Well, I can understand if you want to call it quits now. As I said long ago, projects like these have a tendency to devour all of your waking hours, and be a rotten and thankless job to boot.
While some may not have appreciated your work, I for one can say, that I look back on what I would call one hell of a job. And I have followed the reactions to your efforts on several forums. Sometimes with very mixed emotions, but as time went on, mostly with appreciation and a certain sense of awe over your tireless determination, regardless of some of the @!#$ you sometimes had to put up with.
I through in the towel in late August after the first and utterly ludicrous patch was released. But I had already put myself in "wait and see" mode after the confirmed delivery of the buglist in late June/early July, partly because I thought that IG could see the
reason (Oh, silly me!) in a proper patch given the work in the buglist, and also because any serious pressure that could be applied towards Infogrames would be several times more legitimate, if it was
not instigated by me. That was the prime reason for releasing the complete and official version of the buglist, when you requested it, despite prior convictions not to do so.
I see your efforts as a natural continuation (even though you had to establish this position by yourself) of the buglist project, and you as the prime Centurion in ensuring the fruition of its objectives. I know that you referred to me as "leader Maximo", but for as long as I can remember that you have called me this, I can only see
you as being that person yourself. Granted, the role that I played, together with the test team, layed the foundation for what was to come, but we all stand on the shoulders of those that come before us. Also granted, my role had a certain grace to it, that yours has not had (and I might add- never could have). I can only see that as being natural, since your part was to incite, agitate and plea for continued pressure to levied at IG. Playing the boogieman, angry dissident, dedicated revolutionary and at times raving lunatic is never at "charismatic" role in the traditional sense of the word, although it does take a certain kind of charisma to get it going.
For instance the notion of presenting a class action lawsiut against IG, for pushing a product that in no way represented the proposed deal with the consumer, was a insane stunt to say the least. But apart from not believing that it could be established, I thought it was nothing less than a brilliant idea, and if it had gained more popular support, I would have gladly jumped in as well. If anyone from IG saw that (and by then you must have been a very well-known figure in their midst) they must have thought "My god, we are never gonna get rid of this maniac!" Of course, it was implied, unless they did some heavy duty fixing of the game and sucking up to the community. Also moves like this opens up for the fact that people can form an opinion on such a course of action. The community cannot say yes or no, to such a proposal if it is not suggested. Furthermore moves like this opened up for the darkest of sense humour to be broadly accepted and embraced, when it comes to critizing the game - which in essence created a culture of "we like the game but we can slag it (and IG) off for producing such a mess".
That creates bad publicity for IG, and that in turn harms sales. Which is probably one of the only things that could motivate them to something serious about the condition of the game. It is a common accepted opinion now that IG cannot release a GP5, if they don't do something about GP4. Not that I am saying that you created this sentiment on your own, but some pave the way for others, even if the others don't know or acknowledge this.
Also I might point to the fact that you have been the only person that I know of that has gotten IG squeezed into such a tight spot that they lowered themselves to publically recognize, mention and comment on the buglist project and the work that we did. That in it self is no small acheivement. That was important, because they could never again return to the stance of "blissful ignorance", as they indeed did try to do with the second official FAQ.
I am confident that you have played a major role both directly and indirectly in the decision to withdraw the first patch, and to produce a new one as well as the upcoming interview with Geoff Crammond. Of course you are not alone in this, but you have been as you like to say, leader Maximo, and have continued almost to the final stage of what the buglist project aims to do. Only one thing remains, and that is to evalute the results we have achieved, and that can only come in the form of our satisfaction with the upcoming patch and interview, assessing if we have won, lost or if it is a draw, and that also means deciding on whether or not we want to continue after the release of the patch, and of course to see how the next installment in the GPx series is handled.
As to your decision to withdraw your presence on the forum (or to become a lurker), I can only object. Early on in the buglist project, I coined you as a "loose cannon" in private conversations. And in a sense I still think that you are. But that doesn't matter. I cannot see how a person that is not a loose cannon could have done what you did. Besides, it is a trademark of this forum that we like and appreciate people that are a bit wacky. I might quote the same private conversations where I have heard (if that can be said about text on a monitor) more than once: "Boomy? I love this guy!": It will take some time to figure out who is the "Boomy - I want my goddamn patch!" and who is the "Boomy, hey I am just me". But I think you have earned the right to expect that people can and will make this distinction, and get to know the other guy.
The raving lunatic, that people have voiced reservation against, is more an integral part of the role you have played in the quest to provide the public expression of the wishes of the community, and rally popular support. By neccesity that has to present an aggressive component. If you are serious when you say that you are throwing the towel into the ring, that would make the aggressive part obsolete, and you would just be wacky in the same way that everyone else here is. And lets be frank here: Anyone that really
wants to be sane, has to be crazy...
Personally, I would like to extend my appreciation, for what I think is a job that has superbly executed, and an great favour to all of us that love and play the Grand Prix series. Looking back, I can't find anyone else that could have done it. If we get a patch like we would like to have it, I am more than certain that you have played just a large role in it as I have, if not a lot more. Thanks dude and well wishes from me in Denmark.
It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.