Twenty years is a fantastic milestone for any website, much less a 90s fandom forum. I'm glad it's still going strong...and that my password still works. This is the only account I can still access. All my socks are dead!
2001 - I have no idea what prompted me to join the forums here. I was likely looking for a place to bash the prequels. I remember starting a movement to blame Rick McCallum for the poor quality of the prequels, arguing that his idol worship mentality when it came to George Lucas was the root cause of the problems with TPM. I was asked to leave several times though never outgright banned. We really divided up back then, the bashers vs. gushers. It wasn't always pretty but it was fun, as long as it didn't get personal. https://boards.theforce.net/threads...gusher-threads-is-a-bannable-offense.4515027/ Ah, the good old days...
I remember the 'Yellow' colours and how they were considered 'current' fashion trends.................not so much today!
The Sarcasm Knights shall rise again!!! ....as long as we take our arthritis medication. And our blood pressure pills. Oh, and I have to be in bed by 7:00pm. My Bridge game starts early tomorrow.
Oh, I've risen, all right. I've risen to being a moderator. My blood pressure has risen. My weight has risen. My napping has risen. My visits to the doctor have risen. Love, Sir Product of his mom shagging crackies while he was trying to sleep but now makes up for all the sleep he missed when he falls asleep midday.
Wait, wait, wait. KukMod is now a....real mod? Times have changed! Sir Logged Off Noob who now has trouble logging in because he can't remember his years-old password.
It's true. I was once banned for "Imitating a moderator" with that absurd...obvious parody... account. And, now I am a real mod. I have yet to yell at people in my old KUKMOD voice. U R BANED FOR TEH TROLL AND NO BUT YES U HAV NO FOR TEH POST AND FLAME SO YES
I spent so many hours spent reading the forums in the years running up to the prequels. A much more civilised time.
For many years after joining the boards, I did not have internet access at home, but only from work (which for me was as a reference librarian at my local library). I spent a LOT of time at work posting about Star Wars. Tax dollars at work!
I know so many who in RL Have come and gone from here, I feel like an old woman who has watched her family be born and die in front of her!
I don't recall when I first joined, but it was right around Episode I; I got most of my news from the Insider though at that time. I wish I could remember my original logins... would they still work I wonder if they haven't been used in 20 years? If I supply an email address a mod look them up?
We can do that. Shoot me or one of the other admins a PM with the address/addresses. The IDs should still work (assuming they aren't banned).
Ah the old days: G4 cube vs Pentium IIs, SCSI, AOL dial-up, 4:3 AR, 21" CRTs if you had the credits, 6 hour wait for TPM trailer to download only playable in Quicktime.... I originally joined before TPM when I was a postgrad but can't remember what my account was called. Probably Darth Plop or something equally inventive and mature.
I found this TFN archive which was around the time that I started following the forums: https://www.theforce.net/episode1/oldPreq/title.html
I had a cat that made it to that age (was 18 1/2 when she had to be put to sleep - old age/kidney issues).
I have a son who made it to 19, but unless he finds his direction soon and gets a job, he may not reach 20.....
I stumbled across the boards looking for TPM fanfic (altavista and a boolean search). I lurked for quite some time before getting the courage to join and start posting in the USJS as a way to get past writer’s block in my PhD dissertation. I remember the pain of having Darth Server eat posts on a regular basis and having threads just crash out of nowhere. What I have loved over the years is that I can be active or not and the community is still welcoming.
Finally a thread for the old timers...not that I've been around much lately, but it's great to see some familiar names and those of my generation. Cheers all.