Andrew aka Woftam PDF Print E-mail
Written by Suits   
Tuesday, 15 January 2008
I first met Andrew when we came together at a Tribes LAN in Melbourne probably in early 2000 I would say, he was not part of AvA at the time but even with these short comings after meeting him we instantly becoming friends, a talent Andrew had with everyone he met. He soon was coming to my place and other friends places for weekend LAN’s that some of us AvA guys had. He would be the only non-AvA player at every LAN killing us mercilessly with his sniper rifle while showing his BD tag proudly. Don’t worry he felt the wrath of my mortar on occasion!

 

In March 2001 Tribes2 arrived, while AvA toyed with playing multiple games Andrew had a quick stint in the short lived 21st team before he joined many of his now real life friends in AvA. Andrew I don’t think was in AvA a day before he started putting his hand up to help out with the running and organising of things.

 

Later that year Andrew volunteered (or pleaded with Sam his wife, its never been confirmed) his house to host the first AvA SuperLAN introducing several new and wonderful things to the LAN’s we had held in the past, BREAKFAST! Waking up to a pile of bacon and eggs, toast and tomato’s to satisfy any all night gamer was my personal favorite, but getting the opportunity to meet other AvA members from around Australia  was also great.

 

Andrew continued to host another two of the AvA SuperLAN’s with 2002 being probably the best LAN I have ever been to, bringing all these people together from all over Australia that knew each other on the internet to meet, some for the first time, it was huge! 

 

As AvA expanded and our members list changed, the games we played changed, but Andrew never, he accepted every new member as a mate and in many cases ensured they felt welcome simply by befriending them instantly.  Andrew and Sam had there two children, Sarah and Josh, Andrew sharing every bit of news with us all as many proud dads have in the AvA forums.

 

Andrew has remained a dedicated figure in the online gaming community not just in AvA but taking on server administrator roles and the likes where he could and making many friends along the way as I am sure we will all see over the coming days, weeks and months. Andrew through his work had opportunity to travel and he never let an opportunity to meet an AvA member in person slip if he could even if it was meeting them for the first time. I myself enjoyed frequent visits at work from Andrew if he passed my way for coffee and a chat, returning the favor at his work when I could.

 

I recently searched through all the posts Andrew has made on the forums (well most he was a bit of a spammer) and I found myself laughing, 50% of his posts are jokes or humorous pictures that he loved to share. It would probably be higher than 50% if he wasn’t helping run the team these days.

 

Andrew to me was a mate and a mentor, he has helped me through some tough times with sound advice and life saving laughs, using his skill of always knowing when to call, as a friend said yesterday “He always called when you were so fed up and ready to murder people!” I think that sums it nicely.

 

Andrew died playing a team sport and having loads of laughs with his mates, I have the bruises to verify it. I feel absolutely privileged to have been with Andrew on his last day with us and share those laughs or be the cause of them. I think if he had a choice when and where his time had to be, that day would have been coming up close under being with his family that he loved so much. 

 

The hole that Woftam will leave in AvA and many of our lives will be very deep, his character, friendship and dedication will be sorely missed at all levels and teams of AvA and other gaming communities that he has been apart of over the years. Glad I could be there, thanks Andrew.

 

Andrew

 
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