Hello all you GLN readers, it’s Uncle Macavity here to tell you all about how I made Fumbbl what it is today! Now, I know some of you newbies are thinking, “He’s a real person, not just a poll option?” and that’s largely because you are foolish. But I love you anyway.

When I joined the site, back on November 4th, 2004 (according to my profile) it was actually already well established. I was working at a pointless job that had me do nothing in front of a computer all day, and as games were not allowed, I looked for other things. One was SkiJunkie’s Blood Bowl client, which I had previously encountered and used to test teams and play against myself as my RL Blood Bowl league had died years ago.

As I found the site at work, I posted in the forums in response to another newbie’s questions (Shepherd, should you ever bump into him). I was already acting like I knew everything, and after re-creating my RL dwarf team, proved it by losing a lot. Unlike many of the other users of the day, I could not play nearly as often as I could post in the forums. So I posted a lot. I am indirectly the reason you cannot conveniently look up post counts, as I in-advertently sparked off a ‘post the most’ contest. I have never, and will never post simply to up my count, but I did respond to every available thread, and in those days the Off-topic threads showed in the most recent at the top of the page (I may have caused that change too…..).

My unique, forum-focused, integration into Fumbbl does give me a different perspective on the site, I believe. I enjoy the competition, and thought exercise of gaming, but the way this site really shines is in the community. It is not, and I don’t think was intended to be, the most open of places. As a group we can be short with foolish behaviour, and the re-treading of topics better left dead, but Christer, intentionally or not, has not seemed to be concerned with a site that is only a reflection of him. Many times he has had to make changes of varying popularity to preserve the site as it should be, but the allowance of the groups, tourneys, teams, attitudes that are brought by us as individuals has allowed the creation of a beautiful gestalt identity I have not seen elsewhere on the ‘net.

When real life has become too much for me, I can log into the Fumbbl IRC channel, and rather than escaping life, I can get a full dose of it, un-filtered by my negative emotions. I have a wife and family whom I love, and good friends I see in the flesh, but if I ever go to London again, my first stop will be PaulHicks, Italy will be JanMattys, and if my time machine allows me to advice the young Macavity, my first internet stop would be Fumbbl!

Sappy or not, we all are a part of something special. It was when I joined, when I ruled, and when I make it back for a visit!

Your superior in every meaningful way,

Macavity