[Windswept]

You've been gone for a month now, and I hope you are ready to come back. I would imagine that plenty of others miss your presence as much as I do. You add so much to the discussion here with your long and thoughtful posts.

Please put a few people on your ignore list and give the boards here another try.

If anyone else feels the way I do about encouraging Robo to come back, please let him know in this thread, so that I won't be the lone voice calling in the wilderness.

Thanks in advance for any additional words of encouragement for our friend.

[drewprops]

I've been busy in my own stuff and didn't know that Robo had "left" us... so I'll put in a 'ditto' to your post.


...

[pscates2.0]

He's a big boy, guys. He knows he's not banned or otherwise tossed, and he knows all about the ignore feature. If he opted to leave (or take a temporary break from) the site over a few run-ins or some irksome members, that's totally his call. He's got his reasons. He doesn't need to be babied or begged. Chances are, he swings by and lurks a bit anyway (how could he not). Chances are, he's already read this thread.

[RowdyScot]

I miss him.

[Maciej]

I'm here to chime in that I also miss his thoughtful posts, but I am not here to pressure him to come back or post if he doesn't feel welcome.

[thegeriatric]

It has to be his decision. But hope to hear from you Robo. Hope everything is ok.

[Xaqtly]

Well screw you guys, I am pressuring him to come back.

COME BACK ROBO

[kscherer]

I'm in and out for months at a time, and I had no idea he had even left. Guess that's what I get.

I've had my disagreements with the guy—almost always in some political discussion (imagine that)—but I sure don't want long-time members like him wandering off. Hell, he's the only guy in here keeping pace with Pscates in posts per hour.

Robo, hope you find a reason to fall back into the soup.

[Windswept]

Originally Posted by RowdyScot I miss him.

Originally Posted by Xaqtly Well screw you guys, I am pressuring him to come back. COME BACK ROBO

Yay! Thanks, guys.

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 He's a big boy, guys. He knows he's not banned or otherwise tossed, and he knows all about the ignore feature. If he opted to leave (or take a temporary break from) the site over a few run-ins or some irksome members, that's totally his call. He's got his reasons. He doesn't need to be babied or begged. Chances are, he swings by and lurks a bit anyway (how could he not). Chances are, he's already read this thread.

Yes, he does know all that. But the point of this thread was to let him know that despite any difficulties he has had, many of us miss his presence anyway, and hope that he can get beyond them, use the ignore feature, and come back to add his voice to our discussions. I'd like to know, for example, if he feels the same way I do about U.S. volleyball player #1 Matt Anderson.

But also, Robo is a sensitive kind of guy, and I think he needs to know that there are people who care about him and about what he has gone through in recent times. And that we regret his absence, because he is a vital part of this little community of individuals.

One thing I've learned in life is that people should let others *know* of the esteem they have for them, and how much they care about them. Don't just let such feelings be assumed, because people don't necessarily know (or believe!) these positive things, if you don't tell them.

One small example. I invited a friend over to my dad's house to help him with his computer. I paid him for his time because I wanted it to be worth his while to help my father. Anyway, later, this guy said to me, "Wow, your dad really loves you." I asked what he meant, and he said my dad had wanted to name something after me, his website, his email name, or something. Well, I was so surprised to hear this, because my dad never let me know of such feelings. And if this guy hadn't mentioned it, I still wouldn't know.

[Brad]

I know he's out there, but as someone who doesn't use The Twitters, Robo is basically dead to me. Maybe one day I'll get Twittercized, but I'm a crotchety old man now and who do I think I'm kidding? I'm already starting to hate on Apple and sporting the occasional stubbly neckbeard. Next thing you know I'll be yelling at clouds.

Miss ya, Robo.

[Windswept]

Happy 30th, Brad.

(Sorry that I missed your birthday when it actually happened. )

[pscates2.0]

Originally Posted by Windswept Yay! Thanks, guys. Yes, he does know all that. But the point of this thread was to let him know that despite any difficulties he has had, many of us miss his presence anyway, and hope that he can get beyond them, use the ignore feature, and come back to add his voice to our discussions. I'd like to know, for example, if he feels the same way I do about U.S. volleyball player #1 Matt Anderson. But also, Robo is a sensitive kind of guy, and I think he needs to know that there are people who care about him and about what he has gone through in recent times. And that we regret his absence, because he is a vital part of this little community of individuals. One thing I've learned in life is that people should let others *know* of the esteem they have for them, and how much they care about them. Don't just let such feelings be assumed, because people don't necessarily know (or believe!) these positive things, if you don't tell them. One small example. I invited a friend over to my dad's house to help him with his computer. I paid him for his time because I wanted it to be worth his while to help my father. Anyway, later, this guy said to me, "Wow, your dad really loves you." I asked what he meant, and he said my dad had wanted to name something after me, his website, his email name, or something. Well, I was so surprised to hear this, because my dad never let me know of such feelings. And if this guy hadn't mentioned it, I still wouldn't know.

Fair enough. I just figured he knew all this, and was taking a break from some of the head-butting that was going on a while back. While my first instinct is to tell someone to go perform legally (and anatomically) questionable acts on themselves (and then add them to my ignore list), I realize others may just want to step away and enjoy a break from time to time, as needed.

Tomato/tomahto, different strokes and all that...

[Noel]

I'm on the "I love Robo" bandwagon, too.

I don't post much here anymore (and, let's be honest, I was never exactly a prolific poster) but I do still come to read nearly every day — and Robo's thoughtful posts are, quite frankly, one of the only reasons I do so.

[709]

Eh. He's got a new full-time job and his mom just died. Of course I noticed that he wasn't posting, but the latter is enough for me to not bug him for a while, the former just restricts his availability to be here.

Personally, I won't be worried until he's a couple/few months out. If he hasn't posted by then I'd certainly PM him. If he doesn't respond then I'd respect his privacy.

Sure, like everyone, I miss his thoughtful and knowledgeable posts (and him, personally), but I'm not going to pursue it. Like Paul said above - he's a big boy - I'll respect whatever decision he makes wrt AN.

(and no, I'm not on the inside track of twitters either, so if there's a hard reason besides the conjecture here I'm not privy to it)


tl;dr: my position is: give the guy some space.

[709]

Also, he knows that he has many, many friends here that care about him. If he feels the need to contact any of us, he will.

Although, I'm giving him 30 days until I build Hogwarts in the 1.3 world just to spite him.

You know I'll fuck it up Robo. It's on your conscience.

[kscherer]

Too bad about the mom. My condolences.

[RowdyScot]

I can't get into Twitter, either. I hate the format, hate the look, and just personally don't get it. I have one, and I read through it once every 3-4 weeks. Maybe if I had an iPhone or something. If it gets to be a couple months and he hasn't come back, I'll suffer through Twitter to keep in contact with him, though.

I miss the conversations in MC. If anything, I think I miss that from the Bridgeport days more than anything else!

[Moogs]

I don't know Robo as well as some of you but if my useless memory serves correctly, weren't there all kinds of family issues with Robo and his Mom (mostly with his Mom) that he used to talk about? If I remember right, then it makes some sense that he's not been around. Sometimes the death of someone who has caused a lot of problems in a family leads to a lot of conflicting emotions and stuff like that. Probably just needs time to sort it out and be at peace with everything? If I don't remember right then I am an idiot and I apologize to Robo in-absentia.

[/amateurpsychhour]

[Windswept]

Originally Posted by Noel I'm on the "I love Robo" bandwagon, too. I don't post much here anymore (and, let's be honest, I was never exactly a prolific poster) but I do still come to read nearly every day — and Robo's thoughtful posts are, quite frankly, one of the only reasons I do so.

Thanks for saying so, Noel. If Robo ever sees any of this, your post will be very heartening for him.

When I realized a week ago that Robo hadn't posted in any of the threads I was reading, I checked his profile to do a little research. I saw that his last post was June 24 (iirc), and his last visit was July 1, a full month of absence at that point. Then I checked his last few posts, and I found my answer for his absence. He basically gave up on dealing with the frequent confrontation that seemed to come his way.

He's an open-hearted person and often wrote unguarded, open-hearted posts. A dangerous thing, to lay one's feelings out there to risk being trampled upon. Sensitive people can only find themselves unwittingly involved in combative situations just so many times, before it becomes not worth it anymore to post at a given site. I'm afraid that's how Robo feels about posting here now.

I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think I am.

[thegeriatric]

I also think you're right. But having said that Robo knows that a lot of us Applenovians, respect him for his opinions and honesty, hopefully he will return to the fold as the majority of us miss him, and value him as a member of AN.

Somehow this place seems a bit empty without him.

I for one miss reading his posts.

[RowdyScot]

(Hint - he posted a day or two ago in GamingNova)

[Moogs]

You see?? It's that damn Minecraft! It's addicting the youths of America and turning their brain to mush. How many more must fall victim before we banninate the MC? I knew there was something sinister about the way that game sunk its claws into all of you. It's like one day you're all normal novans, and a month later you're all MC zombies and pick-axes. I want you all to know, I'm here to help.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by Moogs You see?? It's that damn Minecraft! It's addicting the youths of America and turning their brain to mush. How many more must fall victim before we banninate the MC? I knew there was something sinister about the way that game sunk its claws into all of you. It's like one day you're all normal novans, and a month later you're all MC zombies and pick-axes. I want you all to know, I'm here to help.

Speaking of which...

We just restarted with a new world for the 1.3 update on the AppleNova Minecraft server, and there's a noticeable dearth of Lego buildings! Robo, you're our only hope!