For those of you not on my Facebook feed, I thought I should let you know now.

One week from today is going to be my last major tournament.

For the past three years, I've spent a lot of time and money on this game. I have traveled to a lot of venues, I have played a lot of good games, and I have had a lot of fun. But most importantly, I have met a lot of great people. You.

I love this community and all that it does for others, including Chad Hoefle's Twin Suns Charities and the Campaign Against Cancer events, Sunny Ravencourt's HOTH tourneys, Neil Amswych's Biggles donations, among many others. I have believed since day 1 that this is the greatest gaming community out there, and I still do today.

But for me, it's time to move on. I need to focus on getting my business off the ground and out of my basement. That means the time and money that I spend on xwing needs to be going toward my future. So after Worlds I'll be mothballing the fleet and moving on.

(If this part gets edited by a mod, that's fine) My business is called Ankeny Construction Toys, and you can find my inventory on bricklink.com. Basically I buy and sell LEGO bricks and sets. I will be working toward having a fully functional website within the next year, and possibly a brick and mortar store within the next 5.

So that's what I'm going to be doing. I want to thank all of you for being good sports and great people. I love and have the utmost respect for all of you.

For my Let em Fly campaign, if I don't receive addresses to send the ships I currently have by the end of worlds, I will likely send what's left to the USO and hope they keep the ships together. Again I thank all of you who donated items or money to the Campaign. I know it brought a lot of joy to those serving overseas.

And to all of you out there, please remember that this is just a game. It's meant to have fun. So please keep that in mind. Have fun, make new friends, and as always, fly casual.

Best of luck going forwards! Massive respect for being able to identify what's important and moving towards that goal. Good luck

You will be missed, and all the best for your future!

Sad to see you go, but it looks like you have some exciting times ahead.

Enjoy Worlds.

Time is money, friend.

Best of luck at Worlds, then, and whatever you do next. Hopefully we can arrange to meet at some future con, and I can buy you a beer.

Best of luck in future business. May it be as enjoyable.

Best of luck at Worlds, then, and whatever you do next. Hopefully we can arrange to meet at some future con, and I can buy you a beer.

Thank you, my friend. Although my cons now are much different than before.

Thank you Doug, for everything. Good luck with your business!

-Brendan

Best of luck to you Doug. You've done a lot for the X-Wing community.

May the force be with you!

And may your business be wildly successful and profitable so that you find yourself with enough time and money to rejoin our ranks soon!

Best of luck at Worlds and with your business. May the force be with you in all you endeavor for.

All the best man and good luck with your future endeavours. hopefully we'll get to welcome you back someday:-)

Thanks for everything you've done for the community. It is a great community but it's great because of the tone you set when the game was still young.

Best of luck in your future.

Basically I buy and sell LEGO bricks and sets. I will be working toward having a fully functional website within the next year, and possibly a brick and mortar store within the next 5.

That is super cool, best of luck!

best of luck for you - both at worlds and with your business.

may it run well, so we can welcome you back in this community once things run smoothly.

Hothie,

You have given the community the goal to Fly Casual since year one and the community has grown up around that goal and retains that mindset, going into year 4 of its life.

I want to thank you for doing that. It's made playing this game so much better with people who are also of this mindset.

I am hoping that I make it to Worlds so I can look for you in the lists. I would hate to miss your last time.

Fly Casual

Sergovan

OK, so you will not be playing a lot of tournaments. And you will be devoting more of your attention, time and money to your "real-life" business. Bully for you! So why are you giving up on X-wing and this fine community? Sounds like you are now in the same boat as the rest of us, just trying to balance our lives, families, friends and livelihood along with our hobbies. That's life, dude, not the end of the world and certainly no reason to give up completely on something that gives you enjoyment and an excuse to commune with others who share your interests.

Or am I really misreading the point of your OP?

It's hard to put the focus on building a business when there are things tempting you to slack off and do anything else.

I wish you luck mate.

Enjoyed playing you at Milwaukee this year. Best wishes on your new business!

A very helpful and influential player in our little universe. You will be missed.

OK, so you will not be playing a lot of tournaments. And you will be devoting more of your attention, time and money to your "real-life" business. Bully for you! So why are you giving up on X-wing and this fine community? Sounds like you are now in the same boat as the rest of us, just trying to balance our lives, families, friends and livelihood along with our hobbies. That's life, dude, not the end of the world and certainly no reason to give up completely on something that gives you enjoyment and an excuse to commune with others who share your interests.

Or am I really misreading the point of your OP?

I do a lot of traveling for X-wing, and as much as I enjoy meeting new and old friends alike and having fun with them, frankly it costs me a lot of money and time. And as much as I would like to be paid to travel and play X-wing, it isn't ever going to happen.

But what i would like to happen is to start a business doing something that I love, and that is working with LEGO bricks. The money that I spend traveling and buying into this game, which over the past 4 years has been a considerable amount, can be better spent on where I would like my life to be in the future and working towards that goal.

X-wing also takes up a lot of time for me, time that I need to spend on getting my business off the ground. There are only so many hours in the day, and frankly something has to go, and I have decided that X-wing is what needs to be set aside in my life so that I can focus on bigger and better things. I do love this community, and I will be sad to move on, but it needs to happen for me to build a better life for myself.

I do have a hard time balancing X-wing with my life, family, and friends, but as you said, this is a hobby. To me, so is LEGO, but LEGO is hobby that I have the opportunity to make into a business. The same cannot be said for X-wing.

I don't make this decision lightly, but I feel it is the right one. I have enjoyed playing X-wing and being a member of this community, but my focus is shifting now to where I want my life to be. I just can't devote the resources to this game that I have in the past, so I have to give it up to be able to move on.

OK, so you will not be playing a lot of tournaments. And you will be devoting more of your attention, time and money to your "real-life" business. Bully for you! So why are you giving up on X-wing and this fine community? Sounds like you are now in the same boat as the rest of us, just trying to balance our lives, families, friends and livelihood along with our hobbies. That's life, dude, not the end of the world and certainly no reason to give up completely on something that gives you enjoyment and an excuse to commune with others who share your interests.

Or am I really misreading the point of your OP?

I do a lot of traveling for X-wing, and as much as I enjoy meeting new and old friends alike and having fun with them, frankly it costs me a lot of money and time. And as much as I would like to be paid to travel and play X-wing, it isn't ever going to happen.

But what i would like to happen is to start a business doing something that I love, and that is working with LEGO bricks. The money that I spend traveling and buying into this game, which over the past 4 years has been a considerable amount, can be better spent on where I would like my life to be in the future and working towards that goal.

X-wing also takes up a lot of time for me, time that I need to spend on getting my business off the ground. There are only so many hours in the day, and frankly something has to go, and I have decided that X-wing is what needs to be set aside in my life so that I can focus on bigger and better things. I do love this community, and I will be sad to move on, but it needs to happen for me to build a better life for myself.

I do have a hard time balancing X-wing with my life, family, and friends, but as you said, this is a hobby. To me, so is LEGO, but LEGO is hobby that I have the opportunity to make into a business. The same cannot be said for X-wing.

I don't make this decision lightly, but I feel it is the right one. I have enjoyed playing X-wing and being a member of this community, but my focus is shifting now to where I want my life to be. I just can't devote the resources to this game that I have in the past, so I have to give it up to be able to move on.

Any FLGS's in your area that hold regular events? Surely you could make it one night a week.

Hey Hothie -

I totally get it. I'm doing the same thing (not legos, but my practice).

Thanks for all your positive energy here, and especailly back during the SWM days.

Be well, and much success!

Best of luck to you and thank you for what you gave to this game. You will honestly be miss.

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Can I have your playbook?...