On the fifth November 2013, Bootleggers witnessed the resignation of the Head Moderator, Riserva. He announced his departure from the Elite Guard by posting on the Game Forum:
I believe that first of all, I owe every single one of you an apology. As you all are probably aware, real life takes over at times and at times you have to say goodbye to certain things which have been with you for a very long time. In my case, my career has caused me to neglect my duties on Bootleggers, and has kept me from doing my job on here properly. For the better part of the last 8 years, Bootleggers has been a huge part of my life and has somehow managed to make me grow. I have made some amazing friends on here, and have come to see Bootleggers grow as a family. What has always made this game amazing was it's community and I have always supported this statement. And this community deserves staff members who can put in the time and who enjoy playing it so that they can make it fun for everyone else as well... Lacking the time to fully commit to Bootleggers has lead me to the decision to step down as Head Moderator. I would like to thank each and every one of you for making the game what it is today. And I mean everyone! One last thing... I hate saying goodbye. So let's not. Let's say until we meet again!
As mentioned, Riserva has been a big part of Bootleggers for the past eight years. Let's take a quick look back on his time on Bootleggers. He was promoted to Moderator on March 3, 2009. He started as a Help Desk Operator for two years before being promoted to Moderator. He then became Head Moderator at the beginning of this round.
On the Game Forum, there were many comments wishing Riserva all the best in his real life career and future, and some nice comments from the Elite Guard themselves. Even BSF2000 had a nice word to say: "You've been a better friend and member of the Elite Guard than I could have ever asked for. I can't thank you enough for the loyalty and commitment you showed to the game, even when it was at its worst. I hate to see you go, but I wish you continued success in your career. Thank you for everything bud. You've been great to me and this game and you will be missed my friend."
I caught up with Mika to find out what he thought of Riserva's choice to hang up his green coat. He said "Given his current activity I think we all felt it coming when he asked us if we could come on Skype. But for me it was an unpleasant surprise nevertheless. He is a great guy to work with and a genuinely nice person. It's too bad that he took this decision, but I fully understand it." He also added when asked if the game would be impacted due to his departure, he said that with the current work load, he isn't sure whether a new Head Moderator would be needed straight away and can't see a big impact on the game. "I do not think any direct impact will be noticed. He had been inactive for quite some time already, so players should not notice anything in the day to day gameplay. We as Elite Guard will miss him during our meetings, but who knows, when things settle down he may come back. That option will always be there." Mika added.
We took to the community to find out if they feel the came would see an impact on Riserva's departure, and 100% of the votes were no, they wouldn't see an impact, some even mentioned about him being so inactive that the game wouldn't notice. The reasons for him being so inactive were obviously personal real life issues, including his career, and real life comes first. Many say that he did very little for the game, mainly due to him being so inactive, but after catching up with the Elite Guard to find out why he was chosen to be Head Moderator, it seems that that the Head Moderator rank was given to Riserva so that he had the additional access that he needed to carry out the extra tasks he had been given. He was responsible for setting up the High Rollers Forum, which the Elite Guard use to communicate with the Help Desk Operators. Also, all the staff reports go the the Head Moderator and at the beginning of the round it was only the Moderator with the rank of Head Moderator who could add and remove Help Desk Operators. He worked very closely with BSF2000 towards the reset and Mika imagines this is why BSF2000 trusted him to take care of staff management, which were the main additional duties of the Head Moderator.
Speaking to Sky, it seems that Riserva was also the go-to man for when the Elite Guard wanted to get hold of BSF2000 when he was offline, and also played a big part in the plans for the Crew re-design. Aldarion had the same views as Mika, in regards to Riserva playing a big part behind the scenes. He played a much bigger part in the running of the game when 5litre and Nyxxie left the team. As BSF2000 mentioned in an earlier Buzz issue, he was heavily involved in setting up the current round. As a head moderator, he used to be the Elite Guard's spokesman on question about updates. This stopped when his activity dropped. Despite his inactivity he still helped and participated in various discussions.
So, it seems that although Riserva didn't log on as often as people would like, mainly due to real life career taking priority, he still did a lot of work behind the scenes, which the community wasn't aware of. He has been a big influence within the game, working closly with BSF2000, showing he is a trusted member of the Elite Guard, and will be missed by many. I for one am looking forward to the update he was working on before stepping down, which is the new Crew update. On behalf of The Buzz team and the Elite Guards, we just want to thank Riserva for his hard work as Head Moderator, and wish him all the best for the future.
“Remember, remember the fifth of November of gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason why the gun powder treason should ever be forgot.”
Until we meet again...
