Yeah I'm back, been a while hasn't it, sorry about vanishing into thin air like that, the people who read this will likely have one of two general reactions to this news:

1. OMG your back!?!?!!! Where have you been?!!? Why are you back?!?!! Should I hug you or tear your head off!?!!?! What about ETD!?!! Answer my Spiral Spy problem!?!! etc.

Or

2. Who the heck are you?

I'll answer the first response in this thread and to the second question I say "You'll find out".

Why did I leave for so long?

In a word, life, someone on one of my threads speculated that I may have died, thankfully nothing that bad happened but things got unpleasant for a while, without pouring out my life story I will tell you that I have learnt that s**t can hit the fan very suddenly, and more then once, I haven't had much time for a while to come back to SK.

There's was also some sense of personal guilt for going without notice (I hadn't actually intended to take such a long break) so suddenly, I had made a lot of connections and promised to do so much when I went, guess I felt like I had let people down by not completing what I said I would do, especially with ETD.

Also I was, and still am, concerned about the seeming stagnation of development of SK, while OOO continues to throw out mostly visual knick-knacks I'm still waiting to see some real 'meat' to be added in, new missions, bosses, and especially new weapons, shields and armor, something to move beyond tromping through the Jelly Palace for the umpteenth time. I'll admit it takes time to work new things into a game (The Omega DLC for ME3 only just came out last month :P) but I do wish something would happen soon. Perhaps OOO is planning to add in all the new content in one large update instead of bit-by-bit, whatever it is I hope that it happens soon. I also pray that OOO hasn't mostly forgotten about SK and do plan to carry out whatever grand design they had when they first envisioned the game, there is a lot of potential for growth in this game I believe, I hope OOO still believes that too (I hope the developers read this).

Why am I back

1. The SK community

I tried out a few other games, but I never was able to establish quite the connection and following that I have with SK, I missed the people I know from here and (because of my big fat ego) the recognition and clout I have. The whole time I was gone the thought of SK was always nagging me in the back of my head somewhere. Some games I had my hopes for turned out to be disappointing, maybe End of Nations will prove worth while (look it up) ;)

2. Spiral Spy, and Embrace the Dark (EtD)

OOO should give Spiral-Spy a medal (or money maybe...), the program he made gives people something very unique in the myriad of MMO games out there, if it weren't for Spiral Spy I likely would have moved on from SK long ago and would never have been able to establish myself as thoroughly as I have, Spiral-Spy never got the recognition he really deserved. The fact that I so thoroughly mastered Spiral Spy is a big factor in my continued interest in SK.

I have spent far too much time thinking about the characters and plot for EtD that too leave it incomplete would bother me forever, I have passed time waiting for things by imagining the backgrounds for characters and where the story will take them, the depth and complexity of the story I have planned is so vast I may have to cut certain things I wanted to do, I also believe that my continued work on it will contribute to the growth of the SK community itself (also if OOO incorporates it into the actual game itself I will love them forever).

Yes this does means I'm continuing to work on it if your wondering.

I've also got a second computer now so I can work on other Spiral Spy works besides EtD simultaneously, like my Spiral Spy Crew sequence.

3. Hope for SK

I actually was concerned that SK would die out when I left a few months ago, some people I had known for a while said they were leaving and game development had seemed to have stalled quite badly. While I wish there was more progress in introducing new gear and weapons (not visual knick-knacks) I've noticed that SK is now featured on Armor Games and Kongregate, and the community appears to be healthy and still welcoming new players, I also see many of the people I know are still here. I still think there is a lot of potential for growth for SK, and that OOO intends to further develop the game. I guess I can motivate them by been the critical thorn in their side like I used to be (why are gunslinger hats still the same?).

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If I haven't met you now's the time to introduce yourself, if there's some fan work you think I REALLY should see please tell me and I'll be glad to take a look, thanks.

Well there's my return speech, see you in game.