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 . 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 ) 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 (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.