Hey! Hey! How's It Going?

[The R.S.]

HEY! HEY!
HOW'S IT GOING?

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I dunno how many of you guys swing by here anymore for nostalgia, but I thought I'd post a little update. Been now over a year since I closed down this place (I still think of it now and again) and wondered if anyone else ever swings by as well.


Since I'm here, why not post a bit of an update? What's ol' RS up to these days? Well, I don't go by "The R.S." much anymore. Rather, I now tend to go by "Boulder Dash." Why? Well, here's the story.


Since closing down RTC, I was looking for a new place online to call my home. Searched around Proboards for a while, though never did find another place that I felt a special connection with. Also, I've slowly progressed into a Brony. Yup, I watch My Little Pony, bitches, and god do I love it. "Boulder Dash" is the name of my OC pony. Look! I even have a drawing of him!



Isn't he cute?


If any of you guys are Bronies, then you may notice his last name is "Dash." Just to point out, no, no relation to Rainbow Dash. It is a pun on the word "balderdash." And he's blue because that's my favorite color. And he's a pegasus because fuck you.


ANYWHO, I first went to this MLP RP site that I got banned from in less than 2 weeks. First ban I ever actually got online, honestly. What was I banned for? Your guess is as good as mine. I always viewed myself as a down to earth and pacifist kind of guy. Don't quite go looking for trouble and if I'm new to a place, I'm more mild mannered than I usually am. I won't even say a single curse. But the admin? What an asshole. Apparently making a mistake of getting your info jumbled on very limited resources to reference from is call for a ban. Not that in the end I'm heartbroken by this. I wasn't enjoying the site much due to the head butting with the admin. He was just one of those guys you couldn't please. I came to him often for advice on how to best fit in on the site and he'd just bite my head off.


"Hey, would it be alright for me to double post if I run out of space as I write a story that I wish to share with the site?"

"You're not going to be able to fill up that much space."

*a couple hours later*

"Hey, I ran out of space. Can I double post or what is your suggestion?"


Maybe he didn't like that I asked so many questions. Well, I got a lot of weird vibes from him. Though from talking to him, apparently he is a muslim living in the middle east who has been to war with some kind of bipolar disorder, or so he claims.

The internet, ammirite?

Anyhoo, I was at least given the opportunity to scrap up the character I made so far before being banned (though he didn't have to ban. If he just requested me to leave, fine. I would've. We obviously had bad chemistry anyway that wouldn't make our time enjoyable, no matter how much I tried. Ban just seemed a bit excessive, but I digress.)


After that, I looked for another MLP:FiM RP site on the Proboards network. Options are really low for one that didn't look like shit or was inactive. But I eventually did find another and it was... well, alright, at least. I hung out there. Never got into squabbles with the admins, it was active, spoke with some of the members and made buds. But I just couldn't get into the place too much. While the admins weren't completely unreasonable, I just felt like I couldn't really be myself, I felt like I was holding back who I was. I'm not a bad guy as you fellas should know (or so I hope), but me having to feel like I had to restrict myself is kinda bad. More than likely, it was just me. Still continued my search for a site to call home. And since I was a Brony, I wanted it to be a Brony site.


Then in early May, I did finally find a place. I heard about a place called iBrony and went to check it out. And instantly, I fell head over heels for the place! Just how friendly everyone was, the attitude of the admins made me feel like I could be me with my humor, kinda random, silly, witty, but not offensive. And the place looked nice, neat, and orderly as well! And since it was a social network, not an RP site, I didn't have to worry about a muse dying on me! It felt like RTC and CC to me from the gold ol' days! From day one, I knew I had found my new home! It was that kind of feeling I was looking for from a site!

It was my first time out of Proboards since God knows when, but I made the tranistion quite nicely with very little withdrawal (okay, maybe one or two hits, BUT I WAS OFF THE PB, MAN). I settled into the community and made myself at home.

Few days after I signed up, the admin (who we call Discord) actually started taking staff applications. iBrony was pretty new, only being made on January 31st, but was exploding in popularity (they had over 4,500 members by the time I joined, easily belittling RTC's membership count of 2,000 of 5 years in less than a month). There was only Discord and Celestia as active admins. So, they were looking for trustworthy members to give them a hand (or dare I say, lend a hoof? *snicker*).

Because of how much I already loved the place, I sent an application in right away. I knew I was brand new, but hey; No point in at least trying, right? Well, the application thread seemed to die over time as no new mods were promoted in months.

Wasn't until June that there was finally a promotion made for staff. The first member went by the name of Violyre and then the second went by the name of Fooby. Both guys had been there longer than me, so I wasn't too surprised. Never knew them before, but hey; there were thousands of members already. Easy not to notice someone in such a busy and active crowd where up to 200 people can be online at the same time. Then the promotions ended and all was silent until the following month.

In July, the third and final staff member to the site was assigned. GUESS WHO IT WAS?


CHUCK TESTA


Nah, it was actually me! Not to toot my own horn, but my jaw hit the floor when I got a PM inviting me onto the staff team. I mean, there were members who had been there much longer than me, but I was beng offered staff! I was doing my best to try to earn the title in the ways I knew how: Be modest, be kind, promote good behavior, and I even knew how to handle fights that broke out when the admins weren't around. I didn't have the powers to, say, ban if needed, but I still calmed it down to a peaceful conclusion with carefully chosen words. Obviously, being staff between here and CC helped me out with handling that kind of experience (like an off duty cop). I wasn't a big attention grabber because I was so quite and well behaved, but apparently it didn't go unnoticed. I was happy to be promoted to staff, a position I still hold to this day strong.

It is quite fun for me, honestly. I can't enjoy a site without being able to mod these days as I got so used to it, especially if I really love the place. Call it OCD, if you will. But the task is much different than RTC and CC as it isn't Proboards or any other free host, it is an actual domain, and we have thousands and thousands of members: Over 15,000 currently. Well over one million posts through the site, nearly 100,000 pictures uploaded, and more. It seriously is a busy place! And since Violyre and myself are technically the only site "mods" as Celestia is busy with college, Fooby went MIA last month, and Discord works with complex codes, it is quite a chore. But we manage and we manage well. I've got myself my fair share of members who hate me for my job, but others who have me as their favorite mod because I'm in reality not unfair or unreasonable (but I guess I might seem that way if you tell me to go fuck myself, but assholes will be assholes).


Anyhoo, if anyone swings by RTC for old time's sake and sees this, feel free to drop by and say hello to me! Web address is...


www.ibrony.com/invite/user_4555/


You'll need to join to contact me (of course). But if you do sign up to say hello, you'll find a menu bar under the banner. Head to the far-right where it says "Explorer," a drop down menu will appear. Click the tab that says "Meet the Staff" and then click on the name "Boulder Dash." Then boom! My profile! Then send me a PM or post on my wall and say hi! Call me Boulder, RS, matters not for I will respond to both. And say you're from RTC and give me a moment to see if I remember you, I'll say hi back!


So yup, that's it, guys! Hope to see someone there!

~The R.S.
Rescue Squirtle
(AKA- Boulder Dash)[/center]