Today is the ten year anniversary of me joining the TrekBBS. Ten frickin' years! My god. That's a lot. When I joined I was a Freshman in college... and now I've been out of college for almost six years now! I went from never having even kissed a girl to having a lovely fiancee. I wrote a book... and started a couple others. I can't even remember the details anymore but I was also a moderator here for several years, in Trek Lit and then in General Sci-Fi Fantasy. It's funny there seems to be so few people I "know" from the old days anymore. How many people are still here that have been here for a decade?
To be honest, I preferred it in the old days. Much smaller population. I feel like I got to know people a lot better than I do now.
Yeah back in my first years here I knew everyone. When I saw a screen name I knew the person and personality behind it. Now... I "know" a handful of the people here but most are just unfamiliar names to me. I certainly don't visit and post as much as I used to... but back in college I was just on the computer all day with no friends so this is a good thing
Ah, one of the few people here I can't call "newbie". My 10-year anniversary rolls around in March. And yes, it's a different place now - better in most ways, but the sense of familiarity within a smaller community has its nice aspects, too (maybe that's one of the reasons I enjoy the lounges so much). Of course, small boards can be cliquish and insular; growth isn't always a bad thing. It's kinda impressive that the board has survived for over a decade and that people are still joining up and finding the place worthwhile.
Even the lounges aren't what they used to me. It's all games and drunk threads now. Back in the day the lounges used to be full of lots of meaningful conversation. I actually did most of my posting in the lounges for that reason. Now I barely go in the lounges at all.
"Meaningful conversation" is there if you look for it. Of course, it can be drowned out by people who like to make a lot of (online-type) noise, but it's there.
Eh, not enough of it. I mean, I remember when people first started posting game threads and we moved to have them banned!
Is it Taboo to say I miss the Lisa years. Bonz is great, don't get me wrong, but there was something "Special" going on when Lisa was running the board.
I'll be hitting 9 years in May 2010. While not a frequent poster, I don't think I can be considered a newb. I don't remember too many posters from back when I started. Probably one of the most memorable threads I can think of was in TNG titled something like "Picard and Riker: More Than Friends?" The OP used several examples from mostly S-1, of hand positions off screen or dialog exchanged between the characters to imply a more intimate relationship. If anybody has that I'd love to reread it.
Eh, to each their own. I will admit that I find it bizarre that many (not necessarily including you in that) people who complain loudest about the game threads are people who participated in them back in the day, while they recovered their post counts after the 2002 crash. Apparently they were only okay while they served such a noble, highbrow purpose.
Ah, see, I'm talking about a time when posting in the Lounges didn't contribute to your post count at all.
Before my (lounge) time. And your contributions to the current drunk thread in the AL didn't go unnoticed. There are plenty of fora for "meaningful conversation", anyway, the definition of which may well differ considerably between posters. To each their own. And this thread isn't here for this discussion.
Post counts! Oh man that brings me back. I remember back in the day I actually cared about that because I was in the top ten or five for total posts I think and I was always checking the stats to see if someone was overtaking me. It's kinda silly looking back on it now I take it Jethro Elvis and Katie aren't here anymore?
They both pop their heads in the Admirals Lounge from time to time, but it's very rare. Yeah, I was in the Top 10 at some point as well. At the time, it seemed very important. Granted, at the time, there were only like 50 regular posters on the entire board...
To be fair, I think that I know people better now than when I joined back in 2001. Yes, there are more people, but the people who have stuck around I know pretty well. Plus the new faces are a chance to relive old conversations with new voices.
There was a lot more drama (not Lisa's fault,) back then. Trolls attacking, mods fighting. It's dull under my watch, but I wanted it settled down. I miss my friends from those early days (2000-2002.) We had loads of fun. Very few of them are still here. Happy anniversary, Mr. Light. I'll hit my decade on April Fool's Day.