Farewell
Nov 25, 2019 12:52:33 GMT -5
Post by Atom on Nov 25, 2019 12:52:33 GMT -5
I regret the fact that I have to make this. I wish I could've done more for the site. But all good things must come to an end, right? Well, this is the end. This site has meant a lot to me over the past few years, as it was a way for me to keep going with my love of Bakugan. But now, I'm one of the only few active members left. The rest of the active members, as of this being posted, are all in the Official RP. With me leaving, leaving only the Official RP to hold the site up without anybody else, I know it's the end. I figured that, since this site has meant a lot to me, that I'd give it a grand farewell, as well as the few people left on here. In order to do so, I'll have to go back to when I first got active on this site, and go forward from there. This is already saddening enough, so let's get on with it.
When I first found this site, I was in utter confusion about what to do. I had no idea where to start, or even how to start. So, I left. I left for a year without knowing anything. It's when I came back, however, that I started poking around to try and figure out what there was to do. I was amazed at everything the site showed it could be, so I threw my hat in. I made my character, got approved, and started making my stuff. Sure, I made a few mistakes here and there. I'm sure only Keto would remember my first attempt at 'evolving' a Bakugan.
And, of course, I have to mention my first ever battle. I was extremely new, so I had absolutely no clue what the heck I was doing. Keto was my first opponent, and boy did I show my ineptness there. I attempted to use the Gate Card Close strategy that I saw on the show, had little to nothing I could do against Keto, it was just a mess. But, I used it to understand the lay of the land, how everything worked.
From that battle, a fire was stoked in me. I would become as good as possible on this site, until I could improve no further. From there, I began working on my own strategy. I would not go soft with my main Attribute, I would go hard and fast with all six, using each of their strengths as my own. That's how my signature came to be, in fact. Each Attribute has something different to bring to the table, so it's amazing what's possible when you bring them together. I crafted each of my Bakugan and their abilities and put them onto a Google Docs document to keep track of all of them I had and would still need to make. And this is where the site truly opened up to me.
By the time I had all of my Bakugan, I had dabbled a little in RPign. My first attempt ended up with Keto joining me in the General RPs, and it was pretty fun. It was when I did my second, however, that things really ramped up. One of my many friends on this site joined then, going by the name of Grimm. He jumped right into my RP after making his character, and did exactly what he wanted to do: stir up chaos and disorder. He really brought some life to the RP, that's for sure.
And it wasn't just him that joined up. Blaze Hayes also came into the RP, which only added to it a little. It was also the time that I brought the antagonist of my story onto the site. Destruction might not be capable of entering Realities himself, but he sure can send his Negative Shifters in to cause some serious damage, especially with their ability to copy DNA and apply it to themselves.
Of course, I can't mention my RP friends without giving a shoutout to Uselessloserinfinity, shortened to ULI. His character, Ivan, made for some really good comic relief in the RPs, even if he did go a little far. Sure, he wasn't exactly a good brawler by any means, but he was still fun to hang around with. Was he annoying? Yes. But it was just him, so I was fine with it.
However, soon after we started with our RP, the site began to take a downturn. Fewer and fewer people were signing up and staying, and our returning members were starting to drop. Before too long, the only people left that kept checking in day after day without fail was me, Grimm, and ULI. And from there, things just kept getting worse.
It was around this time that both Grimm and ULI had a drive to beat me, because of how often I beat them. This drove them to keep making card after card, trying to make bigger and better ones. Most of what I saw was the same effect over and over again, each time worded differently. What the staff saw, however, was even worse. They saw paragraphs and paragraphs for each effect when all it really needed was one sentence. I had tried to tell both ULI and Grimm on multiple occasions that it wasn't my cards that were strong, it was how I used them. But alas, they continued on their path. This was the beginning of the end for the site, as because of their actions, staff kept on slacking, not wanting to deal with well over 2 dozen cards, reading them over and seeing that they're again the same effect.
Things kept getting worse from there. It eventually boiled over during one of the instances staff was actually on. ULI decided that it would be a good idea to tell staff what he felt. He didn't do it gently, or with any kind of forewarning, he just up and said it like it was nothing to call out staff and blame them for your own doing. He was a fool, and had gone too far. He then further propagated the problem by gloating about how he was above staff because he was one of the last 3 active members outside of them. Long story short, he got banned. Not too long after, Grimm left as well, but not before claiming a victory over me.
In the following months, the site slowed down to be slower than a snail. Nothing was being posted, except for Official RP. I attempted a few times to get things moving again, but it was mostly for naught. During my attempts, however, one particular person came to the site. Let's just say he was less than pleasant.
It started with Arthas, someone who popped up out of nowhere. He joined, and everything seemed fine. I attempted to teach him the basics, and he seemed to catch on quickly. But then came his accomplice, Kelthuzad. He joined in, and started brawling Arthas immediately. Because of how similar they wrote, they seemed like the same person. However, I just sat back and watched, as I didn't want to make a hasty choice to alert staff. But then, then came the problem.
Isco joined the site a week or two after Arthas and Kelthuzad. I trained him just like I would any other new guy, but he was strange. He joined one of my RP attempts, and attempted to RP with me. If you look at the General RP, there's a reason I have an 'Attempt 2' on my latest RP. Isco was not a very easy guy to work with. And then, he challenged Keto. And man oh man, was that a train wreak.
Isco wasn't, how should I put this, very accompanying of the rules here. He didn't bother to read them, and just assumed he knew what was happening. He didn't. Battle after battle, time after time, he didn't learn. Durant was one victim, and Kendall2300 was another. It was, thankfully, put to a stop by Keto and Zeno.
However, the damage had been done. Isco was a menace who didn't abide by any rules laid before him. He disrespected anybody who he thought cheated him, hated on staff for not letting him win, and worst of all, he made an empty apology when he was told he was getting banned. If I remember right, some of his last words were 'please don't ban me! I love Bakugan!". After everything he did, he wasn't getting a pass on anything. But even still, he didn't stop. He continued to make accounts, trying to get back in, but each and every one was banned by staff. I'm not sure if he's still trying, but he must've made at least a dozen accounts.
And that brings us to today. I don't know what happened before I joined in, it could've been better or worse. I just don't know. But I do know one thing. It wasn't staff that caused the initial problem. It was the users. They thought they could walk through here and leave unscathed without any regards for anything. That drove the Staff away, slowing the site down to an absolute crawl. And more stuff continued to pile up as the users kept making more and more cards. I even told Grimm and ULI at one point that I wasn't making cards so that I wouldn't increase the burden on Staff because of how many they had made. For example, ULI was on this site for about half the time I was on, yet had made twice as many cards. It was ludicrous.
I don't know what the future of this site is. I don't know where it'll go, or if it'll be here in a year. In all honesty, I don't think this site has a chance at revival. But, I do have a few closing words for everyone who reads this. These words need to be internalized if this site is to ever come back.
I only have one piece of advice for everybody. Take you time. You don't have to do everything all at once. Slow and steady wins the race. If you post too much at once, staff will not check it over quickly, the site will slow down, and it will die again. However, post too slowly, and the site will again seem like its dying. I know people want to go out and make a name for themselves, but in most cases, it will not work the way you hope. Isco, for example, made a name for himself, but it wasn't of a positive nature.
And now, my advice for staff. My final parting words to this site. Please, don't feel like you have to go at it alone. The biggest problem with how staff was doing stuff was that they couldn't give enough time to do everything. They had too much on their plate, and decided to cut out this entire site from it. I understand that life takes priority, but still. People came to this site to relive Bakugan, a part of their life. If there was more staff, more could be passed around to keep the site moving at a decent rate. Sure, you shouldn't just staff anybody who asks, but for people who dedicate a large amount of time to this site should be given the chance to help out, assuming they know the rules (Isco, looking at you.). So please, in the future, whether for better or worse, let people help out. If this site is going to sill be around in six months, a year, then more needs to get done. I understand not being able to give you time, but if you don't have the time to give then someone else does.
With that, I have hopes for this site. I hope it'll come back, I want it to come back. But as it is, it'll never come back. It's doomed to fall in antiquity, into the black hole that is forgotten sites. And with it, everything we have ever done as brawlers.
It's been real, and I've had a ton of fun on this site, but all good things must come to an end.
With Regards,
Atom
When I first found this site, I was in utter confusion about what to do. I had no idea where to start, or even how to start. So, I left. I left for a year without knowing anything. It's when I came back, however, that I started poking around to try and figure out what there was to do. I was amazed at everything the site showed it could be, so I threw my hat in. I made my character, got approved, and started making my stuff. Sure, I made a few mistakes here and there. I'm sure only Keto would remember my first attempt at 'evolving' a Bakugan.
And, of course, I have to mention my first ever battle. I was extremely new, so I had absolutely no clue what the heck I was doing. Keto was my first opponent, and boy did I show my ineptness there. I attempted to use the Gate Card Close strategy that I saw on the show, had little to nothing I could do against Keto, it was just a mess. But, I used it to understand the lay of the land, how everything worked.
From that battle, a fire was stoked in me. I would become as good as possible on this site, until I could improve no further. From there, I began working on my own strategy. I would not go soft with my main Attribute, I would go hard and fast with all six, using each of their strengths as my own. That's how my signature came to be, in fact. Each Attribute has something different to bring to the table, so it's amazing what's possible when you bring them together. I crafted each of my Bakugan and their abilities and put them onto a Google Docs document to keep track of all of them I had and would still need to make. And this is where the site truly opened up to me.
By the time I had all of my Bakugan, I had dabbled a little in RPign. My first attempt ended up with Keto joining me in the General RPs, and it was pretty fun. It was when I did my second, however, that things really ramped up. One of my many friends on this site joined then, going by the name of Grimm. He jumped right into my RP after making his character, and did exactly what he wanted to do: stir up chaos and disorder. He really brought some life to the RP, that's for sure.
And it wasn't just him that joined up. Blaze Hayes also came into the RP, which only added to it a little. It was also the time that I brought the antagonist of my story onto the site. Destruction might not be capable of entering Realities himself, but he sure can send his Negative Shifters in to cause some serious damage, especially with their ability to copy DNA and apply it to themselves.
Of course, I can't mention my RP friends without giving a shoutout to Uselessloserinfinity, shortened to ULI. His character, Ivan, made for some really good comic relief in the RPs, even if he did go a little far. Sure, he wasn't exactly a good brawler by any means, but he was still fun to hang around with. Was he annoying? Yes. But it was just him, so I was fine with it.
However, soon after we started with our RP, the site began to take a downturn. Fewer and fewer people were signing up and staying, and our returning members were starting to drop. Before too long, the only people left that kept checking in day after day without fail was me, Grimm, and ULI. And from there, things just kept getting worse.
It was around this time that both Grimm and ULI had a drive to beat me, because of how often I beat them. This drove them to keep making card after card, trying to make bigger and better ones. Most of what I saw was the same effect over and over again, each time worded differently. What the staff saw, however, was even worse. They saw paragraphs and paragraphs for each effect when all it really needed was one sentence. I had tried to tell both ULI and Grimm on multiple occasions that it wasn't my cards that were strong, it was how I used them. But alas, they continued on their path. This was the beginning of the end for the site, as because of their actions, staff kept on slacking, not wanting to deal with well over 2 dozen cards, reading them over and seeing that they're again the same effect.
Things kept getting worse from there. It eventually boiled over during one of the instances staff was actually on. ULI decided that it would be a good idea to tell staff what he felt. He didn't do it gently, or with any kind of forewarning, he just up and said it like it was nothing to call out staff and blame them for your own doing. He was a fool, and had gone too far. He then further propagated the problem by gloating about how he was above staff because he was one of the last 3 active members outside of them. Long story short, he got banned. Not too long after, Grimm left as well, but not before claiming a victory over me.
In the following months, the site slowed down to be slower than a snail. Nothing was being posted, except for Official RP. I attempted a few times to get things moving again, but it was mostly for naught. During my attempts, however, one particular person came to the site. Let's just say he was less than pleasant.
It started with Arthas, someone who popped up out of nowhere. He joined, and everything seemed fine. I attempted to teach him the basics, and he seemed to catch on quickly. But then came his accomplice, Kelthuzad. He joined in, and started brawling Arthas immediately. Because of how similar they wrote, they seemed like the same person. However, I just sat back and watched, as I didn't want to make a hasty choice to alert staff. But then, then came the problem.
Isco joined the site a week or two after Arthas and Kelthuzad. I trained him just like I would any other new guy, but he was strange. He joined one of my RP attempts, and attempted to RP with me. If you look at the General RP, there's a reason I have an 'Attempt 2' on my latest RP. Isco was not a very easy guy to work with. And then, he challenged Keto. And man oh man, was that a train wreak.
Isco wasn't, how should I put this, very accompanying of the rules here. He didn't bother to read them, and just assumed he knew what was happening. He didn't. Battle after battle, time after time, he didn't learn. Durant was one victim, and Kendall2300 was another. It was, thankfully, put to a stop by Keto and Zeno.
However, the damage had been done. Isco was a menace who didn't abide by any rules laid before him. He disrespected anybody who he thought cheated him, hated on staff for not letting him win, and worst of all, he made an empty apology when he was told he was getting banned. If I remember right, some of his last words were 'please don't ban me! I love Bakugan!". After everything he did, he wasn't getting a pass on anything. But even still, he didn't stop. He continued to make accounts, trying to get back in, but each and every one was banned by staff. I'm not sure if he's still trying, but he must've made at least a dozen accounts.
And that brings us to today. I don't know what happened before I joined in, it could've been better or worse. I just don't know. But I do know one thing. It wasn't staff that caused the initial problem. It was the users. They thought they could walk through here and leave unscathed without any regards for anything. That drove the Staff away, slowing the site down to an absolute crawl. And more stuff continued to pile up as the users kept making more and more cards. I even told Grimm and ULI at one point that I wasn't making cards so that I wouldn't increase the burden on Staff because of how many they had made. For example, ULI was on this site for about half the time I was on, yet had made twice as many cards. It was ludicrous.
I don't know what the future of this site is. I don't know where it'll go, or if it'll be here in a year. In all honesty, I don't think this site has a chance at revival. But, I do have a few closing words for everyone who reads this. These words need to be internalized if this site is to ever come back.
I only have one piece of advice for everybody. Take you time. You don't have to do everything all at once. Slow and steady wins the race. If you post too much at once, staff will not check it over quickly, the site will slow down, and it will die again. However, post too slowly, and the site will again seem like its dying. I know people want to go out and make a name for themselves, but in most cases, it will not work the way you hope. Isco, for example, made a name for himself, but it wasn't of a positive nature.
And now, my advice for staff. My final parting words to this site. Please, don't feel like you have to go at it alone. The biggest problem with how staff was doing stuff was that they couldn't give enough time to do everything. They had too much on their plate, and decided to cut out this entire site from it. I understand that life takes priority, but still. People came to this site to relive Bakugan, a part of their life. If there was more staff, more could be passed around to keep the site moving at a decent rate. Sure, you shouldn't just staff anybody who asks, but for people who dedicate a large amount of time to this site should be given the chance to help out, assuming they know the rules (Isco, looking at you.). So please, in the future, whether for better or worse, let people help out. If this site is going to sill be around in six months, a year, then more needs to get done. I understand not being able to give you time, but if you don't have the time to give then someone else does.
With that, I have hopes for this site. I hope it'll come back, I want it to come back. But as it is, it'll never come back. It's doomed to fall in antiquity, into the black hole that is forgotten sites. And with it, everything we have ever done as brawlers.
It's been real, and I've had a ton of fun on this site, but all good things must come to an end.
With Regards,
Atom