In fond memory of...

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 9:58 am

My fellow duelists I come before you bearing a sad and unfortunate
message. Several months ago our group, the Vendetta Cartel, had lost
contact with one of our friends. Since he was in contact or
correspondence on an almost daily basis there was concern amongst us.
With some research two of our members discovered why contact was lost
with him.

On November 10,2004, Richard Hammes was taken from us in a senseless
act of violence during a robbery attempt at a friend's store where he
sometimes worked. He was watching the store so his friend could go
home to tend to his son who had taken ill.You may have known Rich as
Abarsis, The Slaughter Priest ; richh10 on the RT ; or gameogre on
the Duel2 messageboard. You may not have known that he spent 13 years
serving the United States in the Navy.

Rich dearly loved this game and all it encompassed. He may not have
been the best or most experienced manager but he loved to interact
with others and was quick to offer advice whenever anyone asked for
help. He was always kind and gracious and tried to strengthen our
game, often by helping new players feel welcome or give them a chance
to compete.With his prolific posting I know that I am simply speaking
the obvious about what he did for our game. Many, like me, were drawn
to him, perhaps for his kind nature or his sense of humor, and it
appears he lived his life as he played this game. Always willing to
help or do right by others.

I realize that he had many friends outside the VC so I will include
the link to the newsstory in case any of his other friends would like
to know more of what hapened. We're all dealt a hand in life but it's
not the strength of the hand your dealt but rather how you play it
that really matters. Rich played his hand to the very best of his
human ability and for this I admire him greatly. I know we all choose
to like or dislike managers but I believe deep down we are all good
and decent, in this game, and will drop party (alliance) lines and
will show the proper respect.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20041112/news_7m12clerk.html

Rich was taken from us all to soon and with so much left to offer the
community around him. He spoke of a desire to run a contest on the
Duel2 site which I hope to uphold in his name. Some of the people I
have spoken with think it would be a nice gesture to do one final
good act in Rich's name, though it could never match what he would've
done within his community, for his community of San Diego. I hope
that with this contest we might raise a little money to donate to an
appropriate charity within San Diego in his name.

In conclusion I send a message to Rich:

" Rich, Though I'm sure you gathered this I never really told you how
much I admired you and what a friend I considered you. I thank you
for being my voice of reason and always reminding me of why we both
loved this game so much! You have taught me one final valuable lesson
in learning more of you. There are things far more valuable in life
than material possesions such as character and kindness. That nothing
going on in your life means that you cannot find a way to be kind and
giving to others.We always spoke of meeting someday and until we
finally do know that you will live on in with me and the rest of your
brothers and sisters in the Cartel:Master Darque,Kat,Bum,Sensei
Jan,Maximillian,Hammer,Fizban,Firehawk,Phat Phat. You increased all of
our enjoyment of this game, you were a true ambassador of Duelmasters,
and the game will not be quite the same without you. A farewell
battlecry from the ZalCon: 'Confusion to our enemies'; May your soul
rest in peace my friend."

Should anyone wish to correspond about Rich feel free to contact
myself, or anyone else within the Vendetta Cartel.

Street Legal
Jeff Bura
The Death Squad(63) in Tobir or triumph1971@hotmail.com

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 10:40 am

Let me be the first to say here in this forum besides Street that is that you will be dearly missed my brother in arms. Sad

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 11:40 am

What an awful loss. I never met the guy, but having read his numerous posts here you really did get a sense of him.

It's obvious from reading the article and having seen him reach out on the boards here that he was very well loved and deservingly so. I'm sure his soul is in a better place now.

Thanks for letting us know Street and keep on that contest for a charity idea if you can.

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 12:33 pm

I never met him but I always enjoyed his posts here in the Forums. That is just awful. Crying or Very sad

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 1:15 pm

It brought tears to my eyes to hear of Rich's death. It is always horrible to hear about the senseless loss of life but doubley so when it hits so close to home. It certainly brings everything into perspective and we should all strive to live our lives to the fullest as we never know when our time will come.

Jeff I thought your post was very moving and heartfelt. I would like to pledge $100 to whatever charity you decide to donate to in Rich's name or give $100 towards contest prizes if it will in turn raise more money. Please let me know what I can do.

Kirk Katzburg/Floyd

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:04 pm

This is extremely sad news. Crying or Very sad

I will join in whatever contest there is designed to raise money for a charity in his name, even if I have to stop running in my home arena to afford it.

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:36 pm

My deepest sympathies. Thoughts and prayers are with any and all who knew Rich and his family.

'May he rest with the angels....' Crying or Very sad

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 4:28 pm

That's absolutely terrible! I'm sure I can speak for the rest of the 'Sloshers in offering our deepest sympathies to Rich's family and friends. It's a tragic loss both to our little community and theirs.

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 4:41 pm

I deeply appreciate the responses so far. Indeed I intend upon making this contest happen. It would most likely run in a slow arena (54) so that a majority of the Cartel can participate if they wish. The contest he always wanted to run was spoken of here on this site. He said he always admired Judith's style of play and the challenge it involved (no challenges,no avoids,no bloodfeuds,no tourney activity, and no DAs, I believe he stated unless the warrior reached 0-6 then it could be DA'd; this I'll have to look up unless someone else remembers where this post was).

It basically gives ANY manager an oppurtunity to win with the right matchups, decent warriors can outstrip good or even great warriors, and some solid, if not generic strategy. I'm hoping to finalize things with Lee and the more support I can get(people willing to participate) the greater the chances of getting this bird flying.

I figured that with a minimum donation of $5-$10, doesn't stop those from giving more, your in. I do not want to say anything about prizes until I speak more with Lee, and if anyone has a little pull (actually experience in negotiating prizes) you can contact me. If anyone wants to let Lee know your interested and maybe we can grow the prize pool with greater participation perhaps drop her a line. At this point I'm thinking of either a charity that helps the less fortunate or a violent crimes' victim fund for the donation. Who knows maybe this can become a regular fixture, but this once alone is very touching to hear your interest!

ArchMaster Poster Joined: Jul 17, 2002 Posts: 1054

I am really sad to hear about this senseless loss. Count me in on anything we can do to give back to Rich's community.

After reading that article I can picture him in my mind, posting to these board from the computer they got him at the store.

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 4:49 pm

Rillion wrote:

I am really sad to hear about this senseless loss. Count me in on anything we can do to give back to Rich's community.

After reading that article I can picture him in my mind, posting to these board from the computer they got him at the store.

Indeed. The part where it says he spent hours on it every day was a majority of time interacting with us (the vision that came to my mind). That's what chokes me up the most.

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 5:37 pm

I also would be interested in such a contest and contributing to charity in Rich's name. Just to officially add myself to the list of interested...

Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 5:49 pm

I would also be more than happy to compete in any contest and contribute in any way to a charity in Rich's name. As far as prizes go, well I think I could do this just to do it , you know? Sad

Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2005 9:56 am

gameogre wrote:

A contest I would very much like to see (I'll do it myself one day if I can't otherwise generate any enthusiasm) would be something along the lines of the Annual Judith Challenge.

I, or some combination of organizers, would get a marked roll-up sheet sent to anyone interested to begin:

The rules... (still mostly off the top of my head and subject to some moderation)

10-12 turns

No use of the DA until a warrior reaches 0-6 (no more than 1 use during the contest)

No challenges or avoids. No bloodfeuds.

Two points for kills, minus two for being killed, one point for wins and minus one for losses. Up to five points per turn for personal ads (one per warrior in the stable).

This still wouldn't be as hard to get wins as the way Judith plays since you won't have an arena full of people who know your style challenging you every turn but it would be a reasonable variation. Just a little something that tests design effectiveness and use of strats that are as widely effective as possible. If you've never tried this, and most haven't, it'll give you a whole new appreciation of how well Judith actually does with it.

I was able to find the post. The contest will probably not be exactly as explained, we will not use a predetermined RU (might be a little too much to ask on short notice), and it may be just pure wins as the main category, with most kills and most bloodfeuds (this is purely random match BFs as there are NO challenges) included. I think the part about points from personals might find it's way in as well.

Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2005 10:24 am

Do you know if they ever found his family or if he was able to get a decent burial?