Mr. Derek Smart.
I must congratulate you.
You have done what few people could have thought possible; what fewer people could have even imagined. For this, I credit you.
What have you done? Quite simple, really. You have given this community what may be the greatest gift since the release of Freespace.
Previously, in our complacency, we would have never imagined Freespace 3; we may have had hope, but in our hearts, we knew it would be an impossibility. But that's what we had mods and campaigns for, to expand on the legacy left behind with Freespace 2. We knew that we would, could, not be able to reach Freespace 3. Despite knowing that we couldn't get there, we knew that we could try. As such, the efforts and the mods came about, resulting in the many releases and works in progresses you see today.
Yet, before today, I could safely say that as a whole, the community was actually waining a bit. People were suffering RL commitments, and a few mods had faltered, while others were going on slower than usual.
Then you came along Mr. Smart. I can safely say you changed everything, turning the entire scenario on it's head, holding before us the tantalizing prospect of Freespace 3. It was something we only dreamed about, something we had put on the back burner of hope for ages, and now you promised us to make it a reality.
But, Mr. Smart, I must say this, and say this honestly. You did not promise Freespace 3 for us. From the second paragraph onwards, from your first post on this forum, I can safely say that you have no intention of making Freespace 3 as it truly should be. You have no intention of making Freespace 3 for anyone others than yourself and the fan base from your Battlecruiser series. On top of that, you come here, where you have absolutely no bearing or standing and then threaten us, to shut down and destroy nearly five years of effort that we have put in to this community.
For that, I condemn you. But you have made it a point that you care little what we say, so I won't bother with this point.
But rather, I still congratulate you Mr. Smart. You have given me something, something far more valuable than Freespace 3 shall ever be. I will not speak for the rest of the community here; I will let them speak for themselves if they agree with me or not, it is their choice to do so.
You have given me (and most like all of us) Purpose Mr. Smart.
It is this purpose that now Drives us; guides us and even binds us, Mr. Smart. It is this purpose, that connects us; Accross nations, oceans, the planet and yes, even Religion. It is now this purpose that has activated this place to a hieght never seen before. We have no intention of standing still, and nor shall we ever Mr. Smart. You have mobilized us, and the activity I see over the previous two days is greater than that of the whole previous year. For this, I thank you.
But, my purpose in in all of this is actually quite simple, Mr. Smart. You have threatened to crush us out, and have declared every intention to shut us out from Freespace 3. As mentioned before, I do not speak for the whole Freespace community here, but I do believe the general attitude is correct when I say that It is now my purpose, my every intention, that you never, ever, ever shut this place down.
Make Freespace 3 if you wish, I will not stop you. Market it and make it a big success if you wish; if you succeed, my apology letter will be the first on your desk. Even if you ignore the community as much as you want; fine, its your problem, not mine.
But, success or not, if you even try shutting us down and discredit the achievements we have made here, you are in for trouble, to say the least.
Thank you Mr. Smart, and have a good day.
