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So then, 5 years on dakka and I have, with this post, reached the infamous 10k milestone. I thought I'd pause and take a look back over my history here and ponder a moment.

1. In The Beginning:

I had stopped playing some years ago, around the time the Undead book was divided into Vampires and Tomb Kings. I had other interests taking priority. Years passed, I occasionally picked up a White Dwarf for a train journey or thumbed through the pages in a local papershop.

Some 10 years following that I had moved from West Cornwall in the UK, up to Bristol city and had the opportunity to take up gaming, several friends there were playing still, especially my old and dear friend, the nefarious RandyMcStab. We talked for a while about what armies I could take up. I had played Eldar before, in 1st and 2nd, but one of our other friends now played those. I did not want to duplicate and I had already been eyeing the new Ork reimagined minis with relish. Meanwhile I took up employment at a large insurance firm in the city and learnt that I had plenty of working 'free time' to browse the internet.

Interested in learning tactics and painting tips, I went hunting the net, I knew RandyMcStab used 'another forum', which, back then, was by far the largest on the internet. My company had other ideas and I soon discovered that was blocked. I carried on looking about and stumbled on Dakka Dakka. I lurked for months, reading and watching and marveling at the quality of images and ideas I was presented with. Then, one day I decided to post and the rest is history. Since joining, I immigrated to the US with my American wife and she now collects Tyranids (and posts on Dakka occasionally herself...).

2. I know Kung-fu... :

I learnt a massive amount about the hobby, the other wargames I could play, the other miniature companies I, likely, would never have found. I've learnt a swathe about painting, modelling and terrain building. I've come to understand army lists and composition and tourney play as I never would have just playing at my local shop.

And it never ends, every day that I log into the forum I glean new information, I see another amazingly painted model and wonder how it was done and how I could achieve that technique. I watch as new codices or armies are produced for games and then the game playing community reacts on lists from that and ways to beat them, the evolution is fascinating.

Perhaps most importantly, I've gained real life friends from this website. Attending Dakkacons at Mike's amazing store in Media PA has allowed my wife and I to hang out and game with folks who had previously been names and avatars on the boards, it's been good, no, great, to realize what a great and friendly bunch is out there. Prior to that, I have met and gamed with folks after talking to them on Dakka, back in the UK.

3. The Dark Side of The Force:

It's not all double rainbows, not all the time. Being a human being you clash with other people, you'll disagree with the views of others. The internet grants us all masks and takes away many of the keys and clues of body language and normal social etiquette. Anonymity breeds aggression, we are free to voice our most immediate reactions without measuring environmental and social factors. I've had disagreements with several other inmates on the boards, some worse than others. One in particular was highly prolonged, vicious and surprisingly personal. It became deeply ingrained in both of us to fight the other. I fell out with him because I felt he needed taking on. It became 'necessary' to see him off. He's gone now, I'm not. My vanity would no doubt like me to think I won, I didn't, he hung himself in the end and the mods and admins pulled his plug. In persuing him and taking on that conflict, I think I likely also came close on occasions to hanging myself too, and being denied the rich and bountiful resource of Dakka. Other clashes have occurred since and before, not to that level, but I'm a lot less likely to vendetta against 'threats' now. I may be mellowing with posting age...

4. Mods, Admins and DCMs, Oh My!:

The Mods do a stand-up job. I've modded myself on another forum and it's a thankless and wearing task. The danger is that you start off loving the forum and then, it becomes a drag, coming on to break up other people's fights and get hatemail for policing the site. I have an interesting relationship with the mods, I think I divide opinion. I've also argued and become furiously incensed at them for not understanding 'the truth' because I can see it so clearly, why can't they?!?

I would like to apologize to the mods I've griefed in my time. I am a passionate person when I believe I am championing something or I believe someone else is threatening things I think need defending. I've retaliated at a couple of the mods before harshly, still incensed at the argument I was embroiled in. I'm sorry for that.

The Admins are also excellent. I used to be perplexed by Yakface's distance on the boards, rarely if ever involving himself in the struggles or clashes that occur, I think now that I get it, you keep out of it and remain impartial to remain objective, were he to directly and frequently post his opinions and interjections, the board would soon take on a very strong persona that would, doubtless, alienate a number of the current or future posters, it is the open and relaxed stance that allows dakka it's success. His work with the FAQ Council and GW's quiet endorsement of those certainly has helped to establish this site's reputation. Legoburner is the heart of it all, the CPU of the hive. This forum is now the colossus of the hobby, massive and daunting and Legoburner makes it alive, it's organic and evolving, constantly improving and providing us with a better and better service. His improvements are the sort one would expect from a subscription based service, yet this site is free to anyone to open and use.

So impressed and happy am I with the site, that I became a DCM, I had sat and thought about it and realized that GW asks me a fortune for it's magazine and there is very little in that I find useful, yet this amazing resource exists for free, so I give money to the site, to say thank you and to encourage and facilitate that improvement I mentioned above. It's far cheaper than a magazine and I get far far more from it. The DCMs have a forum unto themselves, I've found this, as the forum grew larger and larger, to be a great microcosm of good gamers and hobbyists, I've been posting more and more there with specific questions and blog type modelling threads. It recently underwent a flurry of new additions and there was some shaking up of the landscape there, that will, I hope, settle back in time and it it settles back changed somewhat, then both old and new will need to adapt some.

5. The Closing

I'll draw this to a close now, I think I just really wanted to say thank you to those who are a part of the running of the site, thank you to those of you who come here to post, to report on your battles, suggest armies and ideas, demonstrate your painting skills, share the rumors and recommend businesses in the hobby. I hope I contribute something of worth to the site as well, and that I have been helpful on occasion, in the spirit of the forum.

Time to close this post in the age old tradition...




































































Deploying Buseytrolls in 5, 4, 3, 2...
BUSEYTROLLS DEPLOYED!!!!!

Congratulations.

Yeah, well done man, thats some dedication right there

AHHHHH... The Buseytrolls, Far too long since they have graced the forum. Glad that Dakka's been good enough to keep you coming back MGS

Congrats on the 10k MGS.

Well done. I still have 9802 posts left till 10k...

I've only need 9549.....no wait 9548! (forgot to include this one..)

Congratz!!

Now go outside and run around to get some fresh air...

EDIT: I like to keep my image count higher than posts anyway..

Congrats MGS, insightful as always as well...

Yay! The Busey trolls have returned to grace us!

Happy 10,000th post, Stompa. Here's to another 10,000 more!

All hail MGS!

I used to only be able to think of him as Brian Blessed.

Until I saw a picture of him and realized... he does kinda look like him!

Here's to 10,000 more posts MGS!

Aye, grats on the milestone MGS, think you where one of the first I added to my friends list here on Dakka, theres a good reason for that.

Congrats on 10k!

Congratz!Now on to 20k!

Nice summary of your Dakkalution - and gratz on the 10k+!

Hats off! And...

Hawkmen DIVE!

This thread reminds me that I probably need to become a DCM...

*sigh*

@happygrunt, you'll love it

@MGS congrats on 10000, a bit of drama here and there through the journey but I for one have always regarded you as a die hard dakkanaut and well meaning grump

Seriously though, you were one of the first 'names' I noted on the boards when I started, and to me, you are part of the character of this place. Here's to 30k more!

MajorTom11 wrote:@happygrunt, you'll love it

@MGS congrats on 10000, a bit of drama here and there through the journey but I for one have always regarded you as a die hard dakkanaut and well meaning grump

Seriously though, you were one of the first 'names' I noted on the boards when I started, and to me, you are part of the character of this place. Here's to 30k more!

It's part of my "Trip to Adepticon" plan, so yes, I will be a DCM before I go.

MajorTom11 wrote:

Seriously though, you were one of the first 'names' I noted on the boards when I started, and to me, you are part of the character of this place. Here's to 30k more!

I was gonna say something similar to this, to add, he's definitely one of the best members on this site.

Congratulations on hitting ten thousand. I'm glad to see you think it's been worth it to stick around Dakka for that long. It's a big vote of confidence for everyone else.

Great job man.

Pfft!

Do something interesting MGS, like a retro WD review. None of this reflective self-realisation hippie nonsense!


Nah, I'm just kidding. Congrats on 10K.

Only 7928 for me to go

Congratulations! Thats devotion right there!

And here's to 10,000 more posts!

Congratulations!

Thanks for the kind words folks.
I thought it would be interesting, mostly for me, to measure where I was in the hobby and where I am now by comparison. It's quite a revelation just what you can get from this site.

MajorTom11 wrote:
I for one have always regarded you as a ... well meaning grump

Looted! also; you cheeky git.

Way to not suck, MGS.

What a contribution! Hats off to being such a dedicated member Congratulations!

I hereby give you my 1,000th post to help celebrate your milestone.

Number 1,000

MeanGreenStompa wrote:Thanks for the kind words folks.
I thought it would be interesting, mostly for me, to measure where I was in the hobby and where I am now by comparison. It's quite a revelation just what you can get from this site.

MajorTom11 wrote:
I for one have always regarded you as a ... well meaning grump

Looted! also; you cheeky git.

I can't often get away with it with that tag under my name, but I knew you would take it right lol