Hey nocturnus. Good luck man, in whatever you do with your life. I certainly hope that your hearing condition doesn't get much worse, i can only hope that it works out for the best for you. I'll remember your contributions as a mod, and i will also always fondly remember the short-lived tech talk. I think that show brought the comunity together in a way that i most realize when things get dramatic around here. So i hope that you realize that you did some great work, and it's not all doom and gloom friend, strangely, Galadriel's quote about finding a light in dark places comes to mind. So, good luck to you, i'm sure you will be around.

Hi.
As someone who just normally read through the odd post here and there, I must say that I've always found your posts interesting to read and filled with good advice, no matter the subject of the topic at hand. Also, I was around when you brought on the tech show way back, even though I myself probably never really took part. So all I can say is, I'm truly sorry to hear about your hearing and as someone else said, I hope you can find any kind of solution, though I can imagine this can't be easy.
So, thanks for that what you brought to our community; I'm sure it won't go unnoticed! And best of luck for the future; I hope we'll still see you posting your good advice/insight every now and then.

Thank you all for the support and well wishes.  I have no idea where life goes from here, no idea how to work out any of its kinks or even if I can at this point.  As I said to Dark some time ago, it's a loss I cannot even begin to express in words, a loss too many.  My whole life has revolved around audio in some way or another, what with performing music for the masses, broadcasting, production, simple sound design on the side, but even more importantly, it's been a way to see the world, a way to be aware, a way to stay in touch with everything going on around me.  For the time being I can still use hearing ades and the like; indeed for awhile I was actually improvising with an mp3player because I couldn't afford anything else and my medical insurance wouldn't cover it.  It's not the same though; it never has been.  It's an experience I would never wish on anyone, anyone at all.
to know that my work and my insight was appreciated is wonderful.  To know that I even so much as made a difference in one life is a privelage.  As God wills I shall continue to pop in on occasion here, partaking in the conversations that take place on this forum that has served as home to many of my thoughts over the past few years and which has brought me unforgettable moments of happiness that have always managed to eclipse the negativity.  for now, this is Nocturnus, signing off.

I agree with the sentiments Nocturnus, and just because your no longer able to moderate  that doesn't mean any thoughts aren't extremely welcome on the forum.

I'll also add further to Phil's post, there are browser games, older dos titles and games like Eamon deluxe that are written in a similar style. Plus, on the Iphone there are games such as star traders, King of Dragon pass, dark room and The Ensign.

This isn't to make light of your loss, it's not one I could imagine myself due to my own interests in music and audio, it's just to point out that this forum is as much about accessible! games as it is about audio ones, for example you can search the database by games playable via text, ie games that have some on screen text rather than using the audio, so even aside from your own  considerable contributions and thoughts, if the absolute worst happens, you will still not only be extremely welcome on the forum, but find that there are things going on in the community in which you can participate  equally, ie, you'll still have games to play.

I hope this doesn't sound patronizing or an attempt to minimize your situation, sinse It's not intended to be either.

Wow, sorry to hear that. You were a great mod, Nocturnus.

If it were me, I'd sod everything and do what you must do. If that means not being a mod, then so be it. I'm sure what you do next will be the right thing. As someone with a very slight hearing condition myself, I can certainly understand why that must surely take priority. Good luck with it, and whatever happens, I'm sure you'll be welcome here. Stay positive.

Cheers!

@daigonite,
I appreciate the simple and yet sincere nature of your message.  for what it's worth, my name is Andrew, age 26.  Life has been a series of obstacles, from family hardships to unbelief from teachers and the let down of school board administrators, to the harsh realities I am having to confront now.  I've done my best not to complain, tried to not lock myself into what people might vew as a pitty party routine, which is why I won't go into further detail when it comes to my problems in a public setting.  People never asked, however, which is why most of my life has remained a mystery.  IN truth, I am no mysterious entity hiding secrets like the various security and intelligence agencies that exist around the world; my life is an open book and one need only peruse the pages.  Throughout my life, perhaps my most sincere desire has been to help out any community I have been a part of wherever I can, from the streets of the cities I live around, to this website you now post on with its diverse members located in various parts of the world.  Working with the other moderators was an experience I'll not soon forget, and opportunity I willingly accepted and a responsibility I took upon because of that same desire.  When I am not helping other people, I am a writer, a thinker, a researcher of sorts in any field that interests me, a music lover with no personal preference, preferring to give every song and every band or artist at least one try, and if I'm hungry and I'm at your house, I'll empty your fridge, though you'd never be able to tell by simply looking at me.  Besides these I love thrills and chills, rollercosters and all manner of amusement park rides, have always fantasized and told every single one of my friends about being sighted and owning and racing through the streets on a motorcycle even  though the closest I've ever been to that was riding my bike, and I'm sure that if I knew someone with experience, I'd probably skydive too.  I appreciate technology, but I love the outdoors.  I can sit and read for hours or walk and experience nature for hours to the best of my abilities given the scope of my limitations.  Sitting still for longer than a minute at a time is not an option unless I am reflecting on something I find to be profound.  I don't watch TV anymore because the market is so saturated with materialism and neuroses and psychoses; it's all stuff I honestly don't need.  The world is a negative enough place without the message being pumped at me out of a box I can just as easily avoid.  That having been said, I don't mind sitting down to a movie or even classic shows with friends from time to time.  I have a short attention span and... Oh look, it's partly cloudy outside; wonder if it'll rain today as it has been for the past few weeks.  I need to get some food in my system.  Pizza, anyone?  :d

@Sebby,
Thank you for the kind words.  At the risk of being seen as nosy which is not my intention, what has caused your hearing deterioration, and is it enough to where you've considered doing something about it?  I found myself surprised to find that there were more people than I once thought there might have been who face similar situations to my own.  While it does not provide me true comfort, as it were, I do at least know that they seem to be coping with life, which gives me no excuse to stop coping with my own.  I've improvised up until this point; even my audiologist congratulates me for it.  I'll continue to do so if necessary.

Actually, that was one of the few things I wanted to get accomplished soon.  I planned on visiting an ear, nose and throat specialist sometime in the coming days to get his take on the matter, given that an audiologist and an ENT probably have different areas of expertise and focuses.  Since I've always had a slight issue with my nasal passages, poor drainage or a blockage of some sort may, at the very least, be part of the issue.  It's never been enough to cause me any physical discomfort and I always manage to put it out of my mind, but perhaps it's doing more damage than I realize.

Nothing like that at all, Dark.  I don't keep my life an open book because I feel an obligation to do so; I keep it an open book because for me, at least, it is easier to live without secrets than it is to live with them.  Besides, how else will anyone know who or what I am and what I stand for if I don't feel the freedom to express myself? :d

Still, to each their own and I can honestly respect your stance on the matter.  I just didn't feel any need to keep it all in other than perhaps being seen as feeling sorry for myself by the way I worded it all.  IN the end, I chose to err on the side of transparency and figured that if I had to do some damage control later I would do just that.  I doubted it would come to that though.

@Nocturnus, generally I would certainly agree with you on openness and honesty being better than risking being misunderstood or misjudged, and I appreciate your reasons, albeit I can't share them completely myself.

However, equally I've known people who felt obligated to share things about themselves with others, which is not a good state of affairs and just wanted to check that wasn't the case, especially with you being a moderator, sinse I'd rather you didn't think you owed! anyone anything because of that position, quite the oposite in fact.

I have known people admit facts about themselves at the wrong time and in the wrong way, and it be a less than good experience for them, which indeed was why I asked you when you first told me the reason over e-mail you were deciding to stop moderating, exactly what you wanted shared, sinse confidence is a precious thing and not something to be squandered.

sorry to learn your going off the mod list, indeed i don't know what i would do without my hearing as i am completely blind myself.  I remember about a year ago i had a blockage in one of my ears and i had to go to the doctor to have it unblocked and i couldn't hear almost anything in that ear until doing so.  It was like listening inside my head and that was no fun.  Hope all goes well for you and will continue to look forward to your future posts.

Nocturnus,
I completely understand your reasoning for leaving the mod community here, though I am sorry to see you go. I hope all is well with you. Hearing your story makes me feel a bit selfish. I'm 21, and am worried about the simple high frequency hearing loss that happens as one gets older, since studies show that after the age of 17 or 18, most adults lose the ability to hear the highest of frequencies in the normal human hearing range. So I've been checking myself every few months to see where I'm at, and so far I seem to be pretty good, though I know some people who are audiophiles like me who have already lost these high frequencies. They don't interfere with normal life but it can be a little disconcerting to think about. However I've never had the misfortune that you have, of having my hearing compromised to the point of not being able to hear things like speech, or sounds of nature, or any other normal sounds we hear. That would be truly awful, as I rely on my hearing not just for normal life, but as someone who wants to get into audio engineering, I have trained my hearing to pick up on details which I feel normally go unnoticed. This passion keeps me going when nothing else does.
Sometimes I do get to hear the ultrasonic squealing of a car break, that only a few people around me can hear, or the awful clashing of two notes which are just a little bit out of tune but not enough to affect a casual listener. so I guess in that respect, having a hearing loss can be a good thing; you miss out on hearing sounds you really wish you couldn't hear. Just like having no vision means that you are kept from seeing more disturbing sights. But I believe that on the whole, a vision or hearing loss is still a great loss, even if it does have its benefits at times. I hope everything works out well for you. Like many others, reading your posts was always an enjoyable experience for me, and although I didn't read a lot of topics with your posts in them, when your posts did come up, I always felt it was a thoughtful and professionally written response. I appreciate your desire to remain objective in what you say and keeping your cool in a hot situation, though mods are supposed to cool such things down anyway, so I guess you were just doing your job! Lol I think I know better by now...