Post by Maverick-Jedi-Valen on Mar 7, 2014 9:54:38 GMT -5
Just recently, I had this idea that could prove a great exercise in my writing skills. I've decided to write from my point of view of how I came to meet you all and get acquainted with the Star Wars community. Of course I will use my memory's best ability in getting all the facts right 
It will detail pretty much from how I started on a Star Wars comments board and ended up here on a superior forum. I hope you guys will like the idea 
And here is the first chapter
Please note I mean not to offend anyone with this. It is strictly a memoir of my experiences and not some hate letter.
PROJECT MEMENTO
Chapter 1
The internet is probably something that has more titles then anything else in the world. To name a mere few, it's considered a device of genius, a connected society, a danger and a weapon. Nothing in the world comes close to how adaptable this titanic machine is. Right now though, this isn't precisely what I'm talking about. What I'm writing isn't a hate fuelled message of deep hatred for the thing (that would just make me seem a complete hypocrite) or some babble about it that could have been shortened to one small sentence, it's more about the society the web has attracted in less than a decade.
Long ago, back when mobile phones were as radioactive as Chernobyl and fashion was more tasteless then Rod Stewert's leopard skin trousers, the only things that could connect people around the world, were either phones (including the atomic mobiles in question) or a simple letter. Perhaps even morse code, but that's been out of technological fashion since Alexander Graham Bell's gift to the world. However, behind all the 80's music, clothes and Berlin Wall breaking was a unique tool that the masses were beginning to get acquainted with.
Computers once started as things the size of small houses, but at this point it was as though someone put them in wash to shrink. Over time the little screen and keyboard evolved, and with it came more unique features, one in particular being social networks.
They took their time, but at last when Facebook and Twitter arrived and with it was shift in society changing on how they used the internet.
One way, or another even the technophobic would have to accept the majority of people around them would invariably remain glued to their screen, whether computer, or phone (I could mention television, but it's not really used the same).
It's surprising, how one could be so inclined to remain on these websites, but I suppose you could say it's an easy way to make friends. And that is where I come in all this. What you're reading is the point of view from a guy with no actual friends in physical form. Someone whose only friends on Facebook are his mother (all right that is sort of mandatory, but you get what I mean) a cat crazed friends of his mother's, a handful of distant Spanish relatives and his driving instructor. Not exactly a bunch you'd boast about smugly at parties like your some king of socialising. So it's little surprise then that I have little interest in using such a site (I don't want to get started on my Twitter page, where all my followers keep sending me obviously dodgy links like some parasite).
Remarkably, this was not how I came into the fold of internet socialising. It's actually far more specific than you'd think.
Chapter 2
It was in the September of 2011 when my brother stumbled upon something on the Star Wars website. And of course it's easy to assume here and now, that me and my brother are fans from before we could even understand what it even was, and you'd be right. He had come across an episode guide for the television series Star Wars The Clone Wars. I can't say I remember which episode it was, probably a Mon Calamari episode. It wasn't the guide itself that he wanted to introduce me to (like a small child who wanted their older sibling to show them something as simple as a balloon as though it was as fun as rushing down a Disneyland water slide) the comments section of the guide. However he put under the illusion it was merely a fan service that answered to Star Wars related questions (all right, I admit it took me more then two minutes to figure that conundrum out).
My brother had already made an account to comment, but as soon as I told him the truth, he gave up on it as quickly as he started. I on the other hand stuck with my account, ever loyal as a swarm of bees protecting the queen, only less aggressive. As I started to learn about this fanbase, I was met with plenty of kind members. One of the earliest I can remember meeting was a MirialanOpal, a very friendly user that would shortly disappear in mere weeks. I cannot say I chose the best of times to join though, because right at the time I had joined I quickly noticed a massive argument between two users, Firebird2110 and Commander Ridgeback.
Ridgeback had previously threatened the former and predictably this was well taken like a snake flicked in the face: it's bound to bite back with a vengeance. This is exactly what I should have expected really. With any online community your bound to encounter arguments, trolls (an internet term for a user that brings annoyance and abuse to others, which I learned from the community) and spammers (another internet term for a user that makes the same statement in a large quantity of comments). However Ridgeback was not only outnumbered by the amount of people on Firebird's side, but he was also out of his depth. You see you never know what age users are (unless you see their Twitter or Facebook accounts, or they just straight up tell you) and Ridgeback learned this in hilarious fashion, since Firebird was a fully grown adult and he was merely a boy in his early teens. It took months, but at last the two would remain on good terms, despite Ridgeback being a rather unusual person with, shall we say controversial views.
After that sequence, things settled down and I became more and more of a regular to the site, like Homer Simpson is a regular of Moe's bar. As time passed by (along with The Clone Wars' season 4 for that matter) new users kept streaming in, most of them to be perfectly friendly Star Wars fans that you could easily have a chat over the newest episode, or why the Star Wars prequel films are considered tragically bad films in popular media. Some of these users however weren't as happy with the site as I probably was.
Not all comments were directed in the subject of Star Wars. Some were random and rather off topic, so Firebird2110 created a site for users that wanted less off topic havoc and more mature Star Wars discussions. The Nexus Route did just that, using a democracy system when recruiting new users. It was also a brilliant way to be rid of any trolls that circled the comments section like sharks preparing to snap at their helpless prey.
Over the months I spoke to many users that were so easy to get along with. From Darth Namialus, to Jedi Kim. From Natalie Crescent, to EchoJam. These were just a few good names I first heard and met. Some of best months I spent on the comments section would be during The Clone Wars' run of season 4 (which by the way was a darn good season) however in time the season slowly reached its end and soon there would come a time when activity turned from something comparable to an Icelandic volcano, to something more docile like a Himalayan mountain.
Chapter 3
It was good fun when anticipating new episodes with others. I can remember vividly when we all dropped our jaws like cartoons when we heard Darth Maul being revived. However as those episodes grew near, it meant the season was coming to its end and when a season ends what then? The main generator for all the commenting activity was Clone Wars. Of course it wasn't as though that as soon the season ended the users would all become geese and migrate somewhere else. No, there were plenty of loyal people that enjoyed the comments section too much to just say goodbye and wait until Autumn for the next batch of episodes to start rolling out.
It wasn't always just Star Wars that acted as the main topic of conversation. Sometimes I would talk to others about other subjects. This would happen on mornings when I would speak to Jett-Kron, a user that like me was an aspiring writer. Through time I started to make real friendships, but of course the internet makes a perfect mask to hide one's true self, but from what I saw most of them were really kind and decent people. They were people I could easily get to know. Such users (which will be mentioned throughout the chapters ) included Turtle, a very enthusiastic girl who had a tendency to say "SQUEEE!!!". Another was Prsajo, a truly nice guy that sadly has never been heard from in ages and Ivar-Jedi, a Dutch user who has a Lego stash that would make Fort Knox's gold deposit look like a small household safe with a handful of nuggets. Of course there were times when users would cause some strain to the tightly nit community. Trolls of course would be the main cause of this, but some users thought of trying to combat them with a group called CARPS, an acronym that I don't recall what it stands for at all. It was started by Spider-Wolffe78, Newan and Obi. Using different identities they created many strange conversations and when it was uncovered people weren't delighted about it, nor did the trolls disappear into thin air a similar way to Donovan in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Sadly it would cause Newan to disappear for a long leave of absence while Obi and Spider would help mend the friendships they damaged. What did I think of it? Quite frankly I thought it was quite weird, but I can't say I was angered towards them. Looking back it looks humorous even. Although not everyone felt the same then, trust was re-established in little time. This is just one tale of many in the troubles of the site users. There were much worse, ranging from teeth gratingly annoying, to down right horrid, who talked as though they were some over the top theatre villain. Luckily these disruptions wouldn't plague the community for too long and when Summer came the trouble makers seemed to come few and far between (well, that's how I can remember it). You could say we were a strong little community that overcame those every now and again trolls, spammers and (worst of all in my view) impersonators. Thankfully throughout all those times, friendships were maintained.
Yet, despite all these friendships it never seemed enough to keep the site alive during the Summer of 2012. However, one day came when activity could be directed into something creative and by all accounts fun.
Chapter 4
While I was away on holiday in Spain, quickly turning into something that resembled a strip of bacon burnt to a mere crisp (all thanks to it being a particularly hot Summer) the users of StarWars.Com had recently heard of a new concept for a game; all from the mind of DarthPotato77. Potato joined the site a little bit later then me, but by now he was well integrated with the community.
His idea was that of a role playing game (or RPG to those that find acronyms have a cooler sound) where players would portray Star Wars characters and through discussion they would ascertain who was treacherous among them. Named the Jedi Temple Game, it involved a balance between story and gameplay. Some of the first players were well known names, though they were only a few. There was Siblings, a brother and sister that both used one account and good pair of writers (one of their creations being the idea of users being turned into characters set in the Star Wars universe). CadBaneKiller, or CBK to most was a user with a more chequered past as his brother had been a troll, which caused trust issues. The problem ran deeply into personal matters that I think is preferable not to talk of here. Thankfully as far as I know those matters had been resolved ages ago.
There was also Zinga, a friendly user that I embarrassingly mistook for a male user for quite some time (but in my poor defence, she had a Han Solo avatar that was the cause of my mistake). There was also PindaZwerver, a Dutch user with a disinterest shall we say in clones. His username was also quite humorous, (more so hilarious) since in my native tongue it translates into "Peanut Wanderer". Maser Kenobi-Wan (AKA Obi) was another player as well. A guy that you could never say looked on the serious side of things and possessed a good sense of humour. Another player was Jedi Panda, a user that is more a memory now, since no one as far as I know has heard from her. Finally there was Gamma Sierra, or E-102 as I call him due to our interest in Sonic the Hedgehog (anyone who's played, or seen Sonic Adventure will know what E-102 means).
The first game was small on scale, but an instant success, which encouraged Potato to make another one. Having decided on developing a second game, more players signed up. In little time the games were becoming more and more popular. So much so, that when Potato wanted a chance to play one, Pinda obliged by hosting one of his own. New players would come and go, but many would stick around for the fun. I was more of the latter at the time. After hearing of these games, I decided to be apart of them, playing in Pinda's Haters of the Jedi as the bounty hunter droid IG-88. However at the time my understanding of how to play was similar to that of a senile goldfish, so I was easily beaten. From then on I no longer wanted to play, but I would soon notice that the Ambush Games (a name coined by Ivar, since they were played on the TCW episode page of Ambush) were rather addictive- like playing a game of pinball.
How I rejoined was all thanks to the games' Wiki (yes, I know most small and obscure Wikis aren't very informative, but bear with me) when I stumbled across the page of a game hosted by Ivar known as Rise of the Saboteurs. It had a story of great theatrical level and through the story I gained some idea of how to play the games. Once I had finally understood how to play- in about the same time it would take a half brained moth- I began to sign up for the next instalment. When I began to play Rise of the Infiltrators, I realised how fun roleplaying could be. It was also noticeable that many familiar users spent more time playing on the Ambush guide, than the main one. Along with old faces (or avatars in this case) there would come new ones in little time, showing the popularity of these games.
Amazingly, through reasons that can only be described as 13% determination and 87% dumb luck, I won. But don't think I'll be going into some long victory speech and turn this writing project into a not so cryptic "in your face" message. Besides, this chapter's ended. Not that I would do that of course...
Chapter 5
The Ambush Games was something that not only had fun gameplay and quite excellent storytelling, it also helped bind users together. A bit like the Force then (yes, I was looking for an opportunity to use a Force analogy and I grabbed it with both hands). As they went on, so did the very TV show that made us users in the first place. When TCW reached the end of its fifth season, plans were now being drawn out for something of an advancement to the games.
Glitches galore plagued the site to the point that Potato, who now can only be called as owner and founder of Ambush Games Inc. decided that instead of playing games on a site that inspired them, why not make a site for them. An so, in the middle of March, a massive shift occurred in which most of the players sped straight to it. The new Ambush Games forum allowed far better commenting abilities, including editing and quoting, making the old comments section look like a dilapidated pool room compared to this new game friendly arena we now had. Naturally, it did take some getting used too, but in time we would hail it as a brilliant idea. Perhaps this would be something to do with the Star Wars comments section disappearing?
One does wonder though if Potato never made that forum. Thankfully that's not the reality we live in and so the games lived on. Of course we would discuss all sorts as well, no longer limited to Star Wars talk.
Nevertheless, there was a catch to this new found commenting freedom. New members were about as frequent as confirmed Sumatran rhino sightings. Oh sure, there would be a few new heads popping up every now and again, yet the majority of members were, or rather still are veteran Star Wars commenters. Still, we had far more activity than the our old stomping grounds, with the Star Wars site now morphing from the massive user watering hole, to a small puddle. Over the months we would have a very calm and happy time at the forum. A few hiccups here and there, but nothing massive, nothing up to scale like the time Shia Labouf tried to initiate a Twitter war with Jim Carrey.
But not only was the AG forum now a sort of online clubhouse I was a member of, I even received an invitation to join the Nexus Route (granted that at this point most AG forum members were there as well, so no big deal). Yet despite all this fun, I still hadn't hosted a game of my own. It's not the end of the world of course, but I had an idea and I decided a bottled up idea wasn't nice to have all yourself. I eventually did host a game and it was rather successful (just like any game really). Of course with more than a lot of help from Ivar, I actually achieved producing my game. But I won't let this just revolve around my creations. Quite frankly, most of the users that hosted have done a darn sight better job. For example, if hosts like Potato, Ivar, Pinda and Spider are like Spielberg, then I'm more of an indie rookie that makes films with a few rough edges. Those blokes that directed the Paranormal Activity films come to mind.
Maybe I'm being too hard on myself, maybe I just have an inferiority complex that flares up like a hideous skin rash, but for now I'll just leave it at that. Or rather I don't leave this whole writing assignment at that. Mercy no! There is one particularly noteworthy thing I'd like to point out and quite frankly it is insane and sounds like the work of a fan fiction, but I reassure you it was quite real and quite apocalyptically ridiculous.
Chapter 6
Some users can have disagreements with other users. They can be about anything, yet they can still maintain friendships. An example being Pinda and Spider's massive debates on religion and politics can show how different they are, but try and start a conversation about TCW's replacement show Rebels, then you'll be in for a surprise contrast at how they both will make it very clear in their opinions concerning it. Sadly not all disagreements can be like this; where one may argue on a subject with someone, but still have a friendship outside of it. A couple users that stand as examples are (or rather were given their recent activity) were Scruffy, a friendly user that would get into mad conversations very easily, but took losing in Ambush Games not with any attempt to laugh it off and SWU (Star Wars Unlimited) a user with a sketchy past that I could make another writing assignment out of. However SWU managed to redeem himself and turned out to be a really nice guy, who I'm happy to say had an interest in cars as big as mine. He even wanted to save up for a Mustang. If that's not motoring passion, then pineapples must be poisonous.
However there is a prime case in which I shall share the back stabbing, mad, incredible, overly dramatic, misguided and above all near unbelievable tale. Now the true origin of this is nearly impossible to say, but as far as my knowledge goes, it started with one user named Jodo. Jodo for some reason had something of an irritation against the forum's mods (internet slang for Moderator) Potato, Namialus, Newan, Pinda and Spider. One idea why is that when Jodo was advertising the AG forum on Star Wars.Com, a troll appeared. The mods were suspicious, especially when Jodo's posts and troll's seemed to have enough time space for Jodo to possibly switch accounts. When asked about this, Jodo just got angry and so this might be the reason to explain his grudge. His denial of joining the Nexus Route didn't help either, with most of its members thinking him too rude and too sketchy. In time though, Jodo seemed to loosen up a bit, telling us about his school, which looked like a prison that made Alcatraz more inviting, particularly when he told us what went on there.
The months would pass slowly and nothing incredibly noteworthy happened. Like those final words in Deathly Hallows, all was well... Or so I thought. A little incident shall we say occurred and it started with a user named Echani. Echani had caused some upset with his interest in models, but that was quite a while ago when this train wreck of an argument happened. The mods had now come to such a falling out, Echani was given a ban (temporary of course, since mods aren't heartless) with Jodo being a very eager user to get him the ban in the first place. Truth be told Jodo was beginning to create a rebellion, where he planned on getting Echani banned, then rally several members (mainly those that used Skype between each other) against the mods on the decision. With this plan he would aim to become a mod. Oh, God...
Inevitably the whole plan was unveiled by the help of a "double agent" user named Padmenic and a fake user that the mods created as part of a plan that went back several months. The madness wouldn't last too long, as Jodo hadn't actually rallied any real supporters yet and it wasn't as though he was going to find any now, with the mods now theorising he may have been several trolls on Star Wars.Com. My thoughts on this? Well I know trolls can be people who are very troubled in the lives they live in and maybe that's what Jodo was, but I doubt I'll ever find out since he got banned for about a year. Quite frankly reading all those comments (mostly those wanting to achieve a "rebellion") looked more like roleplay for some overly serious political drama Jodo had been inspired by. Or just an average episode of Dallas. Or something.
Anyway, as far as I can tell I don't think I, or anyone else will see Jodo again. Perhaps he'll attempt to make amends, but I honestly have no clue. One really must wonder why he was so willing to carry out such a plan, when most of us were perfectly friendly with him. But online life goes on with peace restored once more.
So, I suppose the end has almost been reached in this little tale, but never does that mean the same for the tale of real life. At the time of writing this, the Ambush Games is almost two years old, Summer is almost in full swing and hosts have now created a whole bunch of "series" based upon their games, which I find are easy to binge watch. Surprising really, since I don't even binge watch TV shows. Maybe that will change if I watched a Breaking Bad episode?
Looking back through all these memories makes me realise how much me and the little community have been through. We've went through thick and thin, fallouts and forgiveness. It sort of leads me back to how I started off this whole written memento (no, not the part where it sounds like a lonely hearts column). While it can be so many other things, the internet is a place of hundred upon thousands of connected societies, which I can say I'm apart of, but it all came to be through a misunderstanding of a comments section on a Star Wars site, but I've never regretted the mistake since. I sign this off with a thank you to all those Star Wars fan users that have been the friendliest I've ever met. I'd probably make a list of people to thank, but I'll probably muck it up and miss out a few names, so I'll simply say thanks to all and keep loving the thing that brought us together in the first place: Star Wars.
It will detail pretty much from how I started on a Star Wars comments board and ended up here on a superior forum. I hope you guys will like the idea 
And here is the first chapter
Please note I mean not to offend anyone with this. It is strictly a memoir of my experiences and not some hate letter.PROJECT MEMENTO
Chapter 1
The internet is probably something that has more titles then anything else in the world. To name a mere few, it's considered a device of genius, a connected society, a danger and a weapon. Nothing in the world comes close to how adaptable this titanic machine is. Right now though, this isn't precisely what I'm talking about. What I'm writing isn't a hate fuelled message of deep hatred for the thing (that would just make me seem a complete hypocrite) or some babble about it that could have been shortened to one small sentence, it's more about the society the web has attracted in less than a decade.
Long ago, back when mobile phones were as radioactive as Chernobyl and fashion was more tasteless then Rod Stewert's leopard skin trousers, the only things that could connect people around the world, were either phones (including the atomic mobiles in question) or a simple letter. Perhaps even morse code, but that's been out of technological fashion since Alexander Graham Bell's gift to the world. However, behind all the 80's music, clothes and Berlin Wall breaking was a unique tool that the masses were beginning to get acquainted with.
Computers once started as things the size of small houses, but at this point it was as though someone put them in wash to shrink. Over time the little screen and keyboard evolved, and with it came more unique features, one in particular being social networks.
They took their time, but at last when Facebook and Twitter arrived and with it was shift in society changing on how they used the internet.
One way, or another even the technophobic would have to accept the majority of people around them would invariably remain glued to their screen, whether computer, or phone (I could mention television, but it's not really used the same).
It's surprising, how one could be so inclined to remain on these websites, but I suppose you could say it's an easy way to make friends. And that is where I come in all this. What you're reading is the point of view from a guy with no actual friends in physical form. Someone whose only friends on Facebook are his mother (all right that is sort of mandatory, but you get what I mean) a cat crazed friends of his mother's, a handful of distant Spanish relatives and his driving instructor. Not exactly a bunch you'd boast about smugly at parties like your some king of socialising. So it's little surprise then that I have little interest in using such a site (I don't want to get started on my Twitter page, where all my followers keep sending me obviously dodgy links like some parasite).
Remarkably, this was not how I came into the fold of internet socialising. It's actually far more specific than you'd think.
Chapter 2
It was in the September of 2011 when my brother stumbled upon something on the Star Wars website. And of course it's easy to assume here and now, that me and my brother are fans from before we could even understand what it even was, and you'd be right. He had come across an episode guide for the television series Star Wars The Clone Wars. I can't say I remember which episode it was, probably a Mon Calamari episode. It wasn't the guide itself that he wanted to introduce me to (like a small child who wanted their older sibling to show them something as simple as a balloon as though it was as fun as rushing down a Disneyland water slide) the comments section of the guide. However he put under the illusion it was merely a fan service that answered to Star Wars related questions (all right, I admit it took me more then two minutes to figure that conundrum out).
My brother had already made an account to comment, but as soon as I told him the truth, he gave up on it as quickly as he started. I on the other hand stuck with my account, ever loyal as a swarm of bees protecting the queen, only less aggressive. As I started to learn about this fanbase, I was met with plenty of kind members. One of the earliest I can remember meeting was a MirialanOpal, a very friendly user that would shortly disappear in mere weeks. I cannot say I chose the best of times to join though, because right at the time I had joined I quickly noticed a massive argument between two users, Firebird2110 and Commander Ridgeback.
Ridgeback had previously threatened the former and predictably this was well taken like a snake flicked in the face: it's bound to bite back with a vengeance. This is exactly what I should have expected really. With any online community your bound to encounter arguments, trolls (an internet term for a user that brings annoyance and abuse to others, which I learned from the community) and spammers (another internet term for a user that makes the same statement in a large quantity of comments). However Ridgeback was not only outnumbered by the amount of people on Firebird's side, but he was also out of his depth. You see you never know what age users are (unless you see their Twitter or Facebook accounts, or they just straight up tell you) and Ridgeback learned this in hilarious fashion, since Firebird was a fully grown adult and he was merely a boy in his early teens. It took months, but at last the two would remain on good terms, despite Ridgeback being a rather unusual person with, shall we say controversial views.
After that sequence, things settled down and I became more and more of a regular to the site, like Homer Simpson is a regular of Moe's bar. As time passed by (along with The Clone Wars' season 4 for that matter) new users kept streaming in, most of them to be perfectly friendly Star Wars fans that you could easily have a chat over the newest episode, or why the Star Wars prequel films are considered tragically bad films in popular media. Some of these users however weren't as happy with the site as I probably was.
Not all comments were directed in the subject of Star Wars. Some were random and rather off topic, so Firebird2110 created a site for users that wanted less off topic havoc and more mature Star Wars discussions. The Nexus Route did just that, using a democracy system when recruiting new users. It was also a brilliant way to be rid of any trolls that circled the comments section like sharks preparing to snap at their helpless prey.
Over the months I spoke to many users that were so easy to get along with. From Darth Namialus, to Jedi Kim. From Natalie Crescent, to EchoJam. These were just a few good names I first heard and met. Some of best months I spent on the comments section would be during The Clone Wars' run of season 4 (which by the way was a darn good season) however in time the season slowly reached its end and soon there would come a time when activity turned from something comparable to an Icelandic volcano, to something more docile like a Himalayan mountain.
Chapter 3
It was good fun when anticipating new episodes with others. I can remember vividly when we all dropped our jaws like cartoons when we heard Darth Maul being revived. However as those episodes grew near, it meant the season was coming to its end and when a season ends what then? The main generator for all the commenting activity was Clone Wars. Of course it wasn't as though that as soon the season ended the users would all become geese and migrate somewhere else. No, there were plenty of loyal people that enjoyed the comments section too much to just say goodbye and wait until Autumn for the next batch of episodes to start rolling out.
It wasn't always just Star Wars that acted as the main topic of conversation. Sometimes I would talk to others about other subjects. This would happen on mornings when I would speak to Jett-Kron, a user that like me was an aspiring writer. Through time I started to make real friendships, but of course the internet makes a perfect mask to hide one's true self, but from what I saw most of them were really kind and decent people. They were people I could easily get to know. Such users (which will be mentioned throughout the chapters ) included Turtle, a very enthusiastic girl who had a tendency to say "SQUEEE!!!". Another was Prsajo, a truly nice guy that sadly has never been heard from in ages and Ivar-Jedi, a Dutch user who has a Lego stash that would make Fort Knox's gold deposit look like a small household safe with a handful of nuggets. Of course there were times when users would cause some strain to the tightly nit community. Trolls of course would be the main cause of this, but some users thought of trying to combat them with a group called CARPS, an acronym that I don't recall what it stands for at all. It was started by Spider-Wolffe78, Newan and Obi. Using different identities they created many strange conversations and when it was uncovered people weren't delighted about it, nor did the trolls disappear into thin air a similar way to Donovan in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Sadly it would cause Newan to disappear for a long leave of absence while Obi and Spider would help mend the friendships they damaged. What did I think of it? Quite frankly I thought it was quite weird, but I can't say I was angered towards them. Looking back it looks humorous even. Although not everyone felt the same then, trust was re-established in little time. This is just one tale of many in the troubles of the site users. There were much worse, ranging from teeth gratingly annoying, to down right horrid, who talked as though they were some over the top theatre villain. Luckily these disruptions wouldn't plague the community for too long and when Summer came the trouble makers seemed to come few and far between (well, that's how I can remember it). You could say we were a strong little community that overcame those every now and again trolls, spammers and (worst of all in my view) impersonators. Thankfully throughout all those times, friendships were maintained.
Yet, despite all these friendships it never seemed enough to keep the site alive during the Summer of 2012. However, one day came when activity could be directed into something creative and by all accounts fun.
Chapter 4
While I was away on holiday in Spain, quickly turning into something that resembled a strip of bacon burnt to a mere crisp (all thanks to it being a particularly hot Summer) the users of StarWars.Com had recently heard of a new concept for a game; all from the mind of DarthPotato77. Potato joined the site a little bit later then me, but by now he was well integrated with the community.
His idea was that of a role playing game (or RPG to those that find acronyms have a cooler sound) where players would portray Star Wars characters and through discussion they would ascertain who was treacherous among them. Named the Jedi Temple Game, it involved a balance between story and gameplay. Some of the first players were well known names, though they were only a few. There was Siblings, a brother and sister that both used one account and good pair of writers (one of their creations being the idea of users being turned into characters set in the Star Wars universe). CadBaneKiller, or CBK to most was a user with a more chequered past as his brother had been a troll, which caused trust issues. The problem ran deeply into personal matters that I think is preferable not to talk of here. Thankfully as far as I know those matters had been resolved ages ago.
There was also Zinga, a friendly user that I embarrassingly mistook for a male user for quite some time (but in my poor defence, she had a Han Solo avatar that was the cause of my mistake). There was also PindaZwerver, a Dutch user with a disinterest shall we say in clones. His username was also quite humorous, (more so hilarious) since in my native tongue it translates into "Peanut Wanderer". Maser Kenobi-Wan (AKA Obi) was another player as well. A guy that you could never say looked on the serious side of things and possessed a good sense of humour. Another player was Jedi Panda, a user that is more a memory now, since no one as far as I know has heard from her. Finally there was Gamma Sierra, or E-102 as I call him due to our interest in Sonic the Hedgehog (anyone who's played, or seen Sonic Adventure will know what E-102 means).
The first game was small on scale, but an instant success, which encouraged Potato to make another one. Having decided on developing a second game, more players signed up. In little time the games were becoming more and more popular. So much so, that when Potato wanted a chance to play one, Pinda obliged by hosting one of his own. New players would come and go, but many would stick around for the fun. I was more of the latter at the time. After hearing of these games, I decided to be apart of them, playing in Pinda's Haters of the Jedi as the bounty hunter droid IG-88. However at the time my understanding of how to play was similar to that of a senile goldfish, so I was easily beaten. From then on I no longer wanted to play, but I would soon notice that the Ambush Games (a name coined by Ivar, since they were played on the TCW episode page of Ambush) were rather addictive- like playing a game of pinball.
How I rejoined was all thanks to the games' Wiki (yes, I know most small and obscure Wikis aren't very informative, but bear with me) when I stumbled across the page of a game hosted by Ivar known as Rise of the Saboteurs. It had a story of great theatrical level and through the story I gained some idea of how to play the games. Once I had finally understood how to play- in about the same time it would take a half brained moth- I began to sign up for the next instalment. When I began to play Rise of the Infiltrators, I realised how fun roleplaying could be. It was also noticeable that many familiar users spent more time playing on the Ambush guide, than the main one. Along with old faces (or avatars in this case) there would come new ones in little time, showing the popularity of these games.
Amazingly, through reasons that can only be described as 13% determination and 87% dumb luck, I won. But don't think I'll be going into some long victory speech and turn this writing project into a not so cryptic "in your face" message. Besides, this chapter's ended. Not that I would do that of course...
Chapter 5
The Ambush Games was something that not only had fun gameplay and quite excellent storytelling, it also helped bind users together. A bit like the Force then (yes, I was looking for an opportunity to use a Force analogy and I grabbed it with both hands). As they went on, so did the very TV show that made us users in the first place. When TCW reached the end of its fifth season, plans were now being drawn out for something of an advancement to the games.
Glitches galore plagued the site to the point that Potato, who now can only be called as owner and founder of Ambush Games Inc. decided that instead of playing games on a site that inspired them, why not make a site for them. An so, in the middle of March, a massive shift occurred in which most of the players sped straight to it. The new Ambush Games forum allowed far better commenting abilities, including editing and quoting, making the old comments section look like a dilapidated pool room compared to this new game friendly arena we now had. Naturally, it did take some getting used too, but in time we would hail it as a brilliant idea. Perhaps this would be something to do with the Star Wars comments section disappearing?
One does wonder though if Potato never made that forum. Thankfully that's not the reality we live in and so the games lived on. Of course we would discuss all sorts as well, no longer limited to Star Wars talk.
Nevertheless, there was a catch to this new found commenting freedom. New members were about as frequent as confirmed Sumatran rhino sightings. Oh sure, there would be a few new heads popping up every now and again, yet the majority of members were, or rather still are veteran Star Wars commenters. Still, we had far more activity than the our old stomping grounds, with the Star Wars site now morphing from the massive user watering hole, to a small puddle. Over the months we would have a very calm and happy time at the forum. A few hiccups here and there, but nothing massive, nothing up to scale like the time Shia Labouf tried to initiate a Twitter war with Jim Carrey.
But not only was the AG forum now a sort of online clubhouse I was a member of, I even received an invitation to join the Nexus Route (granted that at this point most AG forum members were there as well, so no big deal). Yet despite all this fun, I still hadn't hosted a game of my own. It's not the end of the world of course, but I had an idea and I decided a bottled up idea wasn't nice to have all yourself. I eventually did host a game and it was rather successful (just like any game really). Of course with more than a lot of help from Ivar, I actually achieved producing my game. But I won't let this just revolve around my creations. Quite frankly, most of the users that hosted have done a darn sight better job. For example, if hosts like Potato, Ivar, Pinda and Spider are like Spielberg, then I'm more of an indie rookie that makes films with a few rough edges. Those blokes that directed the Paranormal Activity films come to mind.
Maybe I'm being too hard on myself, maybe I just have an inferiority complex that flares up like a hideous skin rash, but for now I'll just leave it at that. Or rather I don't leave this whole writing assignment at that. Mercy no! There is one particularly noteworthy thing I'd like to point out and quite frankly it is insane and sounds like the work of a fan fiction, but I reassure you it was quite real and quite apocalyptically ridiculous.
Chapter 6
Some users can have disagreements with other users. They can be about anything, yet they can still maintain friendships. An example being Pinda and Spider's massive debates on religion and politics can show how different they are, but try and start a conversation about TCW's replacement show Rebels, then you'll be in for a surprise contrast at how they both will make it very clear in their opinions concerning it. Sadly not all disagreements can be like this; where one may argue on a subject with someone, but still have a friendship outside of it. A couple users that stand as examples are (or rather were given their recent activity) were Scruffy, a friendly user that would get into mad conversations very easily, but took losing in Ambush Games not with any attempt to laugh it off and SWU (Star Wars Unlimited) a user with a sketchy past that I could make another writing assignment out of. However SWU managed to redeem himself and turned out to be a really nice guy, who I'm happy to say had an interest in cars as big as mine. He even wanted to save up for a Mustang. If that's not motoring passion, then pineapples must be poisonous.
However there is a prime case in which I shall share the back stabbing, mad, incredible, overly dramatic, misguided and above all near unbelievable tale. Now the true origin of this is nearly impossible to say, but as far as my knowledge goes, it started with one user named Jodo. Jodo for some reason had something of an irritation against the forum's mods (internet slang for Moderator) Potato, Namialus, Newan, Pinda and Spider. One idea why is that when Jodo was advertising the AG forum on Star Wars.Com, a troll appeared. The mods were suspicious, especially when Jodo's posts and troll's seemed to have enough time space for Jodo to possibly switch accounts. When asked about this, Jodo just got angry and so this might be the reason to explain his grudge. His denial of joining the Nexus Route didn't help either, with most of its members thinking him too rude and too sketchy. In time though, Jodo seemed to loosen up a bit, telling us about his school, which looked like a prison that made Alcatraz more inviting, particularly when he told us what went on there.
The months would pass slowly and nothing incredibly noteworthy happened. Like those final words in Deathly Hallows, all was well... Or so I thought. A little incident shall we say occurred and it started with a user named Echani. Echani had caused some upset with his interest in models, but that was quite a while ago when this train wreck of an argument happened. The mods had now come to such a falling out, Echani was given a ban (temporary of course, since mods aren't heartless) with Jodo being a very eager user to get him the ban in the first place. Truth be told Jodo was beginning to create a rebellion, where he planned on getting Echani banned, then rally several members (mainly those that used Skype between each other) against the mods on the decision. With this plan he would aim to become a mod. Oh, God...
Inevitably the whole plan was unveiled by the help of a "double agent" user named Padmenic and a fake user that the mods created as part of a plan that went back several months. The madness wouldn't last too long, as Jodo hadn't actually rallied any real supporters yet and it wasn't as though he was going to find any now, with the mods now theorising he may have been several trolls on Star Wars.Com. My thoughts on this? Well I know trolls can be people who are very troubled in the lives they live in and maybe that's what Jodo was, but I doubt I'll ever find out since he got banned for about a year. Quite frankly reading all those comments (mostly those wanting to achieve a "rebellion") looked more like roleplay for some overly serious political drama Jodo had been inspired by. Or just an average episode of Dallas. Or something.
Anyway, as far as I can tell I don't think I, or anyone else will see Jodo again. Perhaps he'll attempt to make amends, but I honestly have no clue. One really must wonder why he was so willing to carry out such a plan, when most of us were perfectly friendly with him. But online life goes on with peace restored once more.
So, I suppose the end has almost been reached in this little tale, but never does that mean the same for the tale of real life. At the time of writing this, the Ambush Games is almost two years old, Summer is almost in full swing and hosts have now created a whole bunch of "series" based upon their games, which I find are easy to binge watch. Surprising really, since I don't even binge watch TV shows. Maybe that will change if I watched a Breaking Bad episode?
Looking back through all these memories makes me realise how much me and the little community have been through. We've went through thick and thin, fallouts and forgiveness. It sort of leads me back to how I started off this whole written memento (no, not the part where it sounds like a lonely hearts column). While it can be so many other things, the internet is a place of hundred upon thousands of connected societies, which I can say I'm apart of, but it all came to be through a misunderstanding of a comments section on a Star Wars site, but I've never regretted the mistake since. I sign this off with a thank you to all those Star Wars fan users that have been the friendliest I've ever met. I'd probably make a list of people to thank, but I'll probably muck it up and miss out a few names, so I'll simply say thanks to all and keep loving the thing that brought us together in the first place: Star Wars.
I did not know this. Great opening nonetheless, far more different then i expected (wich i like quite a bit) Eagerly awaiting the next chapters to come 
