This truly is a honor to not only be able to serve you guys but to be a part of the greatest forum around. But honestly, as much as it is humbling for me to be a part of this great staff, I didn't need a color with my name to serve you guys. The story of why I got back into Halo after missing Halo 3 is long, so I won't go into too much details here or what happened. Instead, I'll tell you the results that came from it.
Starting Halo again on REACH I found a passion for custom games and then eventually for forging. Along this journey, I noticed the elitist (no not the covenant) who excluded a lot of people from joining. I have met way too many try hards, prideful, and arrogant gamers who think they are better-than-life because "they belong" to a group and treated players badly. To me that just shows a lack of character. This prevented a lot of people from experiencing what a full lobby during custom games is like. I didn't want to join a group of prideful people to rely on thier reputation to build custom game nights. I also noticed that they were not organized and never ran smoothly. I wanted to create a wave of change. So I started hosting them myself and tried to include whoever wanted to be a part of it. Then I started my own facebook group of quality friends, which was an instant success, to build good quality bonds. The lobby's were filled week after week and it started spreading.
I eventually joined a forum because my Xbox friends said it was different, which lasted a week because of the groups attitudes. I swore, I would never join any forum or forge community. Then I met Absolute Dog and he proved to me that there are good forums out there. He had a passion for the well-being of the group and spoke about that. He talked about the strength of the community instead of himself. It caught my attention. Without him knowing it, I tested him many times to see if what he said was the truth. For those who have ever questioned his intentions or motives, then you might want to do a self-evaluation. Let me just say, that they all come from a good, sincere, and honest man. Someone who definitely enjoys the benefits from moderation, but genuinely cares about the community and strengthening the future of the Halo legend. He wanted something that I wanted. I saw an opportunity to accomplish what we both wanted and joined this group but until a few months ago kind of stayed in the shadows.
During my last year as a member of this forum Custom Game Night has continued to grow and every week there are 2-3 dozen who are not able to join. From the beginning, this is what I have tried to avoid. Now, with the help from Lil Dog and Sweaty Bagels, this problem can be avoided. With them on board, I hope to make this even better for you and allow even more to join. I know that not everyone likes customs but have met less than a dozen from this site during custom nights. There is no required time to stay so what can it hurt? Come check it out and meet some new people. If you don't like a particular gametype then just remind yourself that most games last only 5 min and wait for the next one.
I look at this opportunity to be a part of staff as a privilege and want to serve you guys the best I can. If you ever have comments, concerns, or thoughts on how to better customs night then shoot me a pm. I will do my best to serve the members of this forum with the same honor and integrity of the other staff members.