Four more years, four more years!

(Please note that none of this is written in my capacity as a mod, this is all just personal opinion and what have you)

Well today is my four year anniversary at the 'temp! It's hard to believe I've been here four years to be honest! lol The time has flown past. I first came across the site when I was looking into options of what I could pick up for my DS. A quick Google search about the best flashcart first brought me to the site. At the time there was alot of hype for an upcoming Slot-1 cart called "R4", the only other options at the time were a Passcart/Slot-2 (or Flashme/Slot-2) combo or a cart like the DS-X.

After lurking and reading all the info coming out about the cart I was suitably impressed enough to put in an order when they came out. A week later my cart arrived from Sweden and I grabbed all the homebrew available and of course some roms. It breathed a new lease of life into my DS for which I was grateful. I joined up then but wasn't really an active member. Mostly using the site for homebrew/scene news and the odd bit of chat.

After a couple of weeks I decided that I was far too lazy to drag and drop everything to maintain saves etc. The only ROM managers available at the time were Offlinelist and Rominator. I didn't really consider Offlinelist a manager, more of a renaming utility so gave Rominator a try. I really liked Rominator, Hank is definitely a more talented guy than I am or probably will ever be, but it lacked some features that I really wanted and Hank had already said wouldn't be incorporated.

So I decided to pick up a copy of Delphi 7 and try to write my own manager. A couple of weeks later the original R4 Commander was born, and there was much rejoicing! Well, on my part anyway. lol I first posted it up on the official R4 forums, and after a little bit of testing and debugging posted it up on the 'temp along with a few other sites like Moddz, DS-Scene and some I can't mention. The response from them all was really good and I began meeting alot of great and very helpful people. Fifthelement from Moddz offered me webspace so I could host boxarts, screenshots and the like and users on the 'temp were great! The users on the 'temp offered me tips, advice and no end of help, including Hank himself.

That's really when I saw how great the community was on the 'temp. In a time where everyone was competitive, nobody really wanted to share ideas, it was cooler to harass and insult people than treat them like people the 'temp just wasn't like that. Everyone was welcoming, friendly, loved chatting about anything from what they had for tea that night to tech stuff that was and still is way over my head. The beauty was though that even when I was like "Durr, I don't really get what you mean" nobody got abusive, insulting or anything like that - they did their best to be patient and help.

After a while Moddz shut down and I lost my hosting space. I thought that was the end of R4 Commander but chuckstudios immediately offered me hosting space, hosting space that was costing him dosh but offered to me free of charge. I was grateful and within 24 hours R4 Commander was up and running again. I was still active on other sites but slowly and surely all my time started being spent on the 'temp and I made it the central hub of R4 Commander along with the other utilities I began to write.

I began using the other sections of the 'temp then and became a much more active member and realised just how many great people existed on the site! All the admins, supers and mods were friendly and would go out of their way to help. They weren't just some distant figure who was there to enforce the rules, they were (and still are!) there to make the community a fun, informative and just plain welcoming place to be. Stuff that really impressed were things like tempmas, the KYT sessions, the tempcasts and just how much everyone tried to get everyone else involved. Of course, there were twats back then who had nothing more to contribute to the community than being twats, in any on-line or even real life community they're there. They didn't usually last long on the 'temp tho, as most users just ignored them and they withered away. There were trolls obviously who stuck around, but if you were a cunt with no other purpose in life than sucking up oxygen, forum space and being a cunt then you were given the toe.

Slowly all the other forums I was using were either shut down or the community itself just went completely downhill and I eventually began spending all my time here. I loved the place. I could come here and chat about literally anything to an amazingly wide ride range of people. Not only that, community participation was actually encouraged here! A rare thing in this day and age. This in itself was enough to make me say "Yeah, this is definitely a great place to be". It's like a throwback to an era that I loved in a time when everywhere seemed to moving away from it. In all honesty it reminded of the old BBS's like Demons Forge and Flying Teapot. A place where you were encouraged to grab a beverage, pull up a seat and enjoy yourself along with everyone else. And that's exactly what I did, and lo and behold here I am still here! I've been here longer than any relationship I've ever had with a woman! lol

So that's the background for how I came to be here, and why I'm still here! Now what about my opinions? Ok, well here goes.

The admins/supers/mods - Over the years I've seen and heard loads of complaints about them, even more so since becoming one. lol In all honesty I've never had a problem with any of them - I've even been modded myself on several occasions. Which just goes to show how unbiased they are. The only mod I've ever seen behave out of order was JPH near the end. Apart from that I've not met a single admin/super/mod here that didn't deserve the title.

The 'temp has gone downhill - I hear this alot these days, and well, I have to admit I partially agree with this. Although I think that description in itself is flawed. It's not the 'temp that's gone downhill it's the quality of the community spirit of the users. Sorry to say this guys but the 'temp can only give you as much as you're willing to put in. If you're not willing to get involved in the community, to help the community spirit and the like then that's how it is. It becomes a place where people just come for info, patches and to whine that the latest game isn't working their cart. So if you think the 'temp has gone downhill then instead of whining about get off your arses and start cheerleadering! There are lots of community activities to get involved in, and if there isn't one that suits then start one up! All I can really say is get involved, you won't regret it. Think of it like this, if your room is a mess the best thing to do is tidy it up.

All the best users are gone - Yes, there are alot of great members who have left. Real life should always come before internet life. You know what though, for every great member that has left a new great member has joined. I'm not gonna list names and what not because I don't believe in that kind of stuff, but take a look around. We have plenty of new and amazing members If the great members who left weren't being replaced by other new great members then the site would just be full of patch kiddies, but it really isn't. You just need to read throough the USN and GOTC sections to see it.

The Edge of the Forum has gone shit - Yep, no arguments from me on that one. It used to be a place full of random humour, madness and just plain fun. Don't get too nostalgiac though, there was still alot of rubbish in there. It's just the ration of quality to shite was alot better. These days the ratio has reversed but in all honesty I see it getting better and better. I have to wade through alot less shit flung at the walls by monkeys than I used to, so that in itself is a good sign. And I'll say it again, the community can only be as good as it's members. If you feel a particular part is going downhill or needs improvement then get off your arse and help achieve that.

Accusations of trolling - There are way too many accusations of trolling going on these days. I understand that there will always be the odd hiccup due to language and culture barriers and that some people will mistake sarcasm for trolling, but honestly now people need to stop accusing others of being trolls simply because they disagree with them. Trolling isn't disagreeing with someone, that's called disagreeing with someones opinion. It makes for healthy debate and lively discussion, and it's one of the things that makes the 'temp such a great place to be. The wide range of people, cultures, ideas and opinions!

There's more censorship on the 'temp now - Yep, there's more censorship here now. It's not because it was suddenly chosen to enforce more censorship though. It's just that more and more cunts are posting stuff that needs to be censored now. The same things are edited out, censored and trashed that always were. Instead of complaining at mods for censorship complain at the people posting the stuff that needs to be censored! If you post racist, homophobic or pornographic material it's gonna get trashed. If you insult someone for no other reason than to insult them it's gonna get trashed. That's the way it is and always has been. You don't want your stuff trashed, then treat everyone with respect, simple as. The same philosophy applies here as it does in real life, treat people as you expect to be treated. If you behave like a twat you'll get treated like a twat. In all honesty I think GBAtemp is one of the least oppressive open forums I've ever used in my life.

My favourite troll has been banned - Boo-hoo.

I'll end this here but may add to it as other things come to mind. I wasn't planning on writing an anniversary type thread but suddenly felt the need to! lol Here's a guide to GBAtemp behaviour I wrote a couple of years ago, and personally I think it's still as humurous and fitting today as it was back then. http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=116...e+gbatemp+guide

So in final comment I just want to say to all the people I've known that have left I hope I see you guys become regulars again at some point and I hope life is treating you well and you're successful at whatever endeavour you're attempting! And to all the people I've known for both a long and short time here, thanks for all the help, laughs, good times and support you've given me over the years - it's always been very much appreciated. Here's to knowing you for many many more years to come.

For all those on the temp I don't know or don't speak to, thanks for contributing to the community I love so much.