Saturday, Nov. 2, 2002, 12:41 p.m.

Matthew had been reading the Ghostbusters.net Message Board for quite some time now. For at least several months, ever since some time back in April. He’d always loved Ghostbusters. Ever since he could remember (Around the time he turned one year old in July of 1987.), he loved watching the movies, RGB, collecting the action figures, and various other merchandise. He’d been silently lurking around the Ghostbusters community ever since January 1998. The first sites he found were Bill Emkow’s Ghostbusters Homepage, Sheila Paulson’s RGB Fan Page, GBHQ, and Proton Charging. Every day for the next year he visited various Ghostbusters sites whenever he got home from school. Yes, he loved all things Ghostbusters (With the exception of EGB.). Not too later, sometime in late 2000 he visited Bill Emkow’s site for the first time in over a year. Sadly, he had retired it and passed the torch many months earlier.

One day in April 2002 Matthew was bored, and so he decided to take a look at the Ghostbusters Community again, for the first time in two years. The first site he came across was one he’d never heard of before: Ghostbusters.net. He decided to visit this site first. To his amazement, this site had nearly everything: Info and descriptions of action figures, toys, and episodes. News articles, links, fan fiction, props, and much more. But those things weren’t what amazed him the most. What amazed him the most was something he’d never seen before: The Ghostbusters Message Board. He immediately began reading it. Threads asking questions he’d always had about GB stuff, but never had anyone to ask were among the many things he found. But that wasn’t just the only thing that amazed him. The thing he liked most about it were the people. They were Ghostheads, and they were like him in many ways. They all loved GB, and they came there to discuss it with fellow lovers of the franchise. A lot of them were born around the same time as him and shared many other interests with him. He wanted so much to get to know them and interact with them…

Over the next few months he read the forums nearly everyday. Even all the way back to the first page of the Movies and Cartoons forums! Later he learned that it was possible to watch episodes of RGB on the site. Unfortunately, a RealOne Player was needed. After a while of waiting, his uncle finally sent him one via e-mail on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 2. He installed it, and got right over to GBN. He wanted to watch the very last episode of RGB to see if he remembered it, and to see if the guys got sent off the air with a proper farewell. But there was a catch: he had to login. And in order to do that, he had to register. For a few minutes he thought. And then, it happened. He registered at Ghostbusters.net on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2002, at 12:41 p.m. Little did he know, his life was about to change forever…

Well let me tell you something, guys. That Matthew, of course, is me. I’ve changed a little bit since that day. And those changes were positive, and they still continue to this day. I’m a whole lot more mature, smarter, and definitely happier now (Thanks to another force - a very special one outside of this board that I encountered not too long before registering.). Things have changed in this community a bit too. I really enjoyed coming here back then. Things were a bit more stable. I couldn’t wait to get home from school and reply to long wondered questions asked by Ghostheads all over the world. I finally got to interact with those Ghostheads. I made many friends, and I really got to know them. I finally found people who still loved Ghostbusters and had not forgotten them. And from Christmas 2002 to May 2003 all Ghostheads were excited with the rumors and previews of a possible Ghostbusters revival. Which thankfully, will be headed straight towards us this Fall. Unfortunately peace and stability don’t last forever in today’s world (Online communities, to be more specific.). A whole lot of fighting and arguing had been going on in the community lately and in July GBN was shut down without enough prior warning and many members were on bad terms with each other. But Chad did leave us something: a new message board. And with that, things got better. A whole lot better.

The Community (The GBMB in General.) was rebuilding itself very well and faster than we thought it would. Nearly everyone was getting along, and many of the petty differences that caused GBN's untimely death were settled. Even some of the huge feuds between individual members had ended (Hey, if LordVego and ProtonCharger can settle their differences, then anyone can.). There were three Administrators (Icer Rose, sg1star, and Texasgb.) and enough Moderators to handle anything and everything that went on (Including myself and several great friends of mine.). There were at least two or three Moderators on here 24/7, so spammers could be dealt with nearly immediately. Off-topic posts and bashes could be deleted, and the poster would be warned quickly. Double posts and repeat threads could be locked/deleted. The Moderators were chosen on a basis of how they'd use their power, instead of abusing it, and that they'd be willing to help others. They weren't chosen just because some had been in the Community far longer than others, but because they would treat everyone fairly. The Moderating was far better than the way it was on GBN (Not to mention the way it is now.). Although, I didn't see any reason to change the Mod Group's name every day, though.

But then Chad came back and started de-adminning and de-modding most of the Mods. Now, I have nothing at all against Chad, and I'm grateful for what he's done, but the Community was better before he came back and made those changes. And it seemed as though we were right back where GBN was before it was shut down. Like GBN's final few weeks, there weren't enough Moderators on here. And the few Mods we do have can't be online all the time. Several of them even resigned and I don't blame them. Off-topic replies, repeat threads, and flame wars were flooding the board, and nothing was being done about it. Members that were banned from GBN and members that need to be banned were still here causing the chaos that they've become infamous for (peter vakman123, Garfield-Fanatic, etc.), and MANY members began complaining about them. No offense to any of the Mods that frequently logged in, but are you brain dead? Did you not noticed any of that? And if so, then why didn't you ever doing anything about it? BONDO, river_of_slime, and SoulWrangler are about the only Mods who ever do anything around here. BONDO moderates every forum, and he told me it takes a long time to do so. Chuck has been locking repeat threads, and moving off-topic ones to the correct forums. And SoulWrangler has become an avid deleter of all Garfield-Fanatic SPAM! (Which is a good reason to be nice to him, and stop bashing him.). So kudos to you three for working hard.

About a month or so ago, sometime after Chad came back, we were promised new rules and new Moderators/Mod Groups. A few weeks passed, and a whole lot of us began to doubt it, and post our disapproval. Chad left for a while and this board became more like an anarchy than what it was before. A whole lot of people I was friends with on GBN took different sides in these ”Ghost Wars”. I felt stuck in the middle with my friends warring against each other. I had this one friend from GBN. He was probably the first real friend that I made in this Community. We really got to know each other through e-mails to each other. He even did some favors for me, and he didn’t have to. He just did it out of the kindness of his heart. I really liked him, but then he changed. He didn’t seem like the nice member that I once knew. He started mocking another friend of mine who became a ”Martyr” when he was unfairly banned – for the second time (brian_relly.). He made some negative comments about Brian in a thread that was started to demand that he and ProtonCharger be un-banned, and then he referred to him as ”cryin’ brian”. Well just for your information and ANYONE else who’s ever bashed him behind his back, he just so happens to be totally underrated in this community. He’s done a whole lot for Doc Fritz and I. I know him well, and he’s not the troublemaker that several members (Especially that one.) have made him look like. I know Brian well, and he’d NEVER lie to Fritz or me.

Nominating for new Mods/Mod Groups finally started last month (Thanks to me having a talk with Tex.). Voting has finally began and it will last until next Monday. I’m not taking sides in this battle anymore. I’m sick and tired of it. I came here for one reason, and for reason only: For the Ghostbusters. I’m a Ghosthead, and I came here to talk Ghostbusters with my fellow Ghostheads. And correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that the reason why we have a Ghostbusters Message Board? That’s what this place is, isn’t it? Well it doesn’t seem like it anymore. I don’t hate anyone on here. I simply dislike how friends have become enemies over something pointless. It’s just like all that Anti/Pro Egon and Janine nonsense. But a lot of people who are against Chad have made many good points, as well (Such as two individuals who abused their power.).

Ghostheads, ”It is time.” Time for what? To decide. To decide to either stay here or leave. A lot of us (Including myself.) have kept on saying that freedom of speech doesn’t exist on this board. Well it does. You have the freedom to leave. As I said before, I’m not taking sides in this battle, but several members on both sides have made a good point, and I’ve decided to listen: It’s Chad’s site/server, and he had the right to run it however he wants to. If you don’t like how he’s running it, then leave. It’s the smartest and best thing you can do in this whole mess. No one is making or asking you to stay. And no one is making or asking you to go. All you have to do is leave if you’re unhappy. Stop beating a horse that’s already dead. Let it be.

Go wherever you feel best, whether it’s here or GBHQ, or whatever other GB boards there are. Just do what you feel is right. That’s called Freedom.

Now, if you’ll all excuse me, I have a Ghostbusters Revival to get ready for. PM if you’d like to.

Riddle, that was great man. Well said.

Matthew, as usual you bring a good explanation of things. You've covered most of the problems here…including certain SPAMMERS. And in the end, that's all it bottles down to. We have a choice to leave if we want.

*Hands shoots up in the air*

PRAISE GOD!


The only appropriate response tot his thread would be “Amen.”

Amen

Well said, Riddle. *raises a can of Pepsi and a Twinkie*

Hell, screw the bickering, screw the rumors, screw the politics. This place is where I started and its where i'm gonna end. Raising my beer in agreement. Here, here! .

Dr. Riddle
He started mocking another friend of mine who became a ”Martyr” when he was unfairly banned – for the second time (brian_relly.). He made some negative comments about Brian in a thread that was started to demand that he and ProtonCharger be un-banned, and then he referred to him as ”cryin’ brian”. Well just for your information and ANYONE else who’s ever bashed him behind his back, he just so happens to be totally underrated in this community. He’s done a whole lot for Doc Fritz and I. I know him well, and he’s not the troublemaker that several members (Especially that one.) have made him look like. I know Brian well, and he’d NEVER lie to Fritz or me.

*sob* Didja have to bring up the “cryin brian” thing? *sob* Now EVERYONE knows!

And so, to whoever called me “cryin' brian”:

SCREW YOU

There's a lot of great points made in this thread, especially about the friendships people have made in this community. And unfortunately, it's the fact that we all have friends on both boards that causes us to linger between the two, instead of staying at the one we most prefer. I've been around here for nigh on seven years (yes, that long), and I've seen a lot of stuff. But in the last year I have made more friends on these two boards than I could possibly count.

This post appears to be going nowhere, although the reminiscing is quote nice…*sob* the memories…but I'd better end it before I start to sound like an old lady.

EDIT:: Just to clarify my above statement, when I stated “This post appears to be going nowhere”, I meant my post in particular, not the thread as a whole.

Why riddle, I believe this post deserves a sticky. Good job, excellent points all around.

very well said.
it was very insiteful