Remember When...

[Sintact]

Now that I reopened my old pack, old members are returning and feels like the old WolfQuest times; it's nice, a really good feeling.

[Lexwolf]

I hope summer will help bring WQ back, too. I know I'll be spending quite a bit of time here come summer, because I won't have much else to do.
Being in a few packs again, I realize how much I've missed being in a pack. They're not very active, but I'm hoping that that'll change soon, and I'm hoping it'll feel like WQ again.

[April]

I could rant on and on all day about how fun wolf quest used to be. First off for some reason it used to be fast on my computer and now it's so slow I can't even go on it anymore. More topics were open to raise post count and the ranks were better. I was up to National...something. Which was like the third highest rank until they changed the rank and now I'm only "adult" wolf? or something like that. It just seems like all my hard work was dumped down the drain but whatever.

Not to mention we've lost many freedoms along the way. Back when I first joined Wolf Quest, there were no mods. The members looked out for each other and encouraged each other to follow the rules. I've passed 4 or 5 generations of re electing and quitting mods. Watching as my best friends around me became a mod and it was everyone's dream. I applied to be a mod twice and didn't make it twice. I could go on "how well are you known on wolf quest" and get a 10/10 from almost everybody because I was one of the most active and most involved people here. My first pack-Snow Fire Pack was one of the most fun packs I've ever been in and I was constantly involved. It got shut down after the third Alpha (Kateri) comitted art theft. I had many friends in that pack, people I looked up to like Blindseer, Breanne, Windancer, Kateri, Aster and the list goes on and on. I had a great respect for all of these people but after the pack was shut down they all headed their own separate ways. Some left and never returned. Windancer formed another pack though at the moment I can't remember the name. But since she herself was inactive, it became a Summer pack, but even that never worked out. Another pack was made by the two previous Alphas from Snow Fire hoping to restart and gropu their members back together again. I joined this pack too but it too never lasted. I can't remember the reason. I think everyone got tired of it and gave up on it or something like that.

Fact is I joined way too many packs to count. I can't even name them all. Back in grade 8 I was loyal to all of them and could keep up with all of them, even though I probably had more than 10 packs at a time. Sometimes if I got bored of one I'd join another. I was inspired to create my own after the fall of Snow Fire. IN fact Snow Fire revealed to me the world of the forums. Back before I Knew of the forums and played the actual game of wolf quest, that's where I met Snow Fire Pack and they introduced me to the forums.

Before I joined the forums I had created a pack called Snow Powder Runs, it was originally a pack I formed out of loose members that disappeared one day and got new members the next, to stand up against Pupkillers, which seemed to be a constant war waged on each other on the games. ALthough many members found this inappropriate, I had a lot of fun with roleplaying while it lasted, because the game itself was kind of uninteresting. There wasn't much to do and so you used your vast imagination to turn it into a fun and memorable place. Some people may have taken this too far maybe, and while I wasn't one of the mean and nasty people, I really did enjoy the drama. Not because I was offended by any of it but because it made things interesting. I loved outsmarting people that would play nasty roleplaying, always having something up my sleeve to make me still look like the innocent guy but at the same time, playing games with them in such a way that they felt like the fool because they had chosen to attack me. I'm not saying it's a good thing when people get nasty, but I'm saying that many people take roleplaying too seriously and that's when issues arise. That's when things get banned. Anyway, so I formed the Snow Powder Runs Pack to take a stand against pupkillers, which made things more fun for me. Not to mention my pack was actually based on a novel I wrote as a very young child. It was never finished even so close to its ending but i hope to rewrite it one day and get it published.

Once I found out about the forums I stopped caring about the game so much and was more active on the forums than I was on the game. I 'd still play on the game every once in a while, just for the fun of it. My original topic went inactive, and it didn't seem to matter no matter what I did, how hard I worked, I couldn't get my members to stay active either. The longest lasting member, leading back all the way to before I joined the forum was Moonbeam, and she's still in my pack today. While others have come and gone she never seems to fade.

I've watched many outgrow wolf quest and leave. As I constantly made new friends to keep up with the members that were dwindling. There were some people I had a high dislike for, I found that in the way they treated other people in my opinion was not satisfying to me, but I always tried to act like I was friends with everybody for the sake of keeping peace. There were many mods I didn't agree with. And then there were some mods from Snow Fire that were reasonable mods, extremely reasonable, and although they followed the rules, they cared about our feelings enough to make exceptions. Not exceptions as in breaking the laws, but they studied the rules so hard that they found other rules nobody payed attention to. Sometimes the mods would be at war with each other because those black and white mods wanted to lock your topic or whatever, and then the mods I looked up to would take a stand for the member, defend them and provide the actual law, not the one everyone thought it was about. They were specific.

It was everyone's dream to be a mod and I watched as most of my friends became mod but somehow I didn't. I assumed maybe it was because I was too soft, since my answers had always been about warnings and second chances. Because I knew how i felt when a mod came and locked something when they didn't understand the full extent of it and if I was going to be a mod, I was going to be more considerate and more reasonable. But I guess that just doesn't make the cut.

After some super hard work, constant nagging, I finally got my pack active for about a year and it was the greatest experience ever. I was also in Undine Falls soon after I started my pack and I enjoyed that too. I stayed with Undine Falls until Rikku left and by then I didn't have very many packs left. I had quit them all for Undine Falls, since your only allowed to be in two other packs besides them. I thought this was a little unfair because I was so active I could keep up with equal measure with them all and not have been inactive in any of them. But the rules were the rules and so I gave up all my other relationships to be with Undine Falls. My other two packs remained Snow Fire Pack and Snow Powder Runs Pack.

Also my art improved a lot since I joined wolf quest. I learned a LOT from wolf quest actually. I wasn't very good at typing originally when I joined wolf quest. After getting addicted to the forums, I obviously had to learn how to type fast and efficiently. And so Wolf Quest taught me how to type.

I also learned what HTML was, because up to that point I had no idea what the letters stood for or anything, it was just so confusing. It took a long time to learn how to navigate myself on wolf quest, how to stick in an avatar, how to make an avatar fit, how to even MAKE an avatar, and basically I learned a lot of computer basics I never would have otherwise. I always liked to draw, but never had I been so inspired to improve my drawing than when I joined wolf quest. I learned how to use digital software to create art, I learned how to store it, how to crop it, how to edit it, and how to change the size in order for it to fit on wolf quest. I learned how files work, and a lot of other stuff. I learned how to navigate a computer. Since before I joined wolf quest the only thing I used the computer for was playing zoo tycoon, Spore, Generals, and etc. there really was no reason to know how to navigate a computer.

Wolf quest was a place I could escape my reality. I hated my life, and I almost committed suicide in grade 7. My friends were unsupportive and not there to help me through the tough times most of the time. I didn't feel understood by them. My teachers treated me like I was 5, and it didn't matter how hard I worked my butt off for them, if the homework wasn't finished you had a detention. You got 10% off. I worked till 11 every night doing homework in grade 7. Weekends were the only free time I ever got. IN grade 8 my friend introduced Wolf Quest, and we played on it together for a while. But she eventually stopped playing after a short amount of time, and it was me that went deep enough into it to find out about the forums. I tried to get her to join but she wasn't interested. She also thought all the rules they kept making were stupid and an obstacle to her fun.

In Wolf Quest I felt a part of something, I felt community with the people there when in real life I couldn't cope with real life and the people in real life were cruel to me. I formed bonds on wolf quest, I had mates and I had daughters and sons and I felt like they looked up to me and I was part of something real and exciting and imaginative and creative. Something that mattered. Besides life at home was so boring, the only joy I got out of life was probably wolf quest. I was allowed to express myself, to improve, to create. And I learned so much and I still carry it with me even today.

Now I"m going to be a Graphic Designer, I'm going to college next year to take a 2 year course on it. And it was Wolf Quest that taught me how to draw digitally, that such things even existed. It was the motivation to get better at things so that I could be appreciated for my art and loyalty that made me improve. And I improved a lot in those short two years where I was most active.

My activeness dwindled towards grade 10 because real life finally started to improve for me. I was less interested in wolf quest, especially since most of my friends had left and more rules had been put up in place that annoyed me. My computer had also gotten glitchy and slow with wolf quest which didn't help anything. And I had a crush on someone in grade 10 so most of my attention was on that rather than on wolf quest. My pack had reached its peak and was thriving so much I couldn't even keep up with it anymore. I called a break and had it locked for a while while I tried to figure out real life situations. When I came back, everybody was gone and most of them I never heard from again. I had to start from scratch all over again to get it active again and I"m still in that position, it's active enough, but definitely not as much as it once was.

And I find that everytime I come back to wolf quest thinking that something is still left, I keep finding more unnecessary rules put up in place that anger me and discourage me each time from ever coming back. I only come back now to keep my pack running, plus I have so much homework it's hard enough as it is to keep up. And my computer is still extremely slow.

Many stories happened on wolf quest that I could not name them all. Many more cause me to forget half of them. My family thought I had been addicted to the computer and disliked that, but they don't realize how much I've learned in the process.

[Lexwolf]

April, that rant of yours makes me proud to be a member of the Snow Powder Runs Pack.

[April]

Really? Lol thanks Copper. Anyway so...yeah. I'm actually surprised how many old members are still hanging around

[silvywolfy]

Ahhh. I remember when the packs were more realistic. Remember when we could say He or She? Good times they were folks. I also remember the "Bloods". I wonder why I don't see them anymore? Ah well

[wolf_storm]

Ah, I remember the OTT. I didn't really participate much, but I did read through the posts often. It's a shame that the forums have become so inactive, I guess I'm guilty of negligence myself XD I've been around a while (joined in 2009, I believe?) but I've never been one of those super-active, much appreciated people who is known by everyone. Wolfquest is the first forum that I really got into. I was very illiterate way back when I first came, and Wolfquest has helped me improve a ton. I used to be pretty active, in a bunch of packs, but then I took about a 3-month break from the forum when real life started eating up all of my freetime. When I came back, I really couldn't get back into it, there were a bunch of new rules, all the packs I was in were dead and all the rest were so well established it was hard to get involved, and a lot of things had changed. Now I only post once or twice a week, and most of the time when I'm just reading through things, I'm not even logged in. I've gotten a little better XD but not much. Ah... the good 'ole days.

[jaguartail]

Even though I'm posting more now, it's mainly in pack central. Back in 2010 and the first half of 2011, I made a lot more posts(this is why I have 4300+ posts), and many of them were not in pack topics. I also was a pack leader (one of four) from July 2010 to March 2011, which helped me stay active a lot. But, with the MN Shutdown, the announcement that there was nothing planned after 2.5 and the locking of the old OTT, Wolfquest just lost its sense of community. In August 2011, I became less active due to family-related reasons, and the forum went inactive with me. Then November came and I left WQ and the other forums I go on for a month to do NaNoWriMo for the first time. I won, so there was nothing to be ashamed of, nothing I had to hide, but though I easily drifted back to my other communities, I found myself not wanting to go on WQ. It felt like I had nothing to post on anymore. Honors Math also took its toll on my online obligations, and I gradually lost my WQ reputation. After I had to lose Script Frenzy for the sake of doing well in school, my motivation to go on WQ became even less. Finally, in Late May, with topics about WQ funding, activity, etc. popping up and school loosening its toll, I came back a bit, but not a lot because I still found little to post on. Over the course of June, I joined packs again (something I had stopped doing in February), and packs are the sole reason I'm starting to become active again. Without packs, I'd still be inactive.

I've been here a long time (since before Slough Creek was Released) , and I've seen WQ in times both good and bad. Maybe I joined too late, maybe I joined at the right time. But regardless, WQ is at a far cry from what it used to be, and the only thing that's going to get it back is the developing of an episode 3.

[Sintact]

I think we all had a “no posting” time, specially the once that are assisting to school or University like me. As you, I left for quite a lot of time because I needed to concentrate at my last year of school because my grades weren’t the best. I dedicated full time to study and now that I joined the University and I’m doing excellent I balanced my time for spending time here.

My main reason of staying is that I think there are still many things to do around, people to meet and teach about wolves. This project is way too good and has been really successful as for suddenly abandon it. I think that since I “grew” up here it’s difficult to leave the game haha. But I share the same thought; Pack Central is one of the main things that stick many users to WolfQuest.

I don’t really care about the OTT anymore; the General Discussion topic is just fine. But today I realized that the General Discussion topic is full of irony and double-sense messages; most of them about hating other users and whatnot. But well, at least people can chat over there… by having less personalities around, having just one that is stronger or more short-tempered than the others will make the topic collapse.

I will always miss the old WolQuest times, but I’m sure better ones will come over.

[duskypack]

Yeah old packs... I have seen songdog but i havent seen her posts sigh.......

[Quivira]

Oh my, how I wish the old WQ would just suddenly reappear. 2008-2009 were my favorite years. Everyone was so friendly towards eachother. Now, it seems like you have to hate a person or be best friends with them.

I really miss the old packs that I used to be a part of, but they have all died and gone, sadly. And the old members that made this forum much more enjoyable have also left this site.

But yeah, now WQ has just become ever strict and members occasionally like to just cause trouble more than ever. I really do wish the old WQ would come back, but I doubt that because most older members have left to continue a life on their own.

[Nordue]

• For me, 'past times' was 2010. So the forums haven't really changed for me at all. It's only the users--including myself of course--who have changed. I have reflected on why things seem different, and this is the conclusion that I have come to.
  
  Back then packs were a major factor for me being active, like it was/is for lots of people. Yet packs are still here. And so are most of the people. It's the people that are changing, not so much WolfQuest. I think this because now I go through packs like I go through shoes: if they get old or don't work for me, I throw 'em out and try a different pair. In the past, I would stick around for months, sometimes a whole year. I would feel immense loyalty for those packs and their members. Now I am too picky as to what I want out of a pack, and I think a lot of people are the same way. I know that I am a better roleplayer now than I was two years ago. In 2010, I was still developing my style a lot, so any pack would suit my skills. But now I am rarely ever satisfied, and I find myself above the general level of roleplay within PC. I end up turning my search for better roleplays to outside of WQ, and I am sure I am not the only active WQ member to do this.
  
  TL;DR, the long-time users of WQ are maturing or getting bored . Gee, that sounded so negative! On the flipside, I really enjoy WQ, past and present. That's why I am still here to post about it !

[RabidLynx]

I love this place, and it saddens me that the game is dying, and I get terrified at the thought of Wolfquest not even existing in a few years.

I joined in 2010, and back then I was just a spoiled, immature, 10 year old brat, and I always wondered why my life was going downwards. I typed weird, I wasn't really that smart, and I really was immature, even for a 10 year old. Wolfquest was my first forum, and I didn't really understand how a forum was supposed to work.

I am very embarrassed by the things I've done in my past. I was a newbie for a long time (and I still am), and I learned things very slowly- not just about Wolfquest, how it worked, the internet, and all that... but maturity and life. I just become a little more active on Wolfquest again, and I've realized how much I've missed Wolfquest and the old days. 2008 and 2009 sounded like great years, but 2010 was very special to me, and since It was right before the activity on Wolfquest started to die down, I consider it part of the "Good old times" of WQ.

I have always loved to draw. I was a terrible drawer when I first joined, but I've improved, because of WQ and a few other sites. And writing. I've always loved to write, and for a very long time it is why I was here. Yet I was always worried that someday, this place will die and won't even be here anymore.

But now I watch as the place becomes the thing I feared of. I used to have friends and have fun playing on the forum games, writing stories, drawing, creating packs, and be part of a wonderful family. Wolfquest got me through a big depression I had when I was 10 and really help me mature and become the person I am now. And because of this, I shall never forget Wolfquest, and though I see WQ's existence is fading, I will not leave Wolfquest and continue on with my life while WQ's ashes are swept away from existence, not without a fight.

I think that an update or a new episode can bring back a lot of people, but we can't exactly do that at the time because WQ's funding is dangerously low. The only thing we can do now is donate, donate, donate! So please, keep WQ alive by donating. Buy things from the store, encourage others to donate, do whatever you can, because we will not allow such an awesome game- no, family- to be washed away and become just some forgotten memory.

Here is some very helpful advice that I have learned:

My parents think I'm crazy because I consider you a family. They say you are not my real friends because I have never interacted with any of you in real life. Yes, I do read your words typed on a screen rather then hear your voice, and I have never seen your faces, but the face of a person very little defines who they are.

It doesn't matter if that person lives across the street and you see them everyday, or if it's a person on the other side of the country that you've only talked to through Internet. They are a friend. Not a person that goes to your same school. Not a person who lives in a different state. They are a friend. Family. And so are many others.

Why do we fight? Why do we hate each other? Why do we argue just because we have different opinions? We all bleed red. We may have different ideas and personalities, but we are all human. So why fight? We should all live in peace and love each other. It doesn't matter if you've seen them in real life before.

They are a human. They are family.

This is a lesson Wolfquest has taught me. And let this be a lesson for those who have yet to learn.

[Emiere]

• I was never really here for the "good old days" , but I've been looking through some older threads and one thing I've noticed is that people really don't stand up for their opinions anymore. I don't know if people are afraid of criticism or being argued against or what, but it seemed that people were a lot more open with their ideas a couple of years ago. Now, if one posts what they think, its always in a tentative, suggestive manner than actually coming out and straight up saying what they mean to say. I'm not trying to say that people should be aggressive or rash with their opinions, but honestly, why is everyone so afraid to strike up a good debate nowadays :/?

[Nordue]

• A good observation Olay, one that I have my theories for.
  
  Being blunt and opinionated on this forum is not something the later rule updates encourage. Nor is being on the verge of argumentative a quality that is favourable towards becoming a candidate for moderator, a goal that many active forum-goers strive for. I would know . And since a chunk of the topics on this forum deal with facts about wolves, debates there are almost nonexistent and squandering if available.
  
  But yes; the general method of conversation on this forum has evolved into one of distant politeness & double meanings.
  
  Well spoken mynameisfaolan. There is something to be said about online communication in that reguard. Although sepetared by distance, there is still human-to-human interaction happening over this forum.