What's Changed Since You Registered?

Ok, I could'nt figure out where to put this, so i'm putting it here, anyone who can, feel free to move it to wherever you feel it's most appropriate.


So, the question is, what has changed on ATS since you first started/registered?

Since I first registered, which will be two years the end of next month, quite a bit has changed on the site.

-There has been about 3-4 version upgrades.
-Eighteen (18) new ATS forums have been added.
-ATS store added.
-TinWiki added.
-Podcasts added.

Than of course the more member oriented changes, I've seen alot of new moderators, and I've seen a handful leave, the birth of the three amigos, well atleast them deciding to call themselves that, and seen alot of members banned.


It really go's to show you just how dynamic and ever evolving ATS really is, changing so much in such a short peiod of time.

Wow, as I think about this, I feel so old..


Anyways, so what's changed since you began?

Fundamentally, the site has not changed. People have come and gone. Features have been added and deleted and the look has changed, but the core elements that make the site interesting and fun haven't.

Ah your no fun grady, lol.
Good answer though.

But I'm gonna assume that yopur answer had you listed the
outer shell changes, they'd be the same as mine, seeing as
you joined only a few months before me.

Moved to BB&Q...

Since I first registered back in february 2002 (The old ATS board). Too much has changed. Even the members are mostly different. The only remaining members from that board are some supermods, former mods, and some really old ones who drop in from time to time.

And the topics were mostly about area 51, Aliens, black ops, and paranormal stuff. War on terrorism and that kind of stuf wasn't that popular like it is now.

[edit on 14-9-2006 by TheBandit795]

Yeah, Bandit you've been here from the beginning. You be one of the olduns

And, looking back in the past, before I joined, things looked a lot looser. I don't think the T&C were the same, if they were around at all. So it seems as ATS got bigger, more rules and guidelines were established to keep things funning smoothly.

One change I've noticed is in me.
I started out questioning the JFK conspiracy and Secret Societies. After reading an Icke book. Now I'm a mod here with varied interest and new cyber friends
I'm sure many of us have gone through similar changes since becoming members.

More activity in the comics forum

I really wish I was here in the old days, 4-5 years back. It would have been awesome. Not this 68, 000 member chaos fest.
I'm only a year old. It makes me wonder how long I'll stick around, what will stop me coming here. My death? Board taken offline? Other members?

But even within that year - I don't know if it really my place to say this - but this board has kind of started to turn into a lot of other forms out there. I get the feeling a dozen or so members and the mods are all that are stopping ATS from turning into a normal forum with members screaming at each other and whatnot. I mean, what RATS is today was the general level back then. And that was only 1 year ago.

When I first signed up, there was a kind of process where you had to explain why youd be a good member. I remember that the first time I tried I did not write anything here, and so my original choice of username was then unavailable. That's why I've got the '_' in my name, because I had no idea how to use computers back then.

Does anyone else see (or more like feel) this, or is it just my ever-so-slightly deranged mind playing yet more tricks?

I think that it would almost be time to bring in another one of these systems. Not something so hands on as the 'explain why you would be a good member' system, because that takes too much manpower to keep working, but perhaps a Q&A on the Terms And Conditions? (or something along those lines)
It would require a new member to score at least 80% on a multiple-choice quiz that asks questions about specific rules as stated in the T&C.

At least this would mean that new members would be somewhat educated on the basic rules here. I remember that I didn't even give the thing a second look when I signed up.
Perhaps it would be possible to even include a little section for the 'General Etiquette' page?

Some people have gone-And that's to be celebrated!! There was a rough crowd here when i joined way back when.

Some have gone who were the best!!! I wish they would come back..Pisky, Masked Avatar...i miss them terribly. i cant help wondering where they are and how they are doing.

For the most part, things remain the same. I think the ATS'rs are growing in sophistication and have grown up as a whole.
ATS has had many changes that have made this site a very sophisticated one and the new members seem to be better quality (for the most part). One impressive thing is that our posters have a great amount of knowledge they bring us and that is definatly a step in the right direction.

Also, there are far less personal attacks now, imo.

Just remember: The word "ignorant" when describing a member is still not acceptable- not a good thing to say. Its ok to disagree, but when you throw in this word, it just isnt cool.*
Other than that, i think we've developed into a wonderful forum where respect RULES.

Like Aretha Franklyn, All we need is a little r-e-s-p-e-c-t

[edit on 14-9-2006 by dgtempe]

Originally posted by watch_the_rocks
I get the feeling a dozen or so members and the mods are all that are stopping ATS from turning into a normal forum with members screaming at each other and whatnot.

There have been cosmetic changes to the board appearance since 2004, but your quote above says it all for me. It's the mods and members that keep me coming back.

As the boards have expanded the Admin. have kept a firm hand on the membership. Trolls don't stand a chance in the ATS universe, and the members that care are willing to step up to keep these boards clean enough for anyone.
I think we attract a quality membership because we have quality members, and our mods are members that have been around long enough to care about something they've invested a lot of time into.

The day I joined the main page looked like this:



If you want to jump into the "Way Back Machine" take a look here...........
web.archive.org...*/abovetopsecret.com...

It's a cool trip into the past.

Thank you for that trip down memory Lane, AD

Yeah, I remember that the forums were not the main thing here at ATS. Now that's weird.

And DG, who was calling who Ignorant?

The word is used loosely around here when one does not agree with another and it should stop.

Simply because there are two different points of view, does not make one party ignorant.

I've seen it thrown around here quite often within the past few months. I beleive its been brought to the attention of mods and things are getting better.

Without any hesitation I can say with certainty that I now have much more e-mail than I used to.

I drink more now.

I have less hair.

The site still draws me in every day, still makes me think, laugh a little. It's all good.

Well Ive been here since back in the old days of ATS (2002), when Byrd and Tyler were ordinary members and people like WWS was still regular posters.

Bandit is right, the discussions back in those days were more conspiracy oriented.

Area 51 and aliens were a hot topic and there was WAY less political commentry. In fact there wasnt even a BTS or PTS back in those days if I remember right.

There was certainly LESS ridiculous claims towards freemasons, people still discussed masonic stuff but never things like:

"OMG freemasons blew up my toilet and bugged my house while abusing my child and worshipping satan!!!!!" (exaggerated for emphasis)

Without meaning to offend anyone, I remember the quality of discussion to be much better in general. Posters would research their topics more and were generally more respectful to each other.

Wild and outrageous claims (ie. 'The Acients' post about giant aliens living inside our hollow earth and trapping our souls with a machine, which was posted within the last few months) were much less frequent and people didnt just blindly accept whatever was posted.

Anyway thats just my two cents worth

I'm getting closer to my goal of becoming a full-time currency trader.

Skeptic and SimonGray give more interviews.

i can confirm that since my registration : my sock HAVEchanged

was that the question ?

Yeah, I;ev changed my underwear once or twice since then.

Once or twice.

when i registered my first ATS account (hint: this isn't it) this place was more than a little different, but more than anything i miss the Colonel.

he just had so much pep.