It's been two and a bit long years since I came to Heavengames and that was thanks to some blatant advertising on a rather dead email list devoted to talking about Rome: Total War but of course the chat was minimal and I ended up coming here instead. Ever since that url popped into my inbox, I have been haunting the place much to the chagrin of all the other forumers.

In that time, I've learned to play the game with something approaching competence and meet some really great people. While I may have moved from RTW to M2TW on the gaming front with Oblivion and BFME2 still sitting on my shelf and the Heaven that was RTWH has changed beyond recognition to the current TWH.

Kudos to the staff past and present who made this Heaven as great as it is and a special shout out to my co-ceasar in the TWH History forum, D Furius Venator who is a smurf if you must really know.

It's a little churlish to be talking about my own Heaven when it's somebody else's birthday party so lets say a few words about HG. For many a long day I was content to browse the game forums in RTWH until eventually I noticed other forums listed on the main page and decided to see what was in those. It was by this scientific method that I came to discover the delights of do-or-die debates in the Library, puzzle at what OD is all about we know the meaning of it but what's the question and belatedly discover that HG actually covers other games besides the Total War games. I call this period my own personal Enlightenment.

I know that whenever I do get around to playing other strategy games, all the resources I need between knowledgable forumers and quality guides will likely be on HG.

For anybody who loves strategy games, HG is still the place to be after ten years. Heavens rise and heavens fall but as long as the community remains strong and enthusiastic, we'll be here for another ten years yet.

Hope I'm not too late for the party.

I'm not quite sure what I'm going to say yet, but I have every intention of saying something. That being the case, this space is currently under development.

♪♫♪ And now, the end is here, it's 12 at night, the final curtain... ♪♫♪

Well, what a great response.

It's fantastic to see a lot of the thoughts echoed that we have ourselves, that HG for many has been more than just a set of sites covering games for various fans, and become so much more than the sum of its parts; a place for people of all ages and all walks of life to get together and communicate, to increase their awareness of other folk and cultures, to develop their own abilities in many different areas from dealing with others to improving their knowledge, understanding and worldview, and to ultimately all be on the same side even when we get on each others' nerves


So many of my own feelings have been echoed here that I need not repeat them. I would therefore just like to say a huge thanks to;

- Everyone who posted here today, especially those who would not normally visit because it's not their preferred community or game, more power to them for taking part,

- All the staff and contributors who currently help us provide some of the best quality content online - the article writers, the multiplayers, the designers of all the excellent campaigns, mods and utilities for our downloads, and those who have helped out others on our forums to facilitate a massive 10 years of fun for us and our visitors,

- All the staff and contributors who have come and gone over the years but whose work lives on and continues to provide us with a solid legacy to build on,

- The developers and game companies that support us and participate in our communities

- and last but not least our own forumer Alakazam, who came up with the idea of the one day birthday thread.


Whenever we as staff feel demoralised, or that our jobs are more of a chore than fun, I hope we will be able to look back at days like today and take heart from the fact that even in our darkest hours our work is worthwhile, people do appreciate it and we would be sorely missed if we were gone. We have only managed to last this long through dedication, hard work and love of our respective games and communities, and have every intention of continuing for another ten years and more.

Once again, a heartfelt thank you and a big up to all our visitors and communities. We are nothing without you. You make us who and what we are.

Phill - a cynical Seraph, but not today