Honestly, though I first joined like 9 years ago I only just enjoyed it enough to keep coming back. I felt extremely outcast from the main group of posters at the time and that is really the reason that I left for that two or three year stretch I think. Reading back on my old posts (which I try not to do ever) I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been my friend either, but 13 year old me was not able to handle that rejection quite so well. It was an awesome place to talk about Kingdom Hearts though.

When I returned I was a lot older and came back with a much more laid back approach to the whole site. I would jump into #eoff and that was really where I found the people that I'm closest with on the forum now. It's now at the point where even though I'm not really much more prominent than I ever used to be before my hiatus I feel extremely content with the friends and relationships I've made here. I spend so much time in chat because it genuinely makes me laugh and I have an amazing time, and I know exactly what kind of topics on the forum to contribute to and which I should stay away from.

In the last 2 years especially I've made friends that I think will last me for a long time, or at least will not be easy to forget. Of course, I also met Tara here, and that has made a massive impact on my life, and I hope it continues to for a very, very long time yet. I feel more for her than I have anybody else in a long time, so I'll always be grateful to eoff for that.

...you guys also saved me a fortune on accommodation bills when I travelled the US