked things out, and I again thank you all who had faith that it would happen. All I wanted was to step down as I still feel weird about VMK closing, and I deeply thank members like Ahoy for seeing that through the haze of confusion and potential.

Walt Disney World was part of my family growing up. Visiting while all grown up was cool, but when VMK arrived, everything got amplified a thousand times. Childrens laughter.. boats passing by.. The glow of night.. being a virtual celebrity on Main Street.. Women walking by.. :rolleyes: You might blame the cervezas, but I totally give props to VMK for it all!

And after two AMAZING petitions with sigs from thousands of Disney fanatics, young and old, in attempts to save the game.. not one higher up CM stepped in. Not one. Get over it I know. My stepping down and encouraging Friend to walk the path is part of the process. And as painful as the initial start was, her and I are now super BFF's (that's right bold text bass towards!), and I'm so thankful that she is as wonderful as she is!

It's up to YOU, the members, to steer this place into what and where it is to become, YOU'VE done awesome with it so far.

:cheer:

See I thought that you intended to leave the place entirely, abandoning us and all that you worked for. This is what I had read. I didn't know you only wanted to be a regular member. What about Friend's post that said she doubted you would ever come back? That's what pissed all of us off, Ranch. But if you're here to tell us that you never intended on leaving, then I'd like to know how that confusion took place.

I have a problem confronting people that I admire. I assume say nothing when nothing can be thought of to say. Things spilled into myspace with Friend and I, things got worse where I deleted myself out of the arcade as in the heat of the moment, she was wanting more than an offer to help with just the arcade, or nothing at all. We were both unhappy, and rehashing more of it is lame. The main thing is, and I hope she still does, is that she understands I'm here to help her in anyway I can to continue maintaining this site, just from the side.. and that our friendship is stronger than ever.

Some of the blame in this instance falls on me. Since Joey and I were able to talk things through I should have posted an update. You must understand that this was a very emotional week for me (as it was for us all), and without making excuses, quite frankly I was not looking forward to having to rehash it - but I see my error now, and apologize because an update should have been posted. And as soon as I get home from work - I will start typing that up.

TY :flower: I do understand Joey, and again I thank you - because I will need the guidance and I will be asking questions when I have them.

All is right in the world again. :hugs:

I totally respect when someone feels they have to step down from a position, perhaps this was all a comedy of errors in misunderstanding....not so comical at the time. Damn we are a bunch of drama Kings and Queens and that is what makes our friendships strange and wonderful......some of you are Strange :jester: and some of you are Wonderful :flower: . :rofl:

:blink:
Come on!!!


What the He. All is going on!! :glare: