Holy smokes, it seems like just yesterday that I purchased IcePets.  But alas, it is not.  Today, my anniversary of owning IcePets.com, I come to you humbled by the overall tenacity of each and every one of the IcePets members.  You could have bailed a while ago, back when the site started becoming fairly static, but you didn't!  You had faith in us, and a love of the site which I am in awe of.  I know it has been several years (3 or more) since any huge features were added to the site, and that a battle system was promised very early on in the development.  However, each day I return to the forums happy because I see "10 unread" messages.  From the outside it may not seem like a lot, but it helps to refuel my passion for the project on the days that I start working on it and feel exhausted just thinking about all of the work that there is still to be done on the recode before we can actually have decent growth.

I don't know about you, but every day when I check on Virtual Pet Directory, I always look to see if the total active user count has gone up or down from the day, or days before.  I'm happy to say that over the two years that we have been tracking the user activity on there, it has remained around the same.  We have had some spikes, 257, and we have had our dips, 90, but now we currently stand 8 users more than we had two years ago, 118.  The total number of users isn't anywhere near our competition, but that doesn't matter.  From the outside, it would appear as though we are a site that is hanging on by a thread.  But that is not how I see it.  I personally see it as a site which is currently in a holding pattern, anxiously awaiting the recode which has been in the works for a little while now.

The biggest thing that amazes me about the members is how much of a community it is.  New members are welcomed in with open arms, old members are welcomed back with excitement as if a long lost friend has recently returned.  And most importantly to me, tell us that IcePets is a community where they feel safe place for them to post even if they are normally a quiet individual.  To me, this speaks wonders of the community.  Although small, we are a powerful community who just love to hang out and play together.

I would like to take this opportunity to also thank all of the staff who have given up countless hours of their personal time to help us grow.  I know that I haven't always been the easiest person to deal with, but we got through it and are stronger for it.  But, I will openly admit, if it wasn't for you, the site would likely be dead despite all I would have tried.  I can code, I can organize and on occasion, I can even chat on the forums.  But the one thing I cannot do is use your countless years of experience with the community to really understand what it is the users want.  You guys make my work look easy.  Throughout the years, some faces have changed.  We have lost some powerful members from the staff team due to real life commitments, but just when things look gloomiest, a different staff member steps up and takes the reigns.  For staff members who have had to leave the team, I am honoured to have worked with you.  And for the staff members who are still working with us, thank you for your continued support, it is greatly appreciated.

Thank you all for your continued support of IcePets.  If we band together and stay strong, we can make it through the current drought, and reach the promised land which is otherwise known as "the recode".

Thank you for reading.