I started using forums as a means to trade Yu-Gi-Oh cards. I'm still using them two decades later, but more for the webmaster, coding, and discussion aspect.

I was trying to find information on a game I was playing (Harvest Moon), and the website I found had a community forum attached to it. Been on 'em ever since :P

It was only to seek help with Game Maker, and the rest is history.

I started when I learned about domain investing, and the secondary market just so happened to be the strongest on forums.

I was trying to find information on a game I was playing (Harvest Moon), and the website I found had a community forum attached to it. Been on 'em ever since :P

I remember Harvest Moon Ivy that you owned. Was awesome to see new skins every time.

I didn't know at the time, but the first forum I joined would eventually, one day, belong to me. It was a previous iteration of Paranormalis. Back then, it was called TPN: The Paranormal Network. I joined because I wanted to join various discussions about time travel theories and whatnot.

 

Here's what it looked like, back in 2005. Man, that old style felt good. vBulletin 3 Forever baby!

 

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Back in the late 90s it was the only place to find out information on Amiga emulation (which was just getting going then), and Reddit/social media didn’t exist to ask around and share ideas and thoughts.

 

Later I got into running a forum for a piece of software we were developing (because GitHub didn’t exist yet and SourceForge had a lot of odd restrictions at the time), and the rest is, as they say, history.

I started using forums as a means to trade Yu-Gi-Oh cards. I'm still using them two decades later, but more for the webmaster, coding, and discussion aspect.

Same here! My first introduction to forums was through Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card forums, which eventually led me to explore more forums. Later on, I got into clan forums for games like No One Lives Forever and Soldier of Fortune around 2003-2004. That era of gaming communities was just so immersive.

 

From there, I became really interested in creating forums myself. I started with phpBB, but since discovering InvisionFree, I quickly switched over and got into building forums there. In the beginning, I’d actually copy layouts and designs from forums I admired - it was my way of learning, though I didn’t quite realize it wasn’t the most original approach! Over time, though, that phase taught me a lot about forum structure, design, and eventually developing my own style. I always been fortunate that I've been able to build forums with some pretty awesome people. I dare to say that we were in a group where everyone knew who we were. And that definitely helped launching some forums.

 

Even today, I see old names from back in the day (such as [mention=83]Bluezone777[/mention], [mention=6]Cory[/mention], [mention=84]SarahKik[/mention], etc.) that are incredibly great people to know and know most of my online adventures.

My first forum (phpBB1 and then soon after v2 after it got released) was about gothic culture. Please don't laugh. I was a weird teenager. LOL.

 

I can't even remember what it was called. But I remember the phpBB2 theme was really cool.

 

I also made a forum about WebTV tricks and secrets. But once I upgraded to an actual computer, I didn't stick with it for too long.

Same here! My first introduction to forums was through Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card forums, which eventually led me to explore more forums.

It's pretty neat that we got into forums the same way. For all we know we crossed paths on a Yu-Gi-Oh forum before we started engaging on Zathyus Networks. The World Wide Web is huge, but like in real life, sometimes "it's a small world after all".

I was looking for people to ruin online in - I think - Command and Conquer Generals. 2003, gamingforums.com

Forum are fun, specially when it grows and users are actively discussing things. I had a successful forum in the past, I still remember those old days and that's why now I have started multiple forums but with no users lol, but still I love forums, maybe because of my past great experience with forums.

I started using forums when I got interested in building sites. Forums are a great way to get a community started.

I started using forums when I was around 14 or 15 years old to socialize with other female teenagers. The forum is unfortunately no longer but it was an amazing website at the time. I got bullied a lot and didn't have a lot of real life friends so it's was always nice to log on and talk to people who were supportive and caring.

I got bullied a lot and didn't have a lot of real life friends

You and me both, sister! I was the shy/quiet type throughout my school years, so naturally, I had a target on my forehead. Forums were my escape from reality where people can't physically push and shove you around.

You and me both, sister! I was the shy/quiet type throughout my school years, so naturally, I had a target on my forehead. Forums were my escape from reality where people can't physically push and shove you around.

Same here, I was so quiet so I was an easy target, the forums let me escape and make some friends.

I started using forums a long time ago when I played Madden online and was running a league, this has to be going back to like 1996 or earlier. From there is just escalated to being on them all the time.

I started using forums when I was around 14 or 15 years old to socialize with other female teenagers. The forum is unfortunately no longer but it was an amazing website at the time. I got bullied a lot and didn't have a lot of real life friends so it's was always nice to log on and talk to people who were supportive and caring.

 

You and me both, sister! I was the shy/quiet type throughout my school years, so naturally, I had a target on my forehead. Forums were my escape from reality where people can't physically push and shove you around.

 

Ah, I am in the same boat, I was also so shy when I was a kid and I got bullied too :(

I started using forums like 15 years ago, I made my first free forum SMF that time and I was enjoying the new world of forums. Strange time flies so fast, and I am still so shy kind of person. I can not even sit among so many people. I hate my that nature, wish if I could change :(

and I am still so shy kind of person. I can not even sit among so many people. I hate my that nature, wish if I could change

It's OK, bro. We all have our quirks and personality traits that make us who we are today. At least in the adult world, most people learn to mind their own business and not react to the minor quirks and personality traits we possess.

It's OK, bro. We all have our quirks and personality traits that make us who we are today. At least in the adult world, most people learn to mind their own business and not react to the minor quirks and personality traits we possess.

Yeah you are so right, behavior changes over the time and we also somehow get more courage and learning as we grow up :(

I started using forums to talk to people who researched the various glitches found in the Generation 1 Pokemon games. Also to talk to other Teen Titans fans as these two forums were the first ones I joined and sadly neither one of them exist anymore. (Glitch City only exists as a Discord server now and Titans Go is long gone.)

Frankly speaking I started using forums for searching and knowing about online earning opportunities. In this process I gained good knowledge about all sites. I earned few bucks.

It was probably in the late 90s/early 00s and I'd been reading a lot of Lord of the Rings fanfic. If I remember correctly, someone had mentioned a LOTR RPG site and I was curious, so I joined. Been living the forum life ever since.

I believe it was for website help, specifically web hosting. But after that, I fell in love with forums because of the community aspect.

I used to play a game called Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II for the Xbox, where a bunch of guys I played with made a group together and used an InvisionFree forum to communicate outside of the game. I forgot what it is exactly, but they had a pretty cool code installed that linked back to iFusion. At the time, we were.. well, doing less-than-legit things in the game involving hex editing, so seeing people write codes for the forum we were using made me interested in trying to learn how to do that as well. I decided to stick around iFusion to learn Javascript, which led me to the rest of the network.

 

There weren't really a lot of guides that I remember, so I would take codes that others had written, put them on my forum, and tweak them to learn what was happening and what each line meant. I even made code requests for specific things that I wanted to learn. After a while, I started trying to fill others' requests and eventually (sort of) made a name for myself.

 

Honestly, everyone back then was incredibly helpful. It was awesome to see a community that was so eager to help others, and for free at that. I'll always be grateful to WWX for iFusion and the community that came together around it. Those were good times.

For me it started when I decided to sign up to become a beta tester for an online dial up community that was run by a local newspaper. I had a baby in the house and yearned for some conversations that went beyond baba, momma and daddy.

 

From there I went into the world of Christian forums, some of them long gone now, but I have friends from those old ones. What I like about the various Christian forums is that we tend to keep in contact and some of us even sent Christmas cards by snail mail for years.

 

So to answer the question, it was for adult contact and then for like-minded friends.