I really don't know or care how many will read this, but... it's been a little bit, hasn't it?
By this point, it should be clear that I'm not coming back. Different priorities and such. But I feel I should at least give you some sort of 'so, this is what I'm doing now' type deal. So, here's the headlines:
I quit playing 40k for a while. About two years or so, actually. It basically became too impractical and costly for me to maintain interest at the level I was at, so I stopped. And as I did, GW really stepped up a gear in their 'make EVERYTHING' campaign. I mean, we've now got Admech, the Imperial Guard have a daft new name (and a seperate book for Storm Troopers), Harlequins have their own book, the Dark Eldar Raider became a Fast Attack choice for... some reason... what constitutes a Battleforce is now vastly different to what I consider a Battleforce... yep, it's a different world. A load of really expensive pretty stuff now exists.
I haven't bought anything new save for the Tau Empire book (which I consider a vast improvement over the original), a Cadre Fireblade and a paperback copy of the 7th Edition rulebook from eBay. I'm surprised at how quick Seventh came around, but it does seem to be 6.5 in spirit, ironing out some of the weird things of that edition. And I have played a few games under it. However, yesterday, I played a game against a friend under 5th. And I realised something.
I don't want to play modern 40k.
Part of this is timeline. 5th Edition came out as I entered secondary school after a year and a half of playing under 4th. 6th came out as I left secondary school. As such, I was playing 5th for the vast majority of the time I was really enjoying the game, and now I have a large pair of rose-tinted spectacles towards it. That's not to say I don't like things like Precision Shots, pre-measuring, etc. I do. So I've just started playing 5th with pre-measuring and Precision Shots. And you know what? It works. I might even backport Hull Points next. But not Flyers, because I'm not equipped to deal with those on a regular basis. Essentially, I've ended up playing 40k in a form that I am comfortable with. And I think that's how I'm going to keep it. Yes, 5th had flaws, but at least it had a reliable charge distance, pre-selected psychic powers, and didn't take as long to set up.
I'm still playing Super Dungeon Explore. I backed the Forgotten King Kickstarter that happened a while back and I'm super-happy with the changes they've made to the game and especially with the addition of Arcade Mode, allowing it to be played as a co-operative game over a competitive one. PvP Mode is also pretty great once you eliminate the wandering miniboss because otherwise it just dominates. All in all, it's a pretty fun game that doesn't take up horrible amounts of space.
Other things... I play casual Magic, I'm pretty active on the Nuzlocke Forums, I'm still doing stand-up as a hobby, degree's going well... I think that's it, really. So I'm going to leave it there.
It's been a fun chapter, but I'm afraid this is where we properly part ways. But make no mistake, the 40k universe shall forever remain the most beloved of all fictional universes to me. I spent a good part of my adolescence wandering the stars, shooting things in the face, writing rules and just generally having a bit of a lark. And that's all I could ever ask for, really.