Otakupedia Entries/Suggestions/Discussion thread

[Charles]

Well, one idea I was thinking about was adapting Alan's thread from a few weeks back into an article. The one that detailed the criteria for becoming an OB Superstar.

The New OtakuBoards Newspaper could probably use one too.

I've noticed a movement toward bringing back the same crappy threads that we've seen a million times too, so that trend could be documented somehow.

Maybe the "I'm a little confused..." incident could be documented since it was, in a way, a big happening on the site.

So, that's a small list off of the top of my head. The front page of Otakupedia also has a list (which I'll probably need to update).

The signature size is finally being updated after all these years (terrorists take the credit, like it or not), so that's even quite a noteworthy thing to write about.

[Aaryanna]

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"][COLOR="goldenrod"][quote name='Charles']Well, one idea I was thinking about was adapting Alan's thread from a few weeks back into an article. The one that detailed the criteria for becoming an OB Superstar.[/QUOTE]SunfallE told me she was actually writing one for that thread. For both the newspaper and for Otakupedia ^_^ [/COLOR][/FONT]

[Boo]

[quote name='Charles']The signature size is finally being updated after all these years (terrorists take the credit, like it or not), so that's even quite a noteworthy thing to write about.[/QUOTE][center][IMG]http://www.otakuboards.com/signaturepics/sigpic2223_2.gif[/IMG][/center]

[Gavin]

[quote name='Jeremiah']Deathknight ran with the idea and casually suggested that they could form a taskforce that would go about "wtfpwning crime" on OtakuBoards, and thus, Super Otaku Force was born. A force consisting of, at it's peak, 10 members. They were; John, Deathknight, White, Sangome, Illikon Retribution, Revelation, SunfallE and Lunox. This includes Gavin, who claimed the spot of the disembodied master, existing inside a giant tube.

[img]http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/2162/sofcopyfc4.jpg[/img][/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]I had completely forgotten about that, and wasn't Dragon Warrior supposed to write a fic about SOF ?[/SIZE]

[Retribution]

[font=Arial]Editor?s note: I couldn?t figure out a smooth way to incorporate a link to the thread, so I leave that to you, Charlie. The url is ([url]http://otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=53810[/url]). I apologize for the article's brevity, but I really couldn't think of anything else to say. I guess it's more important that there is some information rather than none.

[size=3][b]Banner/Avatar Orphanage[/b][/size]

The Banner/Avatar Orphanage is a thread (currently a sticky) in the Art by Request subforum. Created after its suggestion to Syk3 by Retribution, the Orphanage intended to serve members looking for pre-made and out of use banners. The idea behind this thread was to essentially recycle banners as they fell out of use by a member.

The process to making a banner eligible for ?adoption? is simple and straightforward. The creator would upload any banners they did not use anymore and thought others would enjoy using. Then, any member could pick a banner and put it in their signature, provided they credit the artist.

It was expected by Retribution that this thread would flourish and become a very close counterpart to the Avatar gallery, if not lead to the creation of a Banner gallery. However, the thread enjoyed only brief popularity before languishing in obscurity. Very few, if any members contribute to or borrow from the thread, let alone remember it.[/font]

[SunfallE]

[COLOR="goldenrod"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"][quote name='Aaryanna'][FONT="Comic Sans MS"][COLOR="goldenrod"]SunfallE told me she was actually writing one for that thread. For both the newspaper and for Otakupedia ^_^ [/COLOR][/FONT][/QUOTE]That I did and if I hadn't misplaced the document I would have already submitted it. But since I did... I had to rewrite it as well as regather the information from the thread in question. Feh! Anyway here it is Charles.


[B]
DeadSeraphim's Guide To Becoming An Internet Superstar At OtakuBoards - An Essay [/B]

In perhaps one of the more serious attempts at humor in regards to popularity at OtakuBoards, DeadSeraphim started the thread: [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=57362"][U]Guide To Becoming An Internet Superstar At OtakuBoards - An Essay[/U][/URL] With the first three methods of How to obtain Stardom at OtakuBoards. It quickly caught on as other members started adding to the initial three methods with other methods of how one could become an OtakuBoards Superstar. However it quickly degraded into methods that as Raiyuu put it:

[INDENT]As Des suggested, more lolz and less thread derailment plz. Where by thread derailment I mean posting any method where the 'mentors' include yourself. I mean, how vain do you have to be?

I've enjoyed this thread so far. I think a lot of other people have too. Over the last page or so it's been dragged down with ego massagers. The lesson to remember is: you don't get to decide whether or not you are a 'superstar'.[/INDENT]
Were nothing more than shameless promotions of oneself, making it clear that whether or not one was actually a Superstar on OtakuBoards was something decided by the members and not a case of one person claiming that they were.

[B][U][CENTER]The Methods:[/CENTER][/U][/B]
[B]Method 1: Be a serious jerk.[/B]

This method involves selling your sense of humour, having a one word screenname (names starting with 'R' with some vaguely authoritive conotations are a good bet) and posting in a small font. If you take this route, you're never allowed to join in on any humourous threads and you're gonna have to overreact to trolling in such a severe manner that you end up looking like an arsehole instead of the troll - it's cool though, cause people will expect that from you. You're on a grand crusade against the trolling menace, and if anyone gets caught in the crossfire, they know that this is war, and there will be casualties. RPing at a rate of a million RPs per minute will also help. You will have a great chance at becoming a mod this way.

[i]Your mentors: [/i]Sandy, Retribution, Neuvoxraiha.

[B]Method 2: Be a troll.[/B]

Trolls are clearly the most underappreciated class of OB denizen, and usually gain a level of INFAMY over stardom, but it is a way to get yourself noticed. Short, dismissive replies that make no attempt at being serious, public mocking and defaming of other members and inflammatory avatars and signatures are a hallmark of this method, though they have to be counterbalanced by a large percentage of real posts that are ontopic and sincere, or you risk banning. Being friends with staff will keep you from banning, but only for a while - as the sad tales of Papa Smurf and the original lavalamp illustrate, trolling can get you banned if not done properly and with restraint. You have a soso chance of becoming a mod, but I wouldn't hold your breath.

[I]Your mentors: [/I]Charles, Deathknight, wristcutter.

[B]Method 3: Have half a brain.[/B]

As has been shown time and time again, if you actually use your ****ing head once in a while, you'll have no problems making friends and influencing people. This is the least travelled route for reasons unknown, but you can be pretty sure if you try it you'll become internet famous in no time. There's no prerequisites, but having a screenname that is vaguely ominous sounding usually helps. Also, not resorting to trolling when bored as well - some of our best trolls once used this method, but later joined the dark side (largely cause this method can get shockingly boring if you've got nothing better to do). Chances of moddom are high, but not as high as being a serious jerk.

[I]Your mentors:[/I] Aaryanna_Mom, Shy, indifference.
[B]
Method 4: Develop a creepy cult of stalkers.[/B]

If you're one of the beautiful people, this is the easiest attention to get, but the hardest to get rid of. Simply post a picture of yourself in one of the recurring Photos of you! threads, and let the compliments roll in. It will take several photographs to get firmly established as an internet celebrity, but after that, you're golden. Once you've arrived, people will revere you for your beauty long after your original picture thread has been locked and forgotten. It doesn't matter if you contribute to the boards in any other way?you can be one of the most active, intelligent people on OB, or one of the most vapid and annoying?people will only remember you as their "hot geeky girl on teh interwebs!" fantasy.
[I]
Your mentors:[/I] Juuthena, Babygirl

[B]Method 5: Be gay (or just think you might be!)[/B]

OtakuBoards has always had gay members. Lots of them. However, many of these members didn't realize they are gay until visiting the site, and as a result the entire community is forced to sit through their long and difficult proccess of self acceptance.

Perhaps anime message boards just attract a lot of homosexuals, or maybe it's your Dad's fault. Who knows? Since gays are always defending themselves and their lifestyle, they are prone to becoming strong writers and debaters. This makes them strong candidates for staff positions ([spoiler]and other kinds of positions, too.[/spoiler]) While some OB gays are on the "D.L." others are loud and proud of their sexual orientation. Decide which method works for you, because being gay is a surefire way to become an OB superstar!

OB gays can be usually be identified by a clever (or sometimes not so clever) declaration of their homoseuxality in their avatars and/or signatures. Also be on the lookout for gender-neutral pronouns when they describe their lovelife and/or "type."

[I]Your mentors: [/I]Transtic Nerve, Sandy, Shy.

[B]Method Six: Be an Argumentative Slut.[/B]

Manage to always insult others while drawing from both method two and three. Chances are you're rude and cruel to others because you're young, acned, and unattractive to the opposite sex as well as your own. You post in every thread that doesn't need you, because you feel that you're needed anyway and that your arguments have some merit. Your OB life however will be very short, because you'll soon be banned or on your way to being banned. Additionally, you will most likely have a nemesis that gets you and the other into serious trouble. This is why you are/have been banned.

[I]Mentors:[/I] Copycatalyst, Alex, Mnemolth, Transtic Nerve

[B]Method Seven: Be a Douche[/B]

It's not hard to get people to notice you if your always there. It also helps if you're a total douche. Just go out there and purposefully be completely ignorant and disagree with as many intelligent opinions as possible. Eventually, people will be like, "hey, that gues a douche" but at least everyone knows you're a douche.

[I]Mentors:[/I] 21st Century Digital Boy, Premonition, Kazuwa_Nomura
[B]
Method 8: post sapmmy-ness for about 10 posts, then show them your skillz.[/B]

If you post complete stupidity then later show that you can post, you just might find stardom. This example can be seen in the past where members that post excellent today, posted really bad a few years back. Just don't get too overboard, or the mods will have at you.

[I]Mentors:[/I] Tical blue, Charles (from wat otakupedia told me)
[B]
Method 9: Be H-O-T, Attractive.[/B]

One of the oldest ways of being liked from the get go. Be good looking. It's not that complicated, and while tastes may differ, usually SOMEONE's going to like you for what your Mama gave ya. Sometimes it's unanimous, other times it's a small crowd of admirers. Hopefully it's the former for you.

Just don't be shy, and it should work... oh, and don't be a liar. No body likes an identity theft.

[I]Mentors:[/I] Neuvoxraiha, Anomlay, SaiyanPrincessX, BabyGirl, Sandy, Annie, Revelation, Ezekiel, The Boss, Shy, Caoimhe, White, DeadSeraphim, Retribution (hawt).
[B]
Method 10: Be obsessive and proud of it.[/B]

Find something to obsess about -- something other than Naruto and Kingdom Hearts, mind you -- and display your obsession proudly. The more eccentric the obsession is, the more likely you are to get noticed. Take every opportunity to display a wide range of knowledge about your object of obsession, make references to it frequently, and find ways to relate it to other subjects of conversation. Keep it up consistently and you'll build a reputation as, "that person who's crazy about...." If your obsession happens to match up with one of the forums you'll also have a decent chance of becoming a moderator this way. Just be careful not to come off as a stupid fanboy/girl.

[I]Your mentors:[/I] Desbreko, Aaryanna, Charles

[B]Method 11: Be a mod[/B]

Being a mod pretty much guarantees that regardless of your level of intelligence, strength of your sense of humor, writing ability, ability to use ridiculous font choices or general hygiene you will be liked and lauded by some group of people. Even if they don't understand the main point of your argument (assuming there is one at all), your very existence will be appreciated on some level. Expect numerous pointless PMs and IMs from out of the blue that are likely not welcome at all.
[I]
Weaknesses:[/I] Chances are that unless you're actually, genuinely likable this will disappear along with your title if you ever resign.

[I]Mentors:[/I] Every mod ever.

[B]Method 12: Write an Awful Lot[/B]

If you write enough, most people will not have the time to actually read every last word of your post and thus assume you're the smartest person in the thread. You've automatically won whatever the debate entails by default in the eyes of more than half of the userbase and since popularity is all that matters you've essentially won at The Internet.

[I]Mentors:[/I] Fill this in yourself.

[B]Method 13: Use an Army of Flying Monkeys[/B]

Using an army of flying monkeys to strong-arm your way into OB stardom is a concrete and well-used method of acquiring fame. Strutting your stuff physically or proving your intelligence is far too common for the likes of you. Simply arrive with your simian posse in tow and watch the compliments, friend invites and PMs roll in.

[I]Weaknesses:[/I] Whole lotta falling poo.
[I]
Your mentors:[/I] Sephiroth, Sara, DeadSeraphim.

[B]Method 14: IM[/B]

Start IMing all the major members of the boards. Everyone seems to do it, and eventually youll be mentioned in someone's sig or have your own story based on the IM conversations in the anthology. There are members out there who expanded their popularity just be IMing someone like Charles or Shy frequently.

[B]Method Number Next: Don't Give a Flying Monkey's Arse[/B]

While not exactly a discipline for those who aspire to fame, this method will ensure that you remain unaffected by wherever you end up in the hierarchy of the internet. It's almost the same as Method Three, but with more "meh," involved.

Those who follow this method strictly will probably never even be aware that such a hierarchy exists, and so it is perfect for them.

[I]Your Mentors: [/I]How the devil should I know?
[B]
Get Banned In a Spectacular Way[/B]

Some members actually acquire more "fame" once they have been banned. Although momentary fame often accompanies a public banning, this category uniquely belongs to members who are remembered for years after their banning. Hilarious/bizarre/supremely obnoxious situations much surround the banning of a member in this hierarchy of shame. Former staff member, kuja, is remembered for receiving a banning for threatening to sue Adam and James for his removal from the staff. Zeh, another staff member, is remembered for impersonating the administrators and offering members jobs. Alex is often remembered for mass flaming members and fighting with James in dozens of essay-length posts about a video game before getting banned.

[I]Mentors:[/I] Rick Hunter, kuja, Poisontongue, zeh, shift

[B]Using a font colour that could glow in the dark[/B]

People think it's cool, unique, and gives you an identity, but it is just annoying. It's barely readable and results in having to highlight the text in order to read it, not that it helps much. This and Method 7 go hand in hand.

[I]Mentors: [/I]2007DigitalBoy, 2007DigitalBoy, 2007DigitalBoy, 2007DigitalBoy, 2007DigitalBoy

[B]Method 18: Pretend To Hate It[/B]

Find something about the 'Boards that you don't like and make that the crux of your apparent OB hatred, taking time to complain about anything else that happens to irk you along the way. Insults should be thinly-veiled (unless directed at the less popular members) to avoid being banned. This way you can just about escape warning-free. It helps to throw in crude jokes or the odd swear word. Pretend to be better/cooler/know more than everyone else, so every post is apparently a waste of your time. Woe betide anyone who should criticize you.

Through your stinging commentaries on various members, thread topics and site designs; your sarcastic, semi-insulting comments will glean you a charm amongst the OB populace, and while you have a cantakerous, argumentative and rude outer facade, inside you will be standing proudly on your OB podium with a smile on your face and a tear in your eye.

[I]Weaknesses:[/I] Don't expect to get modded if you start like this from the off. And make sure to hide those early posts wherein you were a lowly, unconfident newbie with a font two sizes too big for your words, asking sheepishly 'Can I post my wallpaper here?', otherwise your big 'bad-boy' image is shattered forever. And of course, you leave yourself open to the one fatal flaw in the 'Pretend To Hate It' method; the simple question: If you dislike the site so much, why are you here? And then you may just have to admit that, actually, you really do love it here and cry every time you get torn away from the screen to go to bed.

This method can sometimes be confused with Method 1, but while those using that method can just be jerks, people who Pretend To Hate It are not always necessarily jerks.

[I]Your mentors:[/I] cloricus, Altron Gundam, DeadSeraphim

[B]Method 19: Love Yourself[/B]

Some would argue that the best way to acquaint everyone with yourself is by a massive self-advertising campaign. After all, who knows you better than yourself, hmm? How will all these people appreciate your greatness if someone doesn't tell them how good you are? Write humourous fan-fictions starring yourself, constantly, and don't let up for a second. Self-confidence is a great thing, so use it to your advantage!
[I]
Weaknesses:[/I] Believe it or not, people can have too much of a good thing, so it's best to give them a break every now and again. Heavens, even you may tire from seeing your own face too often! And that would be a great shame.

[I]Your mentors:[/I] Dragon Warrior

[I]Accompaniment to Any Method:[/I]

Once your popularity is established, by this or other methods, you may want to start self-gratifying threads about OtakuBoards so you can count how many times your name pops up. You may want to namedrop as many people as possible in order to get reciprocation.

This is an indulgence many people undertake, popular or not, so don't worry if someone has beaten you to it. Either way, if your name doesn't come up enough, it's time to get working again!

[B]Method 20: Pretend your sister died.[/B]

Think your OB history is just a little too respectable? Want to shake things up a bit? Luckily for you, the solution to your problem is a simple one; tell everyone you just went through a horrible tragedy!

To apply it properly, wait for someone to criticize you. Don't worry, its OB; it'll happen in no time. Respond to that criticism with a simple "you jerk my sister just died today," and you're in! The harsher the criticism the better, but timing is also a factor. Use your judgment.

The best part of it is, it's foolproof! Who's going to question that story? There's no need to keep up the charade on other OB related message boards; it's not like anyone's going to check, right? Just sit back and bask in the attention.

The Downside? Sooner or later, somebody will figure it out. Chances are, if you have to resort to something like this, you're not the brightest bulb. As such, the ill-gotten superstardom will fade quickly, often in a day or two, and you will then become an OB pariah. Keep up crap like this, and you're sure to be banned, which makes this method the perfect lead-in to the "Getting Banned in a Spectacular Way." In all actuality, it's a win-win!

[I]Mentors:[/I] Ultimia.
[B]
Method 21: OMG POST COUNT[/B]

A by-product of almost all of the above methods is an increasing post-count. This is great, because a having a high postcount is a form of superstardom all by itself! To really reach Superstar status, though, you need to post a lot?we're talking an average of fifty times a day. This means you need to post in every thread on the boards, multiple times?it helps to have a fellow candidate for superdom to work with, because that allows you and your partner to raise your counts simultaneously by holding converations in multiple threads. Another option is to join the hell out of as many RPGs as possible and just go at it.

[I]Drawbacks:[/I] This is an old-fashioned method, made almost obsolete by the current format of the boards, which does not automatically display your post count in the header of your post. Don't worry! You can add your post count to your signature, custom title, avatar, or simply mention it in every post you make!

[I]Bonus:[/I] Everyone knows who you are, not only because of your post-count (that's why they respect you), but by sheer force of presence. You're inescapable. You're everywhere!

[I]Your Mentors:[/I] thimoc, firemac, ulitmia, neuvoxraiha

[B]Method 22: Form an elitist clique, mention it frequently, and don't let anyone else join.[/B]

Choose your clique members wisely! You don't want nondescript members dragging your group down?no one would care about a club made of ten Naruto fans! You want to associate yourself with high-profile (or upwardly-mobile) members. This is best used in combination with one of the above methods to cement your status in the minds of others. Not only are you great... you're so great that you're in an exclusive club! And everyone else is out-of-luck, because unless they're already in... they're just not good enough to join.

[I]Your Mentors:[/I] Adam's Angels, Otaku Triad
[B]
Method 23: Super-annoying catch phrase[/B]

Coin yourself a phrase and use it as often as possible, preferedly in every single post. No matter how many cease and desist PMs and annoyed posts people send at you, keep using it as if you don't even notice it. Pretty soon it'll be in every OB parody that comes around and become synonymous with your name.

[I]Mentors: [/I]Gavin

[B]Method 21a: Start ten trillion threads[/B]

Run out of threads with which to up your post count? Start some new ones! But make sure they're all along the same lines - you don't want people just thinking "so-and-so started loads of threads today". You want people thinking "OMG where did all those game threads come from". When they work it out your name will become synonymous with that subject.

[I]Mentors: [/I]ChibiHorsewoman (game threads), Adahn (pretentious pseudophilosophy)

[B] 24: Rephrase everything that's already been said, bashing members in the process. Also, whenever people attempt to actually participate in the discussion, throw a wrench in the works by holding a completely unrelated conversation with another member in the same thread.[/B]

People will then realize that you are "too cool for rules" and blindly follow you in admiration.

Blatant sarcasm works, too.
[I]
Mentors:[/I] Like I'm actually going to list names.

[B]Method Number 25: Dont be an AJeh[/B]

These membertypes are the (very loosely said) 'all-rounders' who dont seem to excel in any of the other 24 previously mentioned methods. Instead they linger on in the forums for prolonged periods of time before decidingly disappearing very suddenly, lest they become too visible. Because of this, these members usually have extremely long but inconsistent (and regrettably forgettable, in the bigger picture) lifespans compared to most.

Though this may suggest that these members may have a real social life they are more dedicated to, the odds are against it (just like with most other anime forum member types).

[I]Non-mentor(s):[/I] AJeh, other forgettable oldies, current few in the making
[B]
Method 26: Get away with stuff[/B]

The saying 'Go big or go home' applies here. The idea is to violate the rules so frequently and in such significant ways that you will inspire shock and awe among your fellow members. The moderating staff will be so blown away by your blatant disregard for authority that they won't know how to react, and in the end, probably won't react at all. As long as you get away with it people will respect you (or probably hate you, but either way you'll get your name out there.)

[I]Weaknesses: [/I]Unfortunately, your rebellious nature will be your undoing when you are banned for one of your relatively minor offenses (as opposed to one of the really big offenses you have been committing for months.) The trick is to keep outdoing yourself and stay away from gaming discussions. Just remember that there will come a time when you have to choose between violating federal law or losing your reputation at an internet message board. I think you know which choice to make.
[I]
Role Models:[/I] The term 'role model' doesn't seem quite fitting with this particular method. I'm sure they have some examples listed at your local post office.

[B]Method 27: Brainwash Others[/B]

So maybe you're not the best-looking person around. Maybe you don't practice what some call "good hygiene." Maybe you're just totally fugly with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. To put it simply, maybe you're a gigantic douche. But you still have a chance to be a superstar at OB.

Just get a few of your IRL friends to register at OB, and position yourself so they'll start a "[your name here] for Moderator" campaign, including banners, avatars, etc. Pretty soon everyone will know who you are, regardless of whether you actually became a moderator or not.

[I]Drawbacks:[/I] One problem with this method is that if your friends happen to be bigger douches than you, are crazy, or go crazy, or screw something up, it'll reflect poorly on your campaign, which will reflect poorly on you. It's like modern American politics.
[I]
Examples: [/I]PoisonTongue, Drix D'Zanth (it was an obscure campaign, but it was there), Barack Obama.

[B]Method 28: Actually Be Nice[/B]

Far less certain or even obtainable than the other methods since it actually requires lots of ridiculous behind the scenes work. Such as answering the pm's of poor newbies who are lost or confused. As well as avoiding obvious trolling or clobbering of members who really should be clobbered. It also requires at least attempting to respond politely to personal attacks instead of going off the deep end. It's also rarely done since like method three, it can be shockingly boring. Still chances of modship are a possibility as well as eventually being recognized.

[I]Drawbacks:[/I] Chance are no one will ever know that you're pretty nice to people. You'll just slip through the cracks and be considered nothing more than an ordinary member. Also, it requires actually having patience.

[I]Your Mentors:[/I] Panda, James, SunfallE, Shy, Aaryanna_Mom

[B]Method 69: Suck Up To People Like You're Sucking On a Popsickle[/B]

When Ken posts complaining that he's only a troll, or say someone else feels down in the OB dumpster, give them a nice fellatio and say things of import to them which aggrandize their Ego to heightened degrees; almost like giving a Mitchbackmassage, one could say, in some sense, or a Jehburger with extra cheese. This method is perfect, for once taking the blow-up doll of another's Ego and blowing and blowing it, it arises largesse and colossus like the end boss on Shadow of the Colossus, or like a nice breast augmentation (only this is a beast augmentation); and lo and behold, you have become the boy wonder of the Supermen, a side-kick superstar like Flash Gordon on crack going to the OB halls as if it's some justice league.

[I]Models:[/I] Your mom. Definitely. She is a gooood model.

[B]Method 70: Actually post once in a while.[/B]

As 2007digitalboy said, if you're everywhere, it's hard not to get noticed. This is where I fail.

[I]Mentors: [/I]2007digitalboy, DeadSeraphim.
[B]
Method 71: Always be right[/B]

Okay, not technically "right," but post stuff others can't argue with. For example, if someone asks you what the meaning of life is, give 'em a dictionary definition. Most imoprtant person in your life? HUGE pic of Jesus Christ.

[I]Mentors:[/I] DeadSeraphim
[B]
Method 72: Troll your butt off[/B]

This is the one where you either type Leik diss OMG!!! or pick a member and follow them around flaming them. The upside is you get noticed. The downside is you get IP banned and most of your posts are deleted.

[I]Mentors:[/I] Well, you don't wanna tread this path anyway. But... maybe me on a bad day.

[B]Method 73:[/B]

Be absolutly cool, all knowing, philosophical, and do so in a nice way so that everyone looooves. When I try, people tell me to change my font color. (I know, I'm a conformist)

[I]Mentors:[/I] Charles
[B]
Method 74: Perv it up.[/B]

Talk dirty. Mention hentai in every post. Say "that's what she said" in response to things that don't even sound remotely sexual. Pros: You will get noticed. I guarantee it. Cons: you just might get arrested.

[I]Mentors: [/I]2007digitalboy.

[B]Method #29: All your posts call for a "WTF?!" reaction.[/B]

If your posts are just so ridiculous that people laugh at you and don't even bother replying, you're on the right track. If you can keep this up without being banned then you are definitely on the right track. However nobody has really gotten away with it (eventually getting kicked). Nonetheless these mentors are still Superstars in my books.
[I]
Mentors: [/I]Naps the Cat and Prick Wizard.
[B]
Method 75 or 30: Post with your friends and annoy the crap out of everybody.[/B]

If you post insults, friendly comments or even threats against your friends in a thread you will get noticed.
[I]Pros:[/I] People will post about it.
[I]Cons:[/I] they'll will hate you in that post.

[I]Mentors:[/I] 2007DigitalBoy, Premonition
[B]
Method 30: Be Deathknight[/B]

It doesn't matter what the state of your hair is, or that you have a turtleonhead fetish, just being Deathknight is enough. Spreading fear and terror where you go, but being loved by everyone simultaneously, you can't help but be a superstar. Unfortunately, the usage of this method has run its course, and no longer works. It is included strictly for posterity.
[I]
Mentors:[/I] Deathknight

[B]Method 31: Be okay where you stand[/B]

If your not popular, and people know that, be okay with your rank. Soon after resuring yourself that being you is good, people will begin to notice you. Soon you'll become more known around OB, as "the guy who just doesn't give a crap about popularity."The process may take long, but it's worth it.

[I]Mentors: [/I]Premonition
[B]
Method #?? - Play Literati.[/B]

It's a great way to make contact with other members (new and old) in a fun and relaxed environment, you might learn new words to add to your vocabulary, the games will usually provide brilliant quote material for your sig, and if you're really lucky you could earn yourself a 24-hour ban from OB!
[I]
Mentors: [/I]Sara (Queen of Literati), Shy (King of Literati), Kei (Literati Boss), Shinmaru (Literati Ace).
[I]
Bonus Mentor:[/I] Charlie/Heaven's Cloud (Literati Joker).
[B]
Method [insert what ever number here]: Something Productive..[/B]

Whether?s it?s by allying yourself with random people just being weird or something of the sort, do something. Add to threads, post anthology works, just do something productive. Realize that people have their noob moments. I?ve had them, and if you saw my PM inbox, I could give a list of names. Just do something. Yes, it?s fun to irritate others in a plethora of ways, but think: Is it really getting you anywhere? Also, post things that make others think. Hell, you could even make a friend whom you PM constantly and have random discussions with, thus having most of your pm?s from that person.

[I]Role Models: [/I]The Boss. The Mods. Raiyuu. Shy. Shinmaru.

In the end the list was meant to be a fun poke at all the different ways people get noticed at OtakuBoards instead of a set of guidelines for members to actually follow.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[conpiracymonki]

[size=1]Some of the headings in Sunfall's article on the Superstar thread are joined to the previous paragraphs in the Otakupedia version.[/size]

[Gavin]

[SIZE="1"]Hah I'm considered mentorable... if that's even a word. Honestly though, I was a little disappointed I wasn't in the "Actually Be Nice" bit, I don't know what Alan was thinking there, I've always been seen as being nice right ? :animeswea

Funnily enough it was only Alan who ever voiced annoyance about said catchphrase, never received a single PM asking me to stop using it, actually most people thought it was funny, and it helped me win my Nifty Fifty. :animesmil [/SIZE]

[SunfallE]

[COLOR="goldenrod"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"][quote name='Gavin'][SIZE="1"]Hah I'm considered mentorable... if that's even a word. Honestly though, I was a little disappointed I wasn't in the "Actually Be Nice" bit, I don't know what Alan was thinking there, I've always been seen as being nice right ? :animeswea

Funnily enough it was only Alan who ever voiced annoyance about said catchphrase, never received a single PM asking me to stop using it, actually most people thought it was funny, and it helped me win my Nifty Fifty. :animesmil [/SIZE][/QUOTE]Actually Gavin, only about four of the methods were provided by Alan, the rest were provided by other members. If I remember correctly, the "Actually Be Nice" method was submitted by Rachamaninoff.

Also Ajeh is right the article is a bit messed up in Otakupedia. In addition to some of the paragraphs being stuck to another one, the last paragraph and list of mentors is all run together instead of being seperated.
[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Charles]

About the structure being messed up--it's actually a weird glitch with the site. I've tried to adjust it a few times but it's still showing up rather strange-looking. It's actually a problem I seem to have to combat rather frequently--could be my browser--who knows.

In any case, I [i]think[/i] that I may have succeeded in cleaning it up a bit. It's still far from perfect, but I will dive back in there tomorrow and see what I can do.

[Gavin]

[quote name='SunfallE'][COLOR="goldenrod"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Actually Gavin, only about four of the methods were provided by Alan, the rest were provided by other members. If I remember correctly, the "Actually Be Nice" method was submitted by Rachamaninoff.[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]Ah fair enough, I could tell the "Annoying Catchphrase" one was Alan's because he was the only one to ever object to it's usage, and couldn't even get when it was used right. :animesmil

On that note, I'm going to go crush Rach and eat his bones for not thinking I'm nice.[/SIZE]

[SunfallE]

[COLOR="goldenrod"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"][quote name='Gavin'][SIZE="1"]On that note, I'm going to go crush Rach and eat his bones for not thinking I'm nice.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]Well that will certainly convince him that you really are nice! :p If he was still alive that is. And then since he's my online hubby, once you murdered him I'd have to hunt you down and do you in! XP [/FONT][/COLOR]

[Boo]

[quote name='Gavin'][SIZE="1"]Ah fair enough, I could tell the "Annoying Catchphrase" one was Alan's because he was the only one to ever object to it's usage, and couldn't even get when it was used right. :animesmil[/SIZE][/QUOTE]
[size=1]Yeah the rest only made fun of it. :animesmil[/size]

[2010DigitalBoy]

[quote name='Gavin'][SIZE="1"]Ah fair enough, I could tell the "Annoying Catchphrase" one was Alan's because he was the only one to ever object to it's usage, and couldn't even get when it was used right. :animesmil[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

[url=http://otakuboards.com/showpost.php?p=779962&postcount=35]Try again pal.[/url]

[Gavin]

[quote name='SunfallE'][COLOR="goldenrod"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Well that will certainly convince him that you really are nice! :p If he was still alive that is. And then since he's my online hubby, once you murdered him I'd have to hunt you down and do you in! XP [/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]Heh, I knew I should have posted that picture of Mr Burns along with that quote, oh well. :animesmil[/SIZE]

[quote name='Boo'][size=1]Yeah the rest only made fun of it. :animesmil[/size][/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]Hah, ouch Boo. You wound me to the core of my being. ;)

And DB, you might want to look at your own mentions first. :p[/size]

[Aaryanna_Mom]

First of all, this article was a collaborative effort between myself, my daughter Aaryanna and Rachmaninoff. Secondly we'd like to also thank the following people for taking the time to respond to our requests for information: Lady Asphyxia, Desbreko, Charles, Kei, Sara, Semjaza, James, Sandy, Nerdsy, DeathKnight, Gavin, Lunox, Neuvoxraiha, Dagger & Shy. Without them it would have been next to impossible to put the pieces together so thank you very much. :catgirl:

Anyway, having said that, here's the article that we put together.


[B]The Yu Yu Hakusho Forum[/B]

In order to understand the Yu Yu Hakusho Forum, it?s important to understand a little bit about how OtakuBoards was quite different than the format members are familiar with as of 2007. You see, back in 2001 before the forums in each section of OtakuBoards became more centralized in February of 2004, it started out with a main section for anime called Anime Otaku that at first simply had forums such as Digimon, Dragonball and Gundam for discussion.

[URL="http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h167/Desbreko_Fanclub/OB%20Article/May152001ob.jpg"][U][B]May 15 2001[/B][/U][/URL]

As time went on, other sections such as a Tenchi forum was added until somewhere between September 22, 2001 and January 22, 2002 a General Anime Forum for all anime that didn?t have it?s own forum was added to the Anime Otaku section of OtakuBoards.

[URL="http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h167/Desbreko_Fanclub/OB%20Article/September222001.jpg"][U][B]September 22 2001[/B][/U][/URL]
[URL="http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h167/Desbreko_Fanclub/OB%20Article/January222002.jpg"][U][B]January 22 2002[/B][/U][/URL]

Though later on the Tenchi forum would become the Tenchi/Outlaw Star Forum and then the Tenchi/Outlaw Star/Teknoman forum before it was eventually removed. Other forums would come and go in the Anime Otaku section, including a Cowboy Bebop forum and Trigun forum.

Later when Anime Otaku had been renamed Otaku Anime and was moderated by Shyguy; between April 20, 2003 and April 24, 2003 the infamous Yu Yu Hakusho forum along with the .hack//SIGN forum was added to OtakuBoards. Something that as Shy put it: [I]This was because the existing staple of forums was getting kind of stale, so we needed something new to shake things up. I think it might even have been me who suggested creating both forums.[/i]

[URL="http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h167/Desbreko_Fanclub/OB%20Article/April202003.jpg"][U][B]April 20 2003[/B][/U][/URL]
[URL="http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h167/Desbreko_Fanclub/OB%20Article/April242003.jpg"][U][B]April 24 2003[/B][/U][/URL]

But its addition did not shake things up as Shy had expected: [I]Reaction to both forums was pretty lukewarm, which is strange because both series were extremely popular at the time. Yu Yu Hakusho was the more active of the two, but it seemed to have a weaker quality of member posting in it. Aside from Dagger I can't really remember anyone who made intelligent posts there on a regular basis. Most of the threads were the same generic stuff you'd see in any anime forum: favorite character, fangirl rantings, questions about music from the series, etc. Needless to say a great number of these threads were deleted for repeating topics or overall post quality.[/I]

What makes the Yu Yu Hakusho forum so unique is that it would be one of the last series specific forums added to OtakuBoards for discussing an anime, before the site switched to a more centralized format instead of a decentralized one of having separate forums for more popular shows.

Even before the switch was made it was clear that people?s opinion in regards to having separate forums for different animes was divided as can be seen in these posts from the thread: [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=25886"][U]OtakuBoards v7[/U][/URL] in the Suggestion and Feedback part of OtakuBoards.

[URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showpost.php?p=424023&postcount=77"][U]POST ONE[/U][/URL] | [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showpost.php?p=444234&postcount=103"][U]POST TWO[/U][/URL] | [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showpost.php?p=444288&postcount=105"][U]POST THREE[/U][/URL]

Another example of why a centralized format worked better was clearly seen in the .hack//SIGN forum something that according to Shy: [I]The .hack//SIGN forum was the exact opposite. Even though only a handful of members posted there the discussions were very intelligent and thorough. Azurewolf and I created OB's first thread directory to organize discussion in .hack, which only made Yu Yu Hakusho look spammier and more chaotic by comparison.[/I]

Although it is unclear if this had an impact on the decision to move to a more centralized format, it did make it easy to see that the separate forums simply made things more cumbersome for both the members and especially for the moderators. The Yu Yu Hakusho forum only made this worse by being one of the spammiest forums to have ever existed on OtakuBoards. Or rather it was a good example that having too many forums made moderating a chore since things were not as organized as they are today.

Or it could have been due to what Shy remembers: [I]Part of it might have been that the Yu Yu Hakusho forum attracted a lot of new members to the site, and those new members hadn't read the rules yet. We had sticky rules threads in the forum; in fact, at one point I even made a sticky warning people to follow the rules or we'd be forced to get rid of the forum. For whatever reason most threads in that forum were locked at any given time, and a significant number of members were banned for ignoring repeated warnings from moderators such as myself.

I used to have screenshots of 12 of the 15 most recent threads being locked in that forum. It's pretty awful. To remove clutter I ultimately started to delete threads in that forum. Nobody wants to post in a forum where all of the threads are closed.[/I]

To this day, the Yu Yu Hakusho forum is remembered for how troublesome it was. When the project Otakupedia began, Shy, formerly known as Shyguy, disputed a fact presented by Charles for one of his entries:

[B]11-26-2006[/B] [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=55820"][U]Otakupedia Entries/Suggestions/Discussion thread[/U][/URL]

[B]Shy:[/B] [I]Anyway, I need to take issue with this statement in the Down With Newbie Lounge Article.
[/I]
[B]Charles:[/B] [I]Amid much controversy (including that generated by Mnemolth ? who still maintains that the Clown and Businessman analogy was misrepresented by everyone), the Newbie Forum was deleted, and with it, the last spam hub of Otakuboards. Not since has there been such intense spam activity.[/I]

[B]Shy:[/B] [I]You're forgetting about the Yu Yu Hakusho forum. [/I]

Though he was known as Shyguy at the time, Shy was responsible for moderating the Otaku Anime part of OtakuBoards. Since Yu Yu Hakusho did not have it's own moderator, the duty of watching this forum was his responsibility. One that he clearly remembers as he made it obvious that the Yu Yu Hakusho forum was just as bad as the Newbie Lounge that was infamous for how spammy it was.

Before the Yu Yu Hakusho forum was finally removed; several times it was used as a point of reference in requesting that other series specific forums be added to the Otaku Anime section of the boards.

[B]9-20-2003[/B] Suggestion and feedback forum, Thread: [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=31304"][U]New Lounges[/U][/URL]

This would not be the first time that James would not agree with adding other forums based on the premises that they should be allowed since one that was so spammy like the Yu Yu Hakusho one existed. It was clear that James had other ideas in mind for OtakuBoards and further spammy forums like Yu Yu Hakusho was not one of those ideas.

[B]12-23-2003[/B] Suggestions & Feedback, Thread: [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=35274"][U]Rurouni Kenshin Forum?[/U][/URL]

Once again James made it clear that just because forums such as the Yu Yu Hakusho one existed, adding new ones would be pointless since the new format would most likely not include a decentralized format with many forums for each anime.

At one time even a survey was done by James, the Site Director, to see what people?s opinion was on moving from a decentralized format with individual forums for each thing or a more central format where things were kept in the same forum. In the end, it became clear that the majority supported doing away with the cumbersome individual forums and making things more centralized.

[B]12-05-2003[/B] Otaku Lounge, Thread: [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=34600"][U]OtakuBoards Survey[/U][/URL]

[B]James:[/B][I] [survey question] 8) Would you rather a decentralized forum system on OB (more forums, less activity per forum) or a centralized forum system (less forums, more activity per forum)?[/I]

With 18% wishing to keep a decentralized forum format, 43% in favor of a centralized forum format and 39% who were either fine with how it was or wanted some things centralized and other things kept in a decentralized format. In the end, somewhere between December 30,2003 and 3-16,2004 the Yu Yu Hakusho forum was retired and OtakuBoards moved to a more centralized format. Though the exact date is not known, with the formation of the Official Threads Directory in the Anime Lounge:

[B]3-16-2004[/B] Anime Lounge, Thread: [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=38208"][U]Official Thread Directory[/U][/URL]

And this screen shot from a web archive showing the structure of OtakuBoards on August 6, 2004 with an Anime Archive posted in by James on February 14, 2004

[URL="http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h167/Desbreko_Fanclub/OB%20Article/December302003.jpg"][U][B]December 30 2003[/B][/U][/URL]
[URL="http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h167/Desbreko_Fanclub/OB%20Article/August062004.jpg"][U][B]August 6 2004[/B][/U][/URL]

It is clear that during that time frame is when the Yu Yu Hakusho was removed along with all other series specific forums. Also, when asked if the Anime Archive contained the threads from the now deleted forums such as Yu Yu Hakusho, James replied:

[I]Yep, the Anime Archives contain our old anime forums/threads/posts. Some are missing (I think most of Digimon got wiped out due to a technical issue), but everything else is there.[/I]

So it is apparent that by no later than February 14, 2004 The Yu Yu Hakusho forum was no more. This was also confirmed by asking Lady Asphyxia who also recalled that the forum was deleted in February of 2004. However, even though the forum was long gone, it was far from forgotten due to its horribly spammy nature. It was even used in the popular event The Great OtakuBoards Scavenger Hunt 2006 as one of the clues during a round.

[B]7-31-2006[/B] Community Events: Thread: [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=54281"][U]The Great OtakuBoards Scavenger Hunt 2006[/U][/URL]

[I]Question: #9

A wasteland.
A now-lost home to the spirit world
And spammers alike.

-Shy[/I]

[B]Lunox: [/B] T[I]he Yu Yu Hakusho forum. I'm going to feel like an idiot if it's something completely different, but it's the first thing that entered my mind.
[/I]
When asked, one of the first things members who were around when the Yu Yu Hakusho forum existed will say is how incredibly spammy it was. Though a few don?t really remember it at all, still, it was clearly known as being a disease on OtakuBoards as you can see here from what members have said when asked about the Yu Yu Hakusho forum.

[B]Sara:[/B] [I]I don't remember much about it?I've never spent a lot of time in the anime forums here. But the Yu Yu Hakusho forum was (in)famous for being the wasteland of the boards. Shy moderated it, and loved to hate it. [/I]

[B]Lunox:[/B] [I]Sorry, but I don't really remember specifics! But as it stands, the Yu Yu Hakusho forum wasn't known for having any particular members or threads, because most of was already bad. It was referenced to as a black hole or hell by members or the people who modded it, but I don't remember anything much else. [/I]

[B]Gavin:[/B] [I]Most of what I know are the generally accepted facts of the forum, that it was an utter black hole until Dagger came in as the moderator and cleaned it up which is what really made her her name on OtakuBoards, I think at least.[/I]

[B]Kei:[/B] [I]From what I remember about the YYH forum, the most popular (and spammiest) thread in the lot was the "Who's Your Favourite Character" thread. Most people would come in and just so "OMFG Kurama isso hotttttt!!" or something to that effect, which of course would bring the ire from fans of other characters, so on and so forth. I don't believe it was ever closed due to the fact that most of the Mods at the time thought that the forum was a lost cause and rarely ventured there. I do believe there was a general trivia and question thread in there as well, though they didn't do much better in the quality department than did the Character thread.[/I]

[B]Desbreko:[/B] [I]About the only thing I remember of it is that it had a reputation as being one of the spammiest forums on OB at the time. At one point there were something like thirteen closed threads on the first page alone and someone had taken a screen shot of it.[/I]

[B]DeathKnight: [/B] [I]From my perspective that forum started off pretty much as a typical anime forum here. I was never big into YYH so I didn't venture into it much but the, uh, typical YYH fan could be said to be/appear to be quite young. The quality of the threads/posts in that forum degenerated to the point it became kind of a pox on the forum as a whole, lol.

Even now people refer back to it like it was a plague. "Well, at least this isn't as bad as the Yu Yu Hakusho forum".[/I]

[B]Lady Asphyxia:[/B] [I]While I was around at the time, unfortunately I was never really involved in the forum. All I remember about it was that it was incredibly spammy and when it ended, Shy [possibly literally] danced on its grave. He was quite glad it was gone.[/I]

[b]Shy:[/b] [I] I probably could have devoted more time to moderate that specific forum, but I was moderating five others at the time as well. It's not as if I didn't try to improve things, but there was only so much I could do. Why we never had a desginated moderator to that forum is beyond me. I imagine the idea came up pretty often, but pretty much once James saw that the place was a wasteland the plan was always to get rid of it with the next version change or something.

When the forum was deleted it was definitely not missed. I don't think we've had more than a handful of discussions on Yu Yu Hakusho since.[/I]

Although the Yu Yu Hakusho forum is long since gone, not only is the forum itself not forgotten, perhaps most notably by Shy who moderated it when it was a part of OtakuBoards. But it lives on in the form of a much better and less spammier part of OtakuBoards as a separate thread in the Anime Lounge where fans of this show can still gather together and discuss the anime [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=39464"][U]Yu Yu Hakusho[/U][/URL] in it?s designated thread.

[Charles]

That's an awesome article, A_M. I really like the style in which it was written too. Very unique and comprehensive.

Also, I will be posting an update tomorrow. Last week I couldn't because I was visiting my mom in Indiana, and tonight I am working on planning my brother's bachelor party.

However, tomorrow I will definitely be updating. So, if anyone would like to make some last minute contributions (ha!) then feel free to do so!

Edit: Due to work-related issues I'll have the update up on Monday. Sorry!

[James]

[quote] Why we never had a desginated moderator to that forum is beyond me. [/quote]

[color=#606060]The reason we never had a dedicated Moderator was simply because we never needed one. The forum was so tiny and so inactive that it was really something the Category Moderator could handle (or any CM for that matter - not necessarily the one for the anime category).

I can't remember who was in that position at the time but I'm pretty sure I'd discussed it with them and we'd agreed that it was better to just let a CM handle the odd problems here and there, rather than hire someone to look after a forum where nothing was happening.

I'd really like to see articles on the Dragon Ball and Digimon forums, actually. Both of these forums were so large that they were almost their own communities. They each have some very rich history, which is kind of separate to OB itself. But I imagine researching for these much larger forums would be even more difficult in some ways.[/color]

[Shy]

[quote name='James'][color=#606060]The reason we never had a dedicated Moderator was simply because we never needed one. The forum was so tiny and so inactive that it was really something the Category Moderator could handle (or any CM for that matter - not necessarily the one for the anime category).

I can't remember who was in that position at the time but I'm pretty sure I'd discussed it with them and we'd agreed that it was better to just let a CM handle the odd problems here and there, rather than hire someone to look after a forum where nothing was happening.[/color][/QUOTE]
[size=1]I was in that position at the time, and I don't ever recall being overwhelmed by that forum in particular. It definitely could have used a designated moderator, because it was hardly the least active anime forum at the time. My memory on the whole thing is really fuzzy, to be honest. I'm sure that I agreed that a designated mod was unneccessary. Shrug.

I'd really love for someone to update the Digimon forum article into something more comprehensive. I imagine the DragonBall forum one would be next to impossible, though, since most of the major members at the time aren't around anymore.

-Shy[/size]

[CENTER]---------------------------------------------------------------------------[/CENTER]
[size=1]Sorry to double post, but I have an entry to put in. This was done along with members of OB's Survivor's "The Aces" (8bit, BKStyles, Ezekiel, Keyblade Wielder and myself.)

[indent][b]The Mario Forum [Revised][/b]

The Mario Forum was created in September 2002, along with the Grand Theft Auto Forum, as part of OtakuBoards' Version 6 upgrade. A dedicated home for Super Mario Brothers discussion seemed like a natural addition to the then-popular Zelda and Pokemon forums, but sadly reaction to the new forum was lukewarm at best. Even the forum’s designated moderator, Semjaza Azazel, was largely inactive and indifferent to the place.

One of the largest motivations for creating a Mario Forum was ShineGet.com, a proposed Super Mario Brothers website to be created by James and other prominent OtakuBoards gamers. OB would have served as the site’s official message boards and, hopefully, would have generated interest in the project. Sadly the project fell apart before getting off of the ground, with the Mario Forum itself following suit shortly afterwards.

The few threads that were created for the Mario Forum were extremely generic (Favorite Character, Favorite Game, etc.) and dominated by James and Desbreko. One notable exception was Zero Sama‘s [url=http://otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=9331][u]The History of the Great Mario[/u][/url] which stood as a testament to the untapped potential that the Mario Forum had.

It was no surprise to anyone that James was given the ‘Mushroom Kingdom Award’ by an overwhelming 12-vote margin in the 2003 Otaku Awards. Ironically, most of the members who had voted to award James this prize never actually posted in the forum itself.

For months the forum sat inactive, and it was ultimately decided that both it and the GTA forum should be put out of their misery. The loss of these two forums was the first of several major reductions to the gaming sections of the boards, ultimately leading to the single gaming forum OB has today.

With barely two dozen threads and a few hundred posts, the Mario Forum proved to be the least active and successful gaming forum in OtakuBoards’ history. It was quietly deleted in February 2003.[/indent]

[/size]-Shy

[COLOR="goldenrod"][INDENT][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]*pokes Shy* That's why one can simply edit their original post and copy the information [I]before [/I]deleting it and simply re-post with the additional information. *pokes Shy again for good measure* That avoids double posting and makes the post current. :p ~SunfallE[/FONT][/INDENT][/COLOR]

[size=1]Thanks! -Shy[/size]

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]A couple things about the Mario Forum article are a bit off. It was added during the upgrade to version 6, not version 5. Version 5 started in April of 2002, and the forum also only shows up in the archive pages of early version 6.

Also, I don't think the failure of the Mario forum had much to do with ShineGet.com being scrapped. Or at least I never heard that it did, and I was one of the people working on the site. As I remember it, James just didn't have enough time to devote to the project.[/color]

[Horendithas]

[COLOR="Indigo"]Well I'm sure you'd like another article Charles, so with that in mind I wrote up one for this thread...[/COLOR] :)

[URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=57681"][U]The Challenge: A Survivor Story[/U][/URL]


[URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=57681"][U]The Challenge: A Survivor Story[/U][/URL] is an OtakuBoards fan fiction based off of the fourth installment of Sandy?s highly successful [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=56280"][U]OtakuBoards Survivor[/U][/URL] series. However, unlike many fan fictions posted in the OB Anthology section of OtakuBoards, this one came entirely from a dream one of the then current players had. In the actual Survivor RPG the team, The Sunflowers had lost the recent challenge to the opposing team, The Aces. As is required The Sunflowers voted to evict one of their own teammates, but in a strange twist of fate each member received one vote each. Sandy then placed the decision in the hands of The Aces, but the decision did not come immediately and that?s when SunfallE dreamed about the challenge and decided to convert it into a story format and post it in the OB Anthology.

Unlike the true challenge where The Aces had made their decision to evict SunfallE, at the time when she posted the first chapter to her strange dream, The Aces had yet to post their choice. In the dream, where everyone lived at OtakuBoards as if it were real; Sandy, disgusted with the lack of a quick response from The Aces, and the constant complaints he had received during the duration of the Survivor RPG, decided to literally evict them into the real world. He placed bounties on their heads so that the local authorities of the ?real world? would hunt them down and catch all of them. The goal of the challenge was to be the last one caught and thus earn the right to evict one person from the Survivor RPG regardless of what team they were on.

And then, in spite of the protests of the remaining nine Survivors, they were tossed into the real world by indifference, in the middle of a busy mall no less! Leaving BKstyles, SunfallE, Aaryanna, Aaryanna_Mom, Shy, Rachmaninoff, Ezekiel, White and Keyblade Wielder to figure out how to avoid the authorities and to be the last one caught. Sandy claimed that indifference had given them protection against being killed while they were in the real world, but not from being shot by the mall security and local police that came after them immediately. Though those shots were converted into jolts of electricity.

The entire dream from start to finish ended up being six chapters long with all sorts of fun and hilarious attempts by the Survivors to evade the authorities as well as being ?captured? as Sandy would call it as each time someone was caught, he would announce it over the mall?s announcement system.

Though SunfallE woke up just before the challenge would have ended, it was close enough that she wrapped it up to match how things really went in the Survivor RPG as well as tossing in the revenge that the Survivors were plotting against Sandy. Something that as Gavin commented on in the thread:
[INDENT][I]I can taste the irony, and I have to say, it tastes good.

I really enjoyed the story SunfallE and as weird as this sounds, I hope you dream about OB more often, just so you can supply us with a few more cool stories.[/I][/INDENT]
The short story was well received and several members also wished that SunfallE would have more dreams if only to provide more stories like the one she had posted.

[Shy]

[quote name='Desbreko'][color=#4B0082]A couple things about the Mario Forum article are a bit off. It was added during the upgrade to version 6, not version 5. Version 5 started in April of 2002, and the forum also only shows up in the archive pages of early version 6.

Also, I don't think the failure of the Mario forum had much to do with ShineGet.com being scrapped. Or at least I never heard that it did, and I was one of the people working on the site. As I remember it, James just didn't have enough time to devote to the project.[/color][/QUOTE]
[size=1]From what I've been told, the failure of the Mario Forum hurt the momentum of the project. None of my team was involved in ShineGet.com, or the Mario Forum, so we obviously don't know from personal experience. The version thing was a simple typo, but both of those errors can be easily corrected.

If there is anything else that needs to be corrected, please let me know. Researching this article was a tremendous pain for us.

-Shy[/size]

[James]

[color=#606060]Yep, ShineGet.com was separate to the Mario Forum and neither hinged on the other's success.

There were a few elements with SG that weren't quite working but I have to say, I wish more people had seen it - it had tremendous potential and there was quite a lot of content completed for it.[/color]

[Solo Tremaine]

[quote name='Shy'][SIZE=1]I'd really love for someone to update the Digimon forum article into something more comprehensive.[/quote][/SIZE][SIZE=2][color=#503F86]I'd be happy to do that. I've run out of things to procrastinate with at home :p[/SIZE]

[SIZE=2]I wasn't there from the beginning though, so I'd need info on when it started and who first moderated it and stuff (it was you, Ginny and Digital_Monster when I started, as I recall), as well as any anecdotes you want to share.[/color][/SIZE]

[Guest Doldrums]

Hello Everyone!

Let me first introduce myself, it’s been close to seven years since I’ve been on this board. Amongst my late night internet rambling, brought on by a late night slurry of caffeine and boredom, I decided to scrounge the annals of the board’s archive. In my efforts of looking for remnants of my old rpg buddies, I came across your “otakupedia” and was a bit disheartened to not to see a mention of me. I originally joined in version one under various misspellings of the Final Fantasy spell “Ultima”, originally “Ulitmia."

I think it’s very important to recognize the people who played major roles in the development of this community, not only contributing their individual personalities, but overall time… I believe I held the record for “user with the most posts.” An old thread from archive.org puts me at 3400-ish in Feburary 2001. To the best of my knowledge, I kept that record until the boards ultimate demise. I was also the first person to sign up for Adam’s hosting company at the time, “O3Online.com .” I’ve owned so many tlds over the years that it’s hard for me to remember which one exactly. I know AMV studios were all the rage back then, so that would probably be a good guess. I was also one of the fortunate to have a character designed by topaz, though my rpg posts were infrequent at best.

I’m good personal friends with a user some of you know as “Mike”. I think that’s evident considering we have a fusion character. Although we don’t have much to squabble over today, our friendship was back then seemed to be soured by the most inconsequential things.

That gives a little bit of a background; now let’s go more in dept about a thirteen year old me. As I’ve mentioned before, I was notorious for gross grammatical inconsistencies, syntax errors, and blatantly unintelligible posts. Granted, I averaged at least 100 posts a day. People also seem to remember me as the kid who was always nagging to be a moderator. A more recent look into the board’s history, doesn’t seem to portray me in a positive light. Numerous posts claiming utter hatred towards my character reveal what type of person I was. Seriously though, wasn’t it all in good fun?

I’m afraid to read what others have put for the fate of version two, although I’ll take a guess that it’s over dramatized. To avoid a big messy argument of what “really” happened, we'll just move on. After the board had switched from infopop to vbulletin, my interest hit a sudden decline. I registered under a new alias “Tyco” and eventually just never signed on again. That’s to the best my memory serves, however there was a small conflict about me being banned. I can’t say for certain, but I don’t remember any negativity when I left.

Unfortunately I’m no longer a thirteen year old kid with a lot of time on my hands. My job has me boggled down six days a week, so my contact info is as follows:

[B]MSN:[/B] [email]matt@doldrums.biz[/email]
[B]AIM:[/B] Doldrums07
[B]Myspace:[/B] [url]www.myspace.com/afttb[/url]