Today marks my 14th year on SRK, my birthday :party: , and literally half of my life devoted to this site.
I remember in early 2000 when I saw the game that would catapult my competitiveness to a whole other level- Marvel vs Capcom 2, in arcades. In search to elevate my skills and own my friends/rivals, I stumbled upon this site back when the front pages was filled with Mike Z, Yuta, and Meikyoususui combo videos and epic matches between Nun and Liquid Metal/ Valle vs Wong . Back when I would have to dedicate half a day to downloading grainy match videos in hopes to of getting a sliver of new tricks from the best players. This site was a competitive hive of the purest kind.
I rarely ventured to General Discussion back then, which to me was a proverbial den of lions, with flamewars and machismo galore. I stuck with Fighting Game and Character Discussion with the hopes of being the best in my region and maybe beyond. Although my contributions to a few sections (R.I.P. MVC2 Sakura, Rogue, and Venom boards) are long gone, I feel content that my ravenous pursuit of my hobby circa '00 - '06 was quite fulfilling.
Sadly, my local arcade closed, college came, and with it, much of my competitive ambitions. So the transition to GenD was natural, and I got acquainted with many posters, and being exposed to POVs normally outside my scope, which was both enlightening and amusing. General Discussion was, and still is my haven for amusement, cultural observation, mutual revelry in the obscure or perverse, and sometimes surprisingly educational. I looked forward to the annual EVO 2XXX hype, How Akuma Stole Christmas thread, and whatever random drama would inevitably ensue.
As much we rag on each other and created a subculture involving our diverse-minded members and their idiosyncrasies, there were times where I saw amazing compassion from people who never met each other. The tragic passing of Mummy-B was one of the most notable, as well as 9/11; you occasionally got to see the true nature of these members and that at the end of the day, we’re just dudes (and a few dudettes) brought together by a mutual hobby.
Folks like @infernoman @fishjie @rockbogart @The Damned @ViciousSLASH and many others either gone or now lurking, became forum mainstays that I developed a rapport with- even if casual, is still quite nice to reflect on after 14 years.
So all in all, it’s been a fun ride, and try as I may, I honestly don’t see myself permanently departing the site for as long as it remains an active hub of interesting content and posters.
FELLOW SRKERS, I SALUTE THEE!
