I dreamt about this GIGANTIC tree. It had an immeasurable trunk that no one had seen all of. The branches spanned miles in every direction, and thousands of us were up there, climbing through them. And you could never see the ground, because you were always so high in the air.

Some of the branches were so huge and thick and wide, you could just walk across them. In fact, a couple people could stand side by side and walk along them. We called those ones "The Highways".

Some people had built little houses and forts and shops in the branches.

There was a language that those of us in the tree spoke. It sounded like a very elegant and more easily flowing form of Russian. Other than that the ethnicities were so mixed that there was someone of a different race every couple feet.

There were lots of places that the tree grew lots of different foods. There were also lots of places where the tree grew lots of flowers of all sorts of soft colors.

In some places, there were so many shops and stuff that it seemed like a little town.

We carried hammocks with us, because you could set them up anywhere.

And we loved it.

The war was over and the spirit was broken
The hills were smokin' as the men withdrew
We stood on the cliffs, oh and watched the ships
Slowly sinking to their rendezvous
They signed a treaty and our homes were taken
Loved ones forsaken, they didn't give a damn
Trying to raise a family, end up the enemy
Over what went down on the plains of Abraham

It pains me to see people take such a harsh stance on something that hasn’t even been implemented yet. It’s as if they had a crystal ball embedded into their computer and that they could somehow gaze into the future and say with the certainty of a sage that these changes are dooming us. That the proposed changes are somehow “lowering the bar” that we’ve tried so hard to raise over the years by allowing a new brand of user to express their creativity in ways we haven’t tried before.

Then some returned to the motherland
The high command had them cast away
And some stayed on to finish what they started
They never parted, they're just built that way
We had kin livin' south of the border
They're a little older and they've been around
They wrote a letter, life is a whole lot better
So pull up your stakes, children and come on down

It pains me to hear people invoke the past as if those people that are proposing the changes are somehow disrespecting all of the hard work done by those noders who were lucky enough to be here when the doors first opened for business. I wasn’t lucky enough to be one of them but I still consider myself lucky to have stumbled onto this place over six years ago and barring any extreme circumstances, will most likely be here until they pull the plug.

Even though I’ve never had much interaction with many of the people who for whatever reason chose to leave our tight little circle, I wish them all the best and hope that maybe they can find it within themselves to come on back.

Needless to say, that sentiment goes for those of you who are unhappy with the proposed changes and are looking to pack their bags and head for exits.

Everlasting summer filled with ill-content
This government had us walkin' in chains
This isn't my turf, this ain't my season
Can't think of one good reason to remain
I've worked in the sugar fields up from New Orleans
It was ever green up until the floods
You could call it an omen, points you where you're goin'
Set my compass north, I got winter in my blood

So I guess as with most things that are subject to change, people will have strong opinions this way or that. The debate will rage on in the form of c-box discussions, and nodes will be written both for and against whatever is coming down the pipe.

But first, a few words of caution are in order. For those of you who are batten down the hatches full steam ahead about the changes just remember that nothing happens overnight. Although I’m no expert, this is especially true when you consider the history of E2. I think over the years more stuff has died by the side of the road than has actually managed to get across it.

For those of you who are dead set against the changes all I can advise you is to not make up your mind too early in the game. We still don’t know how the changes will either enhance the quality that’s already here or, God forbid, drag it down. Like I alluded to earlier, none of us has a crystal ball and can say for sure that these are good or bad things.

It’s up to our user base to decide to that and given the quality of stuff that’s been accumulated here over the years, I’ll put my faith in them.

Until then, don’t be too quick to judge.

Selected lyrics lifted from The Band’s fine tune called “Arcadian Driftwood".

CST Approved

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