What Makes You Come to EvaGeeks?

[J_Faulkner]

I've been part of a number of forums over the last decade or so, and it was somewhat interesting to see why the regulars in these forums kept on coming back to the same place, even when forum activity and/or quality drastically declined.

This gives rise to the especially curious phenomenon on anime forums (excluding this one) where you usually get a sea of juvenile posters and a bunch of relatively older and more literate people swimming around amongst them, but the older people still hang around as regulars come hell or high water. I think this is down to "intangibles" such as a place of belonging and a place where they are "known" in some capacity.

So ... what brings you here to the EvaGeeks forums as opposed to all the other anime and Evangelion forums out there? Is this place unique in some way for you? Is there some je ne sais quoi that keeps you coming back for more? Do you come here mainly to digi-socialize or to find out more about Evangelion?

[Sachi]

The EvaMonkey Forums were the first forums I had ever joined, having been introduced to it by an old roleplay buddy of mine who had seen an article on the home page. I checked it out, and being the juvenile I was (and still am) with a great confusion over my first viewing of Evangelion, I decided to join.

At first it was the quest for knowledge that kept me coming; my understanding of the more obscure side of Evangelion was next to nil, so seeing others talk about it helped me understand it that much more. It was also nice to see other people that held a similar interest in stuff like this because none of my real life friends are.

As my understanding of the show grew, it became less and less about wanting to know. The regulars of this place soon became somewhat of a dysfunctional family that I've grown to love and a lot of these people are really great friends now. I now keep coming back for the community, and not so much Evangelion itself, though it is still of great fascination to me. I've known a number of the forum members since the year I joined, and communicating with them both here and the IRC has established a sense of companionship that is otherwise rare in other aspects of my life.

[Guyver Spawn]

I've been part of a number of forums over the last decade also, and I join the forums since I was looking for a good NGE forum that is still alive. When I found Evageeks, I was pretty happy to find a great NGE forum that is not dead. I first found the site when I was looking for info on MP eva's units on Google, and the wiki was pretty cool. So like around early 2009, I found the forum link on google, and choose to sign up.

So now I'm here like everday, and It's on my top 10 most visted sites next to Youtube, MFG, Narutofan (OBD only), AVPgalaxy, and Tohokingdom.

[Eric Blair]

The off topic and fanfiction section.

[Dartz]

Habit...

I don't even know.

[Defectron]

Not really sure, I dont think I have any one reason, there's a bunch of small ones though

1. Talk about eva
2. Tell people about my paramasterbatory fantasies and other weird crap
3. RP and other stuff to kill time when I get bored at work
4. To spread my awesome legend to more people on the internet
5. To say stuff that makes no sense
6. Some other reason I forgot

[Eva Yojimbo]

I'm guessing that most first made our way here because we finished NGE and wanted to read about it, discuss it, analyze it, etc. and there is no larger online resource for NGE with more active discussion than EvaGeeks. It still amazes me the numerous details that are still often being revealed and discussed about the series. A good example would be how radical the theories and explanations behind the mechanics of the Impacts have changed since I first came here. And even with the subjects that are repeatedly discussed like Shinji's character and various relationships I always find it interesting to see what direction these threads take with relatively "new blood" chiming in; I never know what new perspective will be put forth.

Apart from that I think the OT forum is consistently full of interesting discussions as well. I just generally like most of the people around here as well. There's almost no strife and the majority of posters seem to be above-average intelligent for the median of similar internet forums and most can hold their own in discussions and debates without descending into pointless flame wars.

[Sammaeloo]

I like coming here because I like to discuss things that I don't normally discuss with other people.

Not all of my friends are into anime, so its nice to discuss anime and other things similar.

[MugwumpHasNoLiver]

Well, I think I lurked around here for about a year or two before joining and was just amazed by the level of sophistication put into the fanwankery and Eva related speculation. (Crap like aliens throwing eggs across space just blew my mind back then.) I don't think I actually joined until after Rebuild 1.0 or 2.0 came out, but I can't recall. I don't even remember the last time I talked about Eva. The only reason I keep wasting my time here is because this is one of the only forums I know of that isn't being eaten alive by idiots with nothing to say. Frankly, this forum is the only place I can have and read in-depth discussions without childish name calling.

[Captain_Morgan]

Eva is one of the few anime series that I've watched and enjoyed, and for about two years, I was a little obsessed with it. Saw the forum and decided to join one day, and I made a few posts every now and then. Started coming here regularly when 2.0 came out, and I wanted to know what happened and read people's theories on what the fuck was going on with that (sequel theory ftw, bitches).

Nowadays, I mostly stick around this part of the forum, since while I like Eva, I don't like it to the point that I will dig through countless posts on theories and other crap, just so I can post "I concur!" or "I disagree!" Couldn't really care less about most of it anyways now that I'm out of my "ZOMG EVA IS TEH GREETEST" phase, though I still look forward to the rest of Rebuild and all that jazz.

So...yeah, I guess it's a habit like Dartz said.

[Ornette]

The only reason I keep wasting my time here is because this is one of the only forums I know of that isn't being eaten alive by idiots with nothing to say.

We get a lot of those, too. Fortunately, the moderators are diligent enough to limit the damage done and they usually get bored and leave. Or get banned.

[ZapX]

I don't care that much about Eva anymore. I'm just here to keep you bitches in line. IRC is where the real action is anyway.

[Sailor Star Dust]

I joined because Evamonkey (second forums EVAR I joined, the first forum is for a site where the forums have some on and off problems. =_= ) sounded better than AnimeNation Forums which didn't look like it had too much Eva-discussion going on.

FWIW, after I was here for sometime, I managed to successfully invite not just Eric but also Chaz. (I actually did try to invite 94Saturn (God rest his soul) at one point, but I guess internet forums weren't really his thing.)

While some real life friends know about anime, not many of them are
into it (Eva especially), which is why discussing and participating in the fandom here is nice.

Also, there's this which rings true for me:

As my understanding of the show grew, it became less and less about wanting to know. The regulars of this place soon became somewhat of a dysfunctional family that I've grown to love and a lot of these people are really great friends now. I now keep coming back for the community, and not so much Evangelion itself, though it is still of great fascination to me. I've known a number of the forum members since the year I joined, and communicating with them both here and the IRC has established a sense of companionship that is otherwise rare in other aspects of my life.

[Bomby von Bombsville]

Originally I came here because I loved Eva and wanted to discuss it. I still love Eva and want to discuss it, yet it seems like I spend almost all my time in the OT forum. Really, what keeps me coming back is the great discussions/debates on film I've been having here with all the other cineastes.

[Fazmotron]

After the decay of the AnimeNation Eva Forum, this was the only place I knew of. Plus it was the home of the resident experts like Reichu, Ornette, and occasionally Shin-seiki, among others.

[Agentomega]

I love Eva, and the users on this forum are fun to talk with. It's sort of a bond, so to speak.

[J_Faulkner]

The regulars of this place soon became somewhat of a dysfunctional family that I've grown to love and a lot of these people are really great friends now.

I've had people from other anime forums describe the online community they were part of as a "family" as well, funnily enough. I think what you've said here fits into what I said about forums giving a sense of "belonging" to people.

But why do you say dysfunctional family?

I've known a number of the forum members since the year I joined, and communicating with them both here and the IRC has established a sense of companionship that is otherwise rare in other aspects of my life.

I was once part of a thread where people postulated that there is an inverse relationship between time spent on a forum and having a sense of belonging to a community in the flesh. In this spirit, do you feel that being part of EvaGeeks gives you more at present than any community in the flesh does?

... NGE forum that is still alive

Before coming here, I did a search of NGE forums as well and it proved surprisingly difficult to find one that had decent activity.

4. To spread my awesome legend to more people on the internet

That's also probably one of the reasons why I occasionally join up to online forums.

... I always find it interesting to see what direction these threads take with relatively "new blood" chiming in; I never know what new perspective will be put forth.

For me, the perspectives I've seen here are not so far removed from what I've experienced over the years; this is one reason why I advocated drawing in people from the wider online community.

There's almost no strife and the majority of posters seem to be above-average intelligent for the median of similar internet forums and most can hold their own in discussions and debates without descending into pointless flame wars.

I don't doubt that EvaGeeks is overall more intelligent than your average anime forum, but then again, your average anime forum is populated by halfwits - and I say this as an objective fact, not as an insult to anime forums in general.

The only reason I keep wasting my time here is because this is one of the only forums I know of that isn't being eaten alive by idiots with nothing to say.

How would you define "idiots"? Do you mean people that resort to name-calling or do you have something else in mind?

So...yeah, I guess it's a habit like Dartz said.

But what drives this habit? The people here and the online bonds you've built up over the years?

Also, there's this which rings true for me:

I'll pose the same question to you as I did to Sachi: why do you call this community a dysfunctional family?

what keeps me coming back is the great discussions/debates on film I've been having here with all the other cineastes.

Yes, I have noticed a fair number of film-related threads; unfortunately, I do not tend to watch films, and when I do, they tend to be documentary ones like "The Devil Came on Horseback". The picture I'm getting is that a sizeable number of people here are into films or the arts, rather than the sciences or engineering, and I do wonder whether this is a characteristic of anime fans in general.

After the decay of the AnimeNation Eva Forum, this was the only place I knew of.

On an objective level, the culture of the Animenation forums can accurately be described as high-school with influences from primary school, something which I was acutely aware of after only a couple of days there. In other words, just your regular anime forums.

[CorporalChaos]

Sheer force of habit, I'm afraid.

Which is scary, because I'm non-habit forming.

[Sachi]

I've had people from other anime forums describe the online community they were part of as a "family" as well, funnily enough. I think what you've said here fits into what I said about forums giving a sense of "belonging" to people.

But why do you say dysfunctional family?

"A sense of belonging"? Not at all. But nor do I (at the present time) feel a sense of rejection. It's quite neutral.

And I say "dysfunctional family" partially as a joke, but also for this: do our trends suggest we are a normal family?

In this spirit, do you feel that being part of EvaGeeks gives you more at present than any community in the flesh does?

No. Not at all. My offline life is quite balanced with my online life.

[THE Hal E. Burton 9000]

I joined this forum when it was pretty much only in The Eva Monkey's control way back in 2007 after I lurked for several months and finally watched EoE after seeing NGE on Adult Swim

I initially had questions that I could not answer from what else was out there on the internet

I have stayed here long after my initial fervor has subsided for a few reasons

1) for all the issues that have plagued this forum, it's easily the best run anime-related forum on the 'net and one of the best I have ever posted on, the admins/mods are not total arseholes, don't treat you like a baby, and are not completely distant and stand-offish

2) this forum has perhaps the best smart-to-likeable ratio of members I have ever posted on, in my experience other members on any given forum are either total fanboys/nerds who take everything too damn srsly or it's a complete spam fest

by far, it's been the best forum I have ever joined on the whole