I love Destructoid. I've loved this place since it was first aborted onto the Internet as the go-to site for the latest news on Jaws: The Game. I came for the gaming news; I stayed for the community.

I am dismayed that a lot of the original community members who welcomed me to the then-hideous Red & Green House that Robots Built are now turning their backs on it. However, I understand your frustration: Destructoid is a unique website. While the site was originally founded by a shady Hispanic grifter with a box of air conditioning parts, somehow a really incredible group of gamers all converged on this site at the same time. These gamers worked their hearts out and -- through their stories, tips, artwork, videos, comments, and general love -- a new gaming website was literally born by the sweat of total strangers.

However, times change and Destructoid needs to grow in order to stay alive. And, as the site grows, a lot of the original members feel left behind as they watch the site they helped build transform in the hands of others. If any Dtoid members appear to feel "entitled," it is only because they have worked so hard to help this site grow.

With this in mind, I think it is important that these same community members look back at why they came to Destructoid in the first place. Try to remember why you loved it so much. I look around and I see a lot of the same people and a lot of the same writers -- our family has just grown exponentially. There is now an even greater group of gamers and writers with unique opinions and a common bond: we all discovered a place where we can leave the bullshit at the door and have a good time with other gamers.

Let's stop the ad hominem attacks and bromidic sermons about the "good old days." Instead of talking about the good old days, why don't we bring them back? Why don't we all reach out to new people like Ron did at the very beginning? Why don't we continue to contribute content to the site we love? I used to refresh this page constantly so I would be the first to see Butmac's latest video or read the newest piece of Internet miscellanea dug up by BlindsideDork, but I can't stand to refresh it one more time and see another divisive cblog title.

My personal life has been exceptionally busy for months now, but I still read this site every day. I will do my damnedest to make sure this site stays as great as it has always been. If there are individual grievances, let them be heard. But, please, do not just make this a battle of "old v. new." Don't like the type of stories on the front page? Suggest a filtering mechanism in a forum post or email Niero. Annoyed by new people coming in and clogging up the cblogs with trivial posts? Offer constructive criticism or suggest the addition of a "bury" button for cblogs appearing on the front page.

There are a million ways to improve Destructoid, but everyone seems focused on the only way to destroy it -- by breaking up the community. Now is not the time to be divisive; now is not the time to STFUAJPG; now is the time to get active and bring another 30,000 users into the fold.

I love you all.

-HarassmentPanda