A little over 5 years ago, I had a vision of a great website, and so I started building this site as a little hobby during my free time. I enjoy programming, and I enjoy board games, and I thought this site would make a great mesh between the two. In the beginning, it was a great hobby. I worked on it when I wanted to, and I left it alone when I had other things to do.
As the site grew, so did my sense of responsibility to the people who played (and paid) here. I was responsible for coding the site, administering the servers, monitoring the discussion boards, and responding to the needs of the customers. It's a big job, especially when it's only a hobby, but it's one that I took on willingly, and, to tell you the truth, one that I have really enjoyed doing.
However, as time went on, my life began to change. My family grew. I earned a promotion at work. I accepted a time-consuming volunteer position at my church. With each of these changes, my free time became a smaller and smaller segment of each week, and I soon found myself in the untenable position of having to choose which of my many responsibilities to ignore. So I cut down on my overtime at work and decreased my time on this website, choosing instead to spend time with my family and in service to others in my community. On a personal level, I have no regrets about the choices I made. My family and my faith are my highest priorities, and I made decisions that reflect that. But it has really limited the growth of this website, and for each of you, I'm truly sorry about that.
I still have a great vision for this website, but I don't think that I'm in a position where I can be effective in allowing it to reach its potential. So I have decided to step down as site owner now, and allow Badger to take over. She shares my vision of the site, and more importantly, she will be able to devote the time necessary to help the site realize its potential.
So what am I going to do next with my life? Much of the same things I have been doing, only with the "volume" turned down quite a bit. I will still be around the site for the foreseeable future. Although I will no longer be active in any administrative capacity on the site after a short transition period, I will continue to be available to Badger for technical expertise relating to the servers and the website code. In addition, I'll keep playing on this site as a paid member, and I'll finally be able to be just as opinionated as the rest of you in telling Badger how she ought to run things. (grin)
I hope that all of you can welcome Badger into her new role here on the site, and support her decisions the same way you supported mine. And yes, I fully expect that support to come both in the form of understanding for the constraints under which she’ll be working as well as constructive criticism when she's on the wrong path, just as you have done for me. I know that she’ll do a good job, and I look forward to seeing her help the website grow in ways that I could not.
--Chad
Hey everybody! Having been an active player here for many years, I am very excited to be given the opportunity to run GoldToken. It is a dream come true!! Surely everyone here shares in Chad’s and my belief in GoldToken. What Chad started here is a great family site! Let’s keep it that way!
I do envision some changes in the near future that should please most everyone. And while Chad will still be here, helping with programming and playing his games as he has time, you will find me online often, readily available to help with your questions and actively managing this site.
After watching the discussion boards and taking part in a couple discussion clubs, I have an idea of changes you would like to see and will work towards those goals. With your active help and cooperation in keeping this a terrific site where our families and friends can play safely, what can be done is truly unlimited.
So, let us gather and plan out GoldToken’s future and its potential together!
--Badger