Hmmm, this seemed like a very interesting topic.
Is there anyone keeping a document of sorts for this?
I am. I have been combing archives for weeks.
For the average visitor, what brought you to NMA, what makes you stay?
My uncle introduced me to Fallout 1 and 2 around 1999 or so inevitably mentioning No Mutants Allowed in the process...for reasons I will mention later. I had to look up some information while playing the games and it was the site to go to. He gave me copies of the game which I took back to my house. I only had dial up back then, so internet use was fairly limited and then none at all. I did visit again around 2001 maybe 2002, but only lurking while browsing at school. It wasn't until I joined the military in 2004 and moved to a decent city with good internet early 2005 that I became a member. I've stayed so long because I have made friends here. I know the people. We share similar interests. It's better than fucking Facebook or Twitter that is for damn sure. I did spend some time away while in Iraq and field exercises but I will never leave. If I leave I'm dead.
For the old timers, the same questions but further. How has the site changed since you first came here?
Am I considered an old timer yet? The site has changed a lot. The old 90's style message boards looked like garbage. Probably the main reason I never joined any boards back then aside from spotty internet access. Plus I was just too damn busy playing video games.
It looks different than it did back in 05. The moderation is much more lax. Spambots are worse. Now we have a shoutbox which may or may not have cut down our posting. People come and go for various reasons. We get regular migrations of users depending on what game is coming out or who pissed off who. Back in the Roshambo days we got a bad reputation due to his excessive behavior. That kinda stuck long after he got butthurt and left.
Wooz carried the torch a bit, bashing me around when I first stumbled into the board - utterly clueless on how things worked. We got more traffic back when Fallout 3 was coming out but it was vicious. I missed the Van Buren disappointment as well as those weird Tactics days when various clans sprung up every week.
Fallout 4 was a bloodbath but we prepared for it. We had New Vegas to soften the blow. Now we don't know what to expect. The flow of members we got from Fallout 4 slowed down and many left. We have adapted over time to deal with trolls and the shunning we get across the web. Speak of NMA over at Bethesda forums or Reddit or Something Awful or even Codex and people freak...most of it undeserved.
What role have you played in making the site what it is?
Funny enough back in 2007 I got offered a moderator position, but I was too busy in the military. I think Gonzalez was busy or something. Plus I liked to talk a little shit every now and again and I wasn't quite ready to rein myself in. If only I would have considered Rosh.
I always wanted to help with the site any way I could. I contributed to fan fiction/theory when I visited here in the early days, often choosing to lurk in The Order, occasionally posting there before being told to shod off. It wasn't until people started complaining about Sander all the time that I considered stepping up and filling a need so to speak. I started with the Rpg Project which floundered but is still on the back burner, then the news team, now admin. Mainly I deal with spam bots, co-ordinating with other moderators/admins like Planhex, SuaSide, Hassknecht, Dead Guy, usually to deal with trolls, disputes, order (hate double posts unless the thread calls for it, typos in titles, OCD stuff), and generally trying to keep people happy and posting.
We have a lot of projects brewing both here at NMA and in The Order of which I am now a member. I am guilty of spamming every now and again, but I am of the opinion that it is better for people to post than be too afraid to communicate like I once was...it defeats the point otherwise. I have a bunch of ideas on how to improve things around here and I hope we can manage to have a thirty year anniversary in the future.
Any fond memories? Who do you remember being incredibly active that is now gone?
Tons. The early days just gave me fond memories interacting with people online. I still laugh when I think about Brother None calling me a pussy when I complained about him being rude. Even mean users like Wooz entertained and eventually they warmed up to me (a little) although Wooz glared at me rather silently the last time I walked by. I could name members all day that I miss. As a matter of fact I will make a list:
The Vault Dweller
Silencer
PsychoSniper
Welsh
Odin
Roshambo
Sander
Wooz
Tagaziel
Malkavian
Verevoof
Pope Viper
Sicblades
Dove
DirtyDreamDesigner
Victor
BigBoss
Courier
Little Robot
Ozrat
Ratty
Yamu
Yoshi
Strider
Pipboy2000
Dirk Magirk
WillisPDunley
Serge
Briosafreak
Per
So many more. I can think of a few of them right now that I know by avatar alone. Another thing old message boards lacked. I miss Yoshi's lucid drug posts. I miss seeing the NFL thread even though I didn't visit it I knew Dammitboy and Brother None were in there posting. I wish things went differently but people get old...
And for the men behind the masks... Who is Miroslav!
My uncle was good friends with him actually which is how I learned of the site although I didn't know who Miroslav was until 2010 when I met with my uncle and mentioned being a member, then he brought up that he knew Miroslav while serving in the military. Funny stuff.
