The Gang of Five

Beyond the Mysterious Beyond => The Fridge => Topic started by: Petrie on October 12, 2018, 06:18:32 AM

Title: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: Petrie on October 12, 2018, 06:18:32 AM

(https://i.postimg.cc/zDR2LhV3/gangoffive-15thanniversary-inktober2018.png)

15 years.  Wow!  A picture says 1,000 words.  The picture above is truly my own reaction to the reality that the Gang of Five forum has been online for 15 years now.  Granted we’ve had our shares of road hazards, and have had to move the forum on four different hosting platforms (hence why the founding date does not say October 12, 2003), but we’ve come through it all!  At this stage, we are in the most stable situation we possibly could find ourselves in as the GOF pays for its own hosting and domain name, no longer at the whim of any free web host, plus we are ad-free too!

I won’t make a big speech like I did for year 10.  My role is quite different now, consulting for the forum, and basically running the GOF Discord Server.  To keep things about the forum, its memories, its good times, and even its bad times, I would like everyone—no matter how long you’ve been here—15 years or 15 days—to share a memory of this place!

Thank you all! :D :D :D  :cheers

Adam (Petrie/Chipper Blu-wolf)

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: Petrie on October 12, 2018, 06:25:47 AM

The only memory I never forget is one I never took part in because I had a class that night (the April Fool’s day where the admins got into an “argument” and started banning each other) so I really can’t share much about it.

What I’ve decided to share instead is a bit of how thankful I am of individuals that helped get the GOF off the ground, even before its official founding date.  Some of here on the forum have known each for longer than some members have been alive.  Malte and Jason (Littlefoot1616) have been good friends of mine for 17 years now.  We got to know each other through Network54’s Land Before Time board.  Eventually, I was able to convince Malte to help me run and set up what was going to be the largest (and accurate) Land Before Time site online (in 2002 mind you).  Out of those talks came treestars.net and for its day, it was a good site.  You have to remember the web was very different then and there was no reliable Land Before Time information site out there.  Malte also was very kind to provide the first fan art for the site, and Jason offered some as well.  We also put reviews and screen pictures (from VHS tapes, remember those) up on the site, which was unheard of at the time and not very common.

The forum’s creation was simply a feedback forum for those who wanted to comment on the art we posted.  It was not intended to be a discussion forum.  I already had another dinosaur themed message board online and didn’t feel I needed to have a second one.  Nick22 came along and joined us on this feedback board and eventually Nick and myself decided to run a separate site called “Welcome to the Great Valley” with a really bright neon green and salmon coloring for text.  I don’t know what we were thinking. :P  This message board, perhaps is about as close to the Gang of Five’s predecessor as they come.  I cannot remember the founding date, save that it was 2002.  As time went on, us four really kept these sites all updated and working.  Eventually though it made no sense for me to run three message boards essentially overlapping thematically.  The question became what to do, and Malte, Jason and I decided to keep putting our energy into the feedback board, which had grown by now to include discussion areas to keep people around.  We also gave it a new name, The Gang of Five on October 12, 2003.  Nick agreed to keep WTTGV online alongside it for historical purposes, and keep it going as long as it had activity.  Eventually we moved off our original host onto invisionfree, and that is where the majority of our time has been spent of the 15 years we have been around.

If I didn’t have these three with me—Malte, Jason and Nick—there’s a good chance I wouldn’t have kept at it and decided to hang around to see the Gang of Five succeed.  Together we managed to keep people interested and coming, offering them reviews and discussions of the LBT movies as they still were coming out at this time.  Together we were able to build the concrete foundations of the board you all know and love today.  While it is true that three of us have moved on to other things and are no longer active administrators of the forum, our friendship shows what great things can happen when we work together for the larger community. :)

Thank you Malte!
Thank you Jason!
Thank you Nick!


-Adam (Petrie/Chipper Blu-wolf)

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: Mumbling on October 12, 2018, 06:31:31 AM

I was asked to write a little bit about my time here on the GoF. Instead of focussing on certain events that took place (haha, that April Fools with the admin fight was great, Adam!), I'd rather tell about the impact this board has had on me.

Over 10 years ago, a young teenage girl joined this very forum. She was insecure about life and her ability to communicate in English. Not long after she joined, the kind people of this forum asked her to join in on the activities. Draw, write, play in role plays, sing along with others, do all these things you never dared of doing before. These lovely people drew her out of her shell and let her explore her abilities. They also helped her get rid of an abusive relationship, and managed to create everlasting friendships instead.

My first few years on this forum were a turmoil. My personal life was a mess and everyone here was nice enough to listen to my stories and help me get to a better life. I truly believe that if it weren’t for the Gang of Five, I would not be the person I am today. I might not even have been here anymore! My depression was really quite severe and I am not sure what would’ve happened without the people here supporting me and helping me find my way.

Thanks to this forum I have:

-   Been in a really wonderful relationship
-   Traveled more of the world than I would ever think I would do
-   Gained friendships more true than any other in my life
-   Developed into a healthy adult with a lot of confidence

There have been good times and bad. People I used to get along with, but no longer wish to see. People who I would wish to see, but no longer visit the Gang of Five or other social media. Decisions that had to be made that no one was really happy about. Decisions that had to be made right away. Tears of sadness, tears of joy and tears of laughter too. You have given me wonderful memories that I will always keep close to my heart.

I’ve been away from the Gang of Five for a few years after a bad break-up in real life while also starting my professional career and just not having much time on my hands, but I believe rejoining the forum and its very active Discord server has reopened my eyes as to what an amazing place this forum is. Even though I am not as interested in LBT as I used to be, this forum welcomed me back with open arms and many new friendly faces. This community is very unique and very special, and I wish the whole world could learn from it. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for a very special time here. Now that we have our own host, I hope this place will live on for years to come. Happy birthday, Gang of Five!

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: Sneak on October 12, 2018, 08:43:52 AM

I can't describe how much I love to see this forum well and alive, love to see it has a deep history already, love to see people who keeps its rising and shining. I love to be part of this community.
Thank you to group of people who brought this community to live, who made this beautiful place.

Happy Starday, Gang of Five!!!!

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: Ducky123 on October 12, 2018, 10:11:53 AM

Cheers.

Don't feel like writing a lot so I'll just second what mumbling said for it's a very similar story for me. Wouldn't be who I am today. Period :)

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: OwlsCantRead on October 12, 2018, 10:30:38 AM

I'm probably one of the newest ones to post in this thread... :nyah Nevertheless, reading about the tumultuous times, I find it truly remarkable that this community has made it through fifteen whole years.

As I've been here for barely two months, I haven't had much life-shattering experience or changes to my psyche yet, unlike the prior replies. That said, even in such a short span of time, I will say that this place has already made quite an impact on me. For those who read my welcome message, the reason I'd held off on joining in the first place was due to the mistaken belief that Land Before Time would be an incredibly niche community and hence, would be very hard to find a cohesive group with it... well, I was 100% wrong there once I gave it a chance and looked up this place. And since then, this community has been incredibly nice and pretty much welcomed me with wide open arms. And for that, I'm truly grateful.

Funnily enough, the most significant and telling memory of this forum was before I'd even joined as a member: it was when I was applying for membership! Although I didn't know it at the time, I'd joined when a spam wave of banned members trying to regain access - probably the most inopportune time to join. As a result, my application was basically lost (it didn't help that I physically lived around the same general vicinity as that guy... the staff probably though I was an alternate IP alt account! :lol)

Well, I didn't know any of that back then when I sent in my registration, so for twenty-four goshdarned hours I waited on my application for a confirmation email that never came. It really didn't help that the site taunted me by saying I was the "newest member" when I couldn't even log in. It was driving me up the wall, let me tell you! Eventually, even though I was heavily reluctant to, I pretty much last-resorted my way to find out what was going on by going on the staff list and trying to contact them. I went with Rhombus, and sent him an email to inquire on the status of my "lost" account application.

Now this is the part which really speaks volumes about this community. I pretty much got a prompt email reply and an apology explaining the situation. The whole thing was resolved promptly, and thus here I am now. Now, speaking as someone who has moderated other people in another community before, it really shows an intimate touch by a staff member settling the situation as quickly as it did (trust me, I almost expected to wait a week for it, let alone prepared to never receive any reply) Real life takes priority, so I'm touched that the staff here cared and trusted me enough to invest and dedicate their time to fix the problem, even though I was practically nobody.

It was pretty much my first actual experience with a GOF member (reading people's fanfics on FFN didn't count :P), and thus a taste of the welcoming and nice community that the GOF is, setting up a wonderful tone for my experience thus far, and hopefully in the future.

But that's enough of my super long essay. It's been a good run for those here longer than me, and I hope for more sweet memories, experiences and interactions here in the future. Happy 15th Anniversary to the GOF it is! :birthday

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: jassy on October 12, 2018, 11:28:40 AM

I’ve only been here since May, but it’s wild that this forum has been here almost as long as I’ve been alive  :wow  but even though I am still a bit new, this place has helped me become more confident with sharing my art and my writing, and has also helped me improved both of those skills. I probably wouldn’t be as active with either of those things as much today if it wasn’t for this place, and I hope it’ll still be here for many more years to come. Happy birthday Gang of Five!!  :^^spike

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: DiddyKF1 on October 12, 2018, 11:45:29 AM

I've only been here since February, but this place has changed the way I write fanfiction stories. I may not be a very social person, not even on the internet, but this place already feels like a home to me, because it's the one and only place where I've found people who love to talk freely about The Land Before Time. I'm still trying to work on my artwork, even though it's been very slow, but my fanfiction writing styles have taken a big change, thanks largely to this forum.  In a way, @Sovereign, in particular, reminds me of my creative writing professor during my college years. He was so impressed that an individual with Asperger's Syndrome could write such astonishing content. Sovereign's feedback has played a big role in changing the way I write stories, and I'll never forget what he taught me through his feedback.  :)

Happy birthday, Gang of Five! I can't believe it's been 15 years, even though it's still my first year here!

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: zero-point on October 12, 2018, 02:42:48 PM

 I've only been here since last Summer, but over that time I've managed to gain new friends, new hobbies, and it's had an overall positive effect on me and my personality. I enjoyed the time I spend with others trying to figure out, first, how to make the Zeta forum look acceptable, and recently, figuring out how to transport the forum to an entirely new, self-hosted site.

 Again, I've been here since last Summer. How I found here is an interesting story. It all started with me coming across FanFiction.net and finding fanfictions about cartoon that I've always known, but never really remembered knowing until I stumbled upon a particular one called The Seven Hunters, written by rhombus. After that, I started working of DA, creating drawings and some short stories about The Land Before Time. Around that time did I stumble upon fantastic pieces of paleoart by various artists, and that's when I really decided to learn to draw better, and have been practising, although with shorter-longer breaks here and there, eversince. Rhombus and Ducky123 were the ones that commented on a lot of my works, and they were the ones urging me to join the forum. So I did.

 This forum is also a place for me to share my drawings, and get feedback and responses to them. I've tried many mediums, from pencils, through ink, even watercolour, and so did I try digital. My drawings may not be the most anatomically accurate, or have the best shading and colouring in the world, but they are my works and even though I often despise how they look, they are my works to share. As for writing, I still haven't figured that out. :p

 Fifteen whole years. I was 4 years old when this forum came to be, which is a thought that makes me realise how young I still am. I've had good and bad days, but people on the Discord servers were always there to help me out, for which I am most thankful.

Happy 15th Anniversary.

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: Sovereign on October 12, 2018, 02:56:50 PM

Thank you very much for your kind words, Diddy! :)littlefoot

I doubt I'll have as much to tell as some others but it has been a real pleasure to have been an active member for the past two years and it's also great to see the entrance of many new members during this time. To me, the best moments have been relate to the Fanfic section and I still remember the thrill I felt when I received my first reviews on Under the Cave of Many Voices nearly two years ago! You gave me the motivation to continue improving my skills and those experiences have influenced a lot in my current life. There have been many great memories, like our attempts to contact the very people who created the films we love and I still relish the fact that we were so often successful.

There have been many members with whom I've enjoyed discussing a variety of different things and in that way, this site has provided me with many helpful ideas considering real life too. I may not always have been the nicest member but again and again, things have worked out well in the end which has been a great thing to notice on this site. I'll certainly look forward to seeing what future will hold for GoF but for now, good job keeping this site alive for 15 years and happy starday to Gang of Five! :^^spike

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: rhombus on October 12, 2018, 04:40:18 PM

It is certainly hard to believe that this forum is now celebrating its fifteenth year online.  Though I have only been a member of the forum for one-third of that span, and thus cannot claim to have as much knowledge of the forum as the members who have been here since the beginning, I do have many memories of fun, friendship, and goodwill from this wonderful little place on the Internet.

One memory that will never leave me is how I was originally greeted on this site.  I was quite hesitant to join a forum for some time due to the general lack of civility and maturity in many forums.  However once I discovered the Gang of Five I began to sense that it was different.  I lurked for quite some time (I think it was 6-9 months) and was quite impressed by the community that it showcased.  As my interest in the Land Before time had been rekindled since 2011 or so, I finally decided to take the plunge and to join the forum in August 2013.  Much to my relief the other members and the admins welcomed me warmly and encouraged me as I slowly got the hang of being an active member of an Internet community.  In particular, jansenov, Malte, Mumbling, Ducky123, and bushwacked made me feel right at home.

Another thing that I will never forget is how this forum came together during the recent hard times.  More specifically, the Photobucket crisis, the Zetaboard transfer, and finally our transfer to our own VPS.  There are many forums on the Internet that were devastated by Photobucket holding their images hostage and that eventually died as active communities, but in our community we actually had a team that was willing to save as many of these images as possible.  No less than 400 images were saved by the dedicated work of our members.  But that paled in comparison to what happened next, the forced transfer to Zetaboards, and then, TapaTalk.  The details of this probably need no introduction as it is all fresh in our minds, but the dedicated efforts of zero-point and James Gryphon effectively saved the forum from being degraded into the TapaTalk system.  And the amazing support from the membership itself has kept the forum up and running.  The fact that so many are willing to dedicate their time and money to maintain our little home on the World Wide Web is a testament to the good character of the people here.

Finally I do remember the incident that led me to becoming a fanfiction author, which is another important change that is thanks to this forum.  Way back in 2013 I already had the basic idea of the Seven Hunters in my head, but it was not until I joked about it on the "What Would They Do" topic that I got the motivation to act upon it.  Because it was then that Ducky123 suggested that it would not only be a good idea for a fanfic, but also a roleplay.  Though the roleplay sadly went extinct, the Seven Hunters was born from that encouragement.  My continued writings as an author and my desire to start with Horizon the fanfiction prompt challenge all date back to that critical event.  I will always be grateful to this forum for giving me the initial motivation to pursue creative writing.  :)

There are so many more memories and recollections that I could recall on this day, but I think that I will leave it there.  I will simply say that I wish the Gang of Five a happy 15th starday, and I wish it a long life ahead!  :)littlefoot

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: Flathead770 on October 12, 2018, 08:31:53 PM

15 years, wow!

Though I joined around 11 years ago I want to instead mention how glad I am on deciding to come back a year and a half ago. I wasn't sure if I would keep my rekindled interest in LBT for long but that hasn't been the case. In fact, you guys have helped me grow as an artist (something I never thought I would even say about myself a year ago) with your feedback and support. Although my drawing isn't as frequent as when I first started, I still plan to keep at it in the foreseeable future and I don't think I could have done it or keep doing it without you guys. I'm also pleased to have made a good number of friends along the way. This truly is one of the nicest places on the internet!

Happy starday GoF and here's to many more! :celebrate

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: LeventeII on October 12, 2018, 08:46:37 PM

I have been here for 10 months now and I'm sure that those 10 months were not meaningless. I would like to take this opportunity to summarize what this time has brought me. And I am sure that this is not little.

I am sure that The Land Before Time and The Gang of Five have influenced the progress of my life, at least in some way. It may be that for my young age I am not really allowed to write about my life that way. Nevertheless, I am very sure that with The Gang of Five, in 10 years I will be a different person than if I had never discovered it. I have become more open-minded and tolerant. Also, I lost many of my preconceptions, a trait that characterized me only a year ago. The Gang of Five made sure that I didn't lose my interest in The Land Before Time.

I started with Fanart. Before that, art was "Just such a thing" for me. But now I am working with it. The same applies to music. I've always listened to music, but I only really pay attention to the musical content since I've been interessted in the soundtrack of The Land Before Time, which I first noticed through The Gang of Five. I started playing these soundtracks on a keyboard, although I never had anything to do with it before.

If I could tell all this to my past me a year ago, he would laugh about it. Pretty much even. Nevertheless, today I can say with satisfaction that, thanks to The Gang of Five, I have now become a better person.

Thanks a lot for that and happy 15th anniversary, The Gang of Five!  :birthday

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: The Lone Dragon on October 12, 2018, 11:43:27 PM

I've been around for around three years now, since 2015 but I have memory's before I started to join the forum that directly link with it. When I first started to get back into LBT, I had found 19 years of Land Before Time of YouTube which was of course made by one of GoFs members and when I actually found GoF I lingered as a guest for a year before joining it was during that time that I read The Seven Hunters and started thinking of writing my own fanfic.

Once I joined my I found a very friendly community and it was the first online forum I'd been too and the welcoming atmosphere was something that I really liked and once I started writing The Swimmer Trials I was able to grow as an author and the feedback and comments I received were especially helpful.

Once I joined Skype and later the discord chats I made some great friends which I continually chat to today. This community has been one that I really hope lasts many years as it has touched so many people from so many different places yet everyone is real friendly here. It truly is a Great Valley in the internet.

Happy 15th Birthday The Gang of Five! :celebrate :birthday

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: Serris on October 13, 2018, 12:33:26 AM

Fifteen years. It's amazing to think that a forum dedicated to what would be considered a small fandom to last this long.

I joined back in 2008 to post my now long dormant war story, Twilight Valley. It's been with me through high school, college and now graduate school. And I've met some truly great people on the forum. And it is here that I'd say that I found my passion for writing.

I hope that it will last for many more years to come!  :cheers :birthday :celebrate

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) on October 13, 2018, 01:48:39 PM

It's weird to think I've been here for 2/3rds of the GoF's history. I've always felt like a relative newcomer, with so many longstanding users that have stuck around since the forum's inception. I was one of many users who all joined the GoF at the same time due to pokeplayer's LBT song vids on YouTube.

The GoF is something truly remarkable. It's far and away the oldest self-sufficient community I've been a part of, and the fact that it's humming along 15 years later is so great to witness and participate in. Honestly I'm glad we finally have a Patreon so I can give a little back. Lord knows the forum's earned it after all this time!

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: Littlefoot505 on October 13, 2018, 02:57:54 PM

I joined this forum one year ago today. In that short time, I've come to feel as if I've been here a lot longer than that. I have become great friends with a lot of members here, often finding that I have way more in common with them than a shared love of an animated dinosaur movie. This community has been nothing but friendly and welcoming. I did recently get a personal friend of mine who is a fellow LBT fan to join, so I'm looking forward to him becoming part of our community.

Here's to the last year, the last 15 years, and many more years to come!! :)littlefoot :celebrate

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: RubberDucky on October 13, 2018, 05:25:46 PM

It is truly amazing that the forum has been around for 15 whole years. I've only been here since August (but a few days newer than OwlsCantRead :p), but it's been wonderful to be here so far. The community is truly very, very nice. This is one of the only forums I post in quite regularly! Happy Starday GoF and hopefully many more! :celebrate :birthday

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: f-22 "raptor" ace on October 13, 2018, 10:30:19 PM

I joined bout a year or two after the forum was founded. I mainly remember all the wonderful RP's I have taken part in. many sadly which died but a few did come to an end.

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: DarkWolf91 on October 14, 2018, 03:29:41 PM

Wow, I guess I've been a member for a little over ten years now! Though at times my participation has been a bit spotty, I always tried to check in at least once per year, when without fail the "happy birthday" thread would be filled with kind messages :lol

I remember I first stumbled across the link to this forum in a youtube video one of the members had posted, and I was another user who lurked for a while due to bad experiences with forums in the past. Fortunately I stuck around to see that this place is truly one of a kind, and I'm happy that I've been a part of it for so many years.

I've seen a lot of members come and go, a lot of projects begin and end, some fights and disagreements, periods of high and low activity, but somehow the community always comes out on top in the end. I certainly hope it continues far into the future :smile

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: The Chronicler on October 18, 2018, 08:45:21 PM

The fact that it has taken me a week to finally reply here is perhaps a good example why this place isn't quite as high a priority for me as it once was. Don't get me wrong, I still like this site very much, and I'm proud that I could stick around for such a long time. (And I noticed you guys decided to celebrate by putting party hats on all of the post rank images. Am I the first one here to actually point that out?)

GoF is actually only the second forum I ever joined, the first one being the Bionicle fan site BZPower back in 2004. Not long after I had joined that site, I at the age of 13 had to learn the hard way about the importance of actually respecting other people on the internet. Thankfully, I quickly learned my lesson and avoided any further trouble, so by the time I joined GoF at the end of 2007, I was capable of and willing to follow the rules.

My early years here were dominated by the fanfiction I wrote, which was basically a crossover of LBT and Bionicle. As I progressed with it, I eventually managed to receive some helpful advice from fellow member Pangaea, which greatly improved my writing abilities. Even though I never got many comments on my fanfiction, and my efforts of joining the RP section didn't last long, I never really demanded any attention and was actually okay with being one of those guys who just lurked in the background.

In 2013, back when Malte was the most active admin, I knew about his fascination with the American Civil War, so when I got an opportunity to visit Gettysburg that summer (only a month away from the 150th anniversary of that famous battle), I decided to do a few nice things for him, such as sharing a few pictures and even mailing him some souvenirs. Later that year during the forum awards, I was quite surprised to end up winning the Appreciated Member award, as I honestly didn't think I could ever have had that much of an impact among members of a forum, not even one as small and friendly as this site, but the votes sure spoke for themselves.

Ironically, it seems 2013 was also the last year where I really had any extensive activity here. By the following year, my interests had moved on. I became interested in starting an entirely new fanfiction series, but it came at the cost of losing interest in my LBT/Bionicle series and I ultimately decided to cancel any further progress. I also ended up occupying much of my free time with the game Civilization V, and as of this year I've now moved on to all of the Lego video games that have come out over the past dozen years.

But while my interests have moved on, I never at any point stopped visiting this site every day. Sure, my daily visits here may be as little as only a few minutes on some days (as opposed to the many hours I once spent here in my first five years), but I still make the effort to check out almost every part of this site every day. You just never know when something might come up that could be worth saying a few words of interest (such as this very topic).

I'll admit, it's a little strange to see so few of the names I'm familiar with from my early years be even as moderately active as I am today, but the newer members who have come along have certainly proven to be just as great as the older ones were. When I see members say they were inspired to join because they read rhombus's "The Seven Hunters", I can't help but think back to how I was inspired to join not long after I first read Littlefoot1616's "Battle of the Sacred Essences" (quite a shame that that fanfiction series, much like mine and many others from those early days, only made it partway through the second story before being discontinued).

Well, whatever lies ahead for GoF, I can guarantee one thing for sure: I will always try to check on this place every single day to see if there's anything new that might interest me.

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: The Great Valley Guardian on November 01, 2018, 01:05:57 AM

I remember when I first joined, I was so nervous about making a mistake or angering the Mods but this forum really has helped shape my Online experiences overall.

I also recall all the fun times I've had throwing jokes and screencaps around in both the Caption This and The Party Room. And I do still pop in from time to time to see what shenanigans this forum can get into.  :lol

I do however remember clearly the day I was chosen as Moderator for the RP section. It was a day I was carry in high regard as I took the job very seriously and still sort of do despite not holding the title anymore. To whomever now holds the title I wish you the best of luck.

And Happy Anniversary to ALL of the GOF!

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: Malte279 on November 02, 2018, 12:56:27 PM

I'm sorry I am so late in reacting to the 15th anniversary of the Gang of Five  :celebrate
Not long ago Adam and I had a chat and we were getting rather sentimental about the founding days. I dug up some of the first emails we ever exchanged (fanatical historian that I am keeps them archived) and in a chat with Jason, Iris and Gustav we too dug up old pictures (e.g. one showing Jason and me back in 2004).
Nowadays there is a bit of the atmosphere of the LBT 10 song bestest friends about my lack of presence in the GOF. In general I don't write a lot in forums these days (not in the forum refering to my other fandom (MLP) either) but am mostly to be found on Discord and sometimes Skype (am also active on Deviantart these days).
A good portion of my life has also been moved to real life as in me meeting many good friends in real life and organizing meetups, workshops and events within the brony fandom (heaven forbid that "moving to real life" ever referred to denying the importance of Dinosaurs, Ponies, Dragons etc. to real life's happiness, however imaginary they may be  ;)
In spite of my decreased activity on the GOF this forum will always remain a significant part of my life. I have made many awesome friends here, participated in many interesting discussions, and to a certain degree a close lecture of old messages feels a bit like I had written a diary throughout that time.
It is with some regret that I found that the old Network54 forum where Adam, Nick, Jason and I first met seems to have disappeared, but it sure has been a long and very interesting, eventful and adventurous road from that first ever post there (dating August 1st 2000 I think) in which I recall I was very selfconscious about my lack of good Englis, to today  :)

Quote

In 2013, back when Malte was the most active admin, I knew about his fascination with the American Civil War, so when I got an opportunity to visit Gettysburg that summer (only a month away from the 150th anniversary of that famous battle), I decided to do a few nice things for him, such as sharing a few pictures and even mailing him some souvenirs.

And those souvenirs sit right here on my shelf and I have since used them several times in history presentations on the American Civil War. Thank you very much, The Chronicler :)
I also keep every letter I ever got from another land before time fan in a land before time tinbox and the emotional value of gifts which I got from some of you (like drawings or the beautiful clay sculptures made by Iris and Christian or the beautiful prints by Rocking Scorpion) cannot be measured. Some of my fondest memories include meetups with some of you, like the visit to Jason back in 2004, the trips through Sweden and Norway with Jason, Gustav, and Patric respectively Iris in 2009 and 2011 or the Christmas meetup at my place back in 2010 with Tim, Iris, Jason and Gustav :)
All of that goes way beyond usual forum posting yet at the same time it would have never happened but for this amazing forum. Therefore I want to give a wholehearted THANK YOU to the whole Gang of Five and hope that it will give many more land before time fans the kind of joy and happiness that it has given me since back then when it was created in a land before time...

...well, before this time at least ;)

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: NewOrder on November 23, 2018, 09:23:11 AM

I can't believe it's already been 15 years. I know I haven't been as active here as I have in the past, but it's one of those places I love to return to every once in a while. Glad to see it's still up and running.

Keep up the great work guys! Happy Star Day for all of us :D

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: Petrie on November 24, 2018, 09:46:02 PM

Quote from: NewOrder on November 23, 2018, 09:23:11 AM

I can't believe it's already been 15 years. I know I haven't been as active here as I have in the past, but it's one of those places I love to return to every once in a while. Glad to see it's still up and running.

Keep up the great work guys! Happy Star Day for all of us :D

Wow, don't think I've seen you here in probably 10 years!  :wow :wow  Good to see you back!  How's life?

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: Lillefot on December 03, 2018, 09:30:06 AM

Holy protracted absence, Batman!
Not even I expected to see myself log in to this forum again. No particular reason, but life has a tendency to move on. And with that comes new things.
I won't write about what I've been doing since then. That's for me and my friends to know. So let's just stick with "occupied with life as a whole".
However;

I've always (more or less, with periods of long intermissions) stayed in contact with Malte, Jay and Iris.
I've visited Malte 2 times since back then, when I was around his part of the world. And Jason and I have been sharing gaming sessions now and then.

Not too long ago, Jason and I were talking over Discord and as usual, the question about the well-being of our mutual friends Malte, Iris and Patrick was raised.
It was then that Jason mentioned he'd been in contact with Iris recently and sent me her handles.
After the obligatory questions of how things have been and what/not; Iris and I shared some fond memories as well as pictures from now and then. Need less to say, apart from growing older, we're both still and look the same it seems. =)
Not much later, "all of us" were back together again on a discord chat. I'm very grateful, as I'll explain to you why.

When I joined GoF back in 2008 (10 dingily-dong-damn years ago!?) I was the common, ambivalent teenager with one foot in childhood and the other in adulthood.
The days of earlier seemed easier, with many fond memories (don't grow old, kids! It's a trap!).
For whatever reasons I can't remember and fail to understand I found myself having this affinity towards these movies with these group of young dinosaurs. Sure, I liked them movies plenty when I was a kid, but now?
It was a period of... questions. And doubt. And self-search.
Eventually I accepted; for myself, that I really liked these movies and dinosaurs. That it was nobody's business what I choose to like and that it was nothing "wrong" with me.
So I eventually found and joined GoF.
The rest is, as they say... history.

Now, 10 years later...

-I've been to countries and places I never thought I'd ever visit
-I've been to adventures in exotic and wild locations (you should be able to find these trips browsing the forum)
-Learned so much about... everything. Especially about WWII. You can guess who's to blame for that :P
-Grown ever so much as a person
-Collected all the movies and a few plushies :P

But the single most valuable treasure GoF has given me and what I'm most grateful for, hands down:
I've made lifelong friends that I care deeply for. And I should tell them this more often. You guys know who you are <3

To summarize:
This group of young dinosaurs have changed my life more times and in ways no forum post could hope to describe.

Happy belated Starday, GoF!

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: Petrie on May 31, 2020, 07:56:43 AM

Just reading these all again makes me smile.  :)petrie

We'll get to 20 years--pretty sure of it!  Good people are in place to make certain it happens!  Be sure to invite me to the party!  A couple of us will be closing in on 40 years of life by then!  :wow

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: rhombus on October 12, 2020, 06:23:35 PM

Just dusting off this topic as it is now the Gang of Five's seventeenth anniversary.  :)littlefoot

It is quite amazing to think that our wonderful little forum is still around despite the turbulent changes that have happened on the Internet during that time.   Furthermore, we have had many forum members come and go, and, thankfully, return again in many cases.  With several old faces rejoining the forum, and many new members being highly active in our community, I am sure this forum will endure to its twentieth year and beyond!   :cerahappy

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: Stardisk on October 12, 2020, 06:35:20 PM

Wow, 17 years... so long... you are running it much more than my total Internet experience...  :littlefoot

Even though I've been here for a very little time, I like love that place. Thank you.
I wish you further prosperity and 100% uptime!

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: Mumbling on October 13, 2020, 02:56:08 AM

We'll definitely hit that big 20 in a few years! With so many old and new members keeping the place active, I have absolutely no doubt! Happy birthday to the GoF, and here is to many more years with all of you :birthday

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: Anagnos on October 13, 2020, 05:22:23 AM

It is indeed wonderful that this forum has been around for so long. 17 years is a long time. Happy birthday, Gang of Five forum. My time here has been nothing sort of wonderful. Sure, there have been ups and downs along the way, but that's life. I want to personally thank every member for making this place what it is. Let's keep up the good work, folks. :petrieLOL

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: Sneak on October 13, 2020, 06:31:00 AM

Happy Starday, Gang of Five! ^^
I'm here only 5 years, but I am glad I am here, in this friendly place. :D
Long live, forum!

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: StardustSoldier on October 18, 2020, 10:18:14 PM

Happy Starday, Gang of Five!
:)littlefoot

It is very cool indeed that our little community has made it to 17 years. Also a bit surreal to think that the forum is now older than some of its members.

I officially joined on March 29th, 2019. Come 2020, and I had been planning to do a special post on March 29th to talk about my own one-year anniversary with this community. I ended up not getting around to it, but it kept lingering on my mind, and I kept thinking about simply doing it belated. Then, several days ago when I saw Rhombus post in here, that gave me the motivation to write up my anniversary post at last. It's several months late now, but oh well. :p This is more or less what I had originally wanted to talk about. Some of this I've mentioned before in other places, but I wanted to consolidate it all into one post here.

Some of our members have been familiar with The Land Before Time for a long time, whereas others have discovered it much more recently. For myself, it is a bit of both. I watched several of the films back in my elementary school days in the 90s, but that was it for a very long time. I remembered the original film most of all, and I kept occasionally wanting to revisit it over the years, even as I entered adulthood, but it took me a very long time to get around to it.

Things finally changed when the original film hit its 30th anniversary in November of 2018, which I was initially unaware of, but soon after is when I stumbled upon this article (http://www.fandom.com/articles/land-before-time) on Fandom.com about the film. And this is what inspired me to rent the film from my local library, whereupon I watched it at home and fell in love with it.

As for the Gang of Five itself, I discovered it through TV Tropes... sort of. Their Land Before Time page mentioned an active fanbase and a forum for the series. At this point, it was still only the first film I'd watched recently (the sequels and TV series I didn't see until after I was already a member here), but that appealed to me all the same since I loved the film so much and wanted to find other people I could talk about it with. So I did a web search for "Land Before Time forum" and that's how I found this place.

I lurked sporadically for about a month before registering, but I've been an active member ever since. :yes For a community that ended up having such a large impact on my life, it sure is strange to think that, if it hadn't been for that Fandom.com article, it might never have led me here. Or at the very least, I might have ended up joining at a much later date.

It's also weird to think that things might've turned out very differently if I had tried to register sooner, as it was a couple or so months that passed after I rediscovered the film before I eventually came to the forum. And even once I did, the fact that I lurked around for a while first. I learned from Mumbling later on that the notification system wasn't working properly at the time, and that new members weren't getting their email notifications to tell them that they could now access the forum, which thus caused many of the potential new members to forget about it and move on. I got lucky because when I finally registered, it was only a few days after the problem stopped.
:ChomperOhhh

The Gang of Five was the first new forum that I had joined in a very long time. I used to participate in forums and such a lot more frequently in my late teens and very early adulthood. But I had a lot of bad experiences with it, which eventually drove me away from online communities entirely for the next several years. Some of my bad experiences were because of my own immaturity and behavioural issues, I'll admit, but there were also some genuinely toxic sinkholes I had the misfortune of stumbling upon.

Which made this lovely place stand out that much more. This is honestly the nicest internet community I have ever been to. I would never have expected I could make so many great friends here after all those horrible experiences I had in my distant past, but I have. As Anagnos mentioned, there have been some ups and downs. 2020 has been a crazy year, both for the community itself and the world at large. And I have had a lot of change and upheaval in my own personal life as well. But there have still been many good things amidst all the bad, and those are the things that I try to focus on. And I think it is truly commendable that we have pulled through and that we are still here to make this community the kind, energetic, and welcoming place that it is.

So thank you, Gang of Five and everyone in it. I too have absolute confidence that we will make it to twenty years and beyond.
:celebrate

Cheers,
- Ian

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: Loire on October 31, 2021, 02:09:02 AM

I just wanna throw it in here that it was fascinating and touching to read many of y'all personal experiences and stories with the GoF forum.

I just joined some months ago, but haven't been immensely active. So I might write a more proper text about my experience here when my activity increases hopefully and probably wait till the 20th anniversary if a thread like this will ever be made.

So far I really love this community in contrast to other online communities I've been a part of which lack the friendly and mature nature that GoF has. The people here seem lovely just by the fact that they welcome new members often and even wishing them happy birthday, that just proves how great this place is. Also this forum is very well constructed, I give props to that!

Amazing that this forum has been around for over 15 years. So a belated happy birthday from me, GoF!

Edit: I just realized that I was supposed to share a memory, well the clearest memory I have was when I first joined. I had some sign up issues and Flathead was nice enough to help me out through discord by contacting Mumbling I assume to fix it all. And later when all went well, receiving a warm welcome from some of the members was a pleasant memory to add.  :yes

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: Daddytops2021 on November 03, 2021, 04:52:43 AM

A party!

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: Nick22 on November 03, 2021, 12:24:34 PM

its a bit ironic that in reading all the comments about the 15th anniversary, i never contributed mine.  at this point i am probably the last active member who joined the GOF in its early days .   this month will mark 17 years  for me at the GOF ( i joined in 2004) and if you had told any of us at the end of 2004 -when there were only about 25 members- that this place would still be around nearly 20 years later, we'd all have demanded to see what drugs you were taking. It has been nothing short of remarkable that this forum has endured that long. at the time the GOF got its official invisionfree start in September of 2004, i was managing  the slow demise of Welcome to the great Valley. it never had too many members - it maxed out at about 10- and by then the vast majority of those( including  Malte Threehorn and  Mirumoto Kenjiro) had  already made the move over here .  that forum doesnt exist anymore, it was essentially deleted by hackers a couple years after i left.-and i never linked the forum to the GOF so it could be maintained as a historic record of the early years of this community. but i was a young college student at the time. still learning the ropes about how to manage an online forum. in hindsight, I didnt do a good job at all he he. obviously the past two decades i have improved greatly in that regard, as they say there is no teacher like hard won experience.
 Admins, mods, and posters have come and gone over the years  yet I remain. i have made many friends over the years , some-  like Threehorn, the Friendly Sharptooth, Drake and Kor- no longer post here(although I hope Kor returns some day), others- like Serris, Belmont, Lettucebaconandtomato, and brekclub are still around. I would be remiss to not acknowledge my fellow staff-Rhombus, Mumbling and Zeropoint, and commend them for the great job they do in helping keeping this place going. i've been in positions in other forums  where I was the sole admin. running a board is NOT a one person job.
i expect to still be here in 2023 when we officially mark 20 years as a community, and in November 2024 to mark 20 years as a member. I SHOULD be approaching 50000 posts by then, he he, roleplaying activity  permitting of course.
 Keep up the good work everyone!

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: Silver the Pterosaur on December 05, 2021, 02:08:04 PM

I know that I am the new kid on the block, but I am happy to have finally joined.

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: StardustSoldier on December 05, 2021, 06:31:32 PM

I welcomed you on your intro thread already, but still, we are pleased to have you. It's my third year with this community now and I'm happy to see that it's still going strong. :)

Title: Re: Happy 15th Anniversary - GOF Forum!
Post by: Petrie on December 25, 2021, 03:07:25 PM

I’m surprised this thread is still pinned and still getting replies. XP

We’re only two years away from 20 years, so this thread will hit the archives.  I do promise to post for 20 years if it makes it there. I’m not totally gone, just doing other things now.