cracker informed me a few days ago that he has decided to resign from the Civ3 GOTM administrator position, and I respect his decision. cracker administered the Civ3 GOTM for about a year. He brought a new vision to the GOTM and managed to make the already popular concept even more fun to play and experience. The number of submissions increased significantly, thanks to the hard work of cracker and the GOTM staff members.

While cracker will no longer be involved in further GOTM administrative activities, he is helping the GOTM team preparing the GOTM game for December to ensure a smooth transition.

On hehalf of the entire CFC staff, I would like to thank him for all the time and effort he spent making the GOTM a greater success and wish him best of luck.

I am pleased to announced ainwood as the new Civ3 GOTM administrator. ainwood has been heavily involved with the GOTM for a long time, and I am confident that he will do an excellent job. :)

Thanks for supporting and playing the GOTM!

Well, is this the place to say thanks and stuff ?

So. Thanks a lot cracker ! :) I had been wanting to play GOTMs since the 1st one, in the days where I didn't have the required computer to play Civ, and so waited until GOTM 19 to play them. You helped me a lot trying to find out how I as a French player could play those great modded games. I owe you respect because it took some of your free time...

Well, I'm not surprised at all by this news. I had been expecting that for 2 weeks ; it started with an obscure answer by the man via PM... Before that I was thinking he would continue for a long time, but now I completely understand his kind of burnout. I'm myself somehow burnt out on GOTMs, but there's no way I took as much time as him for this event, of course.

It could be nice to hear from you, cracker, in some near future, so as to know what you're going to do, in terms of Civ, computer games, or other stuff. :) Will you browse this forum from time to time ? Will you play some games (GOTMs, SGs) ? :D

As for ainwood, congrats ! [party] If you plan to set up regular (unmodded, except the map) C3C GOTMs next year, once the Big BugsTM are gone, then I'm all for it, and may come back to the competition when I have more time. :)

Cracker, you deserve all of the accolades that I am sure you will get from subsequent posts on this thread. Your tireless efforts to make sure that we had interesting and challenging games to play is greatly appreciated and will be sorely missed.

My congratulations on a job extremely well done.

Best wishes to cracker in whatever he does next; GOTM has benefitted hugely from his input and guidance over the last year.

You've a big set of shoes to fill, ainwood; stick some newspaper in the toes is my advice :)

Many thanks for all those great games, Cracker, and for your staunch support for the Mac and Civ3 v1.29 playing communities. See, you've trained at least one of us not to say the "v" word!

I wish you the very best of luck in whatever you are planning to do with the rest of your life. I know you'll apply the same total dedication to it that you have demonstrated here. Please keep in touch and let us know what you are up to. :thumbsup: :wavey:

Congratulations, Ainwood. No doubt you'll still be wearing your old hat as you don your new one, so I hope juggling is included in your repertoire :p

Thanks guys.

And to say that I have big shoes to fill, is about right - lets just hope I don't trip over them too much. ;)

Cracker has done a great job, in attracting new players, including mac players, picking up the tournament players, and turning the GOTM from a site-wide-game to an experience. The next two games have been prepared by him, so you will all still be able to experience the quality of his efforts for a while yet.

I am looking forward to the challenge, especially working with the team to shape-out exactly what the future of the GOTM will look like, and how we can support conquests whilst still looking after the Mac community.

In this, I'd also like to welcome AlanH to the GOTM staff. He has already been doing quite a bit behind the scenes, and it seemed only natural to bring him in formally.

So, thanks again to cracker, and hopefully we'll see him back participating in the GOTM in the future. :)



And, you may also hve noticed tht Creepster has retired as well, which I believe was due to overwhelming work commitments. But hopefully we'll see him from time-to-time as well.

I want to echo the many thanks to Cracker for all his work. In particular, the effort put into making a comparable GOTM between v1.29, Mac, and PTW, when it probably would have been easier to have seperate "divisions" was greatly appreciated. Also the imagination and research into creating the experiences of the historical civs, without duplicating their actual maps, etc, and showing the challenges they faced, was truly great. Best of luck, and hopefully you will get to finally "play" some of the games now, instead of all the work!

Enjoy retirement Cracker. Maybe now you can play a GOTM now and then. :goodjob:

Great news :D

Congrats to ainwood !

cracker...

Sorry to hear that you are going.

As a Mac player I became involved in gotms over the last year and that was mainly due to the work of yourself and Brad. My play, understanding and enjoyment of the game has increased exponentially as a result of the the whole gotm process.

Thank you so very much for all that you have done, the patience that you displayed and your humour.

Ciao and bon voyage.

Ainwood, congrats and why am I not suprised that AlanH finally came on board officially. Kudos to you, Mac Addict.

I don't have the words in English to express what I'm feeling right now. This came as a shock to me even if... Whatever, I hope you will still be around cracker and hope to hear from you.

Thank you again for the great job.
Originally posted by dojoboy
Enjoy retirement Cracker. Maybe now you can play a GOTM now and then. :goodjob:
cracker must play every GOTM from now on. I've been hoping to be able to compare my games to his for an year now.

ainwood, expect to receive mail from me, and I know you can do it.

Just a simple Thanks to Cracker. You have done a great job.

Wow! What a suprise. Good luck with whatever your plans are. I hope to see you in the GOTM spoilers. I have learned a lot from your post and websites. When my game crashed you were there with the techinal help also. All of your GOTM's have been a real challenge for me. Thanks..

I'm sorry to hear that the GOTM Empire builder has retired - it is a dark day.:( I always wondered if Cracker was human - designing the games,play testing,keeping all the demanding GoTM players from eating each other and holding down a job with wife and kids at the same time. It now appears that he was human....but only a very little bit human, the rest is quite obviously machine. I hope cracker that you enjoy your well deserved oil change and tune up.:)

Congrats Ainwood! Although I don't know what you are about. From going through old posts I remember cracker posting a mission statement when he took over from Matrix. Any chance of you doing the same?

I am glad that you are now on the staff Alan, that is the one bit of sure fire good news and it suggests that Ainwood might know what he is doing. Hopefully all his decisions will be as good as this one.

Thank you for all your hard work, Cracker. You provided hours of truly superb entertainment. I am not sure what you do for a living, but I hope it involves game design: you are far too good at it!

Thanks for all the great games, cracker!

And all hail to the new GOTMaster!

cracker,

you know what I think of you, and you know I am pleased you are no longer a mod - but personal matters aside you did an excellent job on GOTM (though I persoanlly think fog and volcanons suck :p) - thanx you very much indeed for all your troubles with GOTM! You helped make CFC a special place, and whatever I personally hold against you, the overall influence you had was certainly very positive.

I have only been playing since GOTM23 but it obvious how much of a contribution you have made to GOTM.

Thanks and good luck with your new projects.

Shame that cracker couldn't have hung on to a role within the GOTM team. He brought so much to the table.

I must echo the mac community's thanks for all your work in enabling us the compete on even terms with the GOTM community.

Welcome ainwood - you have a reputation of excellence to maintain - but we all know a kiwi's "she'll be right" attitude with the help of a bit of No 8 will see you through. Unfortunately I'll miss cracker's swan song GOTM 26 as I will be in Godzone for the next 6 weeks but I will not read the spoilers and give it a go on my return.

Thank You, cracker! for all the work you have done over the last year!! i've only been able to submit a couple of the gamesthat you had input on, but i enjoyed each and every one of them. you have done an excellent job:goodjob:

good luck ainwood!! bring it on!

Cracker,

many thanks for all the enjoyable games you and the whole GOTM-team has brought to the table. Being on this board for quit some time I have seen the GOTM concept evolve from a basic civ competition to a proffessional run and greatly enjoyed gaming experience around the world. :thanx:

I have enjoyed it greatly (and will in the future). I'm confident that Ainwood will continue as succesfully on the good groundwork that Cracker and his team has put down.

Hope to see you on GOTM as player.

Good luck and thanks,
MPF

Cracker's retirement made me think of the truism that you have to choose among fast, cheap, and good. Cracker seemed to be defying the laws of nature in his ability to indefinitely design and administer the GOTM. Nothing that amazing lasts forever, but it made for a fantastic year - especially for the emergent Mac community. If anyone on the scene not named Aeson can keep the GOTM close to what it has been, it's ainwood. Since he'll have Aeson's help, I have a lot of hope that the GOTM will continue to stimulate and entertain.

Thanks, I'm looking forward to meeting you in the GOTM arena.

I've stopped playing the GOTM's for the time being, in favor of the conquest scenarios. I did play 17-24 however, and enjoyed them all. I'll be poking my head in here now and again to see what Ainwood does.

many thanks to all the gotm staff members (past, present and new) who sacrifice their own personal time so others may enjoy a quality game.

ps. Can you shed any light on when the QSC results and the global rankings will be updated? ....I had to ask...

Congratulations Cracker on a very well-deserved retirement. [party] You've contributed much to the community.

Congratulation also to Ainwood. May your reign be as fruitful as Cracker's!

Many thanks to Cracker, your game design breathed life into a dieing event. Each one of your games was a unique event, something that any random map could never compete with.

Thanks to Cracker for helping us to become better.

Your game designs were excellent and very instructive. I hope we hear more from you because you are an excellent teacher and mentor. Thanks for all the QSC lessons and GOTM web pages.

Congrats to Ainwood and Alan H. We look forward to what you have to offer and thank you for your efforts.

Originally posted by Txurce
Cracker's retirement made me think of the truism that you have to choose among fast, cheap, and good. Cracker seemed to be defying the laws of nature in his ability to indefinitely design and administer the GOTM. Nothing that amazing lasts forever, but it made for a fantastic year - especially for the emergent Mac community. If anyone on the scene not named Aeson can keep the GOTM close to what it has been, it's ainwood. Since he'll have Aeson's help, I have a lot of hope that the GOTM will continue to stimulate and entertain.

Very poignant, Txurce. How does it go now,.... "Its better to burn out than to fade away!" :goodjob:

Thanks cracker!

Cracker,
Thanks for many long happy hours in GOTM! Good luck to you.
Welcome Ainwood.

Cracker, you've given us so much that any words I can find seem inadequate. You've given us predictability, integrity, structure, and a wonderful game every month. Multiple discussion threads, the QSC, different levels of challenge, and more. (Oh and did I mention the wonderful new game experience each month?) Thank you. :worship:

Ainwood, should we be congratulating you or commiserating? :) Seriously though, your bravery in stepping up to this is admirable, and clearly we appreciate it. Thank you for taking GOTM onward.

Well, there were several mentions of events leading to this, so it isn't a complete surprise, but it's sad to see such a well-respected leader step away. :( On the other hand, it has to be a tremendous relief to be able to retire while still on the top.

I first visited this site and downloaded a GOTM in my second month of playing civ, and got more out of losing most of these games than I have out of random wins. Thanks cracker for a wonderful experience! :thanx:

Welcome ainwood! May your games bring pleasure to these great players (most greater than myself) and your turn in the hotseat be merciful. ;)

Congratulations ainwood!

Thanks cracker for your dedication and good luck . I certainly hope you could play some game so I can still benefit from your experience :worship:
Welcome ainwood ...

PS. On the side note, maybe we could have a presentation of the GOTM team so that we could acknoledge even better the immense work put into the games

:thanx: Cracker

Gotm 26 announcement is on the board. :thanx: Ainwood

Hi cracker,

Thanks for the excellent work you did for gotm and the tournament. Hopefully you will find some time to play the gotm.

all the best

Ronald

Thanks Cracker!

It's a little embarrasing to find myself saddened at the loss of someone who supported me in playing a computer game. But it's how I feel.

I hope you will find a way to contribute to our community in the future cracker, as you are such a big part of what makes this forum what it is. In any case, you have my best wishes for whatever you decide to do next. Thanks for everything.

Good luck Ainwood. I'm looking forward to seeing what you have in store for us in the new year.

Out with the old and in with new :D

My thanks to cracker who turned a harmless computer game into a way of life for me :)

I was bumbling along playing Chieftan and not really seeing what all the fuss was about until I stumbled over GotM 16 and thought "I'll give this a go". I cannot think of another game that has given such a huge ROI as Civ/PTW and I wouldn't have realised that return without your work cracker.

Congratulations to ainwood and AlanH. Be warned that the GotM community expects great things from you both :D

I'm sure you are both up to the challenge and I look forward to seeing in which direction our new helmsman and crew will sail the good ship GotM.


Ted

Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi!

(The King is dead, long live the King!)


Sigh...

Many Thanks, Cracker!! The work you have put into GOTM has made the experience very rich, entertaining, educational, ... etc. In addition to the many outstanding features you've added to GOTM that have already been mentioned, I also wanted to include the Free-Fire Freaky Friday threads, which allowed the GOTM players to learn a little more about each other (I'll never view the color orange the same!). I've always enjoyed the civilization experience, but the last year has been just an amazing set of games. I know it must be very tough being in the 'hot seat'; your work and effort have been greatly appreciated and enjoyed.

And congrats Ainwood! I look forward to the future of GOTM.

Good luck on your new job, ainwood!
But since you've always been an excellent GOTM staff member IMO I trust you'll do great. ;)

Originally posted by TedJackson
I was bumbling along playing Chieftan and not really seeing what all the fuss was about until I stumbled over GotM 16 and thought "I'll give this a go". I cannot think of another game that has given such a huge ROI as Civ/PTW and I wouldn't have realised that return without your work cracker.


I too fall into this category, and cannot express how much I have learned while under Cracker's tutelage. THANK YOU!!! In the words of Sir Winston Churchill, "Never before has so much been owed by so many to so few." That is so true of all of us who play GOTM, and enjoy CFC. While I will say that this is especially true of Cracker, that may only be becuase he was so much in the public spotlight. Enjoy a well deserved retirement.

Congratulations and WELCOME Ainwood to a position as the chief supplier in a neighborhood of crazed addicts! (No offenses intended, but at times it seems to fit!) While I too have suffered some burnout of late, I am still able to rouse myself for at least downloading the files, and striving to complete the QSC.

I am concerned that QSC will be lost, as it was such a valuable learning tool. While I understand the frustrations that came with each release and patch from Firaxis, and how it impacted QSC, I deeply saddened that I arrived on the scene too late to gain from using the tool to compare my own games. I am not even close to being in the same league as most here, but appreciate the chance to learn from experts. To quote Cracker, "We will catch up on the QSCs and support the QSC for at least as long as I
am around." I hope that QSC survives.

With greatest respect,
Row And Live

Cracker

I can't add anything new to the posts above but just wanted to say a massive THANK YOU for everything you have done to make my gaming experience so much richer than before. The innovations that have been made since you took over the administrators post have taken GOTM onto another plane and I hope that your legacy lives on under the new management.

All the best for the future (will we see you playing GOTM again now?) and take time to reflect in the glory of a job well done.:goodjob:

thx Cracker ..
Gl Ainwood.

Thank you, cracker, for your tireless work and the great achievement of bringing structure into the complicated competition that is GOTM. You have my gratitude.

Cracker's retiring from GOTM? Well crud now we'll have to burn out ainwood by asking questions about GOTM technical issues through posts. I think I'll try and run GOTM26 with Conquests and start a thread as to how it crashes. :rolleyes:

Thank you Cracker for your time, your efforts enhanced CIV immeasurebly. Enjoy just playing for a while.

I look forward to another year of GOTM, good luck and thanks to ainwood and Aeson for carrying the torch. :love:

that's what I thought...you get edited! Really Cool Guys!


Well, I was going to let you get away with just having your post removed.

Despite your personal feelings towards cracker, your post does nothing to acknowledge the effort that cracker has put into the gotm, which has been immense.

This thread is here to thank him for his input. If you don't want to do that, fine. Don't post at all.

Flaming / trolling anyone will not to be tolerated.


Respect the authority of moderators
Public discussions of moderator actions are not allowed on the forum. It is also prohibited to protest moderator actions in titles, avatars, and signatures. If you don't like something that a moderator did, PM or email the moderator and try your best to resolve the problem or difference in private. If it's not resolved or if you don't receive a reply from the moderator after 24 hours, you can then PM or email Thunderfall.


@LtColjt: your post was removed because I consider it to be trolling. If you want to explain it, then please PM me.

Redwood, I could see your post getting plucked but I said nothing wrong.

Gee whiz no wonder don't nobody post here anymore.

that's my point exactly...I guess cracker's heavy handed whip lives on, to the detriment of many

I HAVE DONE ALL OF THE ABOVE, and IT RESULTED IN NO ACTION AND NOT EVEN A COURTESY OF A RESPONSE!


Redwoodtree;
The forum is NOT the place for this discussion.

I strongly suggest that you enable your PMs / e-mail, and we can discuss the issue outside of this thread.

This thread reminds me of what happens when there is a change of ownership at a pub. :)

Originally posted by samildanach
This thread reminds me of what happens when there is a change of ownership at a pub. :)

You mean a few regulars try to bully the new owner into giving them free drinks? :lol:

cracker was a harsh mod, but there is no reason to flame him now - whoever had troubles with him had ways of talking to him when he was a mod. I must say - my personal dislike for cracker nonwithstanding - I am appalled that some seem to find the need to kick after he has gone :eek:.

Where would GOTM be without his work? Dead, I guess, or a meetingplace of the cheaters! He didn't do perfect work, but when was the last time anone of us did? He did good work, and he did that with a lot of energy, putting a lot of effort into it, making GOTM something that was fun and exictement for many, not just a few - I think that he has at the very least earned thanx for that! :mad:

Hi,

I came late to gotm, but it totally revived and freshened up Civ3 for me. Thanks Cracker, you've done well! I hope the standard will be kept high and have every confidence in the new torchbearers!

Cheers
Hammurodi

I guess you're right Killer.

Cracker, thanks for your work so far at CFC. We disagreed on many things, but I could never doubt your enthusiasm. :)

I found this site a long time ago, but couldn't find the time to play with my 2 kids. They are finally old enough that I have some free time and I managed to play and complete gotm 24 and 25. They were easily the most interesting and fun games I've played of civ3 and I am a much better player as a result of their unique challenges. Cracker, I can only imagine the amount of time put into creating these games as the depth and subtlety are amazing. I know that this work was unpaid, but I hope it did not go unrewarded and I also hope that my small measure of thanks adds to that. While you enjoy your well-deserved break, I have a brand new GOTM and a whole lot of old ones to catch up on :).

Originally posted by carlosMM
You mean a few regulars try to bully the new owner into giving them free drinks? :lol:

:) Free beer for the GOTM regulars would be an unprecedented step in helping the GOTM continue to deliver the premier event in civilisation gameplay offering further unique and interesting challenges. Concomitant with this initiative we will be offering an array of new start positions the Conquest class "floor position", the Open Class "strange persons bed position" and of course for those who enjoy extra challenge the Predator Class "stomach pump position".
We hope you will join us in this new challenge carlosMM ....oh hang on, your not a regular I'm sorry the best we can offer you at the moment is a wine spritzer :p

My work collegues just gave me some strange looks for laughing out loud :lol:.

Originally posted by samildanach
Originally posted by carlosMM


:) Free beer for the GOTM regulars would be an unprecedented step in helping the GOTM continue to deliver the premier event in civilisation gameplay offering further unique and interesting challenges. Concomitant with this initiative we will be offering an array of new start positions the Conquest class "floor position", the Open Class "strange persons bed position" and of course for those who enjoy extra challenge the Predator Class "stomach pump position".
We hope you will join us in this new challenge carlosMM ....oh hang on, your not a regular I'm sorry the best we can offer you at the moment is a wine spritzer :p

are you a politician? :lol:


crackers retirement may get me to play GOTM again, i simply didn't like the fog and volcanos and so on.

Originally posted by carlosMM
i simply didn't like the fog and volcanos and so on.

Personally, I liked the fog, and never saw the effects of a volcano, but I did appreciate all of the added "specials" (units, etc.) that were added to GOTM. Otherwise it would have been just another random map. The effect of selectively placing goodie huts to allow pre-emminent civilizations (ala Atlantis) is a creative one, and allows for more interesting situations. I'm sure that there are more ways to do things that I hadn't hit, but I did enjoy them all.

the fog made the game so slow on my PC it was unbearable. and I think 800 MHz and 512 RAM should be enough.

I want to join in thanking Cracker for all his work. Under his rule we have been treated to some fantastic games. However, I think his best contribution was the excellent QSC, now sadly fading into memory. The analyses of the starts were entertaining awesome and educational. I hope it can be revived.

Cracker started just as a lot of dodgy games were appearing in the upper reaches of gotm, and he and his secret agents have to be thanked for doing whatever it is they do to encourage honesty.

So well done Cracker and good luck Ainwood.

Originally posted by carlosMM
are you a politician? :lol:

This was my juvenile homage to cracker a.k.a. impersonating the teacher when he isn't around routine :mwaha:
Its good to know that you are thinking of coming back.:) But aren't volcanoes included in Civ conquests? - I don't have Conquests so I don't know - if that is in fact the case then Volcanoes may be featuring heavily in your Civ life whether you return or not:satan: I don't much care for fog myself - a little bit of it adds variety to the water squares but I'm not keen on big fog banks. I'm a bit of a land-lubber at heart:)

yes the volcs are around now. sucks that they erupt in years, not turn, emans that when their impact is worst in % (like, kill 1 settler early has a lot mor eimpact than in 1900) they are most active.


that is a legacy I do not want from cracker but many seem to like them - oh well!

CarlosMM:

If the fog and volcanoes are all you didn't like in cracker's games then I think he did a good job. Keep in mind that whenever you go off into uncharted waters to make changes to a good thing, you might not please everyone. And everything you try to do may not meet with success. But if no one went out on the frontier and tried the new and different we wouldn't be having this discussion. Sid Meier tried something new and different and a lot of it sucked. But he kept improving it and through 3 games (and a hundred necessary patches) he is slowly getting it right. How many years has it taken now? Cut cracker a little slack. He has only been at it for one year.

You may disagree with cracker's style (I do) and you may disagree with the mods he put together (I don't), but in my opinion he did more to advance this game and this site in the last year than anyone else.

Keep this thread on-topic guys. ;)

We are looking for input into the pros and cons of the options for the GOTM going foward. Please provide constructive feedback n this thread (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=70628), and leave this one to its purpose. :)

thanks cracker,
your clever encouragement to the better players to share their wisdom via qsc was a big help for the crappier players such as myself.
most of the criticisms seemed to come from people who have moved on modded games but simply did not like your own additions. i thought they were innovative and entertaining.

i have to admit the best was reading people get "crackered", is there any chance you could release a short ebook of your top 100 replies to "enquires" from the players?

cheers


ps ainwood, does middle earth have cable or do you still use saurons seeing rock thingies?

Thanks Cracker. The numbers show that you were able to give GOTM a boost.

Congrats ainwood :) You have a difficult task ahead of you!

Thanks, cracker.

You brought us Mac people to the stage of official GOTM. And we are enjoying the opportunity every month.

Thanks Cracker.
Enjoy RL for a while. :)

Thanks Cracker. When I 1st found CFC it was to play a gotm. I learned how to be a better player here and really enjoyed all of the additions to the games. I have not submitted in a few months but I continue to enjoy the games for my own pleasure.

Enjoy your gotm retirement and hope to still see ya hanging around and maybe even playing some gotm's in the future.

Since I kinda fell off the GOTM several months ago I haven't been paying enough attention to the threads. I figured that I would go ahead and post my thanks. I'm not really adding much to the thread, but one more thanks doesn't hurt :)

I can't say I'm surprised by this. Cracker put in more work for this than I can imagine. He did this all despite constant flames, stupid questions and a fairly scant amount of praise. Many people took time to thank him as things went along, but not as much as he deserved.

THANKS FOR ALL OF IT CRACKER

I personally didn't like some of the directions that GOTM took, but that is my issue. It worked very well for the community as a whole, and really that is what is important.

Due to Cracker's hard work I was given the tools to be an infinitely more skilled Civ player than I was before. (Lots of thanks to many others, but I don't think I'd have noticed some of the other stuff without Cracker running GOTM).

I also want to shout out a giant THANKS to Ainwood for taking over this massive job.

Great work Cracker. I loved your work, you really improved the level of GotM during your time :goodjob:

Especially the Volcanoes, Fog and differential naval movement were really cool improvements and i hope the new team will not completely abandon these nice things.

I hope you play a GotM sometime in the future and post your analysis in Spoiler thread, that could be some interesting text to read ! :crazyeye:

Have a peaceful retirement ! :king:

I would like to express my gratitude to Cracker for all his dedicated hard work, GOTM would never have been anything near what it was without him. I have personally been away from GOTM for several months, but would like to get back involved due largely to the wonderful community and fantastic games Cracker has been a huge part of over the past year. I wish him the best in whatever he does and I can't say enough how much fun he has made GOTM for me.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Au revoir, Crackir`

I haven't posted here in a while, but I want to join everyone in thanking cracker for all of the work he put into the GOTM. I got a lot of enjoyment out of the several games I played.

I also would like to thank you Cracker for, what appears to have been your tireless efforts in thinking of something 'different' each month for the GOTM, putting it all together in time and all the research that has gone with each of the GOTMs. :worship:

I would also like to put it on record that I have appreciated your efforts in keeping the forum 'clean' from transgressions from certain individuals (namely, me) in the past. :nono: :mischief:

I joined around the time of the Spain GOTM (#21, I think) and up to that point, I falsely thought I was quite good at the game. I also played the 'scout the map then reload back to 4000BC' cheat all of the time before joining. Since I have joined and started playing GOTMs, I have been reload-free and cheat-free. It's thanks to you guys on this site that I have become a far better player. I still have some way to go to join the ranks of regular winners but it is due to the interesting, diverse and challenging levels of the GOTMs that have enabled me to improve. If they had been too boring or too easy, I wouldn't have improved and would have turned elsewhere for a challenge. As it is, there's a lot to thank Cracker AND the other members of the team for.

BTW, if there is a 'Book of the Top 100 PM correspondence,' I would hope that I get a mention in it somewhere. I also detected from recent PMs that you were nearing the end of your tether and it was implied that it'll be different from the New Year.

So, despite the fact that the news is hardly shocking to me, I have to confess that I was saddened to read that you've had enough/tired/don't have the time/run off with the milkman/died* (*delete as applicable).

I'm sure ainwood will do a sterling job in trying to maintain the same standards and I wish you both the very best in the future.

Thankyou for your efforts, Cracker!

I'm late seeing this announcement, but I would be remiss not to thank Cracker for all the countless hours he put into making the GOTM a wonderful event for all. Thanks, Cracker, and I wish you the best in all that you do. Ainwood, I commend you for your willingness to become the new chief of the GOTM. Good luck! :goodjob:

I've only been around here for a short time, but its been more than enough to recognise that Cracker has made major impacts on the enjoyment and science of CIV III for a lot of players. I've already read a number of his articles, and they're quite something. So thanks a lot, take care, and good luck to Ainwood!

I also have seen this thread late (I am not a regular in the forums) but I would like to thank Cracker for all his work, his courtesy to people who were occasionally clued out (like me) and his prompt responses by PM to all kind of BS questions. I have been lurking in the forum for about a year and only submitted a couple of GOTM's - the temptation to reload was often too great and I did not want to submitt a "cheat game".
But I want to say EMPHATICALLY that I would have stopped playing Civ several months ago if not for GOTM. Cracker was, during the last year, the major force behind GOTM and he deserves a medal from Firaxis and thanks from all fanatics.
As to the complaints about the "heavy handed style" - cry me a river, guys.

..........Yours was a Labor of Love. Your dedicated effort will never be forgotten! :goodjob: :goodjob:

You, ainwood, Creepster, Aeson et al have done a tremendous job over the last year.............my only regret is not having had the time to play more GOTM!.......and perhaps keeping track of who's doing what in the Hall Of Fame/Pantheon Of Heroes. ;)

Preparing the next 2 GOTM games is also a BIG feather in your cap, cracker.............the TRUE caliber of people shows through when they exit! (viz. notice people's attitude after they've given notice in a job!)

I was surprised NOT to read the news on the Main Page........TF should, IMO, pay tribute to a job well done.

Time to move on..........Good luck to ainwood et al...........the bar has been raised...........if you can maintain its height, you will indeed have performed at a level cracker would be proud of!!

Edit:

Good job, Cracker!

I want to take a brief moment to add my thanks and best wishes to Cracker in his future endevours.

He put a lot of time, effort, dedication, and patience into shaping the GOTM (as I know it) into a tool that aid people in improving their overall Civ skills.

It is especially amazing how the number of submissions vastly increased under his watch and how well the GOTM staff handled the increased load.

So once again, thanks and best wishes.

forged

PS. I also want to thank and offer best wishes to Creepster, and take this moment to say that I look forward to finding time to start playing GOTM under the stewardship of ainwood and AlanH and the other GOTM staff. Best wishes all!

Here's another voice from the Mac community saying thanks to Cracker for a job well done.

Although I'm not a regular poster and not always able to finish the GOTM, I always look forward to the new game and religiously download and play as far as I can.

The man has done yeoman's duty as far as we Mac people are concerned and the effort is greatly appreciated.

For the new mods, you've got quite some shoes to fill. Best of luck!

Naboo
(gracious)

Another well-earned thanks

I only played a few games before the time demands of Civ3 became too much. I can't even imagine what it took to develop and administer those games. A special thanks for making the game inclusive for Macintosh players. I truly enjoyed your efforts.

Back in the day before the QSC, the handyandy game in the SG forum grew into a teaching session, with cracker organizing and guiding a discussion that led to countless hours spent in the SG, and then the GOTM forums discussing games. Others have already said what I would say about his impact on the GOTM itself as a competitive process, but cracker's impact on the GOTM as a learning tool to help players improve, and enjoy higher levels, is equally important. Thank you- you breathed life into a game I was about to abandon, and helped me join a community full of interesting people without fear of newbie-bashing. :)

Congratulations to ainwood- you have a huge task on your shoulders, but I have confidence in your ability to pull it off with style. :goodjob:

Wow, I sure am slow learning about this news.

I would like to echo the sentiments of carlos.

Though Cracker and I disagreed on several things, especially in the general discussions forum (where debates would get pretty 'heated'), he never seemed to carry that grudge over to his role in the GOTM when I was a player. He treated me just like any other player, which I greatly respect.

He'd praise me for a job well done, scold me when I 'stepped over the line' by bringing up things in a thread that I shouldn't have, questioned me if a game looked a little suspicious, and listened to my feedback.

He treated me as neither a god, nor a villain.

Thank you, Cracker.

Bamspeedy

I'm not a GOTM'er, but check into the forum occasionally and never fail to learn something to improve my game. Cracker's retirement surprised me - he's as much a fixture at CFC as the ancient warrior in the logo.
If Cracker had never been involved in GOTM, his "Opening Moves" and "Japan Campaign" tutorials in the War Academy would earn him our eternal gratitude. His GOTM efforts simply place him in a category by himself.

Thank you Cracker for putting focus on the most important aspect of this game, singleplay. I don't know how much the firaxis people listened to the GOTM noise, but I feel that much of C3C has elements that reminds me of the things you did for GOTM. Volcanoes anyone?;)

I guess all things that has a beginning has an end, but I hope you will come back as a player and keep dropping gems in the forum from time to time.

& even more, thank you for making me a better fisherman! I really enjoyed the gotm and appreciate that you ran a tight ship on your watch. Herding a bunch of cats like us can be a thankless task, so I'll say it again, thank you very much for your time & effort, I for one benefited greatly!

I wish you luck in your future endeavors, whatever they may be.

S!

John J

Shock horror! I've been fraternizing on another forum for a while and kept forgetting that the 1st was new GOTM day! Some fanatic I've turned out to be!
In addition to all the positive comments laid out above, I'd like to say the first civ3 game I ever won was GOTM20 (Greeks??) and I've come along in leaps and bounds since then and it's all thanks to the GOTM and especially Cracker!
I too would like to pit my newly honed skills against him but that will only happen if he plays in the conquest class!:lol:
All hail King Cracker!:king: