Post by Redstorm on Oct 20, 2017 20:10:14 GMT -6
So, to start, let me just say that today isn't actually my 8 year anniversary on this website. My join date was actually October 23rd, but that's the day I go back to college from fall break and I know for a fact I will not have time or energy to make this then. So, here it is now. Close enough.
I joined VWW eight years ago at the recommendation of my friend. My friends and I were all obsessed with Warriors, as were most kids our ages across the world, it seems. Anyway, I joined because I had really really wanted a Warrior Cats video game, and my friend described this as a game! I remember googling, actually googling for "virtual warrior cats game" and getting so excited. I was met with this weird forum which looked very similar to how it does now (well, with the old skin I still use, anyway). It wasn't what I had expected, but I fell in love at first sight.
I made a thread asking for a mother. A character by the name of Bluestream (I think her old name was Bluefang) adopted me. Redkit had been born into this website.
Almost immediately I got into trouble (kinda). I didn't know about OOC vs IC, and eventually Moo/Darkstar had to come into the thread and say that I wasn't in trouble, but that I should, indeed, use parantheses when speaking out of character. I think that started my initial fear of her, though now I love her dearly.
For a long time my adventures on this website were wild. I made up a lavish backstory for Redstorm, which I still consider canon today. I broke the rules by not only visiting the Shimmering Rocks, but by RP'ing as dead cats that didn't even exist! Yep. I was a total rule follower. Oddly enough, I don't know that I ever actually got in trouble for that. And so I continued to accept it as canon. Also I'm pretty sure I did that as a kit.
I made a best friend really quick, a kit named Hazelkit, who very quickly became Hazelpaw. We talked a lot in and out of character and I think somewhere deep down in my 12 year old self, I had developed a weird kind of crush. I'm still not really sure how I truly felt about her then, that was such a weird time in my life. Anyway, eventually Hazelkit and Redkit became Hazelblaze and Redstorm, and we agreed to be mates. We adopted a lot of kits (this is all back before Queens were made as staff, and everyone could have kits). One kit, I remember, was named Laserkit.
A few in particular were special to me, Brownfeather and Coyotehowl. They were the most active of my kits, and I hope I always remember them.
After like two months I left the site. I can't remember why, though. And I remember coming back like another month or two after, in very early 2010. That's when the real adventure for me started on VWW.
You see, a sort of chat system had been discovered and utilized by many of our members; Tinychat. It wasn't the best, but it worked. It was an instant messenger system where you could also get on camera or on mic, which very rapidly divided people from their characters. Instead of knowing Harrowingpride, I could know Rowan. Instead of knowing Wildwind or Ivycloud, I could know Cass. Flurr instead of Flurrywind (heh), etc.
It wasn't always great, I'll admit. Even on a website about talking cats, teenagers and preteens suck. We were mean to each other, really mean, sometimes. I regret a lot of things I've said to people, and I really hope a lot of others regret things, too. But, for the most part, we were a very close and very active group of friends and acquaintances.
Over time I got my first staff position, as Waspwing the Treeclan medicine cat. I replaced Crystalglow, and became the assistant to the very inactive Fernpelt. So basically, I had free roam as the med cat for a Clan that I was only partially familiar with (my only other TreeClanner at the time was a cat named Greycloud). I was ecstatic. I was staff with some of my greatest friends on the site, like Beechstar and Koisplash. It was wondrous.
Eventually, things began to slow down. The people who made this site and first joined it grew older and started heading off to college. The younger members, who had been eleven or twelve or thirteen when they joined, were going into high school. Warriors became childish and dull and we were considered too old to enjoy rping as cats. We moved on from being mostly active on VWW to being mostly active on Xat, Tinychat's replacement for our instant messaging needs. For years I would come here and to Xat every single day and talk for hours. I met some people that I still call friends to this day, and hope I can call friends for the rest of my life.
When I joined VWW I was eleven years old, almost twelve. I was in elementary school. Now I'm almost twenty years old and I'm in my second year in college. I may not read the Warriors books anymore, or check in on VWW very much, but this place is...special. It's helped me get through a lot of hard times and has shaped who I am in immeasurable amounts. So to anyone who I've talked to, rped with, laughed with, fought with, yelled at: thank you. Thank you for eight years of bewilderment and joy and love and growth. Thank you Jai for making a website that has not just been a part of my life, but has shaped my life. Thank you to all of the original staff members from 2009 and 2010 that dealt with me. I was a lot to handle, and I'm sorry, but also I'm not because I was literally 12 and I mean, come on.
So there we have it. I'm still here, if just barely. I made a promise a long, long time ago to stick around until this site dies. Though much smaller than it was back in the day, it's still here, and therefor so am I. I love you guys. Keep posting. Keep creating. Keep making VWW, VWW. It's a great place, and I hope it continues to be for a long time.
I joined VWW eight years ago at the recommendation of my friend. My friends and I were all obsessed with Warriors, as were most kids our ages across the world, it seems. Anyway, I joined because I had really really wanted a Warrior Cats video game, and my friend described this as a game! I remember googling, actually googling for "virtual warrior cats game" and getting so excited. I was met with this weird forum which looked very similar to how it does now (well, with the old skin I still use, anyway). It wasn't what I had expected, but I fell in love at first sight.
I made a thread asking for a mother. A character by the name of Bluestream (I think her old name was Bluefang) adopted me. Redkit had been born into this website.
Almost immediately I got into trouble (kinda). I didn't know about OOC vs IC, and eventually Moo/Darkstar had to come into the thread and say that I wasn't in trouble, but that I should, indeed, use parantheses when speaking out of character. I think that started my initial fear of her, though now I love her dearly.
For a long time my adventures on this website were wild. I made up a lavish backstory for Redstorm, which I still consider canon today. I broke the rules by not only visiting the Shimmering Rocks, but by RP'ing as dead cats that didn't even exist! Yep. I was a total rule follower. Oddly enough, I don't know that I ever actually got in trouble for that. And so I continued to accept it as canon. Also I'm pretty sure I did that as a kit.
I made a best friend really quick, a kit named Hazelkit, who very quickly became Hazelpaw. We talked a lot in and out of character and I think somewhere deep down in my 12 year old self, I had developed a weird kind of crush. I'm still not really sure how I truly felt about her then, that was such a weird time in my life. Anyway, eventually Hazelkit and Redkit became Hazelblaze and Redstorm, and we agreed to be mates. We adopted a lot of kits (this is all back before Queens were made as staff, and everyone could have kits). One kit, I remember, was named Laserkit.
A few in particular were special to me, Brownfeather and Coyotehowl. They were the most active of my kits, and I hope I always remember them.
After like two months I left the site. I can't remember why, though. And I remember coming back like another month or two after, in very early 2010. That's when the real adventure for me started on VWW.
You see, a sort of chat system had been discovered and utilized by many of our members; Tinychat. It wasn't the best, but it worked. It was an instant messenger system where you could also get on camera or on mic, which very rapidly divided people from their characters. Instead of knowing Harrowingpride, I could know Rowan. Instead of knowing Wildwind or Ivycloud, I could know Cass. Flurr instead of Flurrywind (heh), etc.
It wasn't always great, I'll admit. Even on a website about talking cats, teenagers and preteens suck. We were mean to each other, really mean, sometimes. I regret a lot of things I've said to people, and I really hope a lot of others regret things, too. But, for the most part, we were a very close and very active group of friends and acquaintances.
Over time I got my first staff position, as Waspwing the Treeclan medicine cat. I replaced Crystalglow, and became the assistant to the very inactive Fernpelt. So basically, I had free roam as the med cat for a Clan that I was only partially familiar with (my only other TreeClanner at the time was a cat named Greycloud). I was ecstatic. I was staff with some of my greatest friends on the site, like Beechstar and Koisplash. It was wondrous.
Eventually, things began to slow down. The people who made this site and first joined it grew older and started heading off to college. The younger members, who had been eleven or twelve or thirteen when they joined, were going into high school. Warriors became childish and dull and we were considered too old to enjoy rping as cats. We moved on from being mostly active on VWW to being mostly active on Xat, Tinychat's replacement for our instant messaging needs. For years I would come here and to Xat every single day and talk for hours. I met some people that I still call friends to this day, and hope I can call friends for the rest of my life.
When I joined VWW I was eleven years old, almost twelve. I was in elementary school. Now I'm almost twenty years old and I'm in my second year in college. I may not read the Warriors books anymore, or check in on VWW very much, but this place is...special. It's helped me get through a lot of hard times and has shaped who I am in immeasurable amounts. So to anyone who I've talked to, rped with, laughed with, fought with, yelled at: thank you. Thank you for eight years of bewilderment and joy and love and growth. Thank you Jai for making a website that has not just been a part of my life, but has shaped my life. Thank you to all of the original staff members from 2009 and 2010 that dealt with me. I was a lot to handle, and I'm sorry, but also I'm not because I was literally 12 and I mean, come on.
So there we have it. I'm still here, if just barely. I made a promise a long, long time ago to stick around until this site dies. Though much smaller than it was back in the day, it's still here, and therefor so am I. I love you guys. Keep posting. Keep creating. Keep making VWW, VWW. It's a great place, and I hope it continues to be for a long time.
