A Farewell...

[Leon]

Sometimes goodbye isn't the hardest word, especially when the word you’re trying to say is hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian!

What I am trying to say is; saying farewell isn't the end but simply an acknowledgement that some aspects of existence, partnership and support must cease and come to an end, after all, things cannot go on living forever! In this case we’re of course talking about Gran and I. As some of you may or may not know, we've been good friends for a few years now and in that time become very close. It’s been a rocky relationship at times but we've always come through for each other and have now given into our true feelings. The man I've called my friend is now the man I love. We've spoken long and hard about this and have decided that it is now time to say farewell and emigrate to Paradise City, where the grass is green and the girls are pretty…ALL BOLLOCKS OF COURSE! You know how it really is, I'm just his bitch! But in all seriousness, we are saying a farewell to our beloved CSS/GO servers. Alas, the CSS community is dying away with the game itself becoming less popular and community focused. People are naturally venturing off into new areas of gaming.

In the beginning was the word, and the word was Teesside. INC started off as a very small handful of members with a thirst for competitive gaming. As this thirst grew, INC had its very own GunGame and Match/ Training server and by August 2007, a TeamSpeak server, but that’s not all folks! The popularity of CounterStrike was growing more and more and so was the demand for servers. As the newly reformed INC community grew in numbers, so did the servers and over the past 9 years INC has gone from having 1 server to having 7 servers that all at one point were fully populated and enjoyed by all who visited. But the successes of these servers hasn't solely come down to their creators, it has come down to you guys…seriously you guys have rocked! Without you, the servers wouldn't have grown and become as popular as they had and therefore events throughout those years such as; the weekly Knife Event, Iron Man tournament, Gran’s Fun Night etc. wouldn't have happened. The servers may have brought in new and the past members of this community, but it’s those new and old members that have made our servers that bit more special - I know, soppy stuff eh! Go grab a tissue!

Back in the prehistoric days of INC the gaming was competitive but as INC grew and grew, the community started to edge away from the ‘competitive’ scene and focus more on the enjoyment of playing CounterStrike. It was then that the ethos changed and the community stood out from the rest, shaping the servers to be a place for ‘fun’, ‘friendly’ and ‘sociable’ gaming. For the past 9 years or so the members of INC have always fully supported CSS and the various games alike and as a result, our CSS servers in particular have been the foundation for many peoples’ indulgences and escape(s) from reality. We must remember that because of our servers, our members and regular visitors have built lifelong friendships, relationships, confidence, maturity and even work experience for those who've been keen to expand their skills and voluntarily take on roles that have assisted with upholding INCs morals and ethos. For Grandma and I, that’s a side of gaming that doesn't get enough credit or focus, so on behalf of the Leaders, thank you, it has been sincerely appreciated.

But it’s not all doom and gloom so put away those tissues! The community isn't dead, it's just quiet. The amount of friend’s people have made through INC still remains and those relationships have stayed strong. So, moving forwards we still want people gaming together as a group regularly so that means the TeamSpeak server is staying as this is still used as a regular meeting place for friends to socialise, interact and game together and should be our main promotion at all times. We will also be keeping the forums site where people can post, update us, join in with various discussions, decisions and events. I have plans to post pictures of what I think mine and Gran’s future love child will look like - someone start that topic!! So hold back those tears, as the servers are still available but they will run out on 07/04/2016.

That said, it would be really fantastic if people still kept on supporting the community by continuing to (or starting) donate, even if it was only now and again because it will still cost to keep the website and teamspeak resources running going forwards. These things are only possible because of you wonderful guys and gals

Lastly, I think it would be a really nice end to the servers if we setup one last final event (bit like Gran’s fun night?) and see the servers off with some organised mayhem *cough* I mean fun! What do you think?

Now I leave you with a parting song in the words of someone famous With a few fitting tweaks...

And now, the end is near; And so we face the final curtain. My friends, I'll say it clear, we’ll state our case, of which we’re certain. We've lived a life that's full. We've travelled each and every highway; And more, much more than this, we did it our way!

[DJRenegade]

RIP As Leon says though, teamspeak is where it all happens now. It is used regularly by a good number of us and you can find some of us on there daily. So even though we lose the servers we don't lose the ability to meet up and game. Whatever game it may be there is probably someone who would be willing to join you, so get on the teamspeak server, introduce yourself if you haven't already and game on

ts3.inc-gaming-clan.com

[MrYellow]

Also, if you are missing something that would benifit the fun on TeamSpeak... feel free to make suggestions! :)

[JamesGoblin]

R.I.P. and move to TS thou, it's not the end of the world =)

[CoSK]

Sad to hear Although glad the forums are staying and I want to come back on teamspeak sometime soon

[fightingbelfast]

I'm really sorry to hear all this. Good luck to all and will be using team speak

[Xen]

Man, seeing this makes me sad

[mrmanpp[]]

I agree that this is sad. Those servers were (are) great. Their memories will live on. I also agree that the servers deserve a send off with one final event. They deserve nothing less

[jomonomonomonay]

to paraphrase sinead o connor, nothing compares to the inc gungame server around 2009. it will be missed.

[Grandma]

They are now gone!

However, the teamspeak still lives on (on the same IP ) and I'll be posting up somewhere in the next few weeks how you can get a downloadable copy of our full setup. People can then use this as a basis if they want to use for their own community servers or have a go at starting their own up - or indeed people can host it on their own machines temporarily or permanently for others to play on. I'll not be able to allow the connections to all our databases, but most stuff will work fine.

[DJRenegade]

RIP Servers

They are now gone!

However, the teamspeak still lives on (on the same IP ) and I'll be posting up somewhere in the next few weeks how you can get a downloadable copy of our full setup. People can then use this as a basis if they want to use for their own community servers or have a go at starting their own up - or indeed people can host it on their own machines temporarily or permanently for others to play on. I'll not be able to allow the connections to all our databases, but most stuff will work fine.

I think its very cool that you are going to release that I might take a download to have a gander at how everything worked behind the scenes

[Grandma]

RIP Servers

They are now gone!

However, the teamspeak still lives on (on the same IP ) and I'll be posting up somewhere in the next few weeks how you can get a downloadable copy of our full setup. People can then use this as a basis if they want to use for their own community servers or have a go at starting their own up - or indeed people can host it on their own machines temporarily or permanently for others to play on. I'll not be able to allow the connections to all our databases, but most stuff will work fine.

I think its very cool that you are going to release that I might take a download to have a gander at how everything worked behind the scenes

It'll probably be a little longer than anticipated due to some work stuff and me going to the INC meetup. All the files are saved and already somewhere easily accessible online - I just need to remove our database details and stuff to sanitise them a little before releasing. There's no benefit to keeping it all secret if we're not using it again. That being said, there may be an opportunity coming up in the future where I might be able to get a load of rackspace for free and potentially send a server to a mate who can host it in there for us - so we might have free servers again.... In which case I'll still let you get a copy

[Leon]

Ooo that would be good!

[Parp]

It is unacceptable that Parp was not invited to a final event.

You are now all banned from [PARP] clam for life.