This has been a long time coming. I am leaving gaming and The Piazza and all other forums associated with gaming. I have finally mourned the loss of this side of myself and am ready to move forward with the rest of my life. All of you have been good friends to me, but it now time for me to sail under new winds. Our paths may cross again, but for myself it will not be as a gamer.

Well... you can stop (role)playing regularly on a tabletop, but you can't stop being a "gamer" in your heart when you do whatever else you do in your life.
It becomes a sort of personal approach to things or, if you will, a sort of education. Give it some time and then think about it, looking at how you live your life

I hope I managed to make myself understood, even if words (specially in English) usually come short of some concepts I would like to communicate.

Take care, TAD. :)

Gaming is not a lifestyle, it's a hobby. So, it's not something you give up. It's something you take a break from. See you when you're back. :)

Its been great having you here TAD! Hope we will see you around :)

-Havard

I'm not sure TAD might appreciate if we discuss this here, old friend, but I think this is a purely semantic issue. I define a lifestyle as something I cannot simply walk away from, something that owns me, if you will. Not gonna lie, I've had phases were some hobbies, or, really, side affairs, owned me, but whenever I got self-aware about things, I usually quickly rearranged my priorities. Now, gaming is not a lifestyle to me; it's something that I do - and if I ever decide not to do it, well, then that's it. :) That doesn't include personal relations built through the hobby; but the act itself, what? - I can spend my Saturdays playing Poker instead. :)

Hehe, my friend, the existentialist in my heart is yelling and running around in circles. My friends own me. My family owns me. The moonlit sky owns me. ;) Gaming is pleasant, but it doesn't own me more than, say, Karate, or Boston Hardcore. :)

But I know what you mean. You are what you do. And I guess that means I am a proud gamer. :)