Wigbomb wrote: It's with great sadness that I have to report the loss of a comrade: Michael Stanley, our M.O.M brother and real-life brother of the late Kevin Stanley, the original player called LegendofKane, has passed away.

A heart attack three months ago appears to have resulted in congestive heart failure. His death was, to my knowledge, unrelated to the degenerative disease that recently robbed him of his eyesight. Michael passed peacefully late last night.

In 2012 Michael was the one who informed me of the death of his brother, Kevin, my friend and a devoted M.O.M member. After Kevin's death Michael elected to carry on here in his brother's stead, playing his LegendofKane account. Michael's original thought was to build the account to Level 31 as a tribute to Kevin. In the course of doing so Michael, like Kevin, grew to regard us as his family and became a well know fixture here, among the most respected and beloved players in Dogfight's brief history.

Michael applied his unique sense of humor liberally to our game. His revolving door of personae, from "BigPoppaSmurf" to "The Economy" to "The Chameleon" to LegendofKane, and his often hilarious in-game banter, made him a singular presence in our community.

In the last few years Michael had had an indescribably difficult time. The loss of his wife and child in an auto accident, the passing of his mother and the untimely death of his younger brother, Kevin, all in a short span.

I'd like to express my gratitude to Lis, the hospice nurse who became fast friends with Michael and provided him with care and friendship in his final months. For all that, and for taking the time to convey messages from Michael to me and to share this heartbreaking news, I'm deeply indebted to her.

I don't need to say how much Michael will be missed. Those of us who knew him have already been missing him in Dogfight for months. I, and I'm sure many of us, thought and assumed he'd be back with us eventually. He'll be with me for as long as I am a member of this community and a Dogfight player, and beyond.

In the coming days I'll suggest a memorial tribute in which we can all participate. For now, my condolences to everyone in Dogfight. M.O.M has lost a brother, but the entire community has lost an irreplaceable friend.

Rick

It is very sad news, I feel honored that I was able to speak with him briefly the other night, through his friend who was flying on his account. I told him he was a true legend. We had a few quick laughs, then he was gone. He will be missed greatly. He and his family will be in my prayers. VonHulk

May peace be with you at last brother.

RIP Michael very sad news.

R.I.P my friend

My condolences to LegendofKane's loved ones, and to M.O.M.

R I P my Bro. I'll never forget all the good times playing the game and the chat we had.

Well said Rick , we the members of M.O.M are very lucky to have you as the main representative for us,
l will keep Michael and his family in my heart.

You will be missed Michael.
Fly hi and proud with your new wings as you always did here.

Thank you Rick for letting us know, and if you can please thank her on our behalf.

His work on earth was done. Now he is at peace wiith his family. He will be missed.

Hey M.O.M.s...I read the news...my condolences.

Hey guys....

Im truly deeply sry for the loss of Kane. I was going to post here first then do the thread in dedication to Kane, but I had to pull myself together. Kane was a close friend of mine. A brother I looked up to, that under any circumstances, could hand me my a$$ in a dogfight. He is one of the most honorable guys I knew. If he didnt make it to heaven, I have little hope for the rest of us.
Michael will be missed deeply!
Im sending a personal salute to a df legend and friend!

Sry the pic is so bad. It took alot for me to hold that salute while thinking of who it was for.

I don't know if I have ever believed this as I do now.

Michael you are in a better place now, very sorry to hear that you are no longer with us. My heart tells me you are smiling back down on us with such joy. You are home now brother!

Thank you, for all the great fun you brought into this little world of ours.

Brian

EDIT: Also to the young lady that took the time with our friend, and also made sure the passing of him was told to us.
Bless your heart and as you can see, this was a very big honor to have know Michael, however I am pretty sure you already knew that. Thank you!

.

Oh man, I just found out about Michael (LOK). I am deeply saddened to hear this! He was indeed a great guy from what I got to know of him. Wig thank you for letting every one know! LOK taught me a lot about this game and how to work the forum. Exchanged several pms, and most helpful. I will pray for his family. For this is a great loss for not only his family, but to you M.O.Ms and all of dogfight.

R.I.P KANE!
Boooooorah
GreyGhost

This tragically sad news has left our community feeling numb. Even those who never got to know him have heard the stories or at least heard of his greatness. He was not a quitter, in fact some might say he had real grit. Ive flown with him as many of us old farts have and I can honestly say, "a more straight up guy you cannot meet". Micheal was one of those guys who didnt really have enemies or make trouble, everyone was a friend and those kind of people are indeed a rare breed. All I can now say is that we are all sad and the legend of kane name (micheal) will live on through his great impact on all of us and through the stories of the good ol days that we shall tell each other. Rest In Peace my brother, for one day we will join you....keep a seat warm for us.

RIck, check the sc re; mobilisation of troops (you will know what I mean)

I mean it was very sad but always it will be kept in our hearts but we should worry about it okay if i wanted to tell you guys also know what you mean MOM means that all the fruit of our lives a reality so for example we play dogfight agent being MOM we will always try to be (31) the best .. not even with us whenever we devote my friends! because the reality is the fruit of our lives and that we will always have new friends MOM's in the game rejoice! Thank you. Gustavo

Michael, I never had a chance to fly with you but really wish I had. You sound like an amazing person and your friends here obviously speak very highly of you! You are much loved and will be greatly missed. Rest in peace brother.

On a lighter note, the new face of M.O.M on page one looks great Wig!

Had a great week with a lot of even greater M.O.Ms! Good to see a sky full of grumpy old buggers showing the young ones how it's done!

Rest in Peace my Brother Michael. Thank you for trying to make the game better for all of us. From being a moderator to welcoming in new MOM members with an open heart and your vision of TASK! You will be missed, especially your in game antics.

I shall miss your banter, chameleonesque names which had me in stitches and our high altitude dogfights. I am glad we had one last game together a couple of nights ago and I hope your nurse from the other night passed my message along to you.

My heart warms knowing you are now with the ones you lost before their time and who you so dearly missed.

All my love to you my Brother in arms!

Thanks for the awesome banner Wig!! It must be great... The wife says "you're really not gonna put that on your account are you?" So I say... Job well done!!!

Nice game DiverB, it was fun flying against you. Your squad will be proud.

Sorry Meany, but I got a call right as we were finishing them off. Horrible lag tonight

Michael was loyal, he was earnest, and he was heartfelt in all he did. With him, what you saw was what you got. He took his role as Moderator very seriously and the entire Dogfight community was better for it. He is gonna be truly missed.

When I look back at the Forum participation, and reflect on the topics with which we get wrapped around the axle, I think we could probably do much better taking care of each other. Life's too short and is gone too quickly. This is just a game after all, but the community that has grown around it is one of the best things around. Enjoy the camaraderie for what it is, despite the game glitches. I'm glad our little squad that is almost 2 years old now is comprised of some of the best people I know. Michael was a character, and was MOM through and through. Here's to you Big Poppa Smurph.

Wish me luck a tornado is about to go over us in the next few minutes......

Just wanted to say!!!

I LOVE MOM!!!!


See you all in a few!!!


Bahhahahhah love crazy shit like this!!! Peace!

Ok looks like it is breaking up.....

It is real loud from the rain.....

So far so good!!!









I think I can I think I can..... TOOT TOOT!!!!

Ok looks like we are in the clear..... Sheww lol man that was kind of crazy!!! Are phones started blowing up from friends calling to give us a heads up....

Well ok back to your regular broadcast program........

Hey I see captain NOUSHBAG IS ONLINE



Hi NOUSH we all miss you

Lou Sassol wrote: Thanks for the awesome banner Wig!! It must be great... The wife says "you're really not gonna put that on your account are you?" So I say... Job well done!!!

Lou, I expect to see many, many posts from you.

Hey MOMs,

I just heard the news and wanted to say a few words about Michael. I left just a few weeks after him but we continued to exchange PMs after. He was one funny dude who always made the gameplay more interesting. He had such a humorous persona...coming up with the funniest names..."dropper dropper'er'er" and "douche stach task tic" and countless others that would crack me up. We always flew together, never on opposite sides..as we did with Max, PH, Marty and a few others that ya just couldn't shoot at. But not D.Crockett, since he made the best remarks when he got shot down.

I remember when Michael first told me of his brother's passing, and him picking up the torch to continue with his namesake. It was hard for him to talk about. I also recall when he announced the passing of his mother, but I never knew about his wife and child. All this grief on one man...and to hear of his blindness in his last days deeply saddens me. Rest in peace brother.

"The king is gone, but he's not forgotten"

HI HANDSOME.

CAPTAIN NOUSHBAG, WELL SAID. I WILL BE PRAYING FOR ALL OF THEM

ITS REALLY GOOD TO SEE YOU CAPTAIN, I SINCERLY HOPE TO SEE MORE OF YOU.

LOVE YA BRO

For those who haven't seen the recent thread posted by Zuperman regarding Squad Wars and anticipated limitations on the number of members in each squad, here is the initial post:
___

After much thought there is simply no way around this problem. For any kind of squadron wars to happen, the squadrons has to have a limit of squadron's members.

The problem is very simple, if we begin squadron wars, which will pitch one squadron vs the other, we cannot have one squadron with 500 members vs another of 10 members. The squadrons in real life had a limit too, and this should be no difference. Now the question is where to limit it.

From the stats that I've looked at, 50 members should be more than enough, but I'm willing to go to 70 or even 100 if absolutely mandatory. What are your thoughts?

As for the squadrons that will be split... on squadrons wars you will have the ability to have friendly squadrons, which means you can collaborate as one if you see it fit, but each squadron will have its own owner and they could revolt against the others too.
___

I've just spent a couple hours poring over the M.O.M roster. These are the numbers I come up with:

Total of Listed M.O.Ms - 172

M.I.A. M.O.Ms - 41

Active M.O.Ms - 131

Some "active" members are barely active, some "missing" members turn up once in a blown moon.

I've revamped the entire roster to make it easier to differentiate between the active and the inactive. I'll need you all to scan the list and let me know if you see someone in the wrong category.

Without anything like a clear sense of how Squad Wars will be designed to function it's impossible to know what, if anything, we might have to do. I'm hoping Z will provide that information soon.

--w--

EDIT: After posting this I've counted the number of M.O.Ms actually "joined" to the squad in the in-game server thingy, that's what'll be at work in all of this, not our full roster. I'm proud to say that 130 members, only one shy of my estimate of the total number of active M.O.Ms, are signed up and ready to play. Proud, but it means we'll almost certainly have to sub-divide the squad for Squad Wars.

Nobody panic, there'll be No M.O.M Left Behind. Worst case scenario; we have to split the squad in two (or more) for server thingy purposes, then we apply Joaquin's "cooperative sub-squads" strategy and work as two (or more) halves of one (w)hole. Sounds a bit like my old "M.O.M Flights" concept, no?