StarDestroyer.Net will turn 10 years old on July 2, 2012

[AdmiralKanos]

As in the subject line, this forum will hit its tenth birthday on July 2, 2012. How old were you when this forum started on July 2 2002, and how much different does the world look now?

[The Kernel]

Hah, wow...ten years ago? I was a precocious twenty-one and spent most of my time moving between video games and internet browsing blissful in the fact that I had no real responsibilities and no real career to worry about. Since then I've been through marriage, divorce, three "career" type jobs, quit smoking, lost 200 pounds, got a mortgage and got Pugs. In roughly that order.

It's strange to think that it has been ten years but when I think back upon exactly how much has happened in that time (the above is just a sample) I'm actually shocked it hasn't been longer. The funny part was too that I wasn't one of the "old timers", I found the main page during a Google search one day and got engrossed in all of the sci-fi tech analysis so I decided to join the board. I never would have guessed I'd meet so many people (both in real life and virtually) that would have such a big impact on my personal development.

As an aside, as long as we are waxing nostalgic though about SDNet I think we all deserve to give you props for running this place as long as you have and contributing so much to it. Whether you admit it or not this whole place formed as a sort of personality cult around you and even though it has certainly taken on other forms since then, we would have never lasted this long without you keeping this place up. Cheers.

[Vympel]

Jeez - I was 20 years old. I'm now 30 going on 31. I found the forum by a random link to the main site a friend emailed me. AotC had just come out, I believe. Just thinking about it, man I feel old!

The world looks very different. I've been working for the past ... 7 years? Looking to buy a place - meet someone, hopefully. Back then I had fuck all responsibilities but university, and it really wasn't much of one. Now I go home everynight with other people's fucking problems - with the risk of huge consequences if I fuck up someone's matter.

I think its correct to say you don't suddenly become an adult. All of a sudden you're surrounded by younger people and you realise you are one, whether you like it or not. Hopefully not a shitty one.

[weemadando]

Was 20. At uni. Single.

Since then I've gotten married, had a kid, moved house about 5 times, moved states once, had several jobs, run my own business, played a half dozen different sports...

Yeah. Its been ten years.

[mr friendly guy]

I was 22, but didn't join until 2 years later. Since then I have passed uni, saved some lives, failed to save them despite the best efforts of medical science.

Brought a house and paid off the mortgage, invested elsewhere, and I am still busy at work.

[SirNitram]

20 years old and still living back in Conneticut.. And without a clue I had a serious medical condition...

Better days, at least in the latter aspect.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Well fuck, I guess I would have been 15. Oddly enough, I do remember browsing the board Halloween night of that year, and running back and forth to the door to give out candy to trick-or-treaters.

I've since gotten a bachelor's degree and an apartment, but now it seems like I'm not much older than a lot of the previous posters were when the board went up. Trippy.

[Mr Bean]

Was twenty and in the military
Was on vacation at grandma's house when I registered way back when and used the forums for the next three years because my job involved sitting in various small rooms watching computers, sometimes I got to leave the small room to go visit other small rooms full of computers.

[Alferd Packer]

Wow. Ten years ago I was 19 and in college. Well, I was home from college in July. God, that means I accessed this board on dialup. And my MO is probably a little different from others: I don't post a lot, but I do read a lot of stuff that is posted. I like to think this board has made me a little more well-rounded and inquisitive, and I also like to the think I have contributed positively, in my own small way.

[FaxModem1]

Let's see, I was 16 back then. I was in the closet, a virgin, still in high school, a hardcore Christian and 30 pounds overweight.

Ten years later, I've finished high school, gone through four years of the active duty USAF, am now an atheist, completely out of the closet now, and about 15 pounds overweight, and of course, no longer a virgin.

So yes, I've gone through a bit of a journey.

[Knife]

Hmm, guess that means I was 28, though I remember some of the stuff that lead up to the creation of the board. I followed Wong's page for a year or so, and his fanfic. The world has changed a lot, I guess I have too. Reminds me of one of those sayings: "Life is what happens when you're doing something else."

[Temjin]

I was seventeen when I joined. I was never on ASVS, but I was a fan of both Darth Wong's site and fanfic. I was the typical teenager when I joined, who thought he was an expert in any given subject just because he once saw a half hour documentary on the subject once. I've since become a little bit more aware of the limitations of my knowledge...

Other than that, typical teenage stuff. Living at home, no job, no responsibilities except school. Now I have a job I love, and am in the market to buy my first house.

I was also a little bit of a homophobe when I joined. I didn't hate homosexual people, but I definately thought there was something "wrong" with them and that they needed help. Part of the reason was that I had no experience with them. It was this board that first gave me that first experience. There were a few openly gay people on this board even then, and I remember whenever I saw one of their posts, all that would go through my head was "He's GAAAAYY." Eventually, I stopped caring when I realised that they were normal people just like everyone else. A few years later, when a friend came out of the closet, I didn't bat an eye. I thank this board for that.

[Dalton]

I was just thinking about this the other day. Of course I'm an ASVS vet so for me it's been longer (been involved in this shit since 1999 during my first year in college). I was 21, getting ready for my last semester, thinking about my future. Since then I've graduated, landed a career gig that I've had almost as long as my time here, got married, got a second degree, had a kid and bought a house. It's been a wild ride, and I can't thank Mike enough for keeping this place running and trusting me with such power as he has endowed me.

[Ziggy Stardust]

I was 16. I don't remember exactly when I found the site, but somehow through some Star Wars related Internet searches I found Wong's fan fictions. I remember I read the site pretty religiously for a period of time, but it took me a while to make my way to the forums. And even then, I just stalked for a few years before I made an account (hell, even now you may notice I don't post much, though I read stuff on here daily).

EDIT: It's funny to think about all the little ways this site has impacted my growth, through high school and college. Besides opening me up to other perspectives/opinions, it has done a lot to help me think logically and critically about things. And I almost never trust the news, anymore, unless they present some really solid evidence.

I also (sarcastically) use the line "NONE OF YOU CAN PERCEIVE MY BRILLIANCE!" quite a bit, and there are probably a half-dozen other board jokes that have inserted themselves into my consciousness.

[Guardsman Bass]

I was 15 years old, and kind of an awkward jerkass of a kid. Out of curiosity, I looked at some of my earliest posts on this board *shudder*.

Since then, I've graduated from university, moved out, and moved back in. I've held a succession of jobs and one internship (which was good), including the current job I've had for three years (which isn't a bad job, but it's not exactly the end-goal). I've unfortunately gone from slightly overweight to obese.

[Dylax]

I hope I'm not out of place in posting here. But I've been a lurker for all these years.

In 2002 I was a Star Wars obsessed ten year old that eagerly searched out every Star Wars website on the net I could find. It didn't take me long to find SD.net and shortly after that I started reading the discussions on the board regularly. Honestly all the physics and stuff were way over my head at the time, but the quality of discussion was apparent to me even at that age to keep my interested. Just that simple habit of browsing this board a few times a week, and reading through all the different debates and discussions has remained with me through all the other changes of my life.

Cheers, guys!

[Dartzap]

14 when I joined.

I have been through college, flopped uni, learned to spell, done years of voluntary work and finally managed to get a foothold into a job I love.

Wild times indeed.

[Lord Pounder]

I was 21 back then. Living in my parents home hopeless and in dire need of a smack in the head with a clue x 4. I drank too much and tried way to hard with women.

Since those awkward days I've been lucky enough to find my partner and our ninja cat Montague. I am finally comfortable in my own skin. I've (technically) moved to another country and found what makes me happy. I don't drink alcohol any more and I have diabetes so my vices are few these days.

A lot has changed.

[SCRawl]

I admired the site before there was a forum -- my interest in things related to Star Wars was reignited when the prequels were in production -- and finally joined in late 2002 after lurking for a while. When that happened, I was (recently) married, 31 years old, and had just moved into the house I live in now with my wife and two daughters (who were -2 and -4 at the time). Needless to say, things have changed quite a bit.

[Flagg]

Christ, I was 20 and not a member. I joined up 7 years ago. My life has deteriorated since then, unfortunately.

[LadyTevar]

20 years old and still living back in Conneticut.. And without a clue I had a serious medical condition...

Better days, at least in the latter aspect.

Funny how he doesn't mention that he had already visited me three times, already had sex, phoned me nightly, and was already hinting that he wanted to move down here with me permanently.

I was 31, had been working for the State for 9months, and the StarKitty and TevKitty were not yet 1yr old. I was living in a studio attic apartment with no AC and walking to work daily (which meant I was in far better health).

[Stofsk]

I joined in 2003, just a couple days before my 21st birthday. So I haven't been here right from the start but near enough that it probably doesn't really matter.

When I think back over the last decade, I'm... amazed at the shit I went through. I made some good friends here, and they helped me get through it too, so no matter what one thinks about SW or ST or any of that bullshit, SDN has been a positive force in my life.

[madd0ct0r]

lessee - i'd have been 16, hacking the school firewall (any other email provider was banned, and incoming mail was censored), 3 months away from meeting the girl i would eventually marry, agnostic christian just started drinking coffee and stockpiling bottles of brandy.

Didn't discover here until 2nd year of university when, one night, I decided to make a bat'leth. Googling plans led me here to a discussion on whether worf's bat'leth or darth maul's dual saber were more stupid.

Since then I've got married, moved around the world, had a few nervous breakdowns and generally had a really interesting time. I've become much more ruthless in debate and much more of a hard line atheist, and this board has kept me sane almost as often as it's wasted my time

[PeZook]

I accomplished suprisingly little in those ten years, or at least I feel like that.

But I was always slow and ponderous to move forward. I easily get comfortable. Maybe too easily.

Still, when I first registered here I was 18 and dumb, and now I'm 28 and not much smarter...or maybe it's just that the problems I have now are so much more difficult than the sweet, care free world of an eighteen year old dumbfuck. Hard to tell.

[tim31]

Ten years ago I had my whole life ahead of me

Now I still have(ohhh tempting fate here) most of my life ahead of me, but I fear I'm going to wait until either my children are grown or my ex finds something else to occupy her time before I can start living my life

And then there has been the gradual destruction of the family I grew up with, unaware that we actually weren't a normal family with no inherint problems

On the flipside

Had ten different addresses
Had four different cars
Had three children
Been in three bands
Been on more than a few memorable trips
And for the last eight years, worked in the same place, albiet in increasingly more responsible positions

Gotta take the good with the bad