My very early days with Metpage started with me indexing Visigods FTP server. He had so many shows it was hard to tell what was what so was able to make a nice searchable index for those looking for a show or looking to upload a show that wasn't on the server. That is where my friendship with Visigod started. He took a chance on me with my moderation skills and made me a Global Moderator the day that V4 launched. Showcasing my programming skills to Visigod I eventually made it to Site Admin where I experimented with ideas dealing with the IPB forums. Together we worked on V5 while I made improvements to V4 as time went on.
Since the forums had a good trading section (people mailing eachother shows and bootlegs) it became apparent to me that we needed a way to track this and give credit to those who deserved it. Much of my time during V5 development was writing my own plugin called "Trader Database" that would allow users to share comments and rate each other based on their trading habits. While doing this I was also modding and testing new plugins for our front end integration with the forum as well as testing other great plugins we were looking to use. But then real life hits. I went through a bad separation and with kids involved and work started to suffer. Eventually I decided to part ways with Metpage to focus on my personal issues. Sad thing is I felt I was getting the boot and decided to reek some havok on the forum just before my departure. While there was no permanent damage to the forum or site what I did do was kill off my friendship with Visigod and the rest of the staff.
I considered myself a close friend to Visigod. I even talked to him on the phone once (U.S.A to Portugal) and I couldnt understand a damn word he said
but it was nice to actually talk to the guy who I worked so close with. This is before the days of Skype boys and girls. With that in mind I shared alot of memories with the staff. If only I could go back and fix things but then again this was 8 or 9 years ago. I was dumb and immature.Today things are great and I have been wanting to check in for quite some time but just never had the courage to do so. I am still a Network Admin/SQL Admin but married with what I would consider a stable life and career. I am really happy to see that Metpage is still online and still going. To Visigod and those I worked with at the time I am sorry we parted on bad terms but I would love to get in touch just to see how things have been going for all of you since my departure.
-XerXes
