It's been around 2 years since I decided to join this forum so I decided to look back on what I posted about, how I posted it and what's different now.

I remember that I joined this forum after lurking the main page of C-R for quite some time. Since it didn't update on a consistent basis the times I looked at updates was also random. I later discovered the forum and though to myself: maybe more recent info is found here. This line of thinking relates to the topics I visited and what I posted.

This meant a lot of talk about the AA games themselves, what I liked about it, what could be improved, speculation about Dual Destinies, wondering if AAI 2 ever would be localized and other stuff like that. Most of my responses were mostly non-personal and strictly about the topic itself.

Nowadays I mostly talk in any active topic. I'm starting to know what makes every C-R user tick (as superficial as it can get through a PC screen) and more aspects of daily life and important issues dominate my discussion. Off course there's also talks about nonsensical or plainly stupid stuff, but it's all in good fun. I still talk about AA stuff off course, but significantly less then when I first joined.

So what changed? I personally think I got comfortable. Settled in you might say. It feels more like I'm actually talking to people now instead of an anonymous avatar. With that comes a more relaxed set of mind resulting in opening up more. It's easier to disclose information regarding my personal life, knowing you don't have to sugar coat a reaction too much because this person can most likely take at or take caution with another one because they are more easily offended.
Also 2 years older means getting more mature, wise and experienced. I feel a significant growth in myself when I evaluate how I grew in the past year, every year. This means being able to discuss more deeply in difficult topics and getting more open in the way I think. I also feel less compelled to 'win' arguments here. At the beginning I wanted to convince people I'm right, but now I want to state my opinion, discuss it if there is interest and move on if there is a stalemate. Maybe that's also a from of caring less, but it doesn't feel like a bad thing.

There are people that I really like here and people I generally don't care for. People who I perfectly understand and people who have quite some screws loose in their head in my opinion. I wonder how that will change, or root even deeper. How will I change if I look back at this reflection same time 2016? Answers that will actually fall into my lap in 2 years, but only remain as speculation for now.

TL;DR When you compare yourself to when you first started posting on this forum what has changed? How have you changed?

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I became more bitter... then again I could say that about practically any forum I go to.

C-A

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Is that because of how you developed as a person in RL? Or because of your experiences on various forums?

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Likely both?

C-A

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it's funny you bring this up. I was semi-active on C-R a few years back, but nowadays I'm an entirely different person and basically hate/regret every single thing that I'd posted in the past. It's like looking at old childhood photo albums and wincing at all the stupid stuff you did.

So basically the difference between me then and me now is about half a brain, which I expect to be the same as the difference between me now and me in about ten more years or so.

Who remembers this?
http://forums.court-records.net/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=27720&p=1222145#p1222145
Guess who it was that wrote that!

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What a great idea for a thread!

As for me, I'd lurked on C-R for a couple of years before I joined. I'd actually never joined a forum before, as I was a bit nervous. However, I found the forum very friendly, and now I don't hesitate to join new sites. So, I suppose I've grown in that sense.

I notice I tend to post quite a lot for a while, take a break for some time, then return to the site. But, I do that with most forums.

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I'm pretty sure that I would have fit the description of a typical GameFAQs board idiot when I first joined two years ago; considering I hadn't really been a part of an online fandom before then. I look back now, and all I see is a blind fanboy. Now I'm somewhat better than I was before, actually acknowledging the faults in a work I like, and posting in more non-AA related topics. And even more arguing with Cat.

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Damn it, I missed my one year anniversary (One year? Holy shit...) One big difference is that I now have more knowledge and experience of the games, so I can roam around freely in all subforums without getting spoiled. Nowadays I also write more in this forum and the other non-aa-related ones, because when I joined I did so with the purpose of discussing AA and nothing else, but nowadays I enjoy the forum in itself so to speak. And my posts overall are longer since I used to hang around here on boring lessons and breaks at school. As for myself, I'd guess (and hope) I've matured some. Looking back at my first posts, they were a little less "tidy" language wise, and more rash in a way. My thoughts are just as over the place as back then, but I've learned to structure them better Another thing that has changed is that I'm more likely to speak my mind, question other people's posts and not go into a defense (hehe) mode when somebody doesn't agree with me; I'm less scared of conflicts as I've become more comfortable and settling down in here. Also, in a way I feel like my way of writing has become more "personal" over the year - it could be that I'm more comfortable, or that I'm getting more used to writing forum posts in English (this was the first international forum I joined, and the only one I'm really active on). Aaand I've become more prone to rant.

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It's been 7 years since 15-year-old me graced the forum with my angsty presence.

....I'm still pretty angsty.

EDIT: Although I guess a big difference is while before I tried to be part of whatever crowd I thought was "cool", I can't be bothered with that crap anymore.

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Over 8 years since I joined? Geez. I was still a high school senior then, lurking the old forums for quite some time after I got invested in, what was back then, the ONLY game in the Ace Attorney series. Then the new forums came up, I immediately settled in, and took it as an opportunity to make myself known. Personality wise, I like to think I'm the same, just more mature. I honestly look back at how childish my posts were back in the day, but I've tried my best to stay true to who I am as well. I was way more obsessed with the fandom than I am now, but considering that back when I joined, the series started getting back to back releases with JFA, T&T, and AJ, it was a golden era for new fans I think.

I think what really amazes me most though is how Ace Attorney has gone from being so niche and unheard of to a pretty popular series. Even seeing the forums back in the day, having maybe 250 people tops being aware of the series to how many have signed up up to this point today. Back then, if I were to mention Ace Attorney to other people where I lived, I'd get confused looks. Now, they know what I'm talking about.

It's kinda neat to have been with the series (well, the Localized American versions anyways) since the beginning, and it's all thanks to one of my sisters friend's in my choir class, senior year, that showed me the game during one of our breaks. First "graphic novel" type genre game I had played since Princess Tomato on the NES (which I loved), so it got me back into a genre I had so missed.

Ended up talking more about my experiences with the series than the forums. As the forums go, I've had my good shares and bad on here. Seen many friends I've made come and go. All experiences that I really don't regret because I've stayed true to who I am as a person on here. Granted, I don't frequent as much as I used to because I've gone from being a high school/college student with free time to having a full time job now that eats up many of my hours. I don't think I get into conversations as much as I used to on here, but I've learned to pick and choose as well. Despite all my nostalgia for the days of old, being popular with those I used to chill with, I truly enjoy the community even to this day. I still see many awesome people around, many who are new compared to when I first joined, that I enjoy chatting with from time to time. For the most parts, things stay civil, which is a rarity for any forum, and it's why I choose to stick around. I still love the AA series, but the friendliness of this community is what keeps me coming back.

And, if I disappear one day, most likely it'll be due to time constraints rather than leaving on a bitter note. People here have been good to me overall and it's things like that that make me happy to have met such great people, even if they are just text on a screen.

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It's sometimes very hard to believe, but most text here was actually typed in by real, feeling humans. (I'm a robot, though... Well, nobody can know for sure, right?) These people are busy sometimes, and sometimes they are dying for a breather.

But it's even harder to believe that these people age. Just look at how some commenters mature over time.
...
Others don't. :P And I fully agree with you on the good-people part.

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Thanks. And I use that on and off switch myself quite often. Sometimes I just feel like going to the forums, sometimes I spent I'm gaming quite a lot , Deciding to marathon Anime or series etc.

But It's quite interesting to see some people have actually been here for 7 or 8 years. You see quite some people come and go and you get a feel about how the forum itself is doing. Not too mention that this time period can be easily 25 or 33% of our entire life until now.



I'm very prone to critically analyze my own performance in all aspects of my life (and it's an integrated part in my studies), but what exactly makes you wince and regret? The level of English? How short or long your answers are? Saying uneducated or naive things? How did you grow out of your old pattern in order to say the difference is half a brain?

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I think it was mostly saying generally naive and stupid things that I didn't know much better about at the time. Said a lot of stupid things, did a lot of stupid stuff, mostly presented myself in an obnoxious manner. I probably wasn't THAT bad in all honesty but looking back at those posts does make me realize what a different person I was. I'm more embarrassed than anything else I suppose.

I guess the main thing that changed was my experience/jadedness. I feel a lot less... enthusiastic, shall we say, and try to at least SEEM mature some of the time. I also feel like I developed the ability to consider other people's feelings a bit more.

Oh wow, I've been there for 4 years! Woo!
Damn, missed my anniversary again..

Okay, that aside..

When I first joined this forum, I wasn't even sure about my life or how my life would turn out. I mean, 4 years ago, I was still in school. I'm 19 now and I'm a bit inactive in this forum, which is rather sad because I always have been loving the Ace Attorney series, that's why I decided to join this forum in the first place.

Now, I'm pretty much busy, I'm fed up with studies and housework and all the other things I'm doing. I don't even have a free time anymore, despite my life was much better 4 years ago. There, I would lurk around on this forum and now I barely even remember that I am a member of the forums *sigh*

I'm still looking in the forums here and there when I can spare some free time, which is really rare and most unlikely, but since Ace Attorney was my life, I'm still here. I would ever go back to what I was before.

All I can remember, when I first joined the forums, I was a pretty shy kid. In those 4 years of membership, I've been growing up into a more or less mature adult and I'm glad for that. Guess, the forum is guilty of that, whoops.

Yeah, so the forum pretty much changed my life. And I'm grateful for that. <3

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I used to be really creative but looking back I know that sometimes less it more.