Been thinking about the past here on ProBoards.

[Darkmage4]

I’ve really been thinking about the past. From 2013+ here on proboards, and we’ve all grown up here essentially. The lot of us have a family now. Dream jobs. Maybe some of us didn’t do so well, and RIP to those who are no longer here with us.

I really think ProBoards was a huge part of my life, as I’m sure it has been for a lot of us. v2 to V3 was when I became a member. Even though, it wasn’t only just a few versions back. But several several years ago. lol. I’m 33 now, and it’s been 20 years. (Technically longer, but we will skip that part for now. lol. 23.) but, all the drama, the neck clicker spam bot/person. Whomever it was, got very creative. lol.

To, art contests, forums contests, and even to that Christmas tree we all did where we all put our favorite things on the tree!

GT was where it was back then! I see it’s slowly coming down. Which, is to be expected. It’ll probably see a spike every now and then tbh. But, I’ve made some friends here, I’ve also made some people rather upset about certain things too. Which, my choices in life were my choices, and a great choice it was, as it was the best decision I ever made. lol. Anyone from 2016 will understand the whole debacle I’m sure. lol. Gist was, I quit Walmart to start an online career, made tons of money, and I’m good to this day, and still an online creator.

To be honest. I don’t think I’d have done anything different, except to maybe keep some things private back in the day. Which ultimately made me leave for awhile.

I was actually trying to find the proboards tapatalk integration app in my App Store. But I must have been on Android for that. I’ll have to check that out in the history. As I saw it on my Android a long time ago before switching to iPhone. lol. But I thought I had it on my iPod back then. Which is weird. lol.

What was your favorite part of PBS GT in the past 20+ years? Did you make any close friends? Falling out? Anything you could have done differently on here?

[wildmaven]

Jul 20, 2023 15:07:20 GMT -8 Darkmage4 said:

even to that Christmas tree we all did where we all put our favorite things on the tree!

Ahhhhhhhhh, I loved that! Fun times! 

I will always have fond memories of PB, the members who have come and gone, and all the fun we had. I'm also humbled to know that I mostly likely saved a few lives behind the scenes when members ended up in a dark place. 

Some of my favorite threads were:

Lost in the desert: support.proboards.com/thread/150355/help-me

The fridge drama: support.proboards.com/thread/164845/new-fridge-freezer

And the one where Jim and I won the Valentine's contest: support.proboards.com/thread/154258/valentines-competition-results

There were some life lessons, though. A member who said he was ill but it turned out he was just trolling everyone. Lying about a medical condition is an awful thing to do and it really affected my trust in people for a very long time. Being a moderator can be tough because you can't always be the good guy, so there were times where I had to take a step back to preserve my peace of mind.

You guys were there for me during the 6.4 and 7.1 earthquakes, and the death of both of my parents, and so many other ways.  

[Darkmage4]

Jul 21, 2023 17:26:33 GMT -8 wildmaven said:

Jul 20, 2023 15:07:20 GMT -8 Darkmage4 said:

even to that Christmas tree we all did where we all put our favorite things on the tree!

Ahhhhhhhhh, I loved that! Fun times! 

I will always have fond memories of PB, the members who have come and gone, and all the fun we had. I'm also humbled to know that I mostly likely saved a few lives behind the scenes when members ended up in a dark place. 

Some of my favorite threads were:

Lost in the desert: support.proboards.com/thread/150355/help-me

The fridge drama: support.proboards.com/thread/164845/new-fridge-freezer

And the one where Jim and I won the Valentine's contest: support.proboards.com/thread/154258/valentines-competition-results

There were some life lessons, though. A member who said he was ill but it turned out he was just trolling everyone. Lying about a medical condition is an awful thing to do and it really affected my trust in people for a very long time. Being a moderator can be tough because you can't always be the good guy, so there were times where I had to take a step back to preserve my peace of mind.

You guys were there for me during the 6.4 and 7.1 earthquakes, and the death of both of my parents, and so many other ways.  

Yeah, it definitely was a lot of fun!

That, is a lot of burden, but also, a good thing too! I've been in those dark places plenty of times, and even recently, but what keeps me going is my family and wife.

omg, lol. I've never seen those threads before! lol. I think I was on and off around that time High school, job, lol. Read a bit of both but the freezer one, since it was quoted. I wont say his name, because some time back, he asked me to delete anything with his name. I can private message later on, on why, which essentially isn't a big deal or illegal. lol. But I haven't mentioned his name in over 6 years anywhere online per his wishes.

But, yeah, I understand those life lessons a lot, I think I remember that one? I just don't fully remember it, maybe a quick skim through the threads. maybe? Its been so long.

Oh, I am sure being a mod is definitely tough on a forum this size.

I am sorry to hear about your parents! I had no idea!

Ya know, sometimes we are just completely dumb as teens, and say off the wall stuff, for points I guess? lol. I used to say so many cringey things on here, but I learned rather quickly not to be cringe. Even though, I still probably am. lol.

I miss so many people too. Tobi for one, one day I was talking to her in FB messenger, the next, she passed. Same with another person, she was excited to get out of rehab after breaking a hip, or something. I can't remember exactly why, so don't quote me on that. But, I know she had some medical problems. Several hours later she passed too. But she wanted out of that place quickly and wanted to get back to her pups. The next morning, I saw that her daughter said that she passed away in her sleep. She was very big here on Proboards just as Tobi was. Both passings hit me real hard. It had felt like a tons of bricks fell on me, and I couldn't move, or get up. I still think about them from time to time, and hope they're both good wherever they are.

But yeah, the past 20 years here, have been waves of up and down, happy, and sadness. I still don't know what happened to Enchant, she was one of my favorite people here.

Y'all helped me grow into somewhat of the person I am partially. I've got my mom mostly to thank for that. lol. But, 2009 was a tough year, and I really clinged to GT that year. Everyday I got on, and replied to almost all of the threads all the way down to the second page, making friends, losing friends because they left for whatever their reasoning was, but some came back, Like Robyn! After her mission, we reconnected, and I couldn't be happier! We talk every now and then, but she was one of my best friends back then that I considered to be closest to on here, along with many many others.

I could never deny how huge PBS GT, and even my own forums, and other forums were in my life. I've learned to code, I've learned graphics, Learned a lot of things, and life lessons here.

[User 180565 is taking donation]

A lot of us have either left or learned not to over react hugely. Still happens from time to time but at some point you got to say whatever. No one's going to come out and hurt you like that through a screen. You can stand your ground on your opinion but you can't physically force others to change even if they are liked or disliked. Personally it's redicoulus how quick others are so close to judge based on what they type.

[Darkmage4]

Jul 23, 2023 2:16:10 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

A lot of us have either left or learned not to over react hugely. Still happens from time to time but at some point you got to say whatever. No one's going to come out and hurt you like that through a screen. You can stand your ground on your opinion but you can't physically force others to change even if they are liked or disliked. Personally it's redicoulus how quick others are so close to judge based on what they type.

Oh, I agree. But that’s how the vast majority of the internet is. Kind of crazy how someone’s personal choice affects someone else a million miles away. When it really doesn’t. lol.

[User 180565 is taking donation]

Jul 23, 2023 7:38:06 GMT -8 Darkmage4 said:

Jul 23, 2023 2:16:10 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

A lot of us have either left or learned not to over react hugely. Still happens from time to time but at some point you got to say whatever. No one's going to come out and hurt you like that through a screen. You can stand your ground on your opinion but you can't physically force others to change even if they are liked or disliked. Personally it's redicoulus how quick others are so close to judge based on what they type.

Oh, I agree. But that’s how the vast majority of the internet is. Kind of crazy how someone’s personal choice affects someone else a million miles away. When it really doesn’t. lol.

I see it as like someone in public that just wants to have a conversation with a stranger then everyone gets so negative about picking apart every little thing you say. Thinking about it now it's kind of nuts, a mass majority acts like we know each other just by typing on a website. Sure it can affect you mentally and change part of your thinking way but to just sit there and constantly try to disprove something to someone is kind of nuts. If you don't physicallly know a person you can't judge them like that. I'm at a point where I'll say what I want to say but other than that it's nothing personal. If you take it to heart that's on you.

[Darkmage4]

Jul 23, 2023 14:30:34 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

Jul 23, 2023 7:38:06 GMT -8 Darkmage4 said:

Oh, I agree. But that’s how the vast majority of the internet is. Kind of crazy how someone’s personal choice affects someone else a million miles away. When it really doesn’t. lol.

I see it as like someone in public that just wants to have a conversation with a stranger then everyone gets so negative about picking apart every little thing you say. Thinking about it now it's kind of nuts, a mass majority acts like we know each other just by typing on a website. Sure it can affect you mentally and change part of your thinking way but to just sit there and constantly try to disprove something to someone is kind of nuts. If you don't physicallly know a person you can't judge them like that. I'm at a point where I'll say what I want to say but other than that it's nothing personal. If you take it to heart that's on you.

I absolutely agree with you on that, which is the biggest reason why I removed myself out of the equation, and left because of. Things eventually died down. Which eventually led to an better overall experience.

[Craig]

Jul 20, 2023 15:07:20 GMT -8 Darkmage4 said:

I’ve really been thinking about the past. From 2013+ here on proboards, and we’ve all grown up here essentially. The lot of us have a family now. Dream jobs. Maybe some of us didn’t do so well, and RIP to those who are no longer here with us.

I really think ProBoards was a huge part of my life, as I’m sure it has been for a lot of us. v2 to V3 was when I became a member. Even though, it wasn’t only just a few versions back. But several several years ago. lol. I’m 33 now, and it’s been 20 years. (Technically longer, but we will skip that part for now. lol. 23.) but, all the drama, the neck clicker spam bot/person. Whomever it was, got very creative. lol.


What was your favorite part of PBS GT in the past 20+ years? Did you make any close friends? Falling out? Anything you could have done differently on here?

Hey Nick.  Don't skip over those parts

I loved seeing the community grow, and how buzzing the community got in the late noughties which saw a number of meet ups between the members.  Those were great times.  I still remember the comic book strip that renegade made of the trip we made to Warwick Castle.  Couldn't stop laughing.  It was great meeting people like Sossity, Shady, ASE, charlie (chazstar), @higgerz , iGeorge etc at the various meetups we had   .

My biggest regret is not being great at talking to people.  I am terrible at conversations, and shied away from talking to people because I get anxious about what I say, and makes friendships hard for me to maintain.

[User 180565 is taking donation]

Jul 23, 2023 19:50:36 GMT -8 Darkmage4 said:

Jul 23, 2023 14:30:34 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

I see it as like someone in public that just wants to have a conversation with a stranger then everyone gets so negative about picking apart every little thing you say. Thinking about it now it's kind of nuts, a mass majority acts like we know each other just by typing on a website. Sure it can affect you mentally and change part of your thinking way but to just sit there and constantly try to disprove something to someone is kind of nuts. If you don't physicallly know a person you can't judge them like that. I'm at a point where I'll say what I want to say but other than that it's nothing personal. If you take it to heart that's on you.

I absolutely agree with you on that, which is the biggest reason why I removed myself out of the equation, and left because of. Things eventually died down. Which eventually led to an better overall experience.

Yeah it just feels like everyone wants to argue these days instead of actually getting to know each other which is a big part of life. That's part of the reason why I love message boards they're informattable and at the same time theirs always that one group that wants to pick apart everything you say when you just try to be a decent member and they don't even listen to your side of it or understand you it gets depressing.

[Craig]

Jul 25, 2023 10:23:17 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

Jul 23, 2023 19:50:36 GMT -8 Darkmage4 said:

I absolutely agree with you on that, which is the biggest reason why I removed myself out of the equation, and left because of. Things eventually died down. Which eventually led to an better overall experience.

Yeah it just feels like everyone wants to argue these days instead of actually getting to know each other which is a big part of life. That's part of the reason why I love message boards they're informattable and at the same time theirs always that one group that wants to pick apart everything you say when you just try to be a decent member and they don't even listen to your side of it or understand you it gets depressing.

There will always be people that disagree, or have a different opinion, but you should always try and do it respectfully.  Debates are healthy and good, insults not so much.  

[User 180565 is taking donation]

Jul 25, 2023 10:36:25 GMT -8 Craig said:

Jul 25, 2023 10:23:17 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

Yeah it just feels like everyone wants to argue these days instead of actually getting to know each other which is a big part of life. That's part of the reason why I love message boards they're informattable and at the same time theirs always that one group that wants to pick apart everything you say when you just try to be a decent member and they don't even listen to your side of it or understand you it gets depressing.

There will always be people that disagree, or have a different opinion, but you should always try and do it respectfully.  Debates are healthy and good, insults not so much.  

No one's insulting anyone but the idea of simple discussion is dying to where everyone wants to pick apart everything you say. If someone disagrees they shouldn't constantly go at someone which is a lot of what I see. Constant quotes to disagree are fine but no one should tell someone they're in the wrong for it or start hating other users for it. Remember the debate board and how it got so bad it got removed? I'll respect others opinion but they shouldn't show distaste for mine that just causes problems when we should all support a community at the end of the day.

[Darkmage4]

Well… I had a whole comment on both Craig and Kenneth… but, I tapped reply, and Mobile safari completely crashed, erasing what I wrote… ugh. I’ll have to redo it later…

edit:

Jul 25, 2023 3:56:33 GMT -8 Craig said:

Jul 20, 2023 15:07:20 GMT -8 Darkmage4 said:

I’ve really been thinking about the past. From 2013+ here on proboards, and we’ve all grown up here essentially. The lot of us have a family now. Dream jobs. Maybe some of us didn’t do so well, and RIP to those who are no longer here with us.

I really think ProBoards was a huge part of my life, as I’m sure it has been for a lot of us. v2 to V3 was when I became a member. Even though, it wasn’t only just a few versions back. But several several years ago. lol. I’m 33 now, and it’s been 20 years. (Technically longer, but we will skip that part for now. lol. 23.) but, all the drama, the neck clicker spam bot/person. Whomever it was, got very creative. lol.


What was your favorite part of PBS GT in the past 20+ years? Did you make any close friends? Falling out? Anything you could have done differently on here?

Hey Nick.  Don't skip over those parts

I loved seeing the community grow, and how buzzing the community got in the late noughties which saw a number of meet ups between the members.  Those were great times.  I still remember the comic book strip that renegade made of the trip we made to Warwick Castle.  Couldn't stop laughing.  It was great meeting people like Sossity, Shady, ASE, charlie (chazstar), @higgerz , iGeorge etc at the various meetups we had   .

My biggest regret is not being great at talking to people.  I am terrible at conversations, and shied away from talking to people because I get anxious about what I say, and makes friendships hard for me to maintain.

I mean…. lol. I did have parental permission. Haha. 

 I remember those!! The comic strips were funny and I always look forward to them after the meetups! It was a good way to connect us that couldn’t go, to the meet ups! Lol. 

 I am the same way tbh. Unless it is a topic I am adverse in, then I will be talkative, and you can’t shut me up, but at the same time, I usually just sit and listen until I am more comfortable, I am a huge introvert. Lol. Otherwise, I did end up meeting an online friend I talked to on Xbox for years, my friend from work(I no longer work there, but we stayed friends outside of work), and I met up with him at a Milwaukee Brewers game, and we hung out. We’ve been even closer friends since then! Meeting online friends you’ve known for several years through a forum, I haven’t done yet. lol. Of course, I don’t frequent forums as much as I used to. 

Jul 25, 2023 11:47:20 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

Jul 25, 2023 10:36:25 GMT -8 Craig said:

There will always be people that disagree, or have a different opinion, but you should always try and do it respectfully.  Debates are healthy and good, insults not so much.  

No one's insulting anyone but the idea of simple discussion is dying to where everyone wants to pick apart everything you say. If someone disagrees they shouldn't constantly go at someone which is a lot of what I see. Constant quotes to disagree are fine but no one should tell someone they're in the wrong for it or start hating other users for it. Remember the debate board and how it got so bad it got removed? I'll respect others opinion but they shouldn't show distaste for mine that just causes problems when we should all support a community at the end of the day.

Yeah, in today’s age, I think people have gotten far more hostile than 10 years ago. People will attack you, just for an opinion, or download your avatar, then post it, and make fun of you for literally no reason. Twitter and Facebook conversations, doesn’t matter if it’s about a good thing, it’ll turn into a flame war for literally no reason. 

But I can say that a good portion is respectful until, they’re disrespected.

[Darkmage4]

I can't believe GT has over 2 million posts btw! I remember when we hit 1 Million posts, and it was a really big deal! 2 million posts!? That is insane! lol.

[User 180565 is taking donation]

Jul 25, 2023 13:02:19 GMT -8 Darkmage4 said:

Well… I had a whole comment on both Craig and Kenneth… but, I tapped reply, and Mobile safari completely crashed, erasing what I wrote… ugh. I’ll have to redo it later…

edit:

Jul 25, 2023 3:56:33 GMT -8 Craig said:

Hey Nick.  Don't skip over those parts

I loved seeing the community grow, and how buzzing the community got in the late noughties which saw a number of meet ups between the members.  Those were great times.  I still remember the comic book strip that renegade made of the trip we made to Warwick Castle.  Couldn't stop laughing.  It was great meeting people like Sossity, Shady, ASE, charlie (chazstar), @higgerz , iGeorge etc at the various meetups we had   .

My biggest regret is not being great at talking to people.  I am terrible at conversations, and shied away from talking to people because I get anxious about what I say, and makes friendships hard for me to maintain.

I mean…. lol. I did have parental permission. Haha. 

 I remember those!! The comic strips were funny and I always look forward to them after the meetups! It was a good way to connect us that couldn’t go, to the meet ups! Lol. 

 I am the same way tbh. Unless it is a topic I am adverse in, then I will be talkative, and you can’t shut me up, but at the same time, I usually just sit and listen until I am more comfortable, I am a huge introvert. Lol. Otherwise, I did end up meeting an online friend I talked to on Xbox for years, my friend from work(I no longer work there, but we stayed friends outside of work), and I met up with him at a Milwaukee Brewers game, and we hung out. We’ve been even closer friends since then! Meeting online friends you’ve known for several years through a forum, I haven’t done yet. lol. Of course, I don’t frequent forums as much as I used to. 

Jul 25, 2023 11:47:20 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

No one's insulting anyone but the idea of simple discussion is dying to where everyone wants to pick apart everything you say. If someone disagrees they shouldn't constantly go at someone which is a lot of what I see. Constant quotes to disagree are fine but no one should tell someone they're in the wrong for it or start hating other users for it. Remember the debate board and how it got so bad it got removed? I'll respect others opinion but they shouldn't show distaste for mine that just causes problems when we should all support a community at the end of the day.

Yeah, in today’s age, I think people have gotten far more hostile than 10 years ago. People will attack you, just for an opinion, or download your avatar, then post it, and make fun of you for literally no reason. Twitter and Facebook conversations, doesn’t matter if it’s about a good thing, it’ll turn into a flame war for literally no reason. 

But I can say that a good portion is respectful until, they’re disrespected.

Downloading someone's avatar is a new one, don't know it just feels like with all these debates going back and forth it's really hard to feel like you're accepted by others. But hey that's how the internet goes. You try to fit in and one little thing can set others opinion over you in a negative way. Even if you constantly tell them it's nothing personal.

[Minime]

I really hate to be -that- person who only comes back to post in reminiscing threads, but when you asked about the "20+" years, I realised that the year I first joined ProBoards was exactly 20 years ago (when my "first" account was made in 2003, and then in a fit of emotional teenage angst, deleted that one, and then made this current one). That is insaneeeee.

I consider PBS GT as one of my core memories from my teenage years - a lot of people saw me grow up, from moaning about my high school exams, to entering university, and so on. I have a really lot of good memories, mostly from the friendships I formed in the AIM chat - but a lot of that also carried on over in GT, where we'd banter back and forth even in threads. I can't think of anything specific right now, but I remember anytime woop (Matej on here now, I believe??) would post about where he was from, we'd all reply back saying that Slovenia was definitely not a real country. There was also the "no peanut butter" rule. Everything was Shady's fault. Renegade's comics. A couple in-person meets up, one in Birmingham and one in....somewhere - we bowled, I can't remember, haha. It's cheesy to say, but the times I spent talking to members here and getting to know them - that was what made me stay.

The best things to come out of my experience here are definitely my friendships with two people, who even after 20 years, I still consider to be some of my best friends, Cheat and Del. I've met Del a couple times now, but Cheat is a turdmeister of the biggest turd to ever exist, and still hasn't made it to Boston yet, so an open slot for best friend might open up soon, please apply ASAP.

I wouldn't do anything differently. I was a teenager, about 16/17 when I started posting, and whatever dumb thing I said or did here - I'm hopeful I'm not like that anymore. I had fun - it was great. I have nothing but good memories.

EDIT: ALSO, the emu! How could I forget the EMU???