On the cusp of the release of the Nintendo 3DS, a certain child on YouTube had produced a series of videos explaining why the system was doomed to fail. The child represented all Metaright despised in gaming culture, blindly praising all first-person shooters and marveling at how graphics are more important than gameplay. As the videos wore on Metaright felt he needed to do something, anything, to relieve himself of the stress of watching the child. So he did the thing he does best: he wrote.
Metaright listened to a video and compiled a complete transcript, writing down everything the child said, down to the punctuation and inflection. Then Metaright responded. On a forum known as GameFAQs, Metaright presented the child's arguments and explained, one by one, why they were illogical and nonsensical. The other people on the forum praised Metaright's skill in refuting the child, so Metaright continued to do so. After the child faded into obscurity, Metaright continued reviewing video game-related articles and videos. As the reviews came, the forum users continued to enjoy them. So Metaright had an idea.
"Why not make my own website and compile my reviews?" Metaright though. So he did. And so his website, Trial and Failure was born. There, Metaright could compile his thoughts on culture, video games, or anything that fancied him. Kept active by a small following from GameFAQs, Trial and Failure managed to remain updated and active for months. Metaright even managed to contact the admin of a little forum known as Poliwager, and the two agreed to list each other as affiliates. But some time later, everything changed.
Life caught up with Metaright. Moving on to high school and without much time to devote to the website, Trial and Failure slowly started to shrink. Articles stopped being published, fans stopped visiting, and life moved on. It moved on much too fast for Trial and Failure, Metaright's compendium of old thoughts and articles. Metaright moved on, accepting that all good things must come to an end.
Three years passed. Metaright was now a different person than the boy that had reviewed the videos of a now-forgotten child. He was older, now mere months away from being a junior in high school. He had different interests. Having lost interest in video games, he found other ways to keep busy: he studied psychology for fun. He became an active participant in his school's drama department. He had even discovered, much to his surprise, that he enjoyed a cartoon made for little girls! And what's more, this cartoon, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, gave him reason to write again. He wrote on forums and blogs, always finding something to analyze and review about his new favorite show.
Yes, life was much different for Metaright, and in some ways it was better than it had ever been. But not all at peace in Metaright's world. As occasionally happens to children his age, Metaright began to suffer from social anxiety. Metaright had struggled for years with taming his anxiety, fighting just to maintain friendships and remain calm in front of peers. Metaright often looked back with fond nostalgia at the days when he had established Trial and Failure, as life seemed much simpler back then.
So his life went. Then one Summer day, a piece of his past caught up with him as he checked his e-mail.
Metaright thought back to where he had last heard that name before. "Poliwager Forums"? Wasn't that the site he had become affiliates with, at a time that seems so long ago? He thought further. For an affiliate, he didn't really contribute much, did he? In fact, he was quite certain he never visited the forum at all after striking the partnership!Hey everyone!
It's Slix here, the Admin of Poliwager Forums.
It's been a long time since we've all been on the forums at once, and
honestly, lately there have been a lot of slow times. In an attempt to help
revive the old, lively spirit of the forums, I'm sending this email out to
encourage you all to come back, whether it's just to check it out again, or
to come back and post for hours like you used to and meet back up with old
friends. I know it'll be a lot of fun.
We hope to see you soon!
But then Metaright realized that it was not too late. No, much the opposite- now is perfect. Poliwager Forums is in trouble. If things continued as they are, Metaright reasoned, perhaps Poliwager would go the way of Trial and Failure! Even if Trial and Failure had faded and disappeared, Metaright was still an affiliate of Poliwager Forums. A partnership, however unrecognized, had been formed. And the only way Metaright could keep his end was to lend his aid.
So Metaright returned to the Forums. He wasn't certain what- or whom- he would encounter, but his trepidation didn't stop him. He was determined to make things right. Poliwager could use more members, and its community always had room for one more. No matter where fate would take Poliwager, Metaright would be along for the ride.
So now Metaright would like to offer a humble apology. He- that is, I- can't help but feel guilty for not making an effort to be active in the Poliwager community. Slix, I don't even know if you remember my website, or even who I am. I certainly wouldn't expect you to. But nonetheless, I'll keep my end of our partnership. Because if affiliation just means linking to each other, the whole thing really doesn't serve a good purpose. I could have made an effort to combine our communities and be active, but I didn't.
Since Trial and Failure is almost undoubtedly dead, I'd like you to remove it from your list of affiliates. But Slix, if you'll accept my cheesy, overly-formal apology, perhaps the partnership- not between websites, but between people- doesn't have to have run its course.