General Offtopic Discussion

[Laggy Blazko]

*Reads 2 pages*
...
...
Waaaagh!
I wish I was closer to you, people!
(Specially Kapus. I don't know why.)
...
...
But I don't really know what to talk about.
...
...And the fact that I still find hard to say some things in english is worse.
...
._.

[Rozark]

The best thing I can say is to go through my topic in that projects forum. Besides me editing the first few posts of it over the years to tidy the appearance of the first page, most of the original "feel" remains. So yes, I'm telling you to compare the two. I'm pretty sure you can see the evolution as things went on. Personally I think I've gotten better at this. On the other hand, I've become more neutral and accepting of things. This isn't necessarily bad per-se, but when I find it difficult to express my likes or dislikes because of said neutrality, then something is an issue.

I suppose I'll add a brief cutstuff timeline of myself (At least what I remember).

2010:
-Viewed things around the forum but didn't join
-Took a break because school

2011:
-Joined Forums, asked questions
-Got inspiration from IX/AMP/CSCM and decided to contribute maps
-Obtained my "special version" of Doombuilder 2 due to the regular download not saving properly (RIP Keystone Park)
-Created said map(s)
-Knux's assistance during these times

2012:
-Was asked to join the initial 4MI expansion team
-Joined/Created a Skype account because of it
-Joined the General Freeman Chat
-Added Skype contacts and groups left and right, established founding friendships
-Let's Make A Swamp Part I

2013:
-Entered first mapping compo, SWBT, second place in regards to Topman/not overall
-Gained immense motivation to prove that I'm a better mapper, Rozpack V3 construction was announced and begun
-Let's Make A Swamp Part II
-"Behind the Wall" Version 1 (One day I'll revise this)
-Early versions of Rozark'sFunTaunts
-Became leader of the now hopeless 4MI team
-Under Siege was a thing. Can this be finished please

2014:
-My Neutrality/Reasoning heightened here, likes and dislikes became slightly harder to tell apart
-Rozpack V3 was released
-Incoming huge motivational slump
-Rozpack Expansion I, II, III, and IV were announced and "I" was begun
-Rozark'sFunTaunts in its current form
-Entered second mapping compo, FTM, first place overall/that was a good day
-Created the Dunkmaster Announcer

WIP/Coming Soon:
-At least Rozpack Expansion I and II finished this year
-Tighten/restore friendships to the best of my ability
-The conclusion to the Let's Make A Swamp trilogy
-Motivation restoration, clear difference between likes/dislikes
-Mapping Tutorial Project completed

[Ivory]

Since joining this forum, how do you think you've changed? Not necessarily as an effect of this forum, but in general since you joined.

That's a bit of a tough question for me to ponder. I've been around here for so long, longer than almost everyone else in the community bar Mike himself.

Yet, unlike a lot of other people here, the baseline personality of myself hasn't shifted too much since the beginning. Perhaps it was a combination of being mentally mature since the time I joined and the fact I went through the majority of my personal growth development prior to Cutstuff and MM8BDM. Of course, there still was personal growth since then. Kind of hard for me to have been around for 5 years and not have some growth. My growth was more so growing out of my old shells and trying to become a proper leader.


After a period of depression, with only one loyal friend and nothing else, I returned to the Doom Community. Doom was a game I've grown up with and modded since I was a kid. It was always sort of a fall back for me to enjoy. And this time, Ghouls vs Humans was the mod I enjoyed most. It led to some new friends and adventures, and eventually, due to an old friend.

That didn't last too long, as eventually Mike shifted gears from GvH to MM8BDM. It was at that time the community started to change. The old faces from the doom community quickly got replaced by young Mega Man fans with optimistic expectations and no real technological knowledge. I was rather quiet back then. I didn't really like interjecting myself that much. I mostly stuck around by CutmanMike's so called promise of accepting new mappers for v1a in the event he ran out of ideas. Turns out you had to ask him directly, but I waited patiently.

I am almost glad I didn't, because I came to realize. Even though I've been mapping for years, it 98% Single Player / Coop maps that never got released anyways and odd little maps. My ability to make DM maps was non-existent and let I-Pack v1 be a testament that I really had no damn idea what I was doing.

In any case, I was probably going to disappear from the community with no real reason to remain there. However, something happened. After one of Mike's streams, and long after everyone else left the stream. Only a handful people remained there, chatting silly nonsense and hyping the game. Most notably was Brawlman who went on to be one of my good friends. And then a bit later, one night Korby, Mr. X and myself were all up late chatting on the forums and that eventually spiraled into needing a live chat. Which led us into MM8BDM xat group. And it was there I gained a handful of good, loyal friends.

Time went on, versions of MM8BDM came out and the community grew some more. It was during that time, Mike needed a temporary moderator while he away for a weekend. Being one of the few people from the GvH era and with a good head on my shoulders, he asked me to keep an eye on the community. I agree to it, and that weekend went by without much of a hitch. When Mike returned to a job well done, I was given the choice to remain a Global Mod or go back to being a normal user. I thought about it, and decided to keep up my duty.

The beginning of my moderator career was quite emotional for me. I worked hard to be fair, yet stern authority figure, but I also felt rather hated by a bulk of the community who was previously indifferent towards me. Some of it was just me overreacting, some of them really did loath me for being a 'fun sucking vampire'. Yet, I carried on with support from Korby, Mr. X, Brawlman, Brotoad, Kapus and some other people. Eventually, as a year went by. I think those people who disliked me because I was a moderator either mellowed out towards me or came to learn that outside of Cutstuff, I was actually pretty relaxed and friendly.

Eventually, an even bigger deal of a lifetime came my way. I was offered the chance to keep MM8BDM alive and be the lead dev behind v3 and MM8. All I had at my side was myself and Mike on the new MM8BDM dev team. So I went out and recruited some people I felt had the talent to help me make an expansion, and along the way, new people I never considered got in. It wasn't perfect. The dev team was divided into three sides. Those who sided with the appointed lead dev, myself. Those who were in support of Mess, and then those who were neutral. And were battles heated as we could hardly agree on anything, or even compromise. About half way through or so, we grew up. Roc left the dev team, Mess and myself mellowed out and worked together instead of fighting all the time. Ironically, Mike himself ended up being the last barrier. As near the end of development, he returned in the full force and was indirectly trying to up throw the leadership he previously gave me and launch the expansion in an incomplete status. To my surprise, yet it really shouldn't be surprising. As the person who spent the time sweating blood and working with everyone to get the expansion done, no one was really approving of Mike who spent most of the time checking in once a month trying to launch it ahead of schedule.
Then the dev team was cool, close knit team.

Nowadays, I face the latest major challenge: The community itself.

You can't win, everyone here has their own enjoyments out of the game. They have different expectations, values and hopes for MM8BDM. You have groups who value the meta game, those who just want to have fun, and everyone in between. The dev team, but more so myself as lead dev, is the one to blame for anything that someone perceives as being wrong with the game. It is a hard burden to carry, yet I continue to do so anyways. It's a relatively thankless job, those who do thank me for continuing my dedication to MM8BDM are far from few and more people would rather curse my name for 'ruining' their precious, free game. Heck, we're not even allowed to test new ideas like Dive Missile without having people rage at us for ruining the game. I would hope that no one actually thinks I am purposely trying to ruin the game, I am just striving to keep the game alive, and in good health. And the release with v4a, it has definitely taught me some lessons that I took to heart. Which is why for v4b, I intend on focusing mostly on gameplay and current map balance to see if I can rectify some of the most common complaints about my leadership and direction with MM8BDM. All without compromising my overall vision and drive behind seeing MM8BDM to completion.

That's about it in a nutshell. I left out some smaller details, but I could be here all day writing a life story on my time with Cutstuff alone. In any case, this is kinda long and probably will end up tl;dr anyways.

[Hallan Parva]

I read the whole thing

13 / 10 like if u cri every tim



gosh I want to write up a huge thing about my history but to be honest I don't really know it that well myself

[Dataman]

I read the whole thing too

My reaction to Ivory's post:

(click to show/hide)

[Kapus]

Now that I think of it, it just makes sense that some of you value this place so much, while I'm very neutral about it: most of you people are younger than me, you grew up with this place.

I think that this is true to an extent. A lot of people here have memories of this place (fond or otherwise) because it played a large role in their emotional maturity and growth. Like Accel said though, you never stop growing. There's always something to learn!

Aside from that though, I think fond memories and attachment to this community can also just stem from friendships. You could meet new people and spend a lot of wonderful times with them, and they could go on to become significant friends in your life. The way I see it, pretty much every experience, good or bad, will become memorable to you if it is spent with friends, even if there isn't a lot of "growth" to be had.

I wish I was closer to you, people!
(Specially Kapus. I don't know why.)

It is never too late. :>


Also I'm grateful to have met you, Ivory, and to have played any sort of role in your life.

[Jafar]

Well...I made some close friends and improved my spriting skills from "crappy" to "kinda passable". That's it I guess.

I'm not a very interesting person

[Blutorus]

Not much for me, I'm just an accident waiting to happen.

[Dr. Freeman]

We're transitioning more into history things rather than changes, so maybe I can evaluate myself better if I document history garbage.
In spoilers though because why not?

(click to show/hide)

I won't be able to hit exact times because for the love of god I do not remember. I remember playing 8BDM for a bit, eventually joining the forums and going around using emoticons and what seemed to be cool because new user whoaaaaaa.

Though I didn't interact with anyone at all until New Years Eve for the 2011 new year where WOW A SKYPE CHAT!? I remember getting to know people sorta well but the only detail I remember is Llama using that magna Flame Man with a mustache avatar and for some reason I found Llama hilarious if only because I didn't know what it actually translated to so I thought he was some weirdo who just went by Llama.

I sorta phased in and out for quite some time and I didn't really get to know anyone outside of a relatively small skype chat of around 15 peopleish. Some stuff probably happened here but it wasn't important or else I might actually remember it. I just kinda existed and did absolutely nothing. This bugged me because I really wanted to do something but it didn't take me long to realize that I was shit at skins, shit at maps, and what the fuck is a famitracker so I just sat there with nothing to do.

Until I got bored one day and decided to make Cutstuff War. This proved to be one of the best and worst decisions I've made on the forums. On one hand, it opened up the batshit crazy OC stuff we have today and it was definitely something new. On the other hand, the story itself was horribly written, and by creating another small group to work with, I ended up secluding myself even furher than I already did previously. Plus, it was around this time that I began to think over life things that have nothing to do with the community and began to beat myself up over anything that isn't perfect either because it simply isn't good enough, or so if people see major things wrong with it, I wouldn't act all surprised. I don't know which one is which.

At some point in all this chaos, a shit ton of skype drama was going down and the regular chats were having issues with the mods getting incredibly stingy and going on mass kick rampages or other various things. I can't remember what lead up to this, but somehow the big chat blew up once again so I just said, "Screw it, I'm gonna set up a chat". Somehow this chat still manages to be the "main" Cutstuff skype chat. Though I don't often interact with it anymore, simply because I don't play LoL and that takes up a good chunk of the skype calls.    That's not a big deal though.

Most of the time I just mostly found myself existing and just sometimes hanging around. Actually being in charge of the chat got me to know some of the people better which is a good thing I suppose, but I feel like I either stayed to myself on the forums, or wouldn't shut up about arbitrary things on skype calls. Sure I made some semi successful forum games (I think I sorta cemented the mafia format and the whole Island Survival business) and Cutstuff War slowly slogged on even though I was losing interest more and more, but I still see myself in a small bubble compared to the forum at large.

And then I got mad.

So one thing I noticed about skype adventures is that Cutstuff was mostly split up into two chats. My chat which contains a lot of people, and Tengu's chat which contains slightly less yet different people. While people were in both chats, rarely did one use both at a regular rate. I did overlap though and it quickly became apparent that half the chats were turning into, "wow *insert user here* really sucks" and that's all the calls would be about on both sides and it was really dumb. Combine that with other stress and Cutstuff War shit and I decided to bail. I was just sick and tired of hearing people bitch about other people all the time. The whole CSW thing left an even worse taste in my mouth when I gave TGOT the notes for the remainder of the story and 90% of the replies just talked about their own character and why they weren't mentioned in the outline.

At the same time however, I was kind of surprised by some of the responses I got on Skype shortly after from people I almost never interacted with and I didn't even know they knew I existed. What that actually means in the grand scheme of things is beyond me however.

Of course, I did slowly come back, first with the shitstorm that was Mega Man Unlimited, than Mario Kart 7 goodness and eventually v4 trailers and it really seemed that a lot of the complaining died down. And I still believe it has, sure it's still prevalent but it's a lot less tame nowadays than it was last year.

However, nowadays I more or less find myself in the same situation I was before I left. I just kind of hang around and do my own thing with Cutstuff Adventure going on and mediocre Famitracker songs. Sure, I want to do something that could actually lead to anything, but outside of Famitracker I'm simply not good at a lot of things. I'm still stuck in this beating myself up loop, I still usually remain quiet on the forums for lack of input, and I'm still worried whenever I ask anyone anything that's not a joke, whether on skype or the forums that I'm wasting their time and they really have better things to do than listen to my stupid story.

I don't know how to wrap this all up about change and all that. Because I can't say for sure. I'll let you decide or something like that.

Though my first post still stands that my grammar isn't absolute crap anymore.

[TheMetalManu]

So hey, since everybody is doing, might as well do it:

I joined this forum around V1D, under the name of CyberManu, Cutstuff was the very first forum that I joined in, I found out this cool Doom mod based on Mega Man, I was like, oh hey, this sounds fun so I joined, my lack of english always was a problem, I got banned at some point eventually, I was being dumb back then and bumping old topics for no reason, but Ivory gave me a second chance. I couldn't really communicate well and the way I wanted, mostly using Google Translate, which I late realise that it was the worst translator ever, so thanks to Cutstuff and this community (and Red always reminding me how much my english sucked) learned how to, at least, write english in a proper way. My attitude has been always the way I am now, I tend to swear a lot, even when I write, so I apologize if I offended somebody with my posts. I also met cool people in public servers, like Blazko (which I knew while I was playing Skulltag), Red, Cvideo, Awbawlisk and the list could go on, so yeah, that's pretty much it.

Thanks Cutstuff <3

[Galactan]

What- oh
The source of all this was buried under 3 pages.
Nice job generating talk, Accel.

(click to show/hide)

I joined a while before v3a came out.  I had learned of the game after my Youtube suggested videos directed me to a weapons demo from v1.  At first I only stuck to the mm8bdm section of the forum because I cared more about the game than the community at the time.  Eventually I came down to Anything Goes and WHOAAAAAA.  I've dug through some of my older posts.  I was rather... naive?  Immature?  Something like a cross between the two.  I still am, sometimes.  I can't remember what was running through my mind back then.

I've tried my hand at various things throughout my time here, always failing because of lack of patience, artistic ability, or coding knowledge.  To date I haven't contributed anything of significance to the community.  That's depressing.  Super depressing.

I didn't join in Skype for a looooong while after joining the forums, with all the talk of drama and stuff there.  Yeah.  Now I'm in Tengu chat calls a lot even though I can't use a mic because of how awkward explaining our conversations to my parents would be.

I sort of hang on the fringes maybe?  I'm in Tengu's chat a lot and I picked up mm8bdm again recently and there's csa, but other than that I'm not particularly active on the forums.  I guess it's because most of the times that I feel really motivated to post is when I want to blow up at someone for being mind-bogglingly stupid.  And that's not allowed.  Also because I don't have any SUPER PROJECT TEAMS to run/be a member of.

I'm not sure how being here has changed me.  I know how other things (2 other forums and a book) have changed me during my time here, namely making me a bit sadistic, but CS?  I dunno.  Supplying me with hunor fir my IRL friends?  Making me spontaneously add "toid" onto things?

EDIT: Oh yeah, I forgot that I tried to host some crappy forum games way back when.

[VGS2]

Aww man... you guys are real inspirational, you know that? Normally I'm a very tl:dr kind of guy, but I read every post for the past five or six pages or so. Touching stuff, everyone!

I don't honestly have much of a story myself, to be honest. Though I'll try, even with the probable lack of feels I'm able to dish out.

Well, when I joined these forums, I had no idea I'd meet as many cool and colourful characters as I have done. Let alone actually befriend them! I came for the Megamen and stayed for you guys, it seems.

Unbeknownst to most people, I'm actually really shy, boring and dim in real life, especially due to my closet mental disability.
But whenever I'm here, either in game or on the forum, I can't help but relax and be way more open and less of a wallflower. It's quite confidence boosting, really!

Anyways, sure I acted like a bit of an attention whore (which I still am in a way, I won't deny it), but for the most part, everything was quite fine really.

...That is, until around the V2D(?) expansion days, and I started to have problems with the game not being able to run, due to my bulging skin folder. After that, I ragequit for pretty much a year or so. Not out of malice, but out of... I dunno, a mix of things really. None of which I can really remember. Aside from the fact that the game was borked, of course.
Might have been pride in retrospect, not wanting to shrink my folder's contents and all, but yeah.

During the time I was away, life began to get real stressful: with College deadlines (with me not knowing how to do most of the IT work, at that), girlfriend troubles, slowly dropping my pastimes, passive aggressive family issues, and a general lack of self-worth. And while things have been getting better since then, with me passing college (barely), and patching things up with my gf, some things still remain to this day. With added pressure to go to work on top of it. Fun stuff!

The only reason all of this didn't make me go mad from hurp in 2013-onwards is because that's when I came back through the pearly gates known as this place. I actually feel as if I have a place to belong to here, with people to actually talk to and laugh with. It's a grand old place, and it makes me feel less alienated from life! So much so that I'm slowly becoming my old, cheery self again.

I mean of course, without mentioning any names or groups, there are the odd few who make mean comments towards content creators, other fandoms, and sometimes even each other over petty things, but overall, there's no community of people I'd rather be with than Cutstuff! And oddly enough, it's those sorts of before-mentioned types that may have made me into a much more accepting, appreciative individual. So in a way, I'm glad of those folks too!

Honestly, I do wish I could talk to you guys more outside of the game, because I get the feeling we'd get along pretty well, but I am still honestly super socially awkward despite everything.
Way less so than I was when I first joined this place, granted, but still, I can get real shy real fast. I always feel paranoid that I'm gonna annoy whoever I'm chatting with, as is usually the case with me irl.
So I'm sorry I never try to strike up a conversation with you guys! Lord knows I want to, but you know how it is. Always the topic ender, never the topic starter.

Well, and with that, I'm done being depressing. Congratulations, Accel, for making almost everyone on the forum confess to their feelings more than anything I've ever seen before.
Um, I did answer the question properly, didn't I? If not, then tl;dr: Cutstuff made me less of a hurpderp over the years.

Alrighty then, guys, tata for now!

[Crystal King]

I RETURN...
FROM THE DEAD!

It's been a long rough road, and I'm finally here. Moved an inch forward and it felt like a year.

...

In all seriousness, though. I remember when I first learned about 8BDM, it was on The Mega Man Network, which is where I went to get all my Mega Man music from. I read the article and I was so excited! First person shooter Mega Man? SIGN ME UP. I believe I joined the forums around the time 8BDM came out, but I lurked (and still lurk, as made apparent.) the forums even before that. I played GvH to tide me over until the SGC demo came out, which helped me get accustomed to Doom and how it controlled. I played the everliving heck outta the SGC demo! Ahh, back when Needle Cannon and Hard Knuckle spelt doom for anyone unfortunate enough to cross their path! Those were the days, eh oldbies? I have very fond memories of playing TLMS with the devs, back when the game first got released. Perhaps one of my most fond memories was on Crystal Man, where I got a kill by using Pharaoh Shot under one of the holes. Good stuff!

My presence since the old days and the new days came and went, but I still kept in contact with members of the community through Skype. Most of the fads, like Roboenza and Saxton, were fun to me at first but grew old quickly, and since that was mostly what was hosted, I had not a lot of reason to boot up the old 8BDM. I still dropped in games from time to time, though. I still love me some good TLMS! CTF is pretty cool too.

But that still doesn't answer the question, how'd the community help me grow?

Well... I gained quite a bit of friends I never would've if I didn't play the game, and had I never played I might've ended up losing contact with a friend of mine I've known for years now. My general shyness kept me from getting close to people, (it still does! :<) but the ones I've opened up to are definitely some of the greatest friends I've met, and have helped me through quite a bit of hardship. You know who you are. :>

I gained some more map making skills! But... I never quite put them into practice. At least, into anything finished! I can't count the amount of maps I started and never finished! I come up with a really good idea for a gimmick or a room... and I end up with a ton of empty space I have no idea what to do with!

I'd also have to say a couple of the members of the community have helped me with my own self-identity too. Something that I always knew about myself ultimately, but was never ready to fully admit, I suppose.

I've had a lot of personal growth in general, but if I put it all into a post, you guys would be in for quite an earful! So I tried to keep it to exclusively this community.

[Magikarp]

what histories ok

I joined Cutstuff when I stumbled across it checking to see if 8BDM had an update (at the time i had downloaded v1b, and had beaten it twice and was getting bored fighting bots.) Really, the only things that I really did at first was posting in forum games and asking dumb questions about aliases and whatnot (i still do the former), and I never really quite got into the community until I found the 'Skype Family' thread. It's since died, but at the time I figured it would be a good idea.

I don't remember who first added me on Skype, but I'm 80% sure it was Smash... Either way, through that person I was eventually invited to the two main chats, The Tengu Chat and The Ego Chat, and from there, The WitherWalkers. All was fine and dandy and I enjoyed myself when I could, albeit leaving because of bandwidth issues and conflict multiple times, until one day I encountered this TurboDude fella in a server.

At first I absolutely hated Sam. I didn't know who he was, I just knew he was better than me at deathmatch and thus, being the petty, annoying, immature bitch I was at the time, I despised him. This was, like, maybe 3~4 months after I broke up with Bikdark (long story, needless to say i made him uncomfortable, and i cant blame him even if he's still a dick) and I was still a bit salty about that, so this contributed to my dislike. Despite this, though, we eventually shared Skypes and I got to know him.

Sam has since become one of my greatest friends, and the best adoptive bro one could ask for. Through him I was able to achieve personal growth, as well; at first I was still a bit nervous about fucking up due to my experience with Bik, though this nervousness eventually subsided as I matured, and got a lot of good advice from Sam. We even dated for a period of time, but we no longer share that kind of love as I see him as more of a familial figure.

A lot of my growth came from the friends I made through Tumblr, but from you guys, as well. You sharpened my sense of humor, taught me how to take a joke better than how I usually would, and through Clayton (believe it or not) I actually got a bit more confidence in my abilities; all I needed to do was practice them, and I would get better with time.

Nowadays I'm still a lurker, and I still haunt the forum games threads, but that's besides the point. In the span of, what, almost two years? Almost two years, and I've gone from immature, whiny little kid to less-unpleasant reasonably mature teen with a sense of humor and a knack for writing and a bit of a short fuse when it comes to certain situations. While I've had my issues with the community and individuals thereof, I've come to appreciate this place, flaws and all. It's actually a pretty big part of my life to this day, because it shaped who I am, and it'll possibly shape how I will be, if influence sticks.

So, I'd like to thank you guys for an okay stay here.

so yea that's my story
im probably forgetting things but eh if i remember them i'll bring them up later

edit: ayy 250th post

[Koal]

Christ, have I really been playing this for almost four years now?

Well... what is there to say? I come and go as I lose interest in MM8BDM only to show up again a few months later and play intensely for one or two months then typically vanish without a trace. And some folks still remember me when I do show up to play again after having been gone for a while. I've never been what would be considered an "Active" member of this community. My only interaction with the folks of Cutstuff are through MM8BDM and my rare posts in topic's like these. The only person I ever actually talked to outside of that was Turbodude AKA Sam. Nothing from this community has directly changed me as a person and I doubt I've had any of my actions or words directly change other's.

And that's all I honestly have to say.