The recent posts in another thread have gotten me interested in the whole Flare history thing. So, I figured I'd ask everyone how they discovered Flare? For me, I don't quite remember, but I do remember that I found the place from an old DAC thread dealing with Enterprise's model of a Nebula-ized Constitution (TOS version).
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
i kinda recall reading lots of Flare the summer i got whacked out on hallucinogins, i found it through a link on EAS, which was the primo hotspot for stealing starship scans (i've learned better now.. credit where credit is due..).. i lurked for a while, as my life was collapsing around me. as of Sept '01 i moved home, quit getting trashed and went back to school.. the first week of school i started skipping classes to hang in the complab and post at Flare.
I registered the week before 9/11, it was on Flare that i found everything that was going on from Wes's thread ( i have it printed out on school paper somewhere ).. as CNN and MSNBC went down, i remember Flare being my only source of info.
i remember further back, i'm sure i surfed by a lot of old versions of everybody's sites, back in 97 i was a complete net n00b and wasnt much interested in a forum, although chats, like startrekker.net were awesome for me, we rehashed the same tired old drudgery about the FC ships with the same 5 pics over and over, and did RPG battles which mostly consisted of "raises shields" "raises metaphasic shields" "fires torpedo" "fires quantum torpedo" "turns into Q, destroys universe" "turns into Q-2, ass rapes Q" etc,etc,etc
the boredom of this made me sign up for my very own geocities site, which started out as an Austin Powers and ST: Early Voyages index, and grew into the Galactopedia (converted from MS Works files i'd kept since 95 after extreme dissatisfaction that the encyclopedia wasnt keeping up with DS9 and VGR)
Posted by Masao (Member # 232) on :
I flitted by a couple times in the early days back in 97 or so, but never stayed around or paid much attention. I went looking for my first post here, but the archives don't go back that far, I think.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
I probably found Flare from Bernd's site, too... I registered in late 2000 according to my profile, but at that time I spent more time at the TrekBBS. But that place gradually lost its appeal as it got so damn crowded -- despite its oddities, this place is a lot friendlier these days. Or at least, devoid of a lot of clueless idiots. Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
I knew Shik from my AOL days -- I used to hang around the "Star Trek" chats on AOL when I first got my PC, and eventually we were talking about something (I don't remember which), and he sent me the link.
I registered that day, posted, and then expressed wonder as to just where in the heck everyone was and why no one replied. Shik's reply, "most of 'em are European dude, the time change, the time change ..." (or something along those lines).
Posted by Mucus (Member # 24) on :
Oh....uh.....my brain hurts.
I originally went to a website called "The Great Link" to get the majority of my Star Trek-related information. For some reason it was closely associated with some forum which had something to do with the Behaviour Group. It might have been called "Star Trek Central" or was that a later incarnation? In any case Behaviour died and the forum got moved. Was that when Charles Capps hacked the forum and turned everything red? Or was that later. In any case, that forum died, then another, then another, there was a brief sojurn to the TNO forums, and then here.
You know what? Someone else fill me in on the details of my refugee-like movements Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
I either found Great Link or UP1 first. Eventually found my way to the Behaviour forums.
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
See Omega's Flare FAQ.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
quote:Originally posted by Malnurtured Snay: I knew Shik from my AOL days -- I used to hang around the "Star Trek" chats on AOL when I first got my PC, and eventually we were talking about something (I don't remember which), and he sent me the link.
That's right...I'm responsible for him. No nastygrams, just nailbombs please.
quote: I registered that day, posted, and then expressed wonder as to just where in the heck everyone was and why no one replied. Shik's reply, "most of 'em are European dude, the time change, the time change ..." (or something along those lines).
Which is one of the wonderful reasons I've enjoyed staying here for almost 3 years--the differing perspectives. Many of you have at LEAST 3 quotes in my archive, so the humor potential is just monstrous. There's also the fact that, due to having members on 5 continents (no one's shown up from Africa or Antarctica yet, right?) you're almost guaranteed to find activity at any time of the day, even if it's just a single insomniac poster.
Continuity, flow, energy, momentum, & balance are our watchwords. Plus Sol System.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
I didn't "find" Flare. I've been around since the original UP board. Which I found via AltaVista.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
I'm sorry, but I have to.
"In Soviet Russia, Flare finds you!"
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
I was told in a dream to come here and bother everyone or at least make Trek comments....
...and somebody (Anuresim? Shik? who knows for sure?) linked a bunch of my models to the site. THe rest is heresay and cannot be cooberated in a court of law.
Posted by Akira (Member # 850) on :
Google Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
I was on the original UP board (the inline-message board with a black background (was it stars?) (and purple and green text?). That morphed into that board that got trashed - I still don't know the story behind that - can someone enlighten me/us - Starfleet Communications Relay.
Then we migrated to that temporary board should read the whole thread - THE TNO BOARDS!, - which I guess is still out there but didn't get much traffic.
Then there was here, Flare/Solareclipse.
Before UP - I was on the Trekweb board... but it became unbearable. I finally stopped going there in either late 1997 or early-mid 1998. I think.
Andrew
[ March 13, 2003, 01:46 AM: Message edited by: AndrewR ]
Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :
Found it through EAS. Wow. I registered in December 1999. That's a long long time ago.
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
I also hail from the old UP board, which I saw mentioned in a Usenet posting. Probably alt.binaries.startrek - I wasn't especially interested in Trek online, just looking for starship pictures.
Posted by deadcujo (Member # 13) on :
quote:Originally posted by TSN: I didn't "find" Flare. I've been around since the original UP board. Which I found via AltaVista.
Same here, but I think I found the webboard by chance after finding the main site. That was a long time ago! Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
I don't remember exactly where I found Flare, I think I found a Flare-link on some Trek CGI-modeler's linkpage (Martin Hajek, Mateen Greenway or someone like that) and here I found some pre-tty interesting discussions about DS9 and Voyager eps and events.
I lurked for about six months, then felt I really wanted to contribute and so I registered.
What caught my attention first was the levelheadedness of the threads and the posters. This wasn't just any gathering of adolescent dreamers whose main vocabulary was "kewl", "that's so gay" and "Fu** you too, my modified Defiant beats your buphed-up Intrepid class mod!".
Had it been, I wouldn't have stayed. So there you go.
I've really enjoyed my stay here, there practically haven't been any "bad times", I've felt support from people in different ways and I have tried to give it back as much I could.
Posted by Tora Regina (Member # 53) on :
I met Simon in a Yahoo! Star Trek chatroom, and he introduced me to this place. I've been around on and off since the first UBB version, shortly before the CapComs started, actually.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
Is that Tora Ziyal!?! *waves*
Posted by Wraith (Member # 779) on :
I found it through the 'You're the Admiral' sections on MinutiaeMan's site, a little over a year ago.
quote: What caught my attention first was the levelheadedness of the threads and the posters. This wasn't just any gathering of adolescent dreamers whose main vocabulary was "kewl", "that's so gay" and "Fu** you too, my modified Defiant beats your buphed-up Intrepid class mod!".
Absolutely. Also most of the divertions are... amusing Posted by Tora Regina (Member # 53) on :
AndrewR, do I know you?
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
I found this place and Sci-Fi Art around the same time soon after getting the day job that I have now and, for the first time, having access to a phat, 24-7, free connection. SFA was my main hang out, mostly because I was posting some work and chatting about it, but I posted regularly here, too. After SFA fell apart, I never bothered to sign up at Gladiators for some reason.
I'm pretty sure I found the boards originally by searching at DogPile.com... I think I was looking for sci fi artwork... or star trek artwork... or something.
Posted by The359 (Member # 37) on :
I started at the UP forums after finding UP and Behaviour through AltaVista I believe (I think I just put 'Starship' into the search engine). That's where I first created the name of Matt359. After Behaviour, I had been away for a half year or so, and came back to find nothing there! I later found the group at the SFCR. Then the shit hit the fan and I ended up here.
Oh, and according to Omega's thread, I need to be interviewed or something...
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
I'm another member who's precence we can all blame on Bernd's EAS.
According to my profile I registered in April 2000 after lurking for about six months.
As you can see Topher had the honor of being the first to welcome me...and he hasn't left me alone since. Posted by Topher (Member # 71) on :
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 138) on :
Matt (The359) introduced it to me I guess when it first became SolarFlare I don't remember the exact date. I remember the Ambassador style LCARS interface scheme being used. I tried to register but couldn't because of my Yahoo email account. About a month later I borrowed my mom's Eudora email to finally register making me #138!
::sigh:: If only I could have a double-digit number then I really would feel like an old-timer here. Posted by Balaam Xumucane (Member # 419) on :
You can all blame Frank for my presence. I was developing the galaxy for my own hard sci-fi show, and I stumbled onto Frank's Distant Horizon. Then I became obsessed with Frank and would secretly celebrate his birthday without his knowing and printed up dozens of pictures of him (all pixelated at life size) and set them around my room and would talk to these about the technology on my show and the feasibility of interstellar travel. Eventually I learned that he came here, and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to get to know him, and maybe meet some other people who might be interested in creating something new. Well that didn't happen, so now I mostly just hang around and make flippant passive aggressive comments and viciously attack anyone who breathes so much as a sour word about TWOK. I have since blacked out the eyes of my Frank cut-outs, but I haven't been able to bring myself to throw them away.
Posted by Cartmaniac (Member # 256) on :
You can blame my presence on the crackers/DDoSers who where responsible for crashing Omega Project's server, forcing it off the air repeatedly between late '99 - early '00.
Then, during a frantic quest to wet me' olde appetite for all things Trek, I snatched the URL to Flare from the now-defunct SWMA and decided to take up a permanent residence here. Posted by akb1979 (Member # 557) on :
I found Flare in April 2001 while looking for information regarding the size of Starfleet. Who would have thought that it would have led me to a community as wonderful and as interesting as this one, not to mention down right funny and friendly. Hurray for Flare!
I came upon Flare, or rather the pocket of the Behaviour Group which would crash and be resurrected several times in order to finally become Flare, just after First Contact came out, when I was looking for information about the new ships.
IIRC (it's been a long time), I wasn't going to stick around but I noticed someone on the message board with a particularly wrong opinion, and I just had to correct them. I've been doing so ever since, through DT, through the anti-social.com invasion, through the interrogations, the LOA pictures, Omega and Creationism, RW, guns, Bosnia, 9-11, Iraq... through it all, I have endured. And I shall not be moved.
"I am as constant as the northern star!"
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
As constantly wrong, perhaps.
Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :
Trust you to take a harmless thread into the political arena.
Oh, will this vendetta ever cease?
"Enough of the politics of personal destruction."
Posted by David Templar (Member # 580) on :
I really don't remember, might have something to do with my stint at www.firstones.com, or that B5 tech board I used to hang out at.
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
Rob,
I'd like you to read your post, read my response, and carefully state your reasons for accusing me of taking this thread into the "political arena."
Clearly, if either of us took it into that area, YOU did, and even a basic comprehension of the English language will show that to be the case.
Get a fucking Dictionary.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"'I am as constant as the northern star!'"
You constantly change w/ the precession of the Earth's axis?
Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :
A basic comprehension of the english language (including the concepts of 'syntax' and 'context') would show that "doing so" refers back to "stick around."
After all, what would there be to "correct" in the interrogations, or LOA pictures?
Or to rewrite the post for those with a less-than-comprehensive understanding: "I wasn't going to stay here, then something happened, and I've been staying here ever since."
Only your galactic level of defensiveness made you see it any other way.
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
Rob.
The facts: you made a post proclaiming yourself master of the correct interpretation of all events, and then likened yourself to the constancy of the Northern star.
I made a joke regarding how unconstant you are.
You replied by screaming about how I was turning an innocent thread into a political one.
Your second posts makes no sense, since clearly your first post took the thread into the political realm.
quote:A basic comprehension of the english language (including the concepts of 'syntax' and 'context') would show that "doing so" refers back to "stick around."
quote:IIRC (it's been a long time), I wasn't going to stick around but I noticed someone on the message board with a particularly wrong opinion, and I just had to correct them. I've been doing so ever since
So, when you say "doing so" referse back to "sticking around", what you really meant in your sentence was "I've been not meaning to stick around ever since?"
Clearly, "I've been doing so ever since" refers to "...particularly wrong opinion, and I just had to correct them."
This is backed up by the follow-up statement, "I've been doing so ever since, through DT, through the anti-social.com invasion, through the interrogations, the LOA pictures, Omega and Creationism, RW, guns, Bosnia, 9-11, Iraq... through it all, I have endured. And I shall not be moved."
Conclusion?
Despite Rob's protects, "doing so" clearly does NOT refer back to "sticking around."
Posted by The359 (Member # 37) on :
Are you two finished?
Posted by Charles Capps (Member # 9) on :
Yes, they are.
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
Yes, sorry for hijacking the thread.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
So exactly how long have you two been married?
Posted by Cartmaniac (Member # 256) on :
Since mankind began to record history.
Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :
Sorry for responsing to the hijacking of the thread, thereby hijacking it further. Last time.
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
I didn't hijack the thread when I replied to your joke about the North Star. TSN didn't hijack the thread when he replied to your joke about the North Star.
You hijacked the thread when you blasted my reply. Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
Snay is right.. and i have a feeling that smackdown is bound to follow if you retort otherwise.
Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :
...said Vader to ObiWan.
TSN's post was funny, not insulting. In fact, I thought the exact same thing while I was writing about it: The North Star isn't exactly constant.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
If it's any use, I read "doing so" as meaning "correcting people", as well.
But still, y'know, you two shut up now and stuff...
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on :
My friend showed me the forums a while ago. I wasn't really interested at first, since I was unsure of how long I'd have an internet connection... But after that was settled I decided to register.
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
I love Flare!
I found it on EAS!
Posted by Veers (Member # 661) on :
I clicked on a link to this site from Aethelwer's site (Starfleet Ship Designs). That was back in 1999. I read posts here for years until I finally decided to join in July 2001. So it's all 100 percent Frank's fault. It was either this or join TNO Forums...I believe I made the right choice.
Posted by Ultra Magnus (Member # 239) on :
I predate Tim!
Posted by LOA (Member # 49) on :
I have no idea how I ended up posting in this place... I know that I'd already known Charles for a while (Star Trekker chat???), but I think it was actually Jordan that brought me here. I lurked for something like six months, never posting, then finally one day jumped in.... gads, that was ages ago.... truly another lifetime. I couldn't even tell you which incarnation it was for sure, but I kinda think it was SFCR.
Since then I've never really posted regulary, but I check the forums daily.... Someday I may even reach Sr. member status
I wonder, should I find a new, never before seen pic to post for the anniversary? Nah............. no fun in that.........
~LOA
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
quote:Originally posted by Ultra Magnus: I predate Tim!
an excellent way to avoid saying you came before him.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
My first post was on November 11th, 1997. I think I had come across Utopia Planitia and the board a few months earlier, in August, via a link someone had posted in (sigh) Yahoo! Chat. I was so young then. But it took me awhile to find the place, because, as I discovered eventually, behavior != behaviour.
"Where were the Quantum torps?" I wanted to know. I suppose I found out.
Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :
I have the vaguest of memories of being lured here from usenet's r.a.st.tech in fall '99 by... well, somebody. Anybody willing to confess?
I never knew UP in any of its incarnations, except through the "don't ask" comments here. About the only one here whose Trek work I was familiar with in advance was Bernd. After coming to Flare, I spent a few weeks in euphoric daze, clicking through the links to members' pages and discovering that yes, having Trek *is* superior to having a life, and no, you don't *always* turn into a Dixon when you reach Trek nirvana.
Timo Saloniemi
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Liz: I think you were here during the SFCR days, because I think the whole picture-posting fiasco happened at TNO during the stint between SFCR and Solarflare.
Posted by Ultra Magnus (Member # 239) on :
Remember when SFCR went crazy go nuts? Those were the days.
Posted by LOA (Member # 49) on :
Timmy~
That's right, isn't it? It was when I was still dating Eric and all of that.... hehehe.... I hadn't made my appearance felt enough at TNO an someone started a tread looking for me.... I do believe the Interrogation threads began VERY soon after that!
Oh, how I loved the interrogation threads.... those were the days....
And Trek Sunday? SUCH a fan of that! Every sunday, I'd try to get out of work so that I could lock myself up in my dorm room and embrace the dorkiness that was me while chatting with y'all.... good times...... happier days, for sure.....
~LOA
Posted by Bernd (Member # 6) on :
Frank G. sent me here in August 1998. Probably because he was tired of responding to my e-mails all alone. Posted by Fleet-Admiral Michael T. Colorge (Member # 144) on :
I joined in 1999 along with my old bf. Now it's just me. I think I was looking for something about DS9 on Yahoo and came to this forum.
Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :
I believe I was one of the poor unfortunate souls who got deleted after registering long time ago. Hell if I remember how I found it then, but I re-found it back in december or january looking for some obscure trek starship factoid on google. That or I found it through Spikes page or someone elses. Anyway here I am after 50 days and this I believe is my 250th post....Yay, Im a full fledged member!! Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
quote:Originally posted by Balaam Xumucane: You can all blame Frank for my presence. I was developing the galaxy for my own hard sci-fi show, and I stumbled onto Frank's Distant Horizon.
I still have my sketches for a logo for Distant Horizon... never posted them on the net though.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
quote:Originally posted by Tora Regina: AndrewR, do I know you?
That's what all the girls say to me
BTW - I loved that E-C LCARS set up here. Very nice.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
quote:Originally posted by Timo: I have the vaguest of memories of being lured here from usenet's r.a.st.tech in fall '99 by... well, somebody. Anybody willing to confess?Timo Saloniemi
I remember you from rasttech Timo. I thought it was great when you joined! You always had such good answers. Now... LOL! No - glad you came, and stayed... cause I did think it was just for a kick and you were going back to rasttech. Posted by Daryus Aden (Member # 12) on :
Been here since the original forums @ TGL & UP.
And those of us who have survived are not old & wise. We're old and deranged.
Posted by Daryus Aden (Member # 12) on :
Been here since the original forums @ TGL & UP. Came in Via Chris Howell @ TGL.
And those of us who have survived are not old & wise. We're old and deranged.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
The non-UP Forum wasn't TGL, as such. It was Trek Central.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 24) on :
Ah, I remember that name. Thats where I settled! I knew I wouldn't have picked UP. All those crazy people debating ship lengths and arguing over blurry blobs in screencaps Posted by Jubilee (Member # 99) on :
I didn't find Flare, It was forced upon me by Charles in an attempt to convert me to the Forum way of life. Which was more or less successful.
That, and I did a lot of help with the graphics work early on, and got curious. Posted by The359 (Member # 37) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jubilee: got curious.
Not the first time this has happened with you, eh?
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