Retirement!!!

Aaron Fischer | April 19, 2005
To all fellow Gooers:

It is with mixed feelings that I would like to announce my official retirement from the Celebrity Goo Game. With the passing of my 32nd birthday and increased level of responsibility within my occupation, I cannot continue to play the game and retain the level of enjoyment it once provided to me. Rest assured, this decision did not come about without an immense amount of thought, and a significant amount of consideration. Hereafter I can truly say that I have had a rewarding and contributing role in one of the most interesting and perplexing areas of the internet.

This game itself has gone through an immense evolution and is continuing to evolve into a very interesting and exciting project that was born out of Scott’s love for the English language and his enthusiasm for the celebrity genre. I sincerely hope that the game continues its evolutionary steps and grows towards something that truly makes its mark on the internet for many years to come. Without a doubt, the popularity of the game will continue to grow and the game will eventually blossom into something entirely new and different.

Rest assured, I still enjoy playing this game, so don’t expect my retirement to result in abrupt and immediate victory for my competitors! Currently, my plans are to finish out this round and continue to guess on the current goos as my time allows, in order to ward off those who may be trying to capture my title just a bit longer :) . I also intend to assist Scott (whether he likes it or not) in the future, and provide continuous input and feedback for not only the game itself, but in order to provide continuing improvements for the overall web site and for the rules and discussion surrounding the game.

As far as tragic comedy goes, this is a topic of great debate. Although I do not share the political views of most of the users, I believe that Scott and those who contribute to Tragic Comedy have done a great disservice to the original nature of the free-speech on this forum by allowing people to mute or ignore the responses of other people with differing opinions. I sincerely hope that Scott will reverse this decision in the future and allow all to be heard regardless of their opinion.

I will leave you all with just one more thought:

“Your lack of respect for my opinion will not result in my apathy for yours.”

Think About It

Thanks,

Aaron Fischer

Scott Hardie | April 19, 2005
Sorry to read it, Aaron. You've been a relentless competitor for seven years and a major influence on the game. Your Hall of Fame biography says it all. I'm glad that you'll still keep playing for fun when you're able; I'd hate to see you stop altogether. Thanks for everything. And since I was late in saying it in email, let me say it again here: I can't congratulate you enough on finally overcoming Matt's all-time high score, which by now you have left in the dust. I know how bad you wanted that achievement. :-)

Your continued input is still welcome, as is everyone's. (link) (My ability to implement suggestions is dependent upon my own unforgiving schedule, of course, but I save them all.)

About TC: I don't know if you read the discussions about the "show/hide" option, but I assure you, it was not a feature I wanted to add. Eventually it became necessary to prevent arguments between people who insisted on bickering regardless of their ideologies. It is not intended to be used just because somebody has a different opinion, and having glanced at its use from time to time, I can vouch that so far, it has only been used to hide arguers, and in each case only temporarily so. That's not to say that somebody couldn't use it in the future to hide comments from someone who disagreed with them; I'm just restated its intended purpose. Anyway, no matter its application, I don't like the damn thing, and someday I hope to remove it if the pointless bickering around here ever seems to go away for good.

E. M. | April 20, 2005
[hidden by request]

Amy Austin | April 20, 2005
after I take the title from Amy...

psshhaw... dream on, E.

Scott Hardie | April 20, 2005
We'll be missing you in the meantime, Ed... But some of your competitors will be missing you less than others. ;-)

Scott Horowitz | April 20, 2005
I'm convinced that Amy and E don't talk to each other in public, that their only correspondence as husband and wife is from this site.

Amy Austin | April 20, 2005
HAHA! Not true... but close.