The Commander Says Goodbye
Iām not going to lie, Iām extremely anxious as iām writing this, out of what these news could mean to a lot of people, and my heart feels heavy enough it could drop down my ribcage any minute from now and squish all my other organs. But Iāve been dancing around this topic for a long time now, and I think iāve finally reached a point where i canāt ignore it anymore, for my own sake.
I hereby announce Commander Yes has come to an end.
As Iāve mentioned plenty of times before, here and to many other people, when I began this comic all the way back in 2018 I was in a really bad, really low place in my life in every sense of the word, and it was a spur-of-the moment decision to cheer myself up, because Path of Fire had just released and my enjoyment of the game had reached fever pitch and I had been playing Guild Wars 2 alone since as far as launch, and none of my other friends had ever really gotten into it. I guess I just, dunno, cried out into the big maelstrom of the community, one voice amidst millions, because i wanted SOMEBODY to look at what i did and revel in the nerdery with me.
And somehow the snowball began to roll and people wanted more and more of what I could do, and I was being actively reached out to, and, well, some time after that I landed my first ever job, I discovered a lot of things about myself, and I found myself in communities that welcomed me with open arms, and many of the people in there have since become among the best friends I couldāve possibly encountered, kindred souls who iāve shared joys and sorrows for many years and who I canāt imagine living without anymore.
And all the while I kept making the comics, and with every entry posted every week Iād keep having people stopping to comment on them, and whether they were dumb jokes or personal takes on the story, theyād all share how much what I do kept hitting them in the kokoro, and to this day whenever I play anywhere in the game I still get people who recognize me and thank me for doing what I do. It was wonderful, it IS wonderful, and seeing that response motivated me to keep going, because what did still mattered to people, out there.
But I did always say I planned to keep doing these comics until I ran out of energy for them, and I think iāve finally reached that point.
Because ever since I actually landed that job Iām exhausted and sleep-deprived every other day, so much so that I only have time to work on the comic on saturdays and sundays, and it gets harder and harder to just sit and draw, and at that point it was just more work, and while I still enjoy and play Guild Wars 2 a lot, it no longer consumes my time and attention like Iāve used to and iāve been having fun with more personal projects, and honestly the direction the story is taking these days does not sit right with me and itās hard to find inspiration in that, and this might be borderline selfish but every year I find people care less and less about the comics and it really takes a hit to you motivation when hardly anybody responds after youāve spent a whole weekend trying to squeeze a five-page comic out.
And, well, I have been doing these for six years straight, and I think thatās a good run. Iām tired, and ready to move on, at long last. Let it be someone elseās turn.
But thatās the beautiful thing about this community, isnāt it? Even if Iām hanging up the hat, there are a whole lot of fantastic artists out there, as we speak, still cranking out works of art, deserving of all the attention they can get. And think of all the artists yet to come! For every story that ends, another story is just about to begin!
The world keeps on spinning, one way or another.
Iāll be closing my patreon shortly after this, but the reddit archives and tumblr blog shall remain for people to browse whenever they feel like (or until they both go in flames, i guess, what social media isnāt about to these days)
I still donāt think I ever was that much of a big deal, but all the same, to everyone whoās ever supported me and helped me be the person I am right now, to everyone whoās been there from the beginning, to all the devs of this game that has captured us for nearly a decade now, to all my fellow players and artists out there
See you out there, fellow commanders. Still the stars find their way.
