Non-turtle talkin' users

[Peanut]

I've known multiple people who've joined the forum specifically because a friend told them how fun the GD was. Something like this, or similar to this, is probably your answer.

[Ravenshell]

Originally Posted by Peanut

I've known multiple people who've joined the forum specifically because a friend told them how fun the GD was. Something like this, or similar to this, is probably your answer.

I've seen this happen I don't know how much on the pony forum... plus there's a lot of people there who have gone off from liking/watching hte show/would like to distance themselves from it now, so that's another thing that could be happening here.

But also, maybe they feel they don't have much about TMNT to discuss. Maybe what they felt about something has already been said, and doesn't need to be repeated ad infinitum from new sources. I feel like this myself a bit, since the place seems so soured on Apritello... I'd rather discuss it somewhere I felt it would be more welcome.

Sometimes people come looking for others who like the same things they do, and the General threads are the place to find what else you have in common and just yak.

And, just to throw this in the mix too, guys tend to talk obsessively over one subject for long periods at a time. Me, I can't keep my attention on one subject for more than a few minutes. Unless it's something that really captures my attention, I just can't stay interested, and would rather move on to talking about something else. (female mind thing) I'm not generalizing here... I'm actually citing stuff from a psychological study.

[Ravenshell]

Oh, also, just because people don't say anything doesn't mean they're not following the discussion.

[Wesley]

Originally Posted by Peanut

I've known multiple people who've joined the forum specifically because a friend told them how fun the GD was. Something like this, or similar to this, is probably your answer.

My main reason for signing up was that I liked the discussions in the GD section. I like that it's divided into different subsections. Other websites like Saturday Morning Sonic and BuffyBoards don't have a great section like that.

[slashpieturtlemix]

We all joined for different reasons. Not many people tend to stay I noticed but friends are the only real thing I can think of besides being a tmnt fan. People are just odd in general.

[snake]

Originally Posted by Peanut

I've known multiple people who've joined the forum specifically because a friend told them how fun the GD was. Something like this, or similar to this, is probably your answer.

Was GD really that fun back then?

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Peanut

I've known multiple people who've joined the forum specifically because a friend told them how fun the GD was. Something like this, or similar to this, is probably your answer.

That makes sense. I post on a big football forum that's one of the biggest forums in my country that has a huge off-topic section for pretty much anything. That leads fans of other teams, including fierce rivals, to join said forum just to post about tv shows, politics, music, etc.

That being said, I'd never join, let's say, a forum about Ferrari cars if I had no interest in Ferrari cars at all, even if said forum's off-topic section was pretty good and active.

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by snake

Was GD really that fun back then?

Yup. There were a lot more active GD members back then, so it was always pretty busy. There were always a lot of fun threads and discussions going on. On top of that - no one was self serious, so everyone generally took things a lot lighter than they do now.

The forums also had a ton of active veteran posters at the time, so you not only had fun discussion from people who'd all been together for a long time, you also didn't have three or four people dominating every single conversation in multiple threads.

Easily the best few years I had on the Internet.

[shuriken]

^^ Sounds legit.
I remember being a lurker in 2004 and just having a blast reading what people had to say. Between that and all the other Fan sites as well as NinjaTurtles.com I was a happy camper.

[Cure]

I miss the OG's. Barkworm pops in like every year. Matt even less. Anarky is probably somewhere in a drunken haze. Mecha Cow and Sewer Bull are somewhere being European. GK is in Canada because he convinced himself he's actually Wolverine.

[Jephael]

Originally Posted by Cure

I miss the OG's. Barkworm pops in like every year. Matt even less. Anarky is probably somewhere in a drunken haze. Mecha Cow and Sewer Bull are somewhere being European. GK is in Canada because he convinced himself he's actually Wolverine.

Hey I go even further back with this fandom. I remember when Horse Techie, Brinatello and Mikey QM used to rule the place!!! Now those were the days.

[Cure]

Originally Posted by Jephael

Hey I go even further back with this fandom. I remember when Horse Techie, Brinatello and Mikey QM used to rule the place!!! Now those were the days.

Uh-huh. A guy with 6 posts sure did a lot of ruling.

[pennydreadful]

Here's a serious question along that vein for the long-term members: have the forums changed significantly over the years while you've been here? What changes have you noticed, for better or for worse? Do you think the forums have slowed down more/become more insular in terms of fewer active members, or do you feel that there's still a healthy amount of fresh blood arriving and actually sticking around for the long haul?

Like I said - serious question, looking for serious answers (not thinly-veiled jabs at/bitching about other members). For those of you who've been here for years and years, I'm sure you've seen a lot and I'm genuinely interested in your perspectives and experiences. Are you happy with the current dynamic here or do you wish it was different? Do you wish there were more members here? Are there changes that you'd like to see?

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by Jephael

Hey I go even further back with this fandom. I remember when Horse Techie, Brinatello and Mikey QM used to rule the place!!! Now those were the days.

Those days didn't exist, bud.

Originally Posted by pennydreadful

Here's a serious question along that vein for the long-term members: have the forums changed significantly over the years while you've been here? What changes have you noticed, for better or for worse? Do you think the forums have slowed down more/become more insular in terms of fewer active members, or do you feel that there's still a healthy amount of fresh blood arriving and actually sticking around for the long haul?

Like I said - serious question, looking for serious answers (not thinly-veiled jabs at/bitching about other members). For those of you who've been here for years and years, I'm sure you've seen a lot and I'm genuinely interested in your perspectives and experiences. Are you happy with the current dynamic here or do you wish it was different? Do you wish there were more members here? Are there changes that you'd like to see?

It has definitely changed. When I first joined the forums in their original incarnation there was literally 5 of us active and we all ended up becoming mods. I believe Machias and I are the only ones from that group who are still around anymore. At the time the franchise was dead, though, so it's kind of to be expected. It was me scanning VHS covers and people talking about the old cartoon. TMNT 2K3 brought in the first real influx of members and it was fantastic. A lot of people stuck around and made names for themselves and the community grew to a respectable size, both in and outside of the TMNT community. At some point there were kind of too many young egos and some big misunderstandings led to the forums being shut down. The backup forums was run by Anarky and a totally different mod team, but that place was also really fun. When Krang brought the proper forums back online, these ones, it kept rolling, but by that point I think a lot of the crew that made the Drome what it was were starting to get a little older and people drift. Nothing lasts forever.

I find now that the franchise is more popular than it ever was during the "big" years of the forum, we get a lot more members that are here specifically to talk about TMNT and nothing else, so the GD has kind of become, like I said before, a series of threads full of the same people talking to each other. It seems like the bleed over from TMNT forum-goer to full fledged Dromer happens far less than it used to. It's also important to remember that way back then the GD was literally a single section and not a grouping of sub-sections, so every discussion was lumped into one big section, which caused glorious chaos, but meant that people who wouldn't generally even click into a section about toys or video games or whatever would see all that stuff anyways, so there was more crossover.

This is from the perspective of someone who stopped actually talking about the franchise in like 2004, though, so I pretty much only see the GD. The TMNT sections seem like they're pretty bumping these days, but I don't know for sure.

And for those interested new members, years ago Cure and I started a project called the Drome Wiki for fun and it has some great stuff in it. It kinda got overrun by people puffing up their enormous egos, but most of the stuff there is a pretty fun read.

Also, another cool/weird part of Drome history. On Da Drome thread. Yes, a Technodrome rap I wrote and was performed by old member R-Izzy. And direct link to the MP3.

[Machias Banshee]

Way WAY back.. back during the earlier times before 2003, the forums were smaller and much more tight knit. We had a very small group of users that used to talk constantly, derail threads with random roleplaying... mangoes everywhere. HT, Nturtle, Kali, Azure, Peanut and myself... We had a great time.

Things got fairly busy when the 2003 show came out. I was in college, and it was the show and the discussions here that actually made me turn from hating writing to wanting to major in it. We had an influx of artists, writers and a great group of show viewers that loved to overanalyze everything to death - Not just trash the show.

I dunno... it seems like members now are a lot more cynical. We had some hilarious times..


Edit: ...and peanut answered it WAY better than I did.

[Cure]

Originally Posted by Machias Banshee

I dunno... it seems like members now are a lot more cynical.

Not just cynical, but overly sensitive, as well. People flip over the smallest things. No ribbing like there was back then because people need their self esteems coddled. Like imagine if we jokingly called someone a pedophile now like we did to Doom? Chaos.

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by Machias Banshee

I dunno... it seems like members now are a lot more cynical. We had some hilarious times..

I think this is true of the Internet and the world in general, honestly. Things were way different 10 years ago.

[Machias Banshee]

Oh god... I miss Doom and his insane postings. And Voltron, for that matter...

[Peanut]

The scary part is I called the Doom/Hannah relationship like YEARS before it happened!

[Cure]

I bet Doom double checks Hannah's homework for her.

HAHAHAhahahaaaaa it's not as funny without them here.