Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2014 21:17:37 GMT -8
It's tradition for everyone, I'm sure, to gather the family together, eat an absurd amount of food, and then remind each other of everything we're thankful for; then we make our plans for the major purchases we hope to make the next day in preparation for the next big holiday gathering.
I always thought this "Thanksgiving Tradition" was kind of silly growing up, but back then I guess I didn't understand the significance of it. This was my first Thanksgiving away from family -- a chance to finally not have to worry about sticking to that "silly" tradition -- but instead, I decided to think about it and come up with a genuine answer of "what I'm most thankful for this year".
And the answer was an easy one.
But to simply state it and be done, "I'm thankful for the MMM and all its members", isn't enough. It wouldn't be genuine to leave it at that, and it wouldn't emphasize what an achievement it is to even be able to say that right now.
The truth is, this year for the MMM almost didn't happen.
It had been decaying for quite sometime; a year ago from now, our Stats System was practically dysfunctional and inactivity plagued our story. Stat Approvals didn't exist anymore, and Story Mode was rapidly reaching a point of stagnation. Combined with apathy and numerous, unsuccessful, exhausting attempts to "fix" the system, we had all the components to the formula of defeat.
The member base continued to whither, and for months, the most activity we would see was a single post every other week. The dawn of the new year threatened to be the setting sun of this old site, and for a time, many proclaimed that it was.
But they were wrong.
They failed to realize that, although we were left with nothing but the ashes of defeat, ashes can still reignite. And that's exactly what we did.
There were many arguments, many disagreements, many different goals and perspectives, but we all came together and rebuilt what was called destroyed; we now stand as testimony to what the MMM can endure, and we proudly declare that she hasn't fallen yet.
We aren't burning the brightest we ever have, but we're going stronger than we have in a very long time. We've recovered from a flat line, and that wouldn't have been possible if not for every person here.
That's what I'm truly thankful for, and that's why I want to personally thank each one of you (even those currently not present) for what you've all done to bring the Melee to where she comfortably stands today. So, in no particular order, here I go.
Of all the current Staff, I'm truly convinced that Wackoguy is one of the most dedicated. He was the sole Staff Member to stay with the site during the aforementioned dead-period, and although there was little he was able to do at the time (this was before he was admin, and as I recall, he was only an RP Mod), he did everything in his power to keep it going. He hosted a rapid succession of fascinating and quite creative small events, from the destructo dummy to the MMM Raffle, which was just enough to keep the last few lingering members around long enough for our respark to come.
He continues to be an inexhaustible source of morale and support with his valuable input on behind-the-scenes concepts (many times as the peacemaker among our larger disagreements) and his super-encouraging friendliness to the new people. I'm pretty sure he started the "greet the new guy first" race that we're all secretly try to win, and his navis are truly fascinating and clever creations. Even if we do get Glass man and Mirror man mixed up from time to time =p
Another vital member to the MMM's revival was notegg who, even as just a regular member, put his full focus toward moving story forward at a constant, healthy pace. And that's not an easy thing to do, especially when multiple arcs are happening at once, each at their own pace, and when vital players take prolonged absences during the story -- he's done a phenomenal job, and I wish I could have been around more often during these past few months to experience the story myself.
But even before the current arc, encore was one of the few that would regularly seek to make something happen in story mode when nobody else was. Back when he was a regular member, he couldn't give out fancy rewards, make spectacular NPC Stats, our really even "beat up" the top guns of Story Mode due to RP Interaction restrictions, but he never let that stop him from causing a scene to happen and gathering some attention; this kept the site alive on more occasions than one.
And while I'm not entirely proud of the v6 attempt earlier this year, it was the first successful "launch" of anything I had ever done -- I bring it up just to thank encore for being the only support I had during that project, and without him, I can confidently say that it would never have been the success that it was (the success of regathering the Melee; not recreating it).
Also, he thinks he's bad at stats, but he's actually much better than he thinks when he really tries ;D
I don't think I've ever given Shast the credit he deserves, and probably still won't do him any justice with this, but the least I can give is my best attempt. He was another of the ones that stood by the MMM through thick and thin when she needed him most. There were times that he was the only active Stat Approver, and it was during a time that the system was far more complex and the bulk of navis were above v7; an approval nightmare to say the very least, but he did his job without complaint regardless, and that alone demands respect.
But his reputation doesn't end there. Active or not, Scott always comes to the site's aid when it is in need. When the Proboards v5 update came without warning, it completely wrecked the forum, but fortunately Scott had the skills necessary to fix the styling in a very timely manner -- and if I recall correctly he helped create the current theme with Brian which turned out quite splendid.
Scott was also one of the two people responsible for bringing me out of the "break everything in sight" phase that I had a reputation for back then. Most of my understanding of balance and fairness comes from what I learned from him, both directly and indirectly. I'm still not as good as he is yet, but I like to tell myself in getting there, haha.
Although he doesn't come around any more, Team Active Star was another pretty important player in my transition from "irrelevant n00b" to "possibly intelligent human being". He was the other guy that brought me out of the "master breaker" mindset, and I had a lot of fun times building concepts and systems with him. Mike was the leading developer of the Chip System when I joined the project a couple years ago, and I still strive to make it the way he envisioned it back then. It was unfortunate that progress was halted for a time and didn't get picked up until after he left, but thanks to him we have a healthy supply of past concepts of the system that will help steer it in the right direction as it continues to grow.
Mike was also a dedicated Stat Approver whether the site was thriving or not, and I can't emphasize enough how huge of a burden it was, but how positive his attitude was in spite of that. All he had was a slow old cell phone, but that never stopped him from doing full fledged approvals and hosting events. He was a pretty awesome battle-buddy too; I really miss having this guy around, so I hope he decides to drop by again.
I still owe Viscadir a butt whooping >=D
Another awesome battle-buddy was "Bill", back before Embera reached God-Tier, lol. He's a little more laid back now, but back in the day I'd never seen anyone as passionate about the Melee as this guy. He holds the record of being the quickest to grow from v1 to v20, he made the army of Joes we all know and love, and he implemented the License System (which was launched just before the site's last decline of activity, sadly).
He's done his fair share of approvals while operating one of the most influential navis in the current storyline. I'm not quite sure when Jess and Billy swapped out on this account, but they've created quite a legacy on this site that I envy and praise.
The biggest source of my inspiration is without a doubt Vilicious, even though he'll probably take that as an insult xD
Doug is probably the smartest person I know, and I don't think anyone has put more time into the Melee than this guy. And it's probably no secret that I, as the newest addition to the Staff Team, try to mimic him as best I can; it's also no secret that I do a terrible job at it, haha. Tox had implemented, reconfigured, and fairly balanced more systems than anyone on the site. His navis are all built with the most superb level of excellency, and his story plots are among the most fascinating to date.
And even though I've probably gotten on his nerves more than any other human on this planet, he still lends aid when needed, and he holds his tongue like a pro even though most the time I don't deserve to be shown the patience that he consistently displays.
I could go on for pages about how great this guy is, but he doesn't like it when I make walls of text for him to read =p
Consider that just a single brick of the wall he deserves, though.
This list is far from complete, but it would never be complete with the inclusion of one of my closest friends, Xypher. He's not too active at the moment either, due to real life business, but man do we have some great times when he is. His main character has been one of the largest influences to my own main, which coincidentally mirrors the friendship we have in real life.
Sometimes I think we're twins, not even lying. We have practically congruent interests and preferences in games, similar perspective in most facets of life, and every serious head-to-head battle we've had had always ended in a draw! I'm not kidding, even our RP Battles result in a tie!
Devin and I are about the closest thing to brothers that you could get, and his time as an MMM Employee was a prosperous one for the Melee. I look forward to his return so that we can have more great times in this awesome world we've all created, and so that the newer folk can see how cool of a guy he is too.
This post isn't just about me being thankful for everyone that's helped preserve the Melee, but about the people I've grown to love to be around whenever I have spare time. And despite how new he is, B.o.B. has managed to fit BOTH of those categories in his short time being here!
His navis have a level of creativity about them that reminds me of the kind of creativity I once had, but seemed to have been lacking lately. His creations have inspired many concepts that I've yet to truly build on, but his Stat pages are like a breathe of fresh air in that they always introduce some sort of gimmick that I had never thought of before.
He's still learning the ins and outs of the system, but he's catching on at an incredible rate. I sometimes wonder if he's really a veteran in disguise! XD
He's pointed out issues with the system, come up with reasonable solutions (and although we don't always take them, they're super helpful), and already assisted implementing additional features to the game. His formatting is simply spectacular, his intelligence outstanding, and his creativity is on levels I could never hope to compete with.
BoB is quickly becoming an invaluable asset to the site, and I'm eager to see what great things he still has in store for the future of the Melee.
@notsen is a guy that's really been standing out to me, lately. I remember his first few weeks on the site; it was probably the toughest way of starting out that anyone could ever ask for, but this guy was tougher. His main navi had been deleted atleast ten times during those few weeks, and nothing is more demoralizing than being the weakest guy around with nothing you're able to do about it. But he stuck with it and endured through a trial that I honestly would have given up on.
Things started to turn around for him when he made Serix, and I was really happy to see that. It was quite inspirational to see someone who had struggled with the Stats System for so long finally starting to grasp it, and grasp it firmly he did. Senka's continued to grow stronger and much smarter since then, and he's making a name for himself here in ways I never thought would be achievable for him all those years ago.
When he said he'd make the RP Tournament an annual thing, I honestly didn't expect him to uphold it; I don't think anybody did. But his consistency with it has not failed yet, and he's never left the Tournament unfinished (which is something he could probably say exclusively about himself).
Senka started from the bottom, from the lowest of lows, but has climbed his way up to a place of recognition from a mess that not many people have the patience and attrition to endure. And he continues to climb even higher; this man is the definition of true commitment and relentless pursuit of his goal, and it is nothing less than inspiring to see how far he's come and how far he's destined to go.
Another inactive one that many people may not remember is Shin Sato. This guy came in, dunked us all, and then walked away in style. The system's shutdown may have been why he left, but he helped with the early versions of the Chip System during his stay, and displayed incredible talent with the Stats System at the time.
He was a fun rival when I was in my "break master" phase, and was an awesome partner to build concepts with during the attempted development of the sub type system. Over at SFRP, his enthusiasm for stats was no different, and he was the biggest help to me in getting my characters up on running over on that site.
I'm hoping this guy decides to drop by again, because I never got the chance to properly dunk him with Feint ;p
I've met few people with as much enthusiasm about RP as Phreezey Breeze. We almost had to hold this joker down from making so many gosh darn navis! But he seems to manage them all quite well, and they're all so unique that I can't justify penalizing him for that, haha. His enthusiastic attitude makes it easy for us to do what we do though, and it's a magnet that attracts more people to join him.
His navi concepts are one of a kind, and it's always a fun time for me when I try to make them compatible with our system during approvals. They may have even given me ideas for future features we could implement into the system, and it's really great to have someone around that's a source of inspiration for innovation.
Absolutely nobody is better at expressing a character (in both RP and Stats) than ~Divine|<3|Heart~, and he does it with incredible efficiency too! Div's characters are some of the easiest to visualize when reading about them, and their stats are designed in such a perfect way that they clearly portray the fighting style of the Navi without making them too strong or too weak with their fascinating custom features. Also, is it awkward for me to have a slightly growing crush on Megami? XD
Div may as well be labeled my "RP Partner" for every Mega Man site I go to, because he's always there and he's always my first real interaction with the site. Unfortunately my inactivity slows him down from time to time, but it's always an exciting thing for Warrior and Megami to meet each other and interact in all of the different universes they find each other in. And Div's continuity among all of them is something I envy for sure.
Div's understanding and positive manipulation of the system amazes me every time I open one of his Stat Pages, and his willingness to preserve balance at the cost of his own power by asking whether or not a nerf is necessary is probably the most healthy attitude anyone could have toward the system, and I hope we all strive to be more like him in that regard.
Another enthusiastic RPer is Torchman, but he doesn't seem to be around either at the moment. Even outside of RP, he's just a fun guy to talk to! And he's another one of the guys I spend time with on another RP forum as well (or spent time with, since I've not checked SFRP for quite sometime now); he's a fun person to follow.
I don't think I've ever had a full fight with torch, though... so hopefully he'll show up again and I can get the privilege!
I've known mirror for quite sometime now, and his main navi is about as influential to Warrior as is Merrill, but it wasn't until lately that I really began to realize how friggin cool his creations were. He shares that special trait with Div in that he's able to express a character in Stats and RP without making them too strong or too weak.
His navis are so unique and impressive that even Capcom realized this and stole Magma Man right out from under his nose! He's also helpful at pointing out problems with our Stats System and coming up with possible solutions for us to look into, which helps the Staff greatly when we're focused on different things. And his past experience as a Staff Member certainly shows in his exquisite RP and combat tactics.
Garth's friendliness to the newer members and his willingness to help them out is core to keeping the member base active and healthy, which has kept the site going for almost an entire decade now. He's also an amazing artist! I secretly hope he'll draw one of my characters for me someday xD
Were lucky to have Mirror around, and I always look forward to RPing with this guy whenever I see him on.
Once upon a time, I was a lowly n00b on the Melee, with no clue what to do. Then suddenly, two new guys joined behind me a little while later, and we all became lowly n00b together -- except that these two guys weren't lowly n00b like I was.
These two guys are my oldest friends here, and one of them is none other than the Phen himself. Don't let the color of his name fool you; he's really an admin, just like the rest of us ;D
Back in my lowly days, he had the patience to put up with my craziness and insanity, and he was one of the reasons I ever became "good" with the Stats System. I think it took me over 4 years to finally win a battle against him, and while it was probably the most shameful day of his life back then, I saw it as a testament to how well he had taught me to not suck.
Colin has been with me throughout my entire lifespan at the MMM; from the times I could only get online once every two weekends, to all the times I would try to make my own RP Sites that he would join and wreck me in with my own Stats System, to the times we were probably the only two members active on some occasions, to the times I would leave for a few months and come back again as a n00b that he had to reteach everything to, and to the time most recently when I rose to staff and joined in the project of reviving the Melee.
We've both been a part of non-mm RPs as well, but don't cross paths as often in those. Phen and I share very similar views and goals for the MMM, and I find him to be one of the easiest people to work with because of that.
He hasn't last his touch with Navi Creation either, and I'm super happy to see Flare, which is possibly my first favorite navi on this site for reasons I can't even remember anymore, finally back in action again. Phenoix, Ruin, and Flare are all splendid displays of the depth of creativity that the Stats System is capable of producing, and it's difficult for veteran members to break away from the meta gaming we've grown to follow for so long to try something new, but Colin has shown to have no problems making that transition while still keeping his place high on the food chain.
He's done as much work with the site in the form of special events and approvals as any other staff member and continues to work hard at it, even after the years of service he's already given to this place. Colin is one of my closest friends both here at the Melee and anywhere else I find him at, and I'm extremely grateful that we've both managed to stick around for this long.
Is it just me, or does theguyiscalledsteve have a meme for EVERYTHING?! Unfortunately he joined right in the middle of my series of absences, but for the little time I've known him during my on-and-off sessions he's turned out to be a pretty cool fellow, and a really entertaining one no less!
Along with our other brand new members, I look forward to getting to know you guys as closely and personally as everyone else mentioned in this post. That includes you too, @zlo666! And Blues, you also happened to join during a time when I was too busy to properly interact, but stick around so I don't miss out on the opportunity, ya hear? XD
One of the most memorable arcs (for me at least) was the first Autumnal Assault, led by Snakeskin. It was during a time that I really wanted to develop my characters, and it provided the perfect opportunity for me to do that. None of my characters would be who they are today if not for UFA stepping up to the plate during that time of Story inactivity to create an arc that still affects our RP world even to this very day.
But he's also done so much more than that. UFA was an invaluable source of inspiration and encouragement for me when I started wanting to take my RP more serially and build on the trait. Most of the way I try to make my posts perceived is thanks to everything I learned from UFA, and there's no doubt I'd still be pretty bad at it if not for him, lol.
His own characters are in a stand-alone tier of their own in terms of development and expression; there's nothing that would ever take them out of character, and they're so unique and unpredictable that it's always exciting to see what will happen next with them. UFA is without question one of our top guns when it comes to pure RP, if not flat out the best here.
He never misses an RP Approval, and continues to create exciting arcs and bosses for the masses to go up against. He puts a unique flavor on things that nobody can duplicate, and he always chooses to act in just the right moments it seems.
He's all you could ever ask for in an RP Mod and more.
Zane and Kman have always been great staff members and super-talented Stat Battlers, despite very rarely ever finding myself across the field from these guys. Zane I don't think I've ever fought, but still lost to him somehow. Kman's navis have some of the coolest concepts I've ever seen; Kajira still stands as having my favorite Stats Sheet since the site's reboot.
These guys deserve their own section, but I don't have much time before I'll be losing Internet again (and I already wrote everything below this), so unfortunately I'm in a rush!
I haven't interacted with these in the RP as much as I'd like to say, but it's still a goal of mine, haha.
How could I go all this way and not bring up our head admin, Raven8 himself.
This is truly a man after my own heart, and as the founding father of the Melee, there's not enough I can say about this guy that will be enough for all he's done.
What probably amazes me most about him than anything else is his openness to new ideas, and his friendliness to, well, everyone. This site may as well be his child, but every decision he makes is done with the good of the members in mind. He's had to say "no" to some of his own ideas at times in favor of somebody else's, and even when he doesn't agree on a particular matter (like custom stages, for example), he gives his opposition a fair chance rather than dropping the ban hammer on them.
He's been accused of "ruling with an iron fist" before, but for as long as I've known him, I've never seen that to be true. He's probably the most open minded person I know, and any hard-ruling he's ever made has only been done for the good of the members. He's not afraid to look like the bad guy to do what's right, and that's honorable in and of itself.
What I did back in March was practically mutiny, but rather than outright attacking me or punishing me for it, Brian came in a calm manner to set things right, and without a fight we were brought on the same page as each other. Any other admin would have banned me for that, which I was prepared to deal with, but instead, this guy showed forgiveness and actually promoted me!
Given my reputation, I'm sure that decision was quite disputed by some, and even I was pretty reluctant to take it. But in the end, I realized that my guilt was only slowing me down from helping the site survive (which is why I did what I did), and even though I wasn't the most qualified person to do the job, and certainly nobody's first pick, I was one of the few still here willing to do it; we didn't end up with the best possible results, no, but we ended up with results, and that's what matters.
It would have been selfish to wallow in self pity while other people cleaned up the mess I made, so I eventually accepted the position, and now here we are, revived and functioning as best we have in years.
None of that would have happened if not for Brian's selflessness though; he's the core reason the site managed to come back as strong as it did, and to be honest, that particular moment of this year is unquestionably what I'm the MOST thankful for. What would be different right now if none of that ever happened?
If the Melee died last year, I wonder what we would all be doing right now? Would we miss it? Would we even be thinking about it? Think of everything that's happened in these few months since it revived... would we want to replace any of that? Or would we like to see it grow?
If not for Brian, MMM would never have existed to begin with, and most of us here would probably never have met each other. I am who I am today because of everyone here, even those not mentioned specifically (RG, SM, RK, Silare, Suki, Zero, Ecks, Kazu, Stef, Kairi, Havoc -- the list goes on).
And if 4750+ words, typed out on a cell phone, doesn't speak loudly enough about how much I appreciate you guys, then I'm not sure what else does than saying it directly.
The MMM won't last forever -- it will go away someday, sadly. But 2014 wasn't its year to die, and I don't believe 2015 will be either. I believe MMM's lifespan has a longer way to go, and hopefully I'll see it through to the end. But today I wanted to step back and appreciate everything that's come of it, because sometimes I get so tied up inside that I fail to show it that recognition it deserves.
9 years ago, Brian and a group of friends creating something that's become a pretty huge part of my life for about the past 8, and if I could stand and applaud them for how far it's come then I would. And I hope I can help to make it as valuable an experience for other members as it has been to me.
Now, they say to save the best for last, so I better get that guy Genesis out of the way before I get to the real last person. Oh look at that, there's no more active people left after this guy, so I guess we'll have to end this without him =p
Nah, I kid ofcourse. But when I think about it, if there were any word I could choose to describe Kevin with, it would indeed be "the best".
This guy is in charge of like, five other sites in addition to this one, and on this particular one it's petty common knowledge that he holds his place at #1 in our Stats System. He's lost some fights, sure, but at the moment his main navi may have well reached that point of "perfection" that we all seek to achieve.
Now enough singing his praise, let's talk about who he is to me:
Kevin was that "other guy" I mentioned in Colin's section -- he joined right after me and right before Phen. Gen was my first friend on the Melee, and had remained as my closest ever since. We call each other "rivals", but I've never actually beaten this one in a real battle (even with infinite Attack Slots and Under Shirt Clones).
He joined Colin in dunking me on all my secondary sites, and also played an important role in bringing me from "total n00b" to "partial n00b" to "not a n00b".
He and I don't always quite see eye-to-eye on certain things, and a lot of our personal perspectives of 'what the Melee should be' are directly contrary to each other, but we're able to find a pretty solid even ground that usually ends up being better than our own individual ideas. I'd say we work remarkably well together despite standing on opposite sides of the fence a lot of the time, haha.
Where Devin seems like a "mirror me" sometimes, Kevin almost feels like my counterpart, so I suppose it actually does make sense for me to call him "rival", lol.
This guy's got tons of patience to have dealt with me this long, not only here on this site, but over in his other RPs that I troll, in other online games, and in real life when I complain about how terrible my luck is with air planes and just life in general sometimes xD
Truth is, Kevin probably knows me and my characters better than anyone else here, maybe even anyone else period, and even though toes get stepped on every now and again, I'm pretty thankful that he's stood by my side all this time, gave me encouragement when I needed it, rebuked me when I needed it, and just being the best best friend anyone could really ask for.
Now one of these days I'll learn to just listen to him whenever he gives me advice instead of debating with him, but they some things never change, and that trait about me may be one of them xD
I touched on it in Brian's section, but I'll say it again: there's nothing I'm more thankful for than this site, and that's exclusively because all of you guys (both those named and unnamed).
I wish I could express that with more than just an epic wall of text, but that's sort of my thing, and it actually seemed quite fitting if you'd ask me, haha.
This place wouldn't be as great if not for every single one of you, and I'd fight tooth and nail to keep us all together; there's not one of you that I wouldn't go out of my way to help if you ever asked, and everything I said about you all in this post was just a quick "sum up" of the way I really feel -- I could write for days, but unfortunately I only have one before I leave again, so hopefully this'll do, lol.
I'm not gonna ask you to "join the tradition" and say what you're thankful for, but I would like you all to think deeply about it, because it helps to appreciate even the littlest of things sometimes.
And I guess I'll leave you all with that.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone =)