Hi!some of you might know who i am, and only few from the oldest members might remember me, since ive been coming on and off ever since HaloWars was announced. Ive been a huge fan of ES since AOE1, and i have to say, me and my friends pretty much got into gaming thanks to ES. we would spend hours in someones garage in huge AOE lans, sometimes even days. A lot of years have passed since (over 10!) and most of us parted ways, and most of my friends dedicated themselves to game-related studies, most of them landing in studios worldwide. im the only one who became a chef, but thats not important

when i first read that ES was being closed, i recieved a punch in the face. there is no other studio on which i have dedicated so much time into their games, even if you consider modern highly-addictive games like audiosurf and team fortress2, and ES has always meant a big thing for me: fun. and i think all of us love fun! but i also realized that, like for people, ES might have reached its time, and its closure is only for the best. the day the doors of ES are locked one las time, whoever turns the key, can say, "no bad game ever came out of these doors", and thats a big thing for any studio! 

As the release of HW comes closer, i cant help to think about all the posts in here (yes, ive been here for that much) and thinking of all the hate there was at one point, and all the love we shared as fans thinking about all the wild ideas we had for a game, (even some of our nicknames becoming cheatcodes, and dont lie paragon, i know you thought about it) some of them might have become true, some of them might have been lost forever under piles of spam, but bottom line, once you give it a thought, no other studio could have done this game better. i know i havent played it, but when you consider ES experience in strategy games, the passion they put in their games, and you realize the little influence it might have from other sources other than the halo games, books and others, you can be dead sure this will be a pure and awesome Halo game, not a remix. Not a starcraft mod with different skins, not a starship troopers game with 3rd person control, not even close. this will be what fans want, what we crave and what what i will be playing for a long time, for sure 

I guess that what im trying to say here is, bottom line, Thank You, ES

Thank you for awesome games, that i know i will treasure for years, and my kids will play like i played pong when my father took me to my first arcade

Thank you for so much fun, even though i dont think about it so much, but when i do think of it i realize i had a whole lot more than i thought

Thank you for making me discover computers, leading me to become a helpless geek, and so many more things i could write down, but it would take me ages, and i would start crying and stuff

I only hope that critical acclaim gives you all that you deserve with Halo Wars, as ES goes out with a Bang

The only regret i have is not graduating soon enough from cooking school, because i wish i had been able to show my love to ES at your closing party or something like that, crazy fanboy talk.

Thanks a Lot, and i know most fans feel the same

RonTom