He was correct on Switch's massive success, right? If I recall correctly, he predicted it would succeed and a lot of us (I even thought it was a good possibility) thought a cliff could come for Switch around 2021-2024, and it did not happen.
I thought Switch would probably outsell NES, and maybe 3DS. I did not see it probable that it would surpass DS.

I don't have that many cool stories to tell but I just realized the extent to which Rol influenced these forums. Back in 2007-2010, the glory days of the Wii and DS, Rol basically led the Nintendo community on this site.

So, to add my own story, I want to talk about Sean Malstrom and Rol's possible secret identity.

If you don't know, Sean Malstrom was a famous blogger (he still blogs, but is a lot less famous now). In fact, he was the blogger that spread the word about Nintendo's strategy: The Wii was a disruptive product and the DS a blue ocean product. If you hear these words today, it's because of Malstrom's blog posts from 2005-2007. He had one piece called "birdmen and the casual fallacy" in which he explained why the Wii was a success and why Sony and Microsoft struggled and couldn't just copy it. It was a magnificent piece. 

I'm pretty sure Rol read Sean Malstrom's blog. In fact, I wondered if Rol was Sean Malstrom.

Rol was basically the gospel of Malstrom on this website, even though he never directly admitted it. Rol had a deep understanding of the Wii's success and as I was fascinated by these business theories, I gobbled them up and so Rol and I often argued side-by-side. Rol so perfectly explained the things Malstrom explained (just in other words) that I often wondered if Rol had a secret identity. Was he actually Malstrom? I will never know, but I think it's a cool theory.

And one more story, on a more personal note. This one is about me being a cocky idiot and Rol instantly seeing through my false game. 

Ironically, the fact that Rol so perfectly spelled out my own thoughts most of the time when it came to Nintendo's success (or lack thereof) led to me taking a long break from this website - at least in terms of posting. I would always lurk and enjoy his posts and the conversations, but I would hardly post. Well, that was one of the reasons.

The other reason was that I was ashamed. Back in 2007 I was the one who wrote the press release for this website when the Wii overtook the Xbox360 in sales. It was a huge hit, even the New York Times quoted us! It really made VGChartz explode in popularity for quite some time and more press releases and articles would be the number one story on yahoo.com in the following years. This site was big back then, and I was one of the reasons behind it! I was proud of myself... and full of myself. I even got to write a monthly article in the biggest German Nintendo magazine (N-Zone) at the time, with VGChartz branding and all. 

Unfortunately, I was only a cocky teenager and I didn't deserve that success at all. I neglected my responsibilities as a moderator for this site. I neglected my responsibilities as the "head of the PR team" (yeah, cocky title, huh?). And I was ashamed. So I stopped posting, but couldn't keep away from this site forever. Rol's posts were just as brilliant as ever and so I came back with an alt account and posted under that name.

Nobody noticed, except for Rol of course! He posted on my wall that I must either be a long-time lurker or an alt account and I'm pretty sure he knew who's alt account I was, even though he never said so. So Rol instantly saw through my false game.

But he never called me out. Instead, he supported me. When I wrote a post that gamers hadn't abandoned Nintendo, but Nintendo had abandoned its customers (back during the Wii U days) and thus Nintendo could make a comeback he quoted my post and wrote "I nominate this for post of the week". Was one of my proudest moments here! 

And thus, Rol of course was the reason when the Switch was revealed I felt confident enough (despite my prior failings of character on this website) to predict that the Switch would be a huge success and sell over 100 million units (which, back then, nobody believed). And of course it was Rol who argued side by side with me and supported my arguments. 

So yeah, without Rol, I wouldn't be posting this right now. I hope he's alright, wherever he is right now.

Probably 2 reasons:

1) This thread already exists: https://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread/250093/where-is-rolstoppable/1/

2) This gen has been so underwhelming with business decision rather than what gamers want that many kind of are over it atm. I struggle to come here to talk about gaming any more. I have officially become a grump old man lol.

That absolutely is not the same thread. This thread is meant to reminisce, talk about funny, memorable moments, and appreciate what he has brought to the site. The thread that you linked is just asking where he is. 

I have to agree with OP. Both threads are about rol, yes, but the goal of the thread is different which, now that I think about it, may also be the reason not many people are posting here: he mopped the floor with too many users that won't have any positive things to say.

As for the other one, I agree that this gen is being quite lame, but that only means that there's more to talk about. Yes, there may be less positive things to discuss, but boy we have a lot of reasons to talk sh*t about almost everyone in the industry right now.

And then we can also talk about the games and less about the business (studios, executives, layoffs, etc) side of things.

i remember this very well. the blue ocean strategy and how the rol understood the wii before anybody around here. it was also amusing to watch people squirm and not be able to accept the dominance of the wii. back in these days, we used to have the top 5 selling games every week on the front page. for like a year it was wii sports, wii play, wii fit, mario kart, and call of duty. hahaha. people just couldnt cope and Rol didn't make it any easier for these folks. 

i appreciated having him on this site because he would represent my point of view in a sophisticated way. in a way that i had no interest in, and maybe if we are being honest couldn't even if i tried. lol. i also have wondered for years, who even is Rol? is he really just some guy on an internet forum? for some reason i always thought there was more than meets the eye. mysterious fellow. 

i never was aware of that history with the wii passing the 360 and how it mad ethe site explode. thanks for sharing. 

haha im with you though on this other stuff. my personal highlights on this site are the times rol acknowledged my posts or interacted in some way. i always found his reactions and responses so amusing. i always imagined him shaking his head behind the keyboard in disapproval. whenever i get time i will share some of the funny moments there were. i remember once he was going through all the people who were once perma banned and unbanned. i was on his list of course and his summary of my case was not flattering at all, which i enjoyed reading. this was back in 2016. i got permabanned again that same year and finally unbanned last year after years and years of patience, and thats when he takes off. been reading his posts for years and now he is just gone. lol. sucks. i hope he is ok too. its hard to imagine that he would leave like this without a trace. something about it just doesnt seem right.

curious, does anybody know what Rol does for a living?

ive wondered that for 15 years lol