Never Can Say Goodbye - A Farewell Tribute to Danny "Ralsu" Gourley

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Posted Fri, Jul 31, 2009 by Shayalyn

Almost 4 years ago, shortly after I began work as a neophyte community manager for Ten Ton Hammer, I ran a contest on our Dungeons & Dragons Online community site. DDO was ramping up for launch, and the

Ralsu's forum avatar. A stunning likeness?

contest asked gamers to imagine their character and create a backstory for them. Many rose to the challenge, but one person, who went by the forum name of Ralsu, put forth contributions that were undeniably high quality. This guy could write!

At the time, I was desperately searching for a minion...er, an assistant to help me handle the enormous load of DDO content we were trying to publish in preparation for the game. Clearly, this Ralsu person was a skilled writer, and he seemed to know an awful lot about Dungeons & Dragons (almost to epically geeky proportions). I fired off a private message in Ralsu’s direction asking him if he’d consider working for the network part-time.

The rest is, of course, Ten Ton Hammer history. Danny “Ralsu” Gourley did indeed take us up on our offer, and he quickly proved himself as not only a talented writer, but an all-around-good-guy. As he moved through positions--from DDO community manager to Vanguard community manager to contest manager, Top 10 Free-to-Play MMOs columnist, and pony harvester (it’s an inside joke that harkens to a time when no one knew precisely what Danny did or what his title was, just that he did it well)--everyone, from his co-workers to his readers to our forum community members, grew to respect and admire him.

And now Ralsu is leaving the Ten Ton Hammer fold. He has a good reason--his full-time job with Washington State University occupies his days, and he’d really rather his family get a chance to occupy his nights and weekends for a change. Even so, and even though he promises to frequent our forums, we’re going to miss him.

There was an exciting time during which I was Ten Ton Hammer's Vanguard site lead and Danny was once

Danny and his lovely wife, Sarah.

again my assistant. The site was so busy and thriving in the months surrounding launch that we brought in a couple more part-time writers to pitch in. But it soon became clear that Vanguard, the game, wasn't going to be the epic success we'd all hoped it would be. There were too many cooks in our Vanguard community site kitchen, so it was time for me to move on and leave Danny, once again, leading the site. Danny's two staff writers were Eric "Dalmarus" Campbell and Ben "Machail" de la Durantaye.

Ben, who later moved on to become Ten Ton Hammer's full-time communities manager, found a friend in Danny:

I don't care what bleedin' pipes are callin', they have no right to take our Danny boy away. From boss to colleague to friend, Danny's always been a kindered spirit to many of us. He's listened to more of my rants and ramblings than anyone, and that alone should earn him his stripes in any industry. It's going to be a different network without him, there's no doubt about it. I'll miss him.

Eric, who took over as Vanguard site lead when Danny stepped up to a position as main site editor and contest manager, echoed Ben's sentiments:

It’s through Danny that I’ve gotten to know the Ten Ton Hammer team as well as I have. Even after moving on to other duties, he was always there to lend advice and an ear to all of my hair-brained schemes (and believe me when I say there were some pretty wild ones).

Over the last couple of years here, Danny has also always been someone I could vent to about anything. Whether it was to assist with a problem I was having getting something published, or to just listen to me going on about something that happened at work, he always made time. Even though he’s leaving Ten Ton Hammer, he won’t be able to get away from me that easily. Without a doubt, Danny has played a major role in making my stay here as enjoyable as it’s been.

Ralsu took a press tour of an impending FF XI update and developed the hots for half-Elvaan girls.

When Danny stepped up into the role of Pony Harvester (his catch-all term for him being a catch-all kind of staff member), he fell under the leadership of managing editor Cody Bye, who says:

I will always remember Danny's passion when it came to the games that we covered. I can't count the number of times he was ready to go up in arms with individuals that either A) called out a game for unfounded reasons or B) called him out because of his opinions about a game.

On a personal level, Danny was always a complete pleasure to work with and never - not once - complained about his work load to me. Very, very professional.

Other Ten Ton Hammer staff members may not have worked with Danny one on one, but they did find him a friendly confidante.

David "Xerin" Piner valued Danny's ability to think like a gamer, and not just a gaming journalist:

Danny is an amazing and charismatic individual--a rare find. His enthusiasm for his work is impressive, not because of his dedication to the game companies and developers, but instead his complete dedication to players like you and me. He's always worked hard to get the fans what they wanted, and to push forward the issues that players found important, or to get the swag and beta keys everyone hoped for. From DDO to Vanguard and beyond, Danny has been a shining example of the inquisitive gamer and the perfect friend.

Reuben "Sardu" Waters, who now heads up Ten Ton Hammer's Champions Online community site, attributes his position with the site to Danny:

While I don't have any crazy anecdotes to share (well, apart from the time he called me every night at 4 a.m. for a week straight and proceeded to sing the Star Spangled Banner at the top of his lungs... or did I just imagine that whole thing?) Danny may not realize it, but he played a fairly large role in the bizarre series of events that eventually landed me my seat on the Ten Ton Crazy Train. It's one of those things I've always meant to thank him for, actually. I'll spare you the boring details, but the important part is that I've always respected Danny's openness and honesty, whether it was writing about the churning seas of F2P [games] or otherwise. I hate to see one of our awesome staff members go, but I hope that Mr. Ralsu McDoomburger III enjoys his escape!

Although Danny and Jay "Medeor" Johnson differ in their opinions on free-to-play games, Jay respects Danny's ability to appreciate them, play them, and report on them objectively. At least, I think he does:

Ralsu and I tete-a-tete in the free-to-play versus pay-to-play octagon of death! Even though I've often scratched my head in wonder at Ralsu's diehard addiction to F2P games, I have to respect his dedication...and patience! Who else could wade through the quagmire of F2P games and provide some positive feedback without wanting to jump off a bridge? And while he is misguided in most of his love for free-to-play [offerings], I do appreciate all that he has done for the network, and me personally (it's really all about me anyway). It's all in fun, but I know deep down Ralsu is clicking to move his character within striking distance of me even as I type this.

Best of luck in your future endeavors and may your play be free and your game not suck!

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