Feeling Lost!

[Chaos]

Ok - it hit me the other day that I have been a member here for almost five years! (well, in October) And in the last say....three years, I've pretty much lost touch.

I see members who are obviously well respected, prominent members of the community and I look and think 'I remember when they were a n00b who typed leik dis omg!1!'. Established members who I immediatly think of as being hip and happening rarely post, if at all and many of this new breed of EoFFer has no clue to who they are, or merely think they are legends thought up by the old new breed of EoFFer to scare them. Namely the legend of the 'creator' - Sean. (Who incidently I think of as Cid)

No one seems to remeber the old in jokes (least of all me) and the new in jokes seem strange and threatening to me.

I've become overwhelmed by it all and lapsed into not posting, into ignoring these boards which I don't want to do.

In short, I am feeling lost and confused. This place scares me!
This old fogey needs to get with the times.

Chaos

[Dr.K]

They are some great, very true points. Sometimes I think about the "I wonder how everyone conducted themself when they first went on a forum" thing as well, cos I sure screwed it up I also try not to get too cheeky as well, cos although some people don't even see themself as a n00b when they've been here a month, I'll pretty much always see myself as one
Altho I cnt memba evr typin lik dis *hopes he didn't*

[Heath]

I know the feeling, even though I've not been here as long as you, it's hard to get back into posting here, though I think the odd few people remember me =P

I remember you from my first days, if only because of that gyrating possum signature that you had xD I remember some of the old in-jokes, though I think a lot of the 'legends' were well established as legends when I joined, though I noticed quite quickly who they were.

[Chaos]

Yeah - I thought I'd always consider myself a newbie and just always be there.
But now I realise I'm a very oldbie with an identity crisis.

While I've never been a very prominant member I've always maintained some sort of presence, I just feel so lost now though. Hehe.

Chaos

[Yamaneko]

I've been active for the past three years without many breaks, so I'm able to piece together what the heck goes on around here. Eventually I will probably be in your situation, though.

[XxSephirothxX]

I know exactly how you feel, even though I'm obviously still a "newbie." Hell, I don't even have a custom title yet. I've noticed a massive swarm of newbies in the last two months of so, and it's not exactly a bad thing, but it does seem rather weird...especially watching them form their own cliques. I think the best thing to do is keep in touch with all the members you know and love, and try to get used to the massive influx of new members. It takes new members to keep a forum like EoFF alive, but it loses all sense of family, nostalgia, and uniqueness without oldbie members like you hanging around.

[Chaos]

Yamaneko - I remember when you were a newbie!! *cries*

Chaos

[Rye]

I get confused a little bit too, and I post here everyday!

[Psychotic]

EoFF changes every day. Some of the old prominent members remain as just that, whilst others fade into obscurity. More and more newbies come, and once one group of newbies looks like establishing themselves, the next wave come piling in and overtake them. It's what I like about EoFF. Some things remain the same as they always have done, while some things change all the time.

And if you don't want to be lost, you can't stick to being with the same group of people. A lot of the newbies who you might not think of associating with are really funny and great, as I have found out by befriending them.

[Xander]

Nah, I'm still too new to get that feeling.

[-N-]

I remember you, if that helps you any. I feel that way sometimes too. Let's be friends! Come to #eoff, where all the fun happens these days.

[Denmark]

I know the feeling, even though I've not been here as long as you, it's hard to get back into posting here, though I think the odd few people remember me =P

who's Heath? o_O

[Del Murder]

I suggest you have a conversation with Raistlin, then you'll realize how crappy the old days really were.

[Shoeberto]

Chaos, I remember when <i>you</i> were a newbie. Wahahaha.

I'm hardly in on any of the new in-jokes, so I just kind of stand off to the side and give input neutrally. If I don't get it now, I probably won't ever, so I don't see any reason to get involved.

[Cuchulainn]

Don't fear change, embrace it. While never forgetting the past, never cling on to it, if you do that, you do yourself & new members like myself an injustice. While an newb here, I'm by no means a net-newb, and even if someone is a net newb, everyone's gotta start somewhere, right? Including the old members of which you speak. It's the only way this forum will build & evolve if it's elders embrace the new blood. There is a danger of elitism, I've seen it so many times on other boards where new members are irrationally ignored or hounded away by old members with a God-Complex. I must note that this forum doesn't appear to suffer from that, everyone seems very approachable, old & new, tis why I've stayed & not floated off.
While I understand your sentiments (I've had the same feeling on other irc clients & board I was member of for years), you must realise that the world is constantly turning on its axis & if you don't ride the waves of social evolution (net or otherwise) you'll drown.

Just my 2 pence worth, hope you don't mind.