Your past forum self

[Griffolion]

Hey Escapists! Nostalgia time.

Have you ever looked back at your past posts and seen the kind of stuff you used to post? In a spout of boredom, I did do recently.

I've definitely changed in terms of some opinions I appeared to have made, I guess evolving thought processes are natural. I cringed at some remarks I made, and wondered about why I even bothered to post in others. I guess my interest levels in certain topics have changed, too.

The one most baffling thing now is that between January and July 2011, I saw multiple times that I was pining after a girl who was with someone else. Pathetic as it is, I absolutely cannot remember who it was. I'm engaged now, so it's a non-issue, but it baffled me for a little while. I've used that word twice, now.

Anyway, give us some stories of your past forum self! Have you changed, at all? Have any life events been the cause of that change?

This may or may not be an interesting thread. Hopefully we can get some good participation.

 

[Jonluw]

I was more energetic and focused more on the social aspects of foruming than I do now (like, I'd do threads about what people on the forum think about eachother and stuff).
And also more depressed.

Plus, I did have a penchant for making sort of nonsensical [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.376074-Womens-breasts] threads a propos of nothing.

How have I changed?
Pfff, I don't know. I don't post nearly as often as I used to at least. I have less free time, the community's changed a bit, and I've been on here for long enough now to have seen pretty much every thread that's made in the off-topic section (which used to be my favourite) before. It really is astounding how few and far between the original and interesting threads are.

My entire forum history has pretty much been a gradual move over to R&P (rather than to games&rp as seems to be more common).

Any stories, eh?
Well, there was that time during the great paedophilia debacle. I made a thread defending lolita manga and anime and at the same time berating people for thinking paedophiles should be put in jail simply for being paedophiles (thoughtcrimes and what have you).
The thread made it to 13 pages or something and boy was that a lot of shit to deal with. I'd have to constantly reply to a barrage of comments from this small assortment of imbeciles who were convinced I were the devil and/or a child molester.
Then, a few weeks later as the paedophilia flamewars really took off in the forum I seem to recall the forum rules earning a new addition about not discussing paedophilia. It's gone now, so I can't prove it was there, but it was fun at least.

Also, past me spent a lot more time discussing ponies.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

I did a Landmark thread a while back where I looked back at my old self. The old Redlin hardly ever strayed from Off Topic.

I used to actually follow what was going on here in the biggest forum and would ocassionally chime in with the now forgotten "Use Search Bar" and "No Versus threads".

How things change...

*jumps back into Forum Games*

 

[Kolby Jack]

Man, I was wordy back then. Glad I got over that habit. I mean, wordiness has its place when there's a point to be made, and even today I'm not generally that great at stating my viewpoints clearly or concisely, but wow did I type a lot just to get point across that I'm sick of Batman fans. Really, all I had to say was "I'm sick of Batman fans" and maybe a little explanation for why, but no, I had to write a veritable essay on my feelings on Batman fans. My viewpoint hasn't changed from back then, but thankfully I seem to have cut down on the amount of words I feel are necessary to make my point. Now I'm pretty sure I don't write entire paragraphs, and I think I've also resisted the urge to use larger words than are necessary for explaining my point. You know, eventually you just have to realize that people don't want to read through an essay just to hear you say "I liked the ending of Monk." Granted, in that particular post I actually kept it short, so I guess even back then I varied the length of my posts when I felt a long post was unnecessary. The worst part was when I would repeat myself. I realize reading is no chore, but when your reading a post by a guy who repeats what he's saying every few lines I imagine it gets old. I mean really, repeating yourself is just a sign of a poor writer. If you made your point the first time well-enough, you shouldn't have to say it again. It's pointless. Fruitless. A waste. Nobody wants to read it. Sometimes repeating for emphasis is okay I guess, but that just depends on your writing style. Look at me, talking about writing style on an internet forum. You'd think i was in an English class or something. That's just silly. Obviously this place isn't so formal, which is to say, it is a casual environment in which we can use jargon and slang freely and people will likely understand us. To use such jargon would in fact make you more likely to be accepted by the community here, as appearing too uptight will make most internet regulars dismiss you. Well, i honestly think I've written as much as I could for this joke, which is to say that I'm purposefully writing a lot to make my assertion of my past wordiness appear hypocritical. In reality, and in true Escapist tradition, I could have easily summed my entire point up in a youtube video, as I will now. Basically what I'm trying to say was, back then I seemed to write like:


I also said hatred born of ignorance just makes you an idiot, which is true, but that regular hatred is healthy. I'm not so sure on that point anymore.

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

I don't want to look back there...
Don't make me look back there...

Goddamnit I looked back there.
It is amazing how much can change after 3 years- well, 2 years, really. I didn't dare go back further than that.

 

[staika]

Well lets see. I started out here as just a viewer of Zero Punctuation and only made a profile for the hell of it. I was never apart of a forum at that point but once I made it to college I got curious to the point that I started posting. At that point my grammar was terrible and I wasn't much of an outgoing person. I was that one user who though that there was a social order to everything. I felt that until you had 1000 posts you were just another one of the faceless users and no one would really notice you until you hit 1000. I was also dabbing a little in writing at this time but I was never satisfied with it.

Since then I think that I became more of an outgoing person who posts strange and amusing things at times. I have learned that the 1000 post thing was just paranoia on my part but here I am now with over 10000 posts to my name. My grammar has also improved and I've been able to write stuff that I am proud of now. It also helps that I get PMs every so often from people that tell me that my avatar is awesome, makes me feel like I am finally getting noticed

 

[Scarim Coral]

Well for one thing, I was more enthusiastic at making creative thread since I was trying to get those On Fire badges.
It took me a while to learn that most people on here don't have an imaginative mind or just can't be bother to post in those threads.

 

[Strazdas]

i was an egoistic dick who hated people and couldnt spell.
oh wait, i still am.

To see my forum history one has to go back to where it all started - stormserver forums, where i learn what forum life is and became administrator there even. i always laugh when i come back there. My posts here werent that great in the begining either and there were soem outbursts that earned me my warnings.

BUt yeah people change, and thats okay. just accept that your intelligence grows with time and you dont know everything.

It also helps that I get PMs every so often from people that tell me that my avatar is awesome, makes me feel like I am finally getting noticed

but your avatar IS awesome. i dragged it like 5 times!

 

[doggy go 7]

With the escapist, I've turned from a lurker for many years, to a semi-regular poster, but the posts themselves haven't varied that much (though there may be a tad more humour in them nowadays).

However, a couple of weeks ago I did this with Facebook... if it wasn't for the fact that I dislike deleting stuff, I'm fairly sure I'd delete half of what I posted there in my first year for being such trite shit. I made way more statuses than I do now, the worst part being that they were about random crap that no-one actually gives a fuck about (and a lot of football), and I was really argumentative more just for the hell of being a dickhead (whereas now I only argue when I'm right [/joke]).

avatar snip

Your avatar is sticking on fangirls for me. It's eerie, especially as I've not been in many situations that involve fangirls, yet.

Captcha: "the opposite of up is?". I went with George Washington, for some reason the post didn't work!

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

I haven't really changed all that much... maybe just type more now than I did, but I still post in mostly non flamey topics and generally in threads that look fun, or a question that intregues me...

 

[Jonluw]

I made a thread defending lolita manga and anime and at the same time berating people for thinking paedophiles should be put in jail simply for being paedophiles (thoughtcrimes and what have you).

Funny you should say that actually.

We recently had a couple of threads about that sort of thing . . .

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.406275-Man-sent-to-jail-for-watching-pixie-sex
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.391561-Missouri-Man-Pleads-Guilty-To-Possession-of-Cartoon-Child-Porn

Yeah it comes in waves. There have been four or five of those waves since 08 I think.
Off-topic has a way of just repeating itself over time. At some point you've seen all the major categories of threads and the popular topics that keep resurfacing at even intervals and you just become bored with it.

 

[thiosk]

I was certainly nastier in my youth.

Now i'm old and sweet like sugar.

edited for longness

i feel like the paragraph keeps getting longer

Spoiler: are you a wizard

 

[Ratties]

I was alot more friendly back then. So many things that I posted back then could be considered to neutral for it's own good. Doesn't really look like I picked a side. Now I am alot more meaner. When I see somebody post something that I hate, I tend to write about it my next thread.

 

[Drops a Sweet Katana]

I post far more frequently than I used to a couple of years ago. There is actually a gap of about a year where I didn't post anything. In terms of posts, my first few were embarrassing to look back on. Winky faces, lol and incorrect grammar. Shameful. Bloody shameful. Needless to say I don't do that anymore.

 

[Fappy]

I used to be pretty awesome. Turns out things haven't really changed.

Though, I used to be a bit of a badboy if you know what I mean. I still am, I just don't get caught anymore >

 

[Casual Shinji]

I've gotten stupiderer.

I look back at my posts from way back when, and I see a powerhouse of articulation compared to now.

 

[Colour Scientist]

I cared a lot more of what people thought of my posts. Like, if someone were to attack my post, or say something mean, I wouldn't post again for another few weeks.
I don't think my opinions have changed to much,

Actually, I remember making a 'Do you consider yourself a feminist?' thread long before the topic really blew up in the gaming community and being quite surprised by many of the responses. I think I've actually become more vocal in my position since then, I guess I didn't think there would be as much opposition.

My first thread was about disliking Tim Burton, it actually got quite a few responses. I remember being proud of that. I think that's when I started really getting involved in the forums.

I cringed at some remarks I made, and wondered about why I even bothered to post in others.

Basically the same as you.

I don't know what I was thinking when I made some of those old posts. I guess I thought I was being funny at the time, but looking back now, those posts of mine just come across as really pathetic...

I remember you going around with your little green alien avatar. You were so chirpy back then!

 

[CommanderL]

People used to quote my jokes more then they do now, and I used to go into off topic a lot more.

People still quote you see see I was a ghost then and I still I am I dewl in the darkness in the shadows when ever you post a comment on a late night I am there protecting

 

[Pink Gregory]

I was a tiresome **** then, and I'm a tiresome **** now.

 

[Bvenged]

I was active, then went inactive after 2-3 months. I came active again in 2011 but became too opinionated and a douche in 2012. I noticed I was being a douche and decided to turn my online attitude around (I hope!), and then I became relatively inactive in early 2013 after a year or so of daily posting.

I rarely read forum threads now, I just come on for gaming news, ZP and Jim. Pretty much a turning point when Vault101 got banned - though completely unrelated, just timing.