Ha, it's OK, Eugene. I also had many years worth of quality LB2 singleplayer play - most notably on my main Windows 98SE and Windows XP PCs of their era (i.e., not 'retro'). I have well over 150 flight hours and have just about 'memorized' every possible gameplay element in LB2. Therefore, I don't necessarily feel the need to have to continue to play the sim in order to have the good memories but also the information and game 'theory' at hand in an instant for answering questions or adding to a discussion.

As I've stated before, I never really got into LB1/Gold, but I guess if you played LB2 first it is hard to go back - just as it would be hard for DCS: BS players to 'go back' and try LB2 for the first time.

To be honest, I don't really have the attention span nowadays to get back into LB2 even if I really, really tried to sort out my stability issues. And as we get older, priorities change, free time gets less and other games take our grasp. I've also come to appreciate that there are so many other helicopters to discover and not to dwell on the AH-64. For me, I am more of a Comanche fan now.

And simming as a whole has taken a turn, community-wise, perhaps for the worse. I know on many occasions I have been instrumental in starting or continuing arguments and debates over such trivia as the authenticity of sims, Longbow complexity, flight models, helicopter dynamics and weapon effectiveness - but there is so much info readily available nowadays and there are so many know-it-alls that, at times, I no longer feel that I can contribute worthy, once perhaps rare and cutting-edge info and theories. People have spoilt the whole community experience for me recently (note, nobody in this forum).

LB2 will always have a place in my heart, from the awesome manual right down to the first time I saw the sim in 3DFX after years of playing in Software mode. The AH-64 will always have a place in my heart, but as advanced as it is and may become, it is no longer enough to entice me.

Well, this latest post of mine has come to sort of sound like a farewell, and in many ways it is. I will always be here for as long as the website is going and/or I am alive and kicking, but I feel that my LB2 playing days are well and truly over and I will only be a kind of third-party to the whole process here - not playing the game but having the knowledge from when I did play it. I also have the website with all my 'hard' knowledge on and a lot of personal files with notes, experimental stuff, etc.

I'm also sorry that I never got to play with you guys in the LB2 multiplayer heyday, and the two flights I did with you were more of a hard task on my part rather than an enjoyable experience. I've only ever really been any good at multiplayer in FPS games anyhow, and multiplayer as a whole is not something I strive for - I much more enjoy well-polished singleplayer.

And can I just take this time, again, to say what a pleasure it has been meeting all of you guys here. You are some of the best guys on the 'net, a virtual friend could have. When I first joined about 5 years ago I came here simply to advertise my ONE page LB2 'site' that was then hosted at Geocities. Look how my site has grown. Tens of pages, thousands of words and several webhost moves later - I think that in itself is testament to how much we've all interacted and my site is as much yours as it is mine, as I couldn't have made it what it is today without the input and dedication from you guys. I have made a few personal friends out of you, a few enemies, and a few who I have a strictly 'professional' relationship with. Jeez I'm actually starting to well-up here! May we raise a toast to those who have come and gone, to those that are still here posting, to those who have moved on, and to those such as Kevin 'PositiveG' Speichts who was sadly taken away from us way before his time.

I think these icons sum-up the mood right now, for me anyhow...