Now that I've achieved such a grand milestone in ExciteBots: Trick Racing, what will there be to do next? Will I quit this game forever? What will happen to the all the stats and the rankings that I have kept track of over my months here? So many questions, I have the answers. ;)

First off, ExciteBots: Trick Racing is officially my all-time favorite game. There has never been a game in my past that has sucked me into such an extraordinary experience. This is the kind of game I could never leave sitting on my shelf untouched for fifteen months straight. This is the kind of game that you will always come back to when searching for a game. It has so much to it, so much depth. This game goes far deeper than any of the Mario Kart racing games could. This game may look like Tic-Tac-Toe but it plays like chess. This game may look like it's only for kids ages 5-12 but it can be played for all ages, 5 to 85.

So I guess what I'm trying to say here is that ExciteBots is a game I will never just quit cold turkey. I will always come back to this game when I feel the time is right. The time now however, is the time I need to give this game a long deserved rest. How long of a break it will be depends. It could be a month or several, whatever it takes. I have a long list of games I need to catch up on as well as some newer games I recently received that I'd like to put some more time into. I'm not saying goodbye to EBTR forever.

Over the last year I have been keeping track of everything statistical for the ExciteBots Community. I will continue to do so for as long as the community is still active. Several of the statistic threads will be left now for others to edit seems how I won't be online racing to update them. Those include the Excite and Poker Win Rankings, the Online Racer Index, and the new content of the Online High Score Rankings. I won't be around to update everyone's win counts, stats in the index, or add new scores of racers I've witnessed online for the rankings. It'll all be up to the community to keep such things alive. What is my confidence level towards all this remaining successful? To be honest, it isn't very high. :(

The other day, BTC and I were communicating via the instant messaging system, xat, and he and I were discussing the recent activity level of the forum. As Cody put it several weeks ago:

This is dieing!!!!CodyRs13

Yes. This place is growing ever more quiet. BTC, being the awesome optimistic lobster rider that he his, came up with the theory that maybe, just maybe, a new generation of racers will rise and start a newer community when BIG AIR and myself leave. While this may seem like a possibility for games such as the Mario Kart Wii and DS, to me this seems very unlikely for a game that went virtually unnoticed.

I really hope that those of you that are still sticking around can do your best to keep this community afloat. Barbie – Good luck on your 9's. (I might sneak out of retirement to be there for it ;)) Same goes to FLASH, Jmv Rce, Aaron (if you ever get your Wii repair :?), GAMBIT (if you ever stop working :P), teknik (if you ever stop playing MH3 and other games), Feeble (if you ever stop breaking fingers and going to the dentist :P), and the various others I've failed to mention here. :) I do feel a little hope that things might pick up once the summer season arrives but I'm not expecting such an incredible outcome. Afterall, we didn't get much of a boost after this past holiday season. :roll:

So with all that said, I wish the community the best. Contribute, contribute, contribute I say! :) I'll play my part in updating, you guys play your part in contributing. :) I've been doing both for too long! :x If any of you have questions, I'll always be nearby. ;) Thanks for all the fun times and memories everyone! :cry: EBTR forever!

Now I'll officially say goodbye, err enter retirement, with the same cheesy line I used to end my first post to this community. :P

- TopStar Out!