Looking in from the outside

[KitKat]

A lot of people who sign up at the forum do so after lurking for a while. So, I'm curious, what were your ideas of the community before you joined? Which members made the largest impression on you, and possibly even caused you to finally join? Did your ideas of people change after joining the forum and getting to know them?

From my lurking days, I remember three different posters who I came to recognize around the forum. They were ShinobiNeko, Terra, and Mut@t@. For those of you who remember them, you probably recognize the distinctly different impressions that would be made by each. ShinobiNeko is memorable for just how darned cute she was anytime she posted. Terra, well, you all know what an interesting character Terra is, although he used to have an average of about 10 posts a day, back then. And Mut@t@ was just controversial enough to shake things up.

So how about you guys?

[Sapphire]

I probably stumbled on to these forums after my curiosity was peaked due to some amazing Naruto eps. It might have been after Naruto was licensed, and I had to find some place to download Naruto other than animesuki. What really caught my eye was the 50 page long Itachi discussion thread that no one seems to remember. I believe someone had made it because they were tired of Itachi being mentioned and ranted over in every single thread that was made. I was very impressed that such detailed, insightful and hypothetical discussion could stem from an anime series, and I was eager to express my opinions as well. I remember that I was the first person to mention that Itachi might have been going blind from the latest Naruto chapter at the time. And it was either ChaosKiddo or Kai (whoever had the Hitsugaya sig or avvy) who said I might be on to something. After that I was both eager and scared to express my views and conjectures on the forums, as well as read the revelations of others.

[Nadouku]

I joined due to interest on how the community reacted to other people's comments.

[DB_Hunter]

I joined because of me.

[Mugen]

nothing in particular got me to join, aside from being bored, i was trying to find out who was gonna sub naruto after DB, as well as checking for updates on Michiko to Hatchin (i like aone releases cause they put it out in .avi) only had been lurking for about a week and barely read the forums.

as for my impression of the community? seems like a mature bunch. as far as i can tell it's not just a bunch of naruto fanboys who throw a hissy fit everytime you say anything negative about naruto.

[Ryllharu]

I didn't lurk that long before joining really. I was drawn here for Naruto discussion because of the subs. Mut, Terra, Bud (now Munsu), and Assertn were the most prominent, for good reason.

Even after I joined, I lurked for a long time, mostly because of Mut. This was back during the occasional abuse of power days (before Mut got banned for a prolonged period). It was difficult to post in a thread if you disagreed with Mut. He would tear you apart with attention to detail if not with open hostility. Being cautious improved my posting skills though. I wouldn't post until I was pretty certain any arguments wouldn't be able to be ripped apart easily. They still did anyway usually. Review and research before posting became a standard.

Gotwoot seemed like a much harsher place back then...

[saman]

i actually joined because of a friend. he introduced me to naruto, and we were pretty much exclusive aone watchers, so i used to visit the main page a lot for release statuses. then i started lurking around in the forums to read to reactions to new naruto episodes. my friend also joined and posted a few times. i lurked around here for a long time before finally joining and posting. my friend has not posted in a very long time, though, and i believe his account has been deactivated now.

first impressions: this place used to so very harsh! compared to another forum i visit on the interwebz, which is very friendly and laidback, this place was like a lion safari free-for-all. it's part of the reason i lurked for so long; i was terrified of posting as a noob and getting torn to shreds for violating some rule or other.

as for prominent users, terra, kitkat and bud stick out in my mind. and jadugar, because i couldn't figure out how to pronounce his username for the longest time, until one day i realized it's a word in a language that i'm fluent in. *facepalm*

[Munsu]

I don't know why I signed up and stuck around to tell you the truth since I find most people to be complete jackasses, just like any other place. I think it was probably due to this being the first anime forum I stumbled upon. I was looking to discuss some Naruto, Get Backers, and I think ROD TV and FMP were around at the time too. But after a while, you start to recognize people and their posts and what not, so it becomes comfortable to stick around, especially when the community is not that big to begin with.

From the early days I remember comp's posts to be quite enjoyable. Then there was Haku who was pestering me in IRC to learn how to leech shit, then TwisT started hooking me up with anime when my leeching tools where not working properly. But overall, when I look back at the early days it's hard to figure out why I stuck around other than this being the lucky forum I first stumbled upon and decided to register, and at the time it being the only place I knew of to discuss some anime. Knowing me I was probably looking for help to leech something, and that being the case I didn't do any lurking. It also was a good way to pass time during classes in college.

Even though the early IRC channel of GW, as far as I remember, was quite active... but it was one of the most idiotic channels around. I couldn't stand it. People there were fascinated about some shitty sword fights were they designed swords in text and so on.

[DB_Hunter]

... and jadugar, because i couldn't figure out how to pronounce his username for the longest time, until one day i realized it's a word in a language that i'm fluent in. *facepalm*

Shiiiiiit... you mean jadugar as in magician??? I swear I never spotted that!

I guess in terms of early users on both IRC and the forums, though they didn't get me to join they stand out in my mind. Shinobi-Neko, Haku, another girl starting with M i think (KitKat can you help??). I rememeber the old IRC channel was full of a lot of shit sometimes and these guys started up this other channel at the same time, so I would be in both. Joker-kun was another one that was alright to talk to, don't know where he has gone, think he lurks in IRC now.

Other than that I have seen loads come and go, have been here for ages. Probably forgotten others who I used to talk to due to the sheer time of it all. Been 5 and a half years, which is a hell of a lot of time.

[Buffalobiian]

Not long after I got broadband, I downloaded an anime series subbed by AnimeOne. After watching the first season, I frantically searched the internet for where Aone announces their releases for the second season eps - which is the now abandoned http://aonefans.blogspot.com .

During that hunt, I came across Gotwoot. It wasn't the main nor sole way to announce Aone's releases back then, so I didn't take much notice after an initial browse. I did, however, post a technical question before I left, seeing the effectiveness of the peer-driven support section.

Then I went overseas for a holiday, where my relative who had unlimited internet asked me to pick and set up a new computer for him. It was then I remembered this site and took my chance to download (almost) everything I saw on the torrent page. It took a while, and my poor relative must have gotten quite the shock when she got her electricity bill :p. She was a thrifty user.

I got home, and in a matter of months, finished everything. Thirsting for more, I once again visited Gotwoot. By then it was the mainstream, and soon to be the sole way of announcing Aone's subs. Logging in for the first time in 6 months, I browsed the forums for the most popular and well discussed anime at the time. After downloading and watching, I became the weakly (Freudian slip, but I'll leave it in) anime watcher you see now.

Back then, I most prominently remembered the heated Claymore discussions. Like Ryll, I was careful at first. In a different manner, I tried not to tread on anyone's toes, mainly by using less "absolute" language. (Cookie goes to whoever finds my very first nooby post :))



Back then, Ryll had already developed his style of encyclopedia-standard posts.

-Likewise, Kraco's and Comp's were also well received.

-Assertn was AssertnFailure back then, and you wouldn't guess how long it took for me to work out Bud and Munsu weren't two different people.

-The mods were a lot more active too, like NM, masa and Assassin.

-KitKat was already in retirement, but everybody cheered whenever she popped in.

-Shinta|hikari had his fire back then, he was posting everywhere.

-Xan back then is much the same as he is now. You didn't find him in the Anime section.

-BoC was funny. Really funny. He's softened up a bit now.

-Ani and Python pissed everyone off. No one liked them, and it showed in their rep.

I didn't do much browsing before I joined, but I too lurked a lot after I did. I actually used the daily email system to keep track of the posts, signing in only when necessary to ask a question or two. I only stopped when the emails got out of hand, and then it took some time before I started answering questions.

I joined Gotwoot because of AnimeOne, and now it's a place I've invested hours in and hope to spend many more. <insert artificial tear here>

[Archangel]

I joined the same day i found the forum

I think i was looking for renders, found it accidentally, saw some awesome sigs and then joined.

I probably wouldn't be such a big anime fan if i hadn't found this website



-Ani and Python pissed everyone off. No one liked them, and it showed in their rep.

It's nice to see how Ani changed to the better

[Abdula]

It’s not about what made me join it’s what keeps me coming back. Just a few weeks ago, in fact it was exactly one week before Christmas, ironically enough on my father’s birthday, my mom was admitted to a local hospital. She woke up and she just couldn’t see out of her right eye so we took her to the hospital. Turns out she had a major aneurysm that ruptured and was hemorrhaging which is what caused her to lose her vision and because of the location and other complications it was too risky to operate. Thankfully it stopped on its own and she eventually got her vision back, although the doctors still don’t know why she can still see but her vision has been getting considerably worse since then, so losing her vision in that eye maybe inevitable.

Anyway needless to say during that time I didn’t even have a few spare minutes to sign in for almost 2 weeks and honestly I completely forgot about this place but once things settled down and I began to reflect and reassess my life (yet again:rolleyes: ) I came back here. There is really only one why reason why I joined GW and one reason why I keep coming back, because it’s therapeutic. I couldn’t care less about anime or manga and although I like and even admire some of the posters here they aren’t why I come here. Reading this forum just calms me, and when I'm here it's one of the few times that I actually get to relax, let go and forget about my life, even if it is only for a few minutes.:)

[Buffalobiian]

There is really only one why reason why I joined GW and one reason why I keep coming back, because it’s therapeutic. Reading this forum just calms me, and when I'm here it's one of the few times that I actually get to relax, let go and forget about my life, even if it is only for a few minutes.:)

Sounds like opium :p (fun poking aside, I loved your post)

[Ryllharu]

another girl starting with M i think (KitKat can you help??).
Winged Dancer maybe? (M isn't a W, but they are close)

[Munsu]

Well I think ShinobiNeko was friends with Miaka, so that might be her. There was also Mae who used to post frequently.

[Archangel]

Sounds like the old gotwoot was alot more sexually diverse.

[Animeniax]

More sexually perverse too. I do miss Terracosmo and Hikyuu.

I joined to berate some kids for whining about Naruto filler. I got shit for it from the mods and some other posters, and decided to stay to argue my point. I think a lot of the stronger-minded and opinionated folks have left, like mage, SK, Terra, Jadugar, and masamuneehs, and more easy-going do-gooders have joined, so I've softened up a bit too.

[Raven]

Woah, we're going back a few years now, all the way back to 2003. I remember visiting Aone's website quite often in the hope that a new Naruto episode would be released, and one day on the front page it said "Why not sign up for our new forum?" so I did, for the hell of it, under the name CmDr_RavEn (for those who remember). I think I was about the... 54th member or something, and I was annoyed at myself at the time for not signing up sooner to be higher in the rank, so to speak.

These days I'm falling behind on the Naruto anime (which I was quite obsessed with back in the day) and I miss the old days of the deep and meaningful discussion of everything to do with the Naruto universe, and the heated arguments that would start over the tiniest of details.

I remember the previously discussed Itachi thread, those were some good times. And we used to have no rules about spam, so in anticipation of a new Aone Naruto episode, just when it was about to be released, we'd have a thread in the anime forum that would get to about 86 pages of people using the forums like an instant messaging program. Aah, memories.

As far as posters were concerned, Mut was always someone to watch out for, as were both Terra and Assertn. There's not many of the original crew left, unfortunately. Keep an eye out for people who joined July or August 03.

[Psyke]

It's hard finding forums with fun, logical people who speak proper English and punctuation. :)

[Idealistic]

My cousin introduced me to Naruto about 3 years ago. He bought the DVDs from ebay and he lent me the first season/25 episodes. He lent the other ones to his friends and they took too long to return them so I couldn't wait and started searching for how to download them.

Stumbled upon this website and it was how I learned how to use torrents.

This was during the time where there weas this naruto website where you had to pay a subscription fee to download the episodes.

And then I clicked on gotwoot forums and I think I had a few questions or so to ask. Anyways, I signed up to discuss some things. Never lurked.

[David75]

I was searching for ID and AMG at first.
Was waiting for the torrents to arrive.

Also, I was following another anime forum with a little comnunity, but that has been closed weeks before.

Then I started reading, I think my lurking time has been short. Because I felt the quality of posting was well above the average, at least for discussions that matters.

Then I joined and god to learn mod's wrath, quite logically as my airheadness makes so that I was multiposting quite often... I admitt that part wasn't very pleasant, but I was hooked so I eventually was following the rules a lot better.

And time passes... quite quickly.

Oh, Also, I didn't think Animeniax rants were for nothing, there's a difference beetween troll bashing and detailed explanations and argumentation. You still get busted for it, but in the end you get some points.

See you!

[Kraco]

I lurked for some three months before joining. I began to visit the forum around the time Naruto ran out of real eps and entered the long darkness of fillers. The main reason was Terra's bashing of the fillers in the Naruto forum. While the eps offered no enjoyment, those threads surely did. Of course there were the Bleach and FMP forums as well.

This is still the best general anime forum I know of. A good set of enforced rules (I especially like the strict spoiler rules) and a bunch of good posters who continuously bring up details and points I never thought of. I feel I get more out of an anime ep when it's not only watching it but also discussing what happened in it. I also dislike posting for the first time in a thread that's already several pages long, so I'm happy this place isn't too bloated.

But man, this forum was still using some obscure, antique engine when I joined. Newer people never experienced the weirdness of that (which might be a good thing). It must have repelled some potential new members back then.

[DB_Hunter]

Well I think ShinobiNeko was friends with Miaka, so that might be her. There was also Mae who used to post frequently.

Bingo, it was Miaka. I remember for some reason she used to piss most people off, and most people seemed to piss her off. I couldn't ever understand that one.

NM as well, back when he was still NarutoMaster. And as I mentioned before, Arcness/Haku.

Shit does anyone remember PSJ/Pervert_Senin_Jiraiya?? Man his AMV's were awesome back in the day, some of the best on the web. Don't know what happened to him, guess just drifted away.

And BrainDark... guy who made my first sig.

[6Zabuza9]

I discovered gotwoot when i was still fairly new to anime. AONE subbed some of the anime i wanted to watch like Bakuretsu Tenshi and i decided to lurk around the forums for awhile. I lurked for quite a couple of months and finally decided to join after i was annoyed because there was a one piece question asked which didn't get answered for a while. I still lurk the forums a lot as it is my home page. Also some members i miss having around are Jadugar the king of the one piece hot babe thread, back when Kage was an active poster in the anime sig request thread (he's really good at photoshop), and PSJ the guy who made my sig :)

[Xelbair]

I lurked some for one month in 2006 i think or 2005, then I forgot about this forum. some years later i was looking for Hellsing OVA, and i remembered this forum and site, so here I'm.

[Nadouku]

Looking in, I wonder how did most of you become Moderators? Quite a history, I assume.

[Assertn]

I'm on the outside
I'm looking in
I can see through you
See your true colors
Cause inside you're ugly
You're ugly like me
I can see through you
See to the real you...

...Gotwoot :3

[KitKat]

Yeah, this place was pretty harsh for a while, but there were so many people signing up and spamming the forum that it became second nature for regular users to forcefully point out the mistakes of others, usually in the Naruto section. I joined the irc channel shortly after signing up on the forum, and a lot of the time irc was more harsh than the forum because their aren't rules there like there are here. Still, that was where I first met Haku, Assertn, and kai the first time I came there, and I thought they were pretty cool people so I kept coming back to irc. Like many of you, I was *very* cautious about what I typed on the forum, and got berated for what I said a few times, and I remember once, thundrakkon jumped to my defense, and then got flamed for defending me 'just because I was a girl'. Thundrakkon was also the person who made me my first sig - a neat Rikku sig with lightning effects.

As for how I became a mod....well, one day, out of the blue, me with barely 100 posts at the time, I got a PM from Ciber saying, "Want to be a mod?"

I responded right back saying, "I don't think I'm mean enough to be a mod."

Ciber laughed at me, and told me that I didn't have to be mean to be a mod, and that he was implementing a new 'ninja mod' system where all the moderators would be anonymous.

So, I operated as a ninja mod for quite some time. When the forum system was changed over to the new engine, it was impossible to keep mods anonymous.

[Munsu]

I became a mod late in the game, but I'm proud to say I probably was the last ninja mod. Not even the mods knew I was a mod. In fact, some of the crap I did they blamed masa for it.

But now look at me, with powers over 9000 and an Admin.

[animus]

I bought the shitty HK Naruto DVD's that had only 50 or so episodes. I wanted more and I looked here. I made an account and was a huge lurker, but the person that made me keep lurking was probably Terra. Reading his posts were pretty fun. I also remember mut@t@'s posts, and how I thought half the time "damn, this kid needs to stop nerd raging."

[DB_Hunter]

You know oddly enough even though I've been here for so long, gotwoot wasn't that bad before. Sure there was a bit more aggro, but to be honest that raised the quality of the posts. I know it was unpleaseant at times for some, but you should have just given back as good as you got if it got to you. For me this has always been just an internet forum, I like to share my views and listen to those of others but if someone is trying to act like the bad man then that's just some saddo somewhere in the world who is taking the net a bit too seriously - someone to just ignore.

[salmonman78]

I used to watch Naruto with a buddy of mine years back when the weekly releases were covering the invasion of Kohona. I ended up getting married later on and never did anime for a while, but then I decided since a friend on WoW mentioned Naruto I'd pick the series back up. Got all 135 of the first ones(prefilled) and loved it but then again didn't think of it again. But a few weeks back at work decided to use the free internet for visitors to my advantage and download some stuff. I got Sanctuary, some episodes of other shows and then I decided to try and see about Ah! My Goddess, and I got the AonE one and loved it.

I just realized I rambled on a huge bit, but needless to say a couple days after I found this site I joined, good bunch of people to talk to here.

[Board of Command]

I don't think I was ever much of a lurker. I don't even remember why I signed up at Gotwoot or how I stumbled across this site. I just remember that back in the day, I generally posted in the Naruto forum and not much elsewhere.

I was still fairly new to the anime scene at the time, and as I discovered more anime titles (i.e. ones better than Naruto), I slowly drifted away from the Naruto section. I posted a bit in the Bleach and Gundam sections, but that didn't last very long because Gundam Seed Destiny was pretty shitty. I eventually shifted my attention to General Anime and General Discussion.

Back then, General Discussion was a place filled with controversy and hostility. I remember I had some heated discussions with Mut and Y back then. The place was moderated by the likes of KrBadass and kagari, which was worse than having no moderators at all.

Oddly enough, the first name that comes to mind when I think back to the old days is PSJ. I don't quite know why.



But man, this forum was still using some obscure, antique engine when I joined. Newer people never experienced the weirdness of that (which might be a good thing). It must have repelled some potential new members back then.
I was actually quite fond of the old layout. Sure, it had its quirks, but I never really complained about it. I remember a lot of people complained about this new layout and it took quite some time before people got used to it. I'm not saying this layout is bad (it's great), it's just that like you said, it's very very different from that old one.

[fireheart]

My my my, anyway lurked here very little only a bit from time to time to kill some time. Generally also the reason that I became a member here was to kill time and it seemed like a fun place. Started to recognize a few but never really tried to actually talk to anyone here.

All in all I don't think as much nor put in the research and look up facts like some of the posters here do but it's still an amusing read to see what people say. Though one of the reasons I joined is because I like arguing with people even if I'm not good at it, unfortunately I'm almost never in the mood for it.

Honestly while I think this is a fun place to read up on stuff and peoples opinions I can find it harsh at times even if people say it was harsher before. Also think that it might be hard for newcomers to get into this forum, than again that can be said about every forum since you sometimes have to fight and make room for oneself and put in some effort (or serious effort from the look of some posts, which I'm seriously lacking). While it's not necessarily a bad thing it can scare some away.

[dragonrage]

The first time I heard about this site, was back in 2002, I dropped by once in a while, maybe once in a month or two. When I became a Naruto fan I constantly lurked to get information and well get others opinions of the episode I first saw or am about to see.

It also was and still is a very interesting place to lurk around. There were the flaming idiots, immoderate moderators , and the usual interweb tomfools.

I didn't get an account until about late 2003 or was it early 2004 can't remember since i don't even remember the user name or pass, or even which e mail address i used. You know I had the ever so popular 56k internet connection from aol. Ah, what joy it was to try and download an episode with that connection, but there was always school. And well there was my friend's place that had a cable modem.

The naruto anime gave us a hangout day, where we all got together and have discussions; and here was where i got my conversation data, I had my own views of course but i just checked here to see if there was something i missed.

Later on I discovered Gotwoot irc. Ah, the joy of random kicks, bans and constant abuse from strangers. But i must say being in that channel was never boring, even people that sat in the room were forced to interact, weather they knew it or not.

Didn't say much either back then. But it certainly was an experience, and a good one at that.

When I got my dsl connection, I decided to give the forums another go, and well the account of DrAgE was born, but I soon reverted back to lurking. Since there were so many people with very strong opinions, I just didn't see the point of adding my own or having to defend it from "internet gang bangers". I could have thought of better things to do with my time; gotwoot IRC for one.

And well I am a lurker at heart, think I will always be one. But for a short period of time I became very active as dragonrage in the forums, I even got into a few very interesting debates and participated in a couple failed gotwoot games. All in all it was a good experience, but once again real life took a hold of me and well i took a break from this forum.

I can say this though even if I am fighting, laughing, or getting frustrated over stupidness or just lurking, this place has always been one I felt comfortable with.

For the time being I am back, but i don't know for how long. Hope you all enjoy and can tolerate my antics because i am going to have as much fun as i can safely get away with, or at least try.

Note: I dislike spoilers and well i don't want to be one myself so I am staying away from the Beach, Naruto and well Maybe One piece section since i watch them all, and I am told that i am a fairly perceptive person.

edit : grammar

[DO]

I lurked the forums in 03 then I remember some chick who hacked up the forums. After that point I decided this place was interesting. Then I joined the Rizon IRC channel way before I ever signed up on the forums until I was talked into getting a forum account. Think it took me a whole year to even sign up for a forum account. Hell I've been here for awhile and not many know who I am. I'm not one to really post on forums. After awhile I spoke to wilik and started Gotwoot IRC and the rest is history.

[XanBcoo]

During the Chasing Sasuke arc of Naruto I used to read episode reviews on a few blogs, and take part in the discussion that took place in the comments section. Once Naruto got licensed by Viz in America, they took down their sites and I had to look elsewhere for discussion. I knew that Gotwoot.net was the site that one of my best friends used to get the torrents for his episodes from, and I quickly found the forums from the main page.

I didn't lurk very long, and stuck around because of several people who have already been mentioned, like Mut, Y, Terra, Bud, and so on. Thinking back, I used to be a pretty terrible poster, but as some of you have said, Gotwoot was a lot more harsh back in the day, so I was quickly whipped into shape.

Coming here is just force of habit now, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

[Board of Command]

Thinking back, I used to be a pretty terrible poster, but as some of you have said, Gotwoot was a lot more harsh back in the day, so I was quickly whipped into shape.
Aww they grow up so fast.

[Buffalobiian]

Aww they grow up so fast.

I heard you too were pretty terrible back in the day BoC ;)

[masamuneehs]

I came for the Naruto (wow, feels awkward to say that). I definitely waited a while to make an account and start posting, but I can't recall if it was weeks or months any more. The crowd here was a lot more nastier than it is now, and some pretty brainless posts and threads passed for 'forum activity' which would probably not even match up to some of the stuff that goes on in the Flame Pit.

I think I strayed into some Naruto discussions after I caught up on that show, but the whole "WHO BE MORE POWERFULLZZS?!!1" and the fact that I had no new anime to watch really got to me. I browsed the forums to find some recommendations for other stuff, and that's really when I got into the place.

I kicked it around, doing different personal crusades until I got to be a mod. And, well, the rest is history.

but it is pretty interesting to see how some people have changed over the years. complich8 had so much more spunk. Guys like Chaos and whoever God#2 became were barely past their first masturbation sessions. God help us all if we're ever old farts and still doting around this place.


I became a mod late in the game, but I'm proud to say I probably was the last ninja mod. Not even the mods knew I was a mod. In fact, some of the crap I did they blamed masa for it.

But now look at me, with powers over 9000 and an Admin.

and i loved that, because i was so glad someone was getting shit done without fear of repercussions.

[Junior]

I'm not sure, but I felt like joining a new forum so I tried here. ^^ I'm surprised at how much I enjoy it. I actually thought the whole Reputation think might bother me, but it's fun.