++ [ originally posted by Andre 3000 ] ++
Graham, I think that there are other ways. Such as PM'ing certain individuals who you would consider to be your friends here to let them know of your intentions. Also, the timing of it all has to be taken into consideration. Its not as if, all of a sudden, he decided to just come on here and say, "You know what, I'm taking a break, I don't know when I'm coming back......". This all happened after some very heated arguments back and forth, so there was a lot of attention drawn on himself, and he must have known this. So, by announcing that he's leaving, and doing it in the middle of a thread that was quite easily generating the most attention for almost a week, of course he's going to be the topic of conversation after he's gone, sort of a "Makavelian" theory, I guess.
That being said, every individual has their own way of saying that they are leaving, whether they just up and leave and don't tell anyone, or whether they announce in the middle of a thread, or they PM or E-mail a few people as to why they haven't posted in a while. Heck, that's what I did, although I left because my intellectual batteries needed recharging and some medical issues that I had to deal with.
But no one should be faulted or criticized for the manner in which they leave, should they choose one. However, I can understand why some people here are indifferent or critical of it, with the timing of the whole thing.