Well guys, I've been threatening it for years... but after spending a good deal of time thinking things over and discussing with friends both on and off the boards, it's time to call it a day.
Since 1996, when it was a little horrific AOL homepage site, Ghostbusters HQ has been a home away from home. It's evolved into an entirely different beast than the wet behind the ears Freshman in high school thought it was going to be. Now after all these years, I'm working in a position where it's against non-disclosure agreements that I've signed to report the news to you guys. I'm at the point where life is moving too fast to worry about who Bo has pissed off this time. I've reached a point where everything seems trivial when it shouldn't.
Looking back, I can't believe how many awesome fanboy things we've all been able to share in these 12 years and I think that this is a good note to end on. With the new game, the Blu-rays, the RGB sets, and so much more to come, it's really a good high note for me to throw in the towel and just be a fan again. This is Ray Bourque holding up the Stanley Cup at the end of his career.
I've been thinking about putting the plug in the ol' sow for quite some time now and when I checked in, as I often do just to make sure things are up and running, and the message board had completely jammed up all 20GB of bandwidth for all of my domains, that was the straw that broke the camel's back. I'm ready for being a Ghosthead to not be a job anymore. After all these years of dealing with the drama and being on the frontlines for this or that, I'm ready to take a backseat and just enjoy it... and the only way to do that is to close and lock the shingles and post a note on the front door.
So Troy, you say-- what about the future? I'm here. And I'm being told the place has boarded up the windows and is closed for business. What am I supposed to do? I've got no place to go?
Well, that's the beauty of it. The HQ is the Millennium Falcon living in a Star Trek world, you've always had [url=http://www.protoncharging.com]Proton Charging[/url], which continues to be a daily stop for me. You've got [url=http://www.gbfans.com]GB Fans[/url] which has turned into one of the coolest user-generated content Ghosthead sites on the 'net and should likewise be a destination. You've got [url=http://www.ecto-web.org/~spookcentral/index.htm]Spook Central[/url] which has been there from day one. You've got Fritz's Ecto-Zone, Nightsquad, Doreen's long-running site, GBN is apparently coming back, you've even got House and Captain N doing a regular Podcast to keep you company in the car... I know I'm missing about sixty right off the bat so forgive me if I've left you out, but it speaks worlds of the volume out there - tons and tons of choices out there for your content...
There's a close knit group of us that have gotten to know each other over the years and the rapport is something that I could never live without, so I hope that some if not all of you will come over to [url=http://www.stillplayingwithtoys.com/phpbb/index.php]Troy's Place[/url] over on the [url=http://www.stillplayingwithtoys.com/phpbb/index.php]Still Playing With Toys[/url] site.
As for the HQ, I'll keep the boards up in a locked state for as long as I can. There'll always remain a shell up, at least until I get tired of paying the domain fees at
http://www.ghostbustershq.com - but I'm going to work with AJ, Chris, Paul, and others to smash and grab the content from the HQ to go onto their sites where it can continue to live (I'd hate to have the EGB episode guide that I worked so hard on with Shannon Muir to vanish without a trace).
I'll still be around, hobbling around the boards with my cane yelling at everyone through my dentures about "back in the day." Hopefully you guys will see the reasoning behind what's being done and understand. It was a tough decision to make, especially after so many years of continuing keeping things open being stubborn to let go. But truth be told, coming to the end of this lengthy goodbye feels like a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
So long everyone, it's been nice working with you all - now let's cross the streams and blow the hell out of this place. There's a slight chance we might survive.
Troy
EDIT: One thing that should have been mentioned originally that I'm kicking myself for not mentioning in the first place was the enormous amount of thanks and gratitude I owe to Fritz, who truthfully was the glue holding the tilt-o-whirl together for as long as I can remember. If anyone need look at the true epitome of what a Ghosthead should be, look no further than the man within your ranks who goes by the name Fritz...
