It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Nah, it was probably just the worst of times.
Last spring, Maidens of the Kaleidoscope was a shambles. The quick succession of creepy "Who would you sleep with?" threads had left the forum's reputation in the dumpster and the guest-viewable Idiot Central, as it was called then, had attracted scorn from people all around the community. And RC1 was being twitchy as usual... and the time was ripe to make a clean break.
And so, last spring, TSO took the drastic step of trashing the old forum and creating a new forum in its place. Still on RC1, TSO maintained it for almost a full year, backporting all the fixes to RC1, not patching or upgrading to RC2, until three weeks ago to the day, April 1st, when we finally had to take the forums down for a full day to upgrade straight from RC1 to RC3.
In that time, MotK has gained two thousand members-- not all of them are active, but we've a good amount of regulars. Mostly people who came over from the old forums, until the new MotK picked up steam. As of this writing, we have 2359 accounts registered here, no small number considering how small the Western Touhou Community is.
And what's more, not only do we have members, we have friends. Even counting only the time since the switch to the new forums, a full year getting to know you all has been great. The relationship between us all isn't that of distant admins, indifferent moderators, and rebellious members; it's one based on trust, and while we on mod staff make mistakes and end up losing some of that trust, we're still honoured that you give us second chances. We're here to serve you, to keep a well-run forum, to keep this place a fun place for everyone. And we hope that you haven't found this place lacking in a sense of community, camaraderie, and friendship.
Ah, but while I could go on and on like the crazy historian I am, I'll cut myself short. The words aren't as important as the message, and the message is: Dear MotK members, we've worked hard for a full year now, and longer still, to give you guys a forum where you can enjoy Touhou, meet new friends, and have fun. We started this forum on April 21st, 2009, and now it's (been) April 21st, 2010. A full year rockin' out with all you wonderful people. It's now the best of times, and it's been a great ride.
This forum was created specifically for a good laugh, and for the sake of MotK's one-year anniversary. Let's put our differences aside and celebrate, shall we?
This has been resized so as to not open myself up for a broom beatdown. But don't get us wrong, it's n-not like we like you or anything!Anyway: Happy Birthday, Maidens of the Kaleidoscope. It's been a privilege to serve you all. It's been a year o' fun, and I hope to see many more! :toot:
