Goobye Meower

All good things must come to an end. I knew this was true. In Meower's case, it had lived much longer than expected. I joined the project in late 2021 (or early 2022; I fudged the number a bit) and became heavily involved. With that said, I'd like to share some history, insights, and feelings now that it is over.

After using Scratch for many years, I stumbled upon the forums and the Meower project shortly afterward. In an effort to evade Scratch's rules about multiplayer chatrooms, I designed the stupidest rule-based system and marketed it to the team. It was never used, other than in one test. This was by far my biggest contribution to the entire project. Let that sink in: my largest contribution was a stupid system never implemented.

I left for a while. Moved on to other things. But when I came back, I was still a moderator and Meower had moved away from Scratch entirely. These were the glory days. Our team was huge, and progress was swift. It seemed like everyone was active and interested in Meower. There were always issues, but these were largely resolved. I got promoted to Level 2 moderator and, eventually, a Council member. How did I achieve this astounding feat? God knows.

Mike, Tni, Eri, Eth, Jersey, Vox, Ren, and others worked incredibly hard to keep the project alive. I was never lacking in a desire to help; I'm simply not useful and it is okay to be honest and say so.

So, how do I feel? Where do I stand? It changes by the minute. It will be hard to let go of something that's been so important in my life. Friends, experience, knowledge, and insight were all gained from being here. I will miss the together-ness. I will miss feeling like I am part of something. But honestly, it was necessary to shut down the official servers for good. Many of our amazing people left and moved on, including Mike. He held it together; when there was a problem to solve, Mike knew the answer and fixed it accordingly.

So I am sad right now. More could have been done to mitigate the issues and get through like we always have. But the reality is, it's over. Too many problems to solve, too many power struggles, too much politics. We get old and move on.

To the people who care, thank you for always being there for me. Thank you for your friendship and kindness, I hope I don't lose you. Thank you for keeping me, as useless as I am. I love you all very much.