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

TheEliteEmpoleon

Well-Known Member
Back in April of 2011 I was 12 years old. I made the account, made some posts that current me would probably be a little disappointed with, and then didn't really post anything for a couple months. Since then I think I've been rather active, with the activity fluxing with time, bar one period that I can remember where I just felt done with it.

I don't think that much has changed. GPD and Misc used to be a lot more active, but other than that I haven't perceived much change. I guess the only other big thing would be how it changes as people come and go.
 

Auraninja

Eh, ragazzo!
I was on in late 2005, being 17 at the time. I felt a great change in my life over the time, so I became less of an ignorant jerk, and started being more sensible.

The moderation around the forums seemed to be looser back then. I think the current mod regulation is better since I don't see as much BS that people get away with saying or doing. This goes onto the members to. The members previously were more prone to group dynamics rather than swaying from other opinions. We came a long way from SOVA, I'll say that.
 

CrystalSaurTower

Well-Known Member
I was 13-going-on-14 when I first joined in February of 2006. I had lurked on the forums for a few months prior when I realized there was a forum past the front page, and I thought it was neat despite that forum lag--until I discovered the fan fiction section, and had a strong desire to join for that alone. It was thriving, a community within a community. There were many people I looked up to that I wanted to be like. There were fun stories just as much as there were bad stories that we can look back on and laugh.

I was just going to post about that. Back when I was really young I used to visit the FanFiction/Author's Cafe section daily and there was always interesting discussions being held about writing good characters, why are certain genres more popular, what makes a mary sue, all sorts of interesting, writing-related topics. It got me interested in writing enough to start making my own original fiction. Unfortunately it's a shell of it's former glory, but that's probably to be expected since forums in general are so dated now.
 

Jb

Tsun in the streets
I joined in 04 but came back in 09. Even with the lag it was super active however since a certain user tried to nuke the misc section, and trolls in general on the main Pokemon boards, moderation got really tight from the strict signature rules, to no custom avatars, contests that never finish and the like. In hindsight, there is a ton you just can't do on here do the rules that's the norm on other sites. I've never been apart of a forum where you couldn't have a custom avi or with a super Sig limit. I mean, it made sense when there was lag but the site runs fine now.

Its also no longer "uncool" to talking about Pokemon in the general public. Posting a pokemon topic on Facebook, gamefaqs or even Reddit genrates more discussion than here.

Imo I don't know what could make it more active. I suppose simple changes like custom Avi, site sponsored tournaments and more lenient moderation rules would help a little. Otherwise it's just easier to discuss Pokemon and other topics on other sites.
 

Harmonie

♫ Ad vivere
I joined when I was 18 and about to graduate from high school.

I have never been particularly active, but I swear this forum must have been so much more active back then.
 

Kikas123

What 'bout My Star?
I was 13-14 when I joined in May of 2006, after reading the main site for a few months. I had started getting into forum culture with the Nintendo Forums, but those had been recently shut down. I thought a place to uniquely discuss my favorite games was the best thing ever. So I joined up and immediately got reprimanded by putting a desktop sized image in my signature. Wolf Goddess worded it quite nicely, which probably was what helped keep me around. Knowing the overly proud kid I was, as reasonably stern or short message would have resulted in me leaving.

After bouncing around the mainline game and TCG forums, I ended up in Face-Offs. What a weird but tight knit little community it proved to be. They were also very accepting of people willing to play the games with them, even if they had a bad tendency to pick fights out of nowhere. We eventually got to now each other well, and it was a nice respite from forum wide drama, such as a forum wide flame war in the late summer of 2006. The Faceoffs forum had its own drama, especially when it came to unannounced thread deletions, however the forum came back stronger. After a few key members left, the forum started to dwindle, as much of the site did.

Faceoffs recently have started to pick up with a lot of new blood, so maybe there is some hope, but it seems people travel less far on the web, I recall reading over 50% of web traffic occurs on 10 sites. Perhaps we can try to use social media to draw members in, or folks are less interested in meeting virtual friends in an increasingly digital world.

I am really grateful that Serebii was part of my life, it likely helped me adjust socially a bit better, as well as gave me some lifelong friends, which is truly a hard, valuable thing to find in this world. Thank you Serebii staff!
 

STICKTOPIA

Well-Known Member
I joined when I was 15 in 2008 but never actually used it until like 8 months later. The biggest difference I see now is the server speed. Sometimes it took YEARS to load pages sometimes. It's definitely a bigger difference now thank god. It was seriously annoying and frustrating.
 

Hunter Zolomon

Into the Shadows
Staff member
Moderator
I used Serebii.net for so many years, and I lurked on the forums for so many years. Finally, I joined the forums in 2012. I was 21 at the time. Back then members were more active....

Once Sun&Moon release maybe things will get more active around here. I guess only time will tell.
 
I was 14 when I first joined. There's a lot less drama. The environment is soooooooooo much more mellow, independent from the forum being less active.
 

MetalSonic

Orderan' Defendan'
I was around 12 when I joined. I spent almost all of my time in the comp section and trading section. Then in the comp section only.

Only thing I remember was a lot more clans! Sry I still call em clans.
 

RedJirachi

Veteran member
I was a boy of twelve. I am now 23. A lot has changed...for instance, there used to be way more sprite comics hosted here.
 

RubberChicken

Well-Known Member
I must have been 7 or 8. Lied about my age. Former account. Had no idea about forum etiquette but it was my first exposure to anything on the internet. I used to come home from school at lunchtime just to have a cheeky browse of the forums. There used to be the odd server issues and they always seemed to coincide with me coming home for lunchtime. I second the above posts mention of sprite comics. They were rampant on here.
 

Ioneos

old geezer
I joined when I was 11 years old, over six years ago. I was the ultimate pre-teen back then; looking back on my old posts and general personality is quite painful now. I think personally I've shown a ton of growth as a person. I've come to terms with my sexuality, stopped being such an annoying prick, and I feel that I've wise up quite a bit (well, only as wise as a 17 year old can be).

The current state of the forums makes me sad. I remember when Games, Fan Art, RP, Fan Fics, etc were always bustling. 2011-2012 was the prime of my Pokemon forum experience, and it was mostly due to Serebii. I must've had tens of thousands of posts in the classic Count To 60 thread (when I found out it was closed 3 years ago, my soul was crushed TBH). I miss all my old SPPF friends (Sir DJ, Jamesonc, Bronzy, Dracoste, {(•)___(•)}, etc). I also distinctly remember a guy asking me out and me insisting that I was straight - poor guy. Should've waited about 2 years.
 
I originally joined this site when I was 12 as well, 9 years ago now. I never really used the forums much till around 2011, which I think was the peak of my activity. I was mostly using the forums to look for trading partners as I was on one of my many attempts to fully complete the Pokedex (still haven't succeeded, mostly because I always just get bored. Plus, I'd always be one or two event legendaries short anyhow).

The forums don't really seem to have changed much in the few times I've checked by here. The layout is still the same as it was back then, and many of the threads from 5 years ago are still active.
 

Jade

Myuu...
12 back in the year 2000! Now im just an old fart nearly 29
 

~Ace

i can show you how
i was 13 when i joined here over 5 years ago, and i joined mostly involved in the competive battling scene, which has considerably been watered down to a much smaller number of people involved - really weird with the change of the official serebii league into a frontier, then removed and the number of clans (now guilds) are a fraction of what they used to be
 
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