Stay with us........forever!

The good ol' days were brought up while talking in Discord that made me think about two things:

1. What was your first community forum that you joined?
2. What makes you stay in a community?

1. some dbz forum that stayed on for a while before jumping ship to PC
2. the community has to be alive first of all as well as inclusive. after that it's a matter of whether i care about the forum subject enough to talk about it at length and get to know the community better, become a part of it, etc.

1. Trikitiger. It was some really dead proboards forum I joined at the very end of 2007. I think it was on the 21st of 2007, to be exact.

2. If the community just feels "right" to me, I guess? I don't know, I don't really think about that sort of stuff.

1. What was your first community forum that you joined?
Iirc, GaiaOnline in 2007.
2. What makes you stay in a community?
Basically avatar customization, profile customization, the randomness forums, my friends were on there. I eventually got bored and left in 2009 and I forgot my password (and the email to recover it) so I sadly cannot log back in (press F for my collectables).

Edit: I realized I'm a dumb and misread the question entirely! I mainly stay in forums for the community, avatar and signature customization, expressing my opinions, and events.

1. The Marriland forums during the Fall of 2018.
2. I stay in communities I've made friends in and have plenty of active places to post.

What was your first community forum that you joined?
I think the first forum I joined was the official Baten Kaitos forums? I was...fourteen. Such a long time ago! It might have been the official Square Enix Forums though...I remember they had a light purple skin that I loved.

What makes you stay in a community?
I don't know, really. I used to stay on forums for the people (I made many friends in my teenage years on forums, and I miss them all...) but since I've stopped interacting with people on a more personal level, it's more the level/type of activity of the place these days. I like communities that are active and have more involving discussions about things. I don't really like forums that are primarily based on Discord and have a forum just because they think they should have a forum. Discord group chat makes me uncomfortable, and I've quit more than one forum because people only talk on Discord and let the boards die...then completely ignore you if you try and talk on Discord.

Overall though, I think it's the feel of the place? I used to prefer smaller forums, but I think larger forums are better these days because you don't have to try so hard to break into a clique of older veteran members who have been around for years and want nothing to do with you, and believe me, that's a very common attitude on older boards that are only active because a group of people can't/won't let "the good old days" go. There are still cliques on larger active forums, but there are many of them, and it doesn't seem to matter how long you've been on a place for; you can usually find someone to talk to, or at least get involved in discussion without feeling like you're intruding. There is a totally different aura to forums that make you feel welcome to those that don't. It's partly psychological, yes, but it's also in the general attitude and approach people have towards others they don't know. The larger the forum, the more likely you are to find someone who will provide an interesting discussion and won't make you feel like you should quit whilst you're ahead.

1. What was your first community forum that you joined?
Hell if I know, it definitely wasn't PC since I'm 100% sure I joined something else before PC in 2014.

2. What makes you stay in a community?
Nothing makes me stay really. I come and go whenever I please and I don't really have anything that makes me stay. Having people to talk to does help in making me come back every day, but since that is kinda dead it's just whenever I feel like posting or what not.

The first forum was a accumulation of different video game communities. Though, when I joined in 2010 it was already falling apart. I stuck around for about two years and left because of personal reasons. It still exists and I occasionally return and write a post there.

Community, I guess? I don't really get that feeling of being part of a community but that doesn't mean I can stop trying.

Pokemon Elite 2000 was my very first forum that I joined way back in the day. I also know I joined here way back in the day at one point and completely forgot till a few years ago.

For me it has to be active or I tend to drift away. If it's not going to be active then there's no point in trying to stay active. The next is people that are nice and don't have a stick up their ass with new people. I hate vets who think they run the place just because they've been around for so long.

- PC

- Having people I can talk to, within and outside the forum. And PC has excelled at providing me with that.

1. This was the first forum that I joined. It wasn't intentional. I came on here seeking team building advice for X and Y and other games and eventually became an active member once I realized how interesting forums could be.

2. I've managed to stay so long mostly because of the friends that I've made on here. I also love discussing Pokémon with like-minded people. I appreciate the general feel of the community. Everyone is incredibly welcoming and inclusive. Furthermore, it does help that that this site is formatted in a way that is pleasing to the eye and doesn't appear outdated. A lot of other foruming sites that I've stumbled upon look as though they haven't been updated since 2006. I don't know how long I'll linger here for, be it months or years, only time will tell. For now, I do enjoy checking PC, responding to threads such as this one, and chatting with my online friends.

1. PC! Made my very first account on here about two months after I'd turned 10?

2. Honestly PC was such a huge part of who I was as a kid - I grew up on PC, I made a lot of lifelong friends on PC and even met one in person, halfway across the world in a city I don't even live in. I think the reason I stayed on PC or within this community for so long was because everybody was so welcoming and friendly that I felt at home instantly. Especially with chatrooms that extended beyond the forums, I think that helped to form friendships with a lot of cool people and once I connected with people I felt like staying. It feels ??? to let it go after all those years so I still try to come back and post here when I can if that makes sense. :D

1. PC was my first.

2. I stayed for the people honestly. I've met great people here, PC has a really cool community and I enjoy being a part of that.

1. Some dumbo browser game's forum back in like 2009. I was the typical 14yr old internet cringechild and remembering it for this thread causes me physical pain.

2. Have people I can connect with and get along well with, and have topics and areas that catch and retain my interest, in that order.