Around how old were you when you joined SPPF and how was it different?

[intergalactic platypus]

I joined when I was 15 years old (I'm 26 now.) This place was more fun and less structured back then. It was also more active. That was right at the start of the Web 2.0 era, so massive general interest sites like Reddit or Tumblr and social media like Facebook and YouTube were all in their infancy or not around yet. Forums for whatever you were into were your best bet for socializing on the Internet (though there was always moral panic about sexual predators online.)

 

[ChloboShoka]

I joined when I was 15. The forum was active and a lot of my best friends on here are no longer active, but I don't think the site has changed much since.

 

[Deadly.Braviary]

I don't even remember. My account is 7 years old but I remember having a previous one before that (I lost the password to that account and my email). I would guess I was ... maybe 10? No idea.

I've never been consistently active on SPFF. I joined because of the fanfiction community, and stayed for it. Made many new friends, became a much better writer, and writing is actually what I would love to do with my life.

 

[EspNeon]

I was 11 when I first started using Serebii. I predominantly used it to catch up with the anime but as I got older, I used the website as a database resource for quick access information.

As for when I first started using the forums, I was 18. I didn't really understand how seriously people took Pokemon when I first joined so I made a few opinions which could be deemed controversial. I favourited Pokemon that were displayed in the anime from childhood and offered my opinion on which Pokemon I felt were of little use in games and some people didn't agree with that. Not much has completely changed, some people are still argumentative, I've just learnt to be more thick skinned with it and stand by opinions.

 

[[GS]]

This is actually my 1st time back here in about 4 years? I joined in about 2005 when I was 18 and rejoined in 2008, now I'm 29 and something has dragged me back. (Blame Pokemon GO and Sun/Moon hype)

All my forum memories are great, even Modded a few sections for a while. Lots of trolls and ad spam back in the day, but it was always a good time with the old crew.

 

[The Pokemon Broadcast]

Joined back in September of 2010. I was 22 at the time, I'm 28 now.

The General Pokemon Discussion boards and Miscellaneous Discussion boards seemed more active back then. I swear there were new threads there almost daily. Now, you'd be lucky to see a new thread in those sections every couple of weeks. Maybe a month on average.

Both of those boards also seem not as fun as they used to be back in those days. Miscellaneous just seems a tad on the boring side (even though I'll still poke my head in whenever I come here from time to time), GPD now seems too srs bzns and overly cynical over the things they talk about now.

Also, when it comes to new games that come out, main or spin-off, people seem more (again) cynical and spoiled over what they want, which is why I totally avoid the Sun/Moon section now like the black plague.

All in all, the above is why I've, honestly, been lurking (just lurking, mind, I don't consider myself a good debater as much as the next guy) the Debate section more often these days. Probably because it's kind of refreshing seeing people have have serious conversations over things that that matter more in the real world. And this is coming from someone who used to avoid the Debate section like the black plague as well.

I apologize if some of that seemed rant-ish, I was just trying to explain why some boards feel different to me.

TL;DR version:
Joined back in September 2010, a few boards seem different now than they were back when I first joined.

 

[Lexya428]

I was a youngin at 21 years of age... the good ole days when nothing drooped and looped and sagged and dragged. It was such an invigorating place around here. What would I do to have the glory years back? Anything. Anything I say!

XD

 

[Kopis]

I joined when I was 16 (Now I'm 24; I made a new account because I forgot the password for my old one). A lot of the interesting members seem to be gone and it doesn't seem to be as active as it used to be, but considering that many popular websites have sprouted up that pretty much replace forums, like IP said, it probably makes some sense.

 

[Xena]

I joined in 2004. I was 10 years old and had an account that is long-since pruned now (do they still prune inactive accounts?) I stuck around for 3 or 4 years.

- I remember there being a lot of young members like myself.
- The Fan Art and Sprite section was very active; pages and pages of request shops.
- I remember seeing serebiiforums reach 7,000 members. Today there are 297,937.
- Forum games were very popular and active.
- People used to talk about glitches and rumoured glitches in games a lot.
- There weren't any forum badges under user names.
- You could only have a small amount of emoticons/pictures/text in your sig.

Overall, it was extremely active with new posts happening constantly all over the forums. However maybe activity will grow again with old members coming back like myself and some others in this thread, and new games coming out.

 

[SebastiaanZ]

When I joined Serebii ... 2010 I think ... I was 23 back then. Though I have to admit I haven't been really active until the last couple of weeks. Never really used this forum much, was mostly on the main website.