Happy 2nd Birthday Omniverse!

[Omni]

A year ago today it was just me, Ganondorf and Proto man, chuggin' on. Ach, but, those were the days. Our traffic was maybe a quarter of what it is now. We lived in a wet boot and used to advertise on shitty jcink forums for handfuls of stale omnilium. The rules pages were a new thing, having previously been a bunch of forum topics. There were no monthly votes. The Stacker was more than mere legend. Ganondorf was still awaiting twins. And I still thought Jak Mar was a dude.

We've gotten bigger over the last year, but honestly I still feel like the spirit of this place has remained. I had an idea in my head from the very beginning of what I wanted this place to be and though I knew I could make it happen, seeing it and being able to wake up to it existing every day is friggin' awesome. It's like finishing a great painting or a book, except that thing is simply a spine and a cover and the words are BEING WRITTEN BY OTHER PEOPLE. I dunno. I'm good at systems, not similies.

That's why getting this repetitive strain injury was such a blow. Seeing my site and being unable to contribute effectively really laid me low mentally. Not even being able to distract myself with games didn't help. As time went on from the initial injury I went from tired to annoyed to depressed. I had to watch my site and watch the new staff struggle while I wondered whether I'd even be able to come back and run the thing. The thought of that was pretty awful for me. And yet somehow, even in my absence, the place grew. That's when I really realised it had a life without me. It was both relieving and depressing in a sense.

I can honestly say that the biggest people I want to thank this year are my staffers. Sarah, Proto Man, Guu, Luffy and Atelos really busted their asses to keep this place on the rails. And seeing that made me really happy. The fact that anyone, let alone so many people, cared enough that they were willing to invest themselves and their free time into this thing I created. And it's not just them. Everyone that tried to make a story – even those that weren't successful, but especially those who managed to pull it off despite the odds, have been making this site a success. Obvious props goes to Alex, for running the biggest event to date on the site. IC Omni knows how he managed to pull that off with his school schedule. The patience, writing ability, organisation and willpower of that man is legendary. Even if there is no God or Buddha, I believe in Proto Man.

The secondary saga is another great example, and though two of the three people running it are now staff, they were all members just a month or two ago. Pulling off this kind of large-scale story takes initiative, guts and inspiration. And off the back of that creativity, even more creativity has flourished. Just take a look at the IC topics and you'll see. It's like a chain-reaction of awesomeness, cascading to an explosion of ... really good shit. Look, I already said.

These are the big, obvious examples, but this site is really a tapestry of all the small stories. The world that goes on even when you're not watching or reading. The buddies doing their own thing, meeting up to freeball and wing a story. The crabs under Camelot. The ball in the Moors. The twitter posts. Oh god the twitter posts. And each and every person who's sent a little something towards the site. I love you all and you all make me feel warm and fuzzy inside for making something you consider to be of worth. I hope to soon have more to say thank you with, but until then, my undeserving gratitude will have to suffice. m(_ _)m

This has been a little more personal than last year's celebration, but it has been a personal year and I think it's really underscored the fact that this place is more than just a website to many of us. This is a community. A home. A place where you can come not just to role-play, but to meet like-minded people and find solidarity. I know I'm not the only one who's had a tough year, and I know I'm not the only one who's found friends here. So thank you, Omniverse, for being you, and I hope to make next year even more rewarding. Happy Omniversary!

(My hand still tingles when I type, but I've learned to get around it. Though frustrating at first, I'm now used to this voice recognition software. My hand is getting a little better every day, and I'm now even able to play video games again. Now if I can just get that job next week, things'll be well on track )

[Makoto Yuki]

Wow, I didn't even know you had a hand injury. You doing all that work with a busted hand? Lay off man. Play some Warframe.

That said, I've only been around for a month, but I've loved every single moment of it. I certainly do hope to stick around for more Omniversaries to come. Cheers, Greg!

[Xehanort]

This is great. Happy birthday Omniverse, and cheers to another year!

This site by far is the best roleplaying site i have been on... ever, and i have been on quite a bit. There have been some that captured the similar magic this place holds (crossovers ftw) but died due to poor management. Thank you Omni, proto, and the rest of the staff for keeping this place spic and span. You guys do such a great job despite so much.

Keep up the good work!

[Thaal Sinestro]

I can't say anything but good things about this place, really. REALLY. I was here from the beginning, but then I left for like, 2 freaking years due to just my own... I dunno, bullshit. Not having a job definitely helps me have the time to write.

I have really missed having a strong writing community, and this is one of the strongest and best I've ever been a part of. I'm so god damn thankful for this site, and for all of you as writers and as people. It's INSPIRING having people that not only want to read your work, but want to write with you! It's really amazing.

Thanks Greg. Thanks for putting up with me. <3 you bro, and I <3 Omniverse.

[Zack Fair]

I started RPing back in the late 90s, in AOL Public Chat rooms (high five to anyone that recognizes the name "RhyDin"). The feeling of those, with the multiple chat rooms each being a different realm in a vast universe, where there was no telling what you would encounter in any one place...it was an incredible feeling. They died off due to AOL being AOL, and I continued RPing with a group I met there until that came to a grinding halt as well.

Since then, I've been looking for a place that could capture that same, magical feeling. The possibility of taking any character, established or homemade, and dropping them into the infinite sandbox and watching them grow in ways you'd never expect...it's something I never thought I'd find again. It just didn't seem possible. I searched and searched through forums, and had just about resigned myself to the fact that the good old days were gone.

Then I found this place. Somehow, not only has it captured that feeling of infinite, ever growing possibilities I'd longed for but it somehow surpassed it. Let's be real, nostalgia makes everything look better, but even with my nostalgia of the old days the Omniverse STILL blows it all out of the water. Staff and members alone make this simply the best place site I've ever been a part of. The interaction, the feeling that you can really make a difference if you just work for it...it's just incredible. My only regret is that I didn't find it sooner.

I'd go on, but I came home early tonight to make sure I finish my secondary saga post, which ought to say enough in itself.

Happy Omniversary!

[Gamzee Makara]

By pure chance I stumble upon this site, and by pure chance I committed myself to it. I'm so happy and so proud to be a part of this community, and look forward to many more years ahead!

I had a thirst, a desire to start writing again. Just showed up randomly, inexplicably. It just smacked me on the back of the head one day with a rolled up newspaper. I almost ignored it, and then it smacked me with a brick. So, I look up some popular Roleplay sites and I end up joining

not this one. I joined some other site that I don't believe I've even posted on twice. The reason I didn't post a second time is because I found this one.

The Omniverse has done more than quench my thirst for writing. It rekindled a spark that I haven't had since my days of writing shitty short stories on wattpad.

This is so much better.

Happy Omniversary folks. I haven't been here long, but I already feel like I've found a place where I belong. It's been amazing meeting you all, and I hope to keep writing with you guys for a long time.

[Jak Mar]

Hey, I'm Laura! I've been here since Omni finally started calling me female. Haha it's fine, Greg. Don't worry about it. But I stumbled on this site about 2 years ago, left on hiatus and came back to the Omniverse for DA 15', which was amazing. Everybody is abstondingly friendly here, and this place has some of the best writers I've ever seen.

Again Thanks Greg, and the staff members for making this place so incredible to be in.

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CHEERS! To another Omniversity and many more!

[Minato Namikaze]

Happy Birthday Omniverse! I stumbled across this site October of last year, I was just searching for RP sites and this one was the only interesting one I could find... Safe to say that it has been the best experience of my life so far.
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(#VirginLife)

[Dean Winchester]

I know I am basically new, only been here a few months and all, but I can see how it lasted so long. Great people, awesome writers, and just damn fun to participate in. I can see it lasting for years to come! At least I am hoping so, don't let me down folks!

It has been ages since I had attempted a forum RP. Gaia was basically dead to me and the ones after that had not gone so well and were generally over in a matter of days for me. This place? Yeah, I am sorry to say I think you are all stuck with me now.

Sorry! Not sorry....

[Lemmy Koopa]

I would like to extend my congratulations to the Omniverse despite of this being my first year here. To be fair though, I found this site when I was searching for a roleplaying forums on Google (I know, Google).

It was the beginning of Summer, June, and I was already apart of the Tumblr RP community but I missed that post by post roleplay in a roleplaying forum (something I did around 2010 - 2012); yeah it was that long but yeah, I came across some nice people on here and I'm glad.

The staff, the members, the community, I love it all! May we have a wonderful future of roleplaying ahead. :yay:

[Dr. McNinja]

Congrats, Omniverse. I'm honored to be in such an awesome community. I was in an RP website but I often found that my RP-mates tried to inhibit my childish humor. Being here really let me release that and experiment more with that. I have this community to thank for that.

Happy birthday Omniverse! This site best stay alive for a long time because if it goes down my life will be hollow and empty and lacking ninja doctors.

[Roger Smith]

I still (kind of) remember my earliest days of RPing....they were not pretty. I haven't been around long enough to remember ye olde golden days of AOL and such, but my very first days were on freaking Gamefaqs message boards, when the DBZ Budokai games were still shiny and new. From there on I moved on to a series of various different RP genres and sites, mostly situated on Proboards and other such forums.

My first real "taste" of actual RP bliss was on MSN Groups, when those were a thing. Stumbling onto a mass LoZ-themed board, I dove in headfirst and found it was something I liked, though unfortunately, all too soon that entire community (and much of Grops in general, to my memory) came crashing down. And I broke off mostly from RPing entirely for a while.

I didn't really hit my solid RP stride until around 2010, when I was dragged forcefully onto a mass-crossover site on Proboards by my cousin, and went from maybe a few sentences to full-blown multi-paragraph business. It was fantastic.

On and off over the next few years, I participated in, ran as staff for, and even just plain started and ran more sites than I can keep track of. Some were successful, some were not, all were fun.

A while back some things happened, mostly due to stupidity on the parts of multiple people, though almost entirely myself. I was left dead to RPing, and many other things besides, and feeling pretty depressed and anxious about everything, and actually seriously considered quitting not only RPing, but writing in general. After a number of weeks of depressed moping, though, I decided to give one last search to see if anything could spark up the ol' interest again, and lo and behold....I found The Omniverse.

I spent a little hwile -- the better part of a month, actually -- reading rules and generally poking around the site for information, and soon something started to ignite and that writing and RP spark was brought of isolation and put back in the ol' fire pit. I was ready to give it another go, and there I was.

And here I still am.

And I have to say, even through my spotty internet access and less than 100% presence and activity, the Omniverse has been nothing but a pleasant experience. It was around and accessible via a simple Google search at a time when I wasn't in a good place to do more thorough searching, and I am so very glad it was. It's been a source of much entertainment and many other things besides in the year or so since I found it, and I take every spare moment I have to at the least keep an eye on it to try and miss as little as possible.

I won't go into any more detail about my FEELINGS AND PERSONAL ATTACHMENTS because I don't like to do that if I can help it, but here's me wishing that the Omniverse sticks around for as long as physically possible.

Stay awesome, everyone.

[Shulk]

I don't have much to contribute to a site that's been running for so long, as I'm just a recent addition. I want to say that I've enjoyed my time here so far very much. I have a long history of joining forums and abandoning them for some reason or another; whether it's because of conflicts with other members or just a loss of interest. So far I haven't had that problem here, and I've been consistently writing for the first time in a long, long time. So that's a plus, I guess.

I won't bore you all with personal details since most of you in the cbox know how reserved I usually am. Just want to let you all know that I appreciate being here with you, and that I'm already thinking of all the threads we could be doing.

[Gildarts]

Sometimes, people find things when they aren't looking for them. Like that book you lost in the second grade that somehow ended up stashed in the folds of your closet, that tennis ball you threw over the roof and you find it a week later when you are cleaning out the gutters as its unmistakable neon gleam shines through the muck of brown leaves. Or maybe you weren't expecting to find that sock that was missing its match stuck to the drier wall with only static to blame for your single set of cold toes. Life is like that and we find valuable things, or even our life's passions even when we don't search for them.

But for some people, it finds them.

Writing found me at a very young age, where destiny and life's crossroads seemed like it was more than a thousand miles away. So, it still surprises me to find that I have maintained a passion for creating all these years later, and, lately, I've been standing at the crossroads, if not on the very fine edge of the cliff.

This is the usually part where I would tell you I plunged into the unknown, or something cliché but this isn't the story of me, this is a story about how I found the Omniverse.

Many years ago, the Internet didn't exist -gasp- and Google was just a funny sounding word. Now, I don't know when Google's birthday is, but I do know that eight months ago, I decided it might be fun to feed my curiosity. So I googled RP, and a bunch of other stuff. Eventually those hyperlinks lead me to this site. Gray background and littered with pictures of Samus and that character I recognized as Truth from FMAB.

In bold words I was directed to read the rules. Well. There were more than I would have liked to read. But I clicked the first couple of pages and decided that while they were carefully sorted and seemed complex, they were worth reading if I was going to "do this thing." Eventually writing commenced, I hunted down a super awesome Mage, had some adventures and killed a few people, the norm, as I later found.

But, along the way, I made some remarkable friends <3

As someone who had an okay childhood, with good memories, and good friends, as I got older I had to move more often. So while I kept my friends, we never really stayed super in touch.

Writing became my number one for a while, after family and school; and while life seems so long, when measured in days, we realize how short it really is when we find that the things worth cherishing are not always what we fill our time with. Life, while it is filled with so much, like love, care, friendship and growth; is also is full of simple accomplishments like the bonds we make, the memories we create, and the stories we have that are worth telling and sharing.

I like to think that a lot of the above is done here, where people can be free to tell their own stories, make friends, talk to people, share their goals with like-minded people who support them when no one else they know in their life will at the time, and here, people are able to just have a good time.

The Omniverse is a special place, created by a deity that catches your eye, steals you away, and reminds you that the stories you alone create are interesting, breath-taking, and always worth telling.

I was looking for a place to write when I googled "RP" but I never imagined I would find such an incredibly wonderful and completely life-changing place as this.

[Dave Strider]

Damn it you guys are making me all sentimental and endearing at the same time. I guess i might as well make an omniverse ppech like the rest of you... well Everyone seems to start somewhere, but right now, we are all connected in this world that Greg has built from the bottom up. I honestly wish I had found this site earlier, because there is NO SITE THAT CAN EVER HOPE IN THEIR GREATEST DREAMS TO EVEN COME HALF AS GOOD AS THE OMNIVERSE. I've browsed a lot of other sites, put in a few apps, but in the end, it all feels the same, static and almost zombie-like, as if everyone was being forced into it. But the feeling you get while you're here just leaves you feeling inspired and awestruck, and the people here pour their very soul into their posts. And that's what I think really makes the omniverse different than other sites. Us. We have a community like no other, always willing to hear each other out and solve conflict, even when the tension is high. When we write, we aren't righting for ourselves, we are writing for each other. We write for our characters. We write for glory, or some do at least. But most of all, we write to bring our world to life. When you read a post on this site, you aren't just reading another story, you are being sucked into a world where characters both famous and unknown meet to go on epic adventures and live their own life in a world they barely know. It's as almost as if the characters are writing for themselves. Every line feels so real, and its almost as if you can watch each straining battle, as if you can feel each injury dealt, as if you can hear their voices when they talk. No other site has been able to instill this feeling of realism and connection. Personally, when I begin each of my posts for Demetri or IRIS, I have no idea what my character is going to do. Yeah, maybe usher him this way, guide him that way, but in the end, it feels as if I am not the one making the decision. That even though I am the one who created this characters and given them life, I have no longer in control of them. After I brought them to the omniverse, the world controlled them. Every action they made was as if it was their decision, and I was just the one telling their story, telling their legacy. I'm sure that many of you feel this way about your characters as well, and I'm convinced that if we were to drop everything and just watch the omniverse, we would come back later to find our characters in new places with posts we don't remember writing. and each of these characters have been created by such creative and imaginative people, we, the supporters of the omniverse. Every person here is friendly and supportive, and it really makes it feel like home. Hell, its even my homepage. And every bookmark on my bookmarks bar for that matter. Greg and those who started the omniverse gave it the spark that it needed to begin, and each person that has joined has contributed to enlarging its flame. So I would like to say thanks to all those who have been here before I have, for making this flame bright enough for those like me to see and begin to enjoy its warmth, thanks to those who write beside me for keeping the flame alive, keeping each other warm and supporting one another, both IC and OOC, and finally, thanks to the omnians in the future, that will help make the flame even brighter, bringing even more closer to its warmth, and bring new life into the world we share.

Happy omniversary Greg, staff, and everyone in our community!

[Jim Raynor]

I've loved writing ever since I accidentally stumbled upon Chubbs over a decade ago. There's something about it, isn't there? Developing characters, backstories, worlds, and the adventures that tie it all together.

I'm really grateful to Greg that he has put in the time, effort and money that he has to create this place. With the demise of Chubbs, I doubt I would still be writing if not for The Omniverse.

Thanks for everything, Greg.

[Ganondorf]

Yay! Two years! Huzzah!

And I knew Jak was a girl from day one. :P

[Stuart Gillman-Street]

Happy b-day! I joined less than a week ago, but I've already had a lot of fun and times upon times.

[Mickey Mouse]

There is no proper way to write this.

My life has been pretty easy. For the majority of my young life my family lived a decidedly middle-class existence, my parents were loving and supportive of my out-there interest in a career as a stage actor, and I had friends that loved to come over to my house and eat whatever food my mom threw at them. In my free time, I hid away in dark corners of my room roleplaying on sites of various different types -- Harry Potter, Dragonball Z, Glee. I got accepted to a small private college, got there, fell into my busy schedule, and slowly lost interest.

While I was there, my world got rocked. This is something I don't know if I've ever mentioned, but my mom passed away during the second semester of my freshman year. So between trying to figure out how to live on my own and how to talk to girls, I had to figure out how to live without a mom.

My dad lost the job that he'd been at for 25 (!) years, and for the next few years couldn't keep one. Eventually he accepted a position he was way overqualified for that paid him way less than he (and I) was used to, and moved across the country. Fourteen hours separated me and my Dad for a year and a half of my life. He came to see me a few times, but I was only able to visit him twice. Once, I drove out there with a close friend of mine and then I flew out to see him at the end of a summer. Slowly, things got harder and harder. I could feel my life crumbling beneath my feet.

In the midst of all this, I discovered a certain flexibility in my sexuality, decided that while I didn't quite identify as bisexual or homosexual I also didn't quite identify as straight either, and was dealing mentally with that, along with the mental drain of getting regularly rejected by girls I tried to date.

Now, this isn't to say these problems are the hardest problems anyone has had to face. My life isn't that hard in perspective. But having them all get thrown at me within two or three years of one another was exhausting, and eventually, I didn't know where to turn. So I thought I'd try to find out if the people I'd had so much fun RPing with way back in high school were still into it. Little did I know, here they were.

I picked the happiest character I could think of and once I had finished college, jumped headfirst into playing him. Alex challenged me in the first DA rankings to prove I could play with the big kids, so I pulled out all the motherfucking stops. It consumed me. Little else mattered other than getting home from whatever I was doing and getting back to Mickey. I fell in love with him with all my heart and then I fell in love with all of you. Whenever I was on here, my problems seemed to slip away. Nothing else mattered. The most stressful thing in my life was wondering if Greg and Josh would be mad if they found out Erza and I had been aligned with Ambrosia from the beginning, and wondering if I'd written down all the danger zones.

My life started to get better. I told not only my friends but my dad about my crush on my guy friend. I got a job working for a theatre (and a second job to supplement that income) and threw myself headfirst into it. I moved out on my own, away from college. My dad got a job that's going to put him just two hours away from me.

I'm happy. Still no girlfriend, but whatever.

So: thank you, Omniverse. I'm happy you're alive. And I fully expect you to be alive for years to come and I'm so excited to help that happen in whatever ways I can. Thank you, Greg -- and Alex, and Jeff, and Sam, and Baron, and all the other staff and members who have made this experience so goddamn special. Let's keep on chugging.

[Stuart Gillman-Street]

Wow, is all I can say.
That is a truly inspiring story and, while I could not fathom what it must have felt like, I have at least a vague (not from experience). Thank you for sharing.