dylansan
Premium
- 5,045
- Massachusetts
- GTP_dylansan
- MINICOOPER120
As of today, I've been a member of GTPlanet for ten years.
Holy 🤬.
What a crazy ten years it's been. I remember finding the site just before GT4 was released. GT2 and 3 were my favorite games at the time, and I remember being astounded that there were places online where people just talked about the games, posted pictures, etc. I didn't sign up until after the game came out, in 2006. Even then I didn't post anything until later. My username at the time was MINICOOPER120, though I'm not sure why, as I doubt that was ever my favorite car even if I did like them.
There used to be a way to search my posts by date in reverse order. I had some pretty cringeworthy first posts, full of emoticons and exclamation points and with as much value to the discussion as you could expect from a preteen. I wonder if it's still possible to go back and find my first post. I'm curious but slightly frightened.
I do have some fond memories, though.
My time on GTP could possibly be characterized by a lot of empty promises and false starts. Or more accurately, too much ambition and not enough motivation. I've made many posts expressing interest in an event or project, promising a gallery update or a few laps in a WRS time trial, most of which led nowhere. It's something I'm working on. Something I've made progress on. Despite my failures, I've had many successes. Many things I look back on fondly as a time I accomplished something, or did something I really enjoyed. The sporadic participation I have had has been a great experience, and it's for those moments that I continue to try to be more involved in the community.
The most important thing is that in all this time, I've come across some truly great people, and I don't want to imagine how dull my life would be had I not found this community. Thanks to @SlipZtrEm, @Danoff, @TB, @Touring Mars, @Wolfe, @Famine, @Parnelli Bone, @niky, @daan, @Handlebar, @Omnis, @Loon, @zer05ive, @Apmaddock, @Pebb (who will always be TVR&Ferrari_Fan to me), @Danny, @NTX, @JacoJa, and of course, @Jordan!
I'm sure I'm forgetting plenty of people. There really are too many awesome people to count or even keep track of, and I've never been all that good at remembering who's who.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next ten. I'm not planning on leaving any time soon. As far as I know, this is the first website I ever registered for, which makes this a pretty huge milestone for me. This website has been by far the most influential in my life, and I'd be a totally different person without it.
Enough rambling. Love y'all. Cheers.
Holy 🤬.
What a crazy ten years it's been. I remember finding the site just before GT4 was released. GT2 and 3 were my favorite games at the time, and I remember being astounded that there were places online where people just talked about the games, posted pictures, etc. I didn't sign up until after the game came out, in 2006. Even then I didn't post anything until later. My username at the time was MINICOOPER120, though I'm not sure why, as I doubt that was ever my favorite car even if I did like them.
There used to be a way to search my posts by date in reverse order. I had some pretty cringeworthy first posts, full of emoticons and exclamation points and with as much value to the discussion as you could expect from a preteen. I wonder if it's still possible to go back and find my first post. I'm curious but slightly frightened.
I do have some fond memories, though.
- I remember starting my first photo gallery and getting lots of comments about the neck-snapping camera angles and strange compositions.
- I remember joining the WRS and performing at the top of division 3 for long enough to move up, though I'm sure it was only because I didn't spend enough time in the placement BMW at Infineon.
- I started a thread about racing-related song parodies which was a mild success, then a thread about regular song parodies which was definitely not, because my sense of humor wouldn't develop until several years later.
- I did a few race reports about some of GT4's races, giving them a cheesy dramatic story to go alongside. Then I used one of the photos from it as a christmas card for my parents, which was displayed in our kitchen even this past winter.
- In GT5 I joined SNAIL and had many many fantastic races, but as I headed back to college, I had to give it up. I tried to return in the summer but the time investment to practice each track was too much, and I lost interest.
- I started a 1-Lap-Magic themed series as part of SNAIL which was a lot of fun and mildly successful, but it just wasn't pulling in enough people, so it died out.
- I got a lot of support from the community when I posted about my brain tumor and the effect on my health. For the record, they shrank it a bunch and it hasn't grown a bit in years. Totally benign except that my left eye is still wonky. No big deal.
- I've had far too many discussions in the Opinions forum, including a time when I got so worked up about a ridiculous post that I PM'd a mod, hoping he'd enjoy it as much as I did. Sorry @Omnis.
- Certain members in the Opinions forum managed to inspire a love of logic and debate in me that I never expected. Special thanks to @Danoff, @Touring Mars, @Famine, and others I might be missing.
My time on GTP could possibly be characterized by a lot of empty promises and false starts. Or more accurately, too much ambition and not enough motivation. I've made many posts expressing interest in an event or project, promising a gallery update or a few laps in a WRS time trial, most of which led nowhere. It's something I'm working on. Something I've made progress on. Despite my failures, I've had many successes. Many things I look back on fondly as a time I accomplished something, or did something I really enjoyed. The sporadic participation I have had has been a great experience, and it's for those moments that I continue to try to be more involved in the community.
The most important thing is that in all this time, I've come across some truly great people, and I don't want to imagine how dull my life would be had I not found this community. Thanks to @SlipZtrEm, @Danoff, @TB, @Touring Mars, @Wolfe, @Famine, @Parnelli Bone, @niky, @daan, @Handlebar, @Omnis, @Loon, @zer05ive, @Apmaddock, @Pebb (who will always be TVR&Ferrari_Fan to me), @Danny, @NTX, @JacoJa, and of course, @Jordan!
I'm sure I'm forgetting plenty of people. There really are too many awesome people to count or even keep track of, and I've never been all that good at remembering who's who.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next ten. I'm not planning on leaving any time soon. As far as I know, this is the first website I ever registered for, which makes this a pretty huge milestone for me. This website has been by far the most influential in my life, and I'd be a totally different person without it.
Enough rambling. Love y'all. Cheers.
