- Blackflame
- |
- Exalted Heroic Member
"I am not mad.
I am interested in freedom."
Halo 2,
I really don't know what to say, old friend. I'm just going to open my heart to you and pour my thoughts. I don't think anyone else aside from the people who actually got a chance to know you can actually understand what we feel. You weren't just a game, Halo 2. You were more than that. You were the most important Xbox Live game of its time. You single-handedly popularized online gaming. You set the golden standard for all FPS's. Hell, for all online games. You set the standard for fun.
But you were even more than that, Halo 2. You were a part of our lives, of my life. You changed lives, for the better. Right now, there's another player sitting at his desk, reading this, absentmindedly nodding his head as I pour out these sentiments, because you didn't just change me. You changed all of us. And we love you for it.
We love you for not just what you were, but what you did for us. You opened us up to so many mediums in a way no other game had before. You put competitive gaming in the spotlight. You put matchmaking systems in the spotlight. You put Xbox Live in the spotlight. You put machinima in the spotlight. You put all of us in the spotlight as we played you, and took a part in history that none of us realized until now.
You see, we didn't appreciate you while you were here. We thought you would always be here, and we were so very wrong. When I see a remembrance video, or I read threads like these, I choke up. Because of what you were. Because of what you did. Because I, no, we love you.
So thank you, Halo 2. Thank you for giving me hours of good fun. Thank you for showing me the beauty of machinima in a way that I had never seen. Thank you, for allowing Rooster Teeth to continue their work. Thank you for showing me Hollywood Halo. Thank you for allowing me to give my own try at machinima with our good friend Chewbaccasjello.
Thank you for the insane killing sprees that were a result of luck. Thank you for the glitches. Thank you for the intense SWAT matches. Thank you for the sniper battles. Thank you for the legendary BTB matches on Coagulation. Thank you for ilovebees. Thank you for the effects we see from you today, such as Halo 3, Halo: Reach, and the Iris ARG before Halo 3.
Thank you for the story. Thank you for the story that's still going on today. Thank you for the memories of ilovebees and the successor, Iris. Thank you for my clan and clansmen, USH Team Thunder. And thank you for the friends.
With you, I met some of the most important people in my life right now. TheFourthHokage(now ShadowySyn), Stanforth, Ho88s, OutrageousFox, Sgt Gun Mage.
Thank you for the friends I no longer speak with, like Paper Donkey, a certain Stabber, and Chewbaccasjello.
And thank you for the friends that I will never see again. Amateur Gamer 99, An Angry Hippy, Nobhdy, cobbleswobblet, and so many more that I don't have on my friends list anymore. I see that green X on the white background, as I have for the past several years, and I know that I will probably never see them again. But they will remain there. And they, and the memory of them, will remain in my heart. Just as you will. Forever.
Thank you, Halo 2. For changing my life. Thank you, for giving me such great memories. Thank you, Halo 2, for giving my so many glimpses into pure happiness. Thank you, Halo 2, for April 14th, 2010. Thank you, Halo 2, for giving me the chances and the fun that I had. Thank you, Halo 2, for the memories.
I love you.
Goodbye.
[Edited on 05.12.2010 10:00 PM PDT]