The 15th Anniversarycast

Might be time for a design refresh, methinks.

Here we are: 15 years to the day since our first post. In traditional marriage anniversary terms, we’ve celebrated our wood, tin, and now our crystal milestones. And, oh boy, isn’t marriage quite the allegory for a collaborative partnership lasting 1.5 decades? We’ve fought, we’ve triumphed, and we keep coming back for more because we love doing this, and, frankly, love each other. It’s a lucky thing to work on a project with your friends for this long.

Five years ago, our very sanguine post highlighted our greatest hits. Since then, not a lot has changed and so very much has changed. This site has experienced some of its longest periods of post drought. Meanwhile, most of our group focused on our family lives: marriages, moves, and, most significantly, children! Yes, we’ve procreated and we’re sorry for that.

Let me quote myself from that last anniversary post:

Since that first post, we: wrote a book; launched three podcasts; hosted several talented contributors, interviewed some of our favorite game developers; wrestled back control of our WordPress installation from (presumably) Russian hackers; ceased publication not once, not twice, but thrice; and, perhaps most notably, posted nine Game of the Year features comprising hundreds of hours of unpaid work entirely fueled by our love of the medium and a dark desire to yell at each other.

Since our 10th anniversary, well, we’ve sweated over another five Game of the Year features, experimented with post formats, podcasted when we could, and over the past two years had quite the renaissance of new content thanks to Nick’s output as he’s fallen back in love with critique.

And unlike last time, there’s no grand promise for the future. Which is a great place to be. For once, I’m not worrying about defining what’s next or making pained, hedging bets on whether or not this year will be the last year.

If having two children and approaching 40 has cemented anything in me as we celebrate 15 years of Silicon Sasquatch, it’s that this site and its heritage are worth preserving as they are. We intend to keep the lights on for the next 15 years, if only for the incredulity of the experiment, if only for the amazing time capsule we’re creating.

And, at the risk of speaking for Nick, Doug, Spencer, and Tyler: I can picture them happily joining me for the 30th Anniversarycast in 2038.

Imagine that.