Of Ranks and Nostalgia

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Drakona
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Of Ranks and Nostalgia

Post by Drakona »

We haven't had any self-serving "I just made DBB Admiral" threads in quite a while, and I know they aren't cool. But I just made DBB Captain, and this is actually an event of some significance to me.

I was here when the DBB went from shareware UBB to registered (at least, I think that's what it was--maybe it was an upgrade), and with that change came the ability to upload an avatar and to achieve ranks based on postcount. I violently opposed both things at the time, seeing them as fluff that detracted from serious discussion. I especially opposed ranks, thinking that they rewarded the wrong thing, encouraging spam and half-baked posts.

I did eventually break down and upload an avatar, and have even come around to seeing their usefulness. And by the time the change occured, I already had the needed number of posts (what was it, 35?) to become a DBB Ace. But I swore thereafter that I would always be one--500 posts should be enough to last surely longer than I would stay on the DBB, if I posted well. I have always been very proud of how much I have been able to say and accomplish in few posts (not many), and I believed that regaurding posts as something of value, that I had a limited number of, improved the quality of my writing.

The DBB has changed a lot since then. I've changed a lot, too, and my standards of posting have certainly loosened enough that I've allowed myself to post the occasional "LOL" or "Thanks. :)" Just the same, I've always secretly seen my "DBB Ace" as a badge of pride, and worked to keep it up. Suddenly seeing it roll over to Captain as I was posting in E&C this afternoon triggered feelings of nostalgia, and almost made me feel as if I'd used up all my posts and should retire. Silly, I know--old convictions are hard to shake.

Anyway, it makes me think back over the history of the DBB, and how much both it and I have changed since ranks were introduced. I remember the Descent discussion and stories and jokes, the drama and politics, people jostling for authority. And then I remember the board drifting away from Descent a bit, the PG-13 rating sliding downhill a bit... I've left and returned so many times over the years, thinking this wasn't a place I wanted to be. And then I came back once and found that the board had changed so much that it had become something totally different--and now I love the rough and tumble discussion, the broad diversity, and the old friendships.

The DBB as it was when it added ranks doesn't exist anymore, and I'm not the same person who so violently objected to them. But the changing ranks make me look back and see where I've been and all that's gone on, and makes me smile. I've learned so much--about different people, about how to think and how to write--and I've taught so much. It's truly been wonderful, and I doubt I'll permanently leave the DBB until it changes again (you know--nothing lasts). And though Young Drakona swore she'd never use the full 500 posts, I think she'd be astonished and proud of the way I've used them. :)
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Post by Lobber »

Truly you have a dizzying intellect.
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roid
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Post by roid »

mmm feel the love :D

now that you're captian, you can ENGAGE things.

toilet flush... ENGAGE!
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Post by Krom »

I have my doubts anyone will make the new "Grand Master" (10,000 posts) rank before getting a custom rank or becoming a moderator first.

Then again, every once in a while I look at my post count and go "Whoa! When did that happen, I just got 5000 just a little while ago right?". I used to be so far down on the list and all of a sudden I was #5. Mobius was the first member to actually reach "DBB Master" just a couple days before I did. I was amused when Mobius and JMEaT were reset to 5 and 7 posts, but I reached 5000 shortly after and kept quiet about it. ;)

I wonder how MD-2389 posts so much, and on dial-up no less.
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Post by Duper »

Congrats Drakona ... and welcome to "maturity" (sounds better than "old age";) )

You will find that as you ge older many / MOST of the things you held dear to your heart at a younger age will fall by the way-side; most of the time being replaced by more weightier things and more realist objectives. ... but not brussel sprouts. ... I will ALWAYS hate brussel sprouts. :P ;)


Lobber, Nice quote. ;) now THAT is nostalgia !!! :lol:


p.s. Drakona.. why a spinning cube for an avatar and not an expanding tesseract?
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Post by Testiculese »

Avatars?! What avatars? I havn't seen avatars since I found AdBlock for Firefox. :) I have no idea what rank means what, or even what my post count is...

edit..what the hell is a Fleet Admiral? How did I manage to post enough to get that? I don't post LOL's or 'heh' (Actually, I've never said 'heh' in the course of any discussion, ever)

and rofl @ roid. :D He's my favorite poster.
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Post by Krom »

If a Captain can say "Engage" then what does a Master or Grand Master do? Use some sort of stealth ninja move to flush?
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Post by JMEaT »

Ah, I can still remember when my first post ever was closed. Thanks, Sup. ;)

Grats, Drake.
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Post by roid »

Krom as a master you must teach people to catch flies with chopsticks.

my lot in life atm is to protect textiles.
<---

thx testi, you do know that YOU actually have an avatar right?
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Post by Testiculese »

I do? Oh yea..Scottris's high quality avatar he made for me. Kickass dude :) Examine it closely, you'll see what my favorite weapon is. Everyone else knows it by the pain I've brought upon them with it ;)
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Post by JMEaT »

roid wrote:Krom as a master you must teach people to catch flies with chopsticks.
Krom has already taught me the fine art of catching 160GB of FTP files with chopsticks. It was hard at first but now I just walk away from the computer for a few days.

Image
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Post by Krom »

JMEaT wrote:
roid wrote:Krom as a master you must teach people to catch flies with chopsticks.
Krom has already taught me the fine art of catching 160GB of FTP files with chopsticks. It was hard at first but now I just walk away from the computer for a few days.

Image
I should have never told you to get a DVD burner. :P
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Post by kurupt »

500 posts since 1969. nice ;)
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Post by Top Gun »

roid wrote:toilet flush... ENGAGE!
I would give anything to hear Picard say that line. :P
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Post by Drakona »

Lobber: Just wait till I get going!!
Duper wrote: Drakona.. why a spinning cube for an avatar and not an expanding tesseract?
It's a shortened version of a longer animation (390k) that I made during my senior year in college. It shows the rotational symmetries of the cube (well, not quite all of them--I left out some that I thought were redundant.) The animation is fun to watch because the two-fold and three-fold symmetries of the cube are counterintuitive and visully surprising. At least, I think so.

The group O of rotational symmetries of the octahedron/cube is an interesting one to me, and continued to be a favorite as I studied geometry and polyhedra. It's the "middle group" -- big enough to be interesting, small enough to be fun.

I don't think the three rotations shown in my avatar are algebraically special. They probably generate the group, though.

Sorry for such a long and self-serving post... just seemed like a funny moment to me. I'll never be a DBB Admiral, though. Never, never, never. ;)
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Post by Lothar »

See also: NINJA CUBE! near the top of the thread...
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Post by Krom »

Drakona wrote:I'll never be a DBB Admiral, though. Never, never, never. ;)
It would take Xciter about 1 minute in myphpadmin to bump your postcount, you could be an Admiral easly. ;)
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Post by roid »

& Xciter did take Draconia to a high place.
"just one act of worship. and ALL THIS COULD BE YOURS!!!"
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Post by Robo »

I *might* make it to Admiral...
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Post by Vander »

I was curious how many posts I had, and it was 1337. :)
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