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Thread: How was the forum 20 years ago?

  1. #1

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    How was the forum 20 years ago?

    Were you here when the forum first started, and how was it like back at that time?

  2. #2
    Super Moderator Shaggy Hiker's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    Nobody was. The great server crash wiped the slate for lots of people way back then. Those that survived the crash have largely drifted away in the intervening years....but the oldest account is not 20 years old, so there wasn't anybody around 20 years ago.
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  3. #3
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    Made me curious. Jan 1, 1999, so nearly a year after VB6 was introduced.

  4. #4
    PowerPoster Arnoutdv's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    First archived date: "You last visited: 08-23-2000 09:39 AM"

    https://web.archive.org/web/20000823....vbforums.com/

    Or did it already exists on some other name?

  5. #5
    Super Moderator Shaggy Hiker's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    The server crash wiped out lots of early posts.
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  6. #6

    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    I was just trying to pass my high school

  7. #7
    Ex-Super Mod RobDog888's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    When was the server crash exactly?
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  8. #8
    Super Moderator Shaggy Hiker's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    Before my time. It was a major topic of discussion in CC when I started out, so I would assume that it was 2001...maybe in April...right about the time a certain member signed up.
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    I have been a member since 2001

  10. #10
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    It was hilarious back then

  11. #11
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    I think it was early 2002 when the Great Server Crash happened. Or maybe not... trying to remember if it was before my time, or that same year...

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    Super Moderator Shaggy Hiker's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    Quote Originally Posted by jesus4u View Post
    I have been a member since 2001
    Wow, how did this thread bring YOU back? It seemed to me that you drifted off before I even joined up.
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    Ex-Super Mod RobDog888's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    Quote Originally Posted by Shaggy Hiker View Post
    Before my time. It was a major topic of discussion in CC when I started out, so I would assume that it was 2001...maybe in April...right about the time a certain member signed up.
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    curiosity brought me back

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    Fanatic Member InvisibleDuncan's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    Wow - never expected to encounter J4U again. At least, not until Easter.
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    Super Moderator Shaggy Hiker's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    Quote Originally Posted by InvisibleDuncan View Post
    Wow - never expected to encounter J4U again. At least, not until Easter.
    See post #13.
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    Ex-Super Mod RobDog888's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    Ah the forum of yesteryear. Chit chat was full of "chit chat", cat threads and lively discussions. Not to mention every forum had loads of traffic and posts in it. Seems really dead now. Guess everyone goes to fb user groups and other places that offer instant gratification
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  18. #18
    ex-Administrator brad jones's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    Quote Originally Posted by techgnome View Post
    I think it was early 2002 when the Great Server Crash happened. Or maybe not... trying to remember if it was before my time, or that same year... -tg
    It happened before I joined (2002), but I don't believe it was too much before I joined. The original owners, sold the forum after the crash, and internet.com picked it up to keep it going. I was the internet.com person that was asked to get the forum a bit more in line.... That was brutal. There was a bit of preaching and politics, which.....



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  19. #19
    Super Moderator Shaggy Hiker's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    Quote Originally Posted by RobDog888 View Post
    Ah the forum of yesteryear. Chit chat was full of "chit chat", cat threads and lively discussions. Not to mention every forum had loads of traffic and posts in it. Seems really dead now. Guess everyone goes to fb user groups and other places that offer instant gratification
    I remember an entire PAGE of cat threads. I wonder who started those....?
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  20. #20
    MS SQL Powerposter szlamany's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    Quote Originally Posted by Shaggy Hiker View Post
    I remember an entire PAGE of cat threads. I wonder who started those....?
    Isn't most of that stuff buried in Post Race? Or is it just moor mermaids...

    Someone should make an index of Post Race - now that would be scary!

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    Super Moderator si_the_geek's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    Oh no, they were new threads... I have a vague memory of a race between two (or more) people to create the most cat threads.

    Quote Originally Posted by RobDog888 View Post
    When was the server crash exactly?
    It was a few days before my join date... because it broke my old account (same name, but capital S), which can still be seen in some old threads, without a link to a user profile.

  22. #22
    Ex-Super Mod RobDog888's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    Quote Originally Posted by szlamany View Post
    Isn't most of that stuff buried in Post Race? Or is it just moor mermaids...

    Someone should make an index of Post Race - now that would be scary!
    Thats a good point. I think the post race thread is just the central point of posting on every topic. If you dont post in there you will never know whats going on. We should start posting new separate threads, sure it will spur up more traffic in here. Meow! -_-
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  23. #23
    Super Moderator Shaggy Hiker's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    The Post Race is a sociology phenomenon all its own. It was pretty crazy early on, then went moribund for years, then got revised by a few loons who thought they could get to the top of the board. I never thought it reasonable to race to the top of THIS board, but the result of that racing was that all chit-chat seemed to funnel down the same drain.
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  24. #24
    Ex-Super Mod RobDog888's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    I think that was when cc posts counted right?
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  25. #25
    VBA Nutter visualAd's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    Quote Originally Posted by RobDog888 View Post
    I think that was when cc posts counted right?
    And I have long campaigned for a separated Chit Chat post count.
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    Ex-Super Mod RobDog888's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    Quote Originally Posted by visualAd View Post
    And I have long campaigned for a separated Chit Chat post count.
    Hey Adam!

    Sure an extra where clause constraint could be added to the postcount query to provide an all inclusive postcount
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    Lively Member homer13j's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    I am simultaneously intrigued and terrified to see my actual post count including cc...
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  28. #28
    Ex-Super Mod RobDog888's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    Quote Originally Posted by homer13j View Post
    I am simultaneously intrigued and terrified to see my actual post count including cc...
    So looks like you would have thousands of posts instead of 80 lol
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  29. #29
    Fanatic Member InvisibleDuncan's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    Quote Originally Posted by brad jones View Post
    It happened before I joined (2002), but I don't believe it was too much before I joined. The original owners, sold the forum after the crash, and internet.com picked it up to keep it going. I was the internet.com person that was asked to get the forum a bit more in line.... That was brutal. There was a bit of preaching and politics, which.....



    I think quite a few people took exception to being told to behave, because Chit Chat was where everyone came when they didn't want to behave. It was a bit swearier back then, but then a swear filter was brought in (for the children!), conversations and threads were censored for various reasons, people were reprimanded for lots of things that were previously completely acceptable, and they just... left.

    Shame, really.
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  30. #30
    ex-Administrator brad jones's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    Quote Originally Posted by InvisibleDuncan View Post
    I think quite a few people took exception to being told to behave, because Chit Chat was where everyone came when they didn't want to behave. It was a bit swearier back then, but then a swear filter was brought in (for the children!), conversations and threads were censored for various reasons, people were reprimanded for lots of things that were previously completely acceptable, and they just... left.

    Shame, really.

    I fully believe that had the change not happened, this forum wouldn't exist today. I was the one tasked with bringing the forum up to a higher professional level. Had I failed, this forum would have simply been turned off back in 2002/2003 (seriously). Personally, I'm glad I didn't fail because I like this forum (and most of you!)
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  31. #31
    ex-Administrator brad jones's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    Quote Originally Posted by RobDog888 View Post
    So looks like you would have thousands of posts instead of 80 lol
    Maybe if Visual Basic wasn't a dying technology and were more in its prime, then there would be more posts to be made as well....
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  32. #32
    Super Moderator Shaggy Hiker's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    I'm not sure that cleaning up the language was really the issue. Lots of the people who wandered off weren't people who crossed boundaries all that much. Therefore, I'm kind of thinking that it's correlation, but not causation. As for a cause, it may be just age. When I think back to the characters that were around and have since vanished, many were pretty young when they were hanging out here, and I don't see that demographic being replaced.

    Look at the names found in the cat threads that RD linked to. Most, if not all, of the ones that were there and are now gone, were 20s, I think. Meanwhile, those of us who were there and are still there....are now a decade older. Meanwhile, if you look at the people who post in Chit-Chat these days...where's the youth? There are a few, but they don't appear to be the majority like they once were. Meanwhile, only a couple of the people who have thus far posted in this thread are not reasonably described as middle aged.

    I just think we're seeing a demographic shift, and nothing more.
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  33. #33
    Ex-Super Mod RobDog888's Avatar
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    Re: How was the forum 20 years ago?

    :woot: Im not middle aged!

    I remember people bullying and being childish. That vibe may have been dominate in cc for a while but in all reality it couldn't last anywhere. Time for people to grow up and mature. Flaming other members in cc was a constant and cleaned up several years after the crash.

    Plus people were posting while working at a job. As the economy suffered so did the threat of losing those cushy jobs so they did actual work instead lol.
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