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Happy 12th Birthday Pokécharms!

Teapot

Teapot

Virtual Duck Enthusiast
Staff member
Administrator
As some of you may know, we celebrate Pokécharms' "official" birthday on St. Patrick's Day - partly because there's no defined day Pokécharms came into being, and partly to celebrate Pokécharms' Northern Irish roots. Today, Pokécharms turns 12 - which means we're now as old as a lot of the people who visit us! We've got a few things planned for today, so keep an eye on the front page for more!

To mark the occasion, some of our staff have written retrospectives on the last year, which you can see by clicking through to the full article. You can also quickly read certain retrospectives by clicking the links after the break! :)
[prebreak][/prebreak]
Teapot's Retrospective
StellarWind Elsydeon's Retrospective
KoL's Retrospective
Magpie's Retrospective
Demelza's Retrospective
Linkachu's Retrospective
 
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Teapot

Teapot

Virtual Duck Enthusiast
Staff member
Administrator
@Teapot:
It's weird to think that Pokécharms is now older than quite a few of its members. Because, yes, today is 'Charms' 12th anniversary, and I've been proud to have been part of it for the last seven.

In terms of the state of the 'Charms union, it has been a bit of a quiet year in terms of major new features. However, we've had quite a few minor tweaks and changes to keep us going - in total, we've had four Creative Corner updates since this time last year, including the major Series update, and three content updates to the Trainer Card Maker. So, perhaps not the most exciting year in terms of getting new stuff, but in other ways, we've made some amazing progress.

In terms of the sheer amount of content on the site, though, we're going from strength to strength - and we've hit some fairly major milestones along the way. This year, we've broken 100,000 registered members, and 4,500 works in the Creative Corner (not bad for a year and a half!). We've also, in the same timeframe, made 750,000 trainer cards.

But far more importantly than pure numbers, we've been building an absolutely amazing community - I've said it a couple of times before, but it bears repeating: This website couldn't exist withouts its community. The Creative Corner is only worth visiting because of the amazing art and writing it contains, and the generosity and kindness of the creators posting there. You guys are amazing, and thank you so much for making this place what it is. Whether you joined a decade ago or just last week, we couldn't do it without you. :)

So, what's coming this year? Well... I intend to bring in improvements to both the Creative Corner and Trainer Card Maker, as well as a super-secret project I've been working on, which is an entirely new feature - although it is closely linked to both the Creative Corner and the Trainer Card Maker. Unfortunately, I can't tell you any more yet. :p That said, I hope to be able to spend more time working on Pokécharms this year than I did last year, and I hope to be able to talk about what I'm working on sooner rather than later... Keep an eye out!

Either way, Happy Charms Day, and happy St. Patrick's Day! Here's to another year of being crazy and proud :up:
 
Teapot

Teapot

Virtual Duck Enthusiast
Staff member
Administrator
@StellarWind Elsydeon:
Today is Pokécharms' 12th anniversary.

The Rule of Six, a law of Internet Psychology studied thoroughly by communities now long buried in the flow of time, suggests that emotional development takes place in six year leaps. Ergo, this is not just any old yearly anniversary - we've just crossed a major threshold and made it across the gap between six and twelve. The practical upshot of which is that for the next six years - due to the target demographic Pokémon is usually aimed at - we'll be effectively as old as a rather sizable portion of our userbase. As a biomechanical abomination that was old when your stars were young, I cannot help but regard this with some amusement.

It's a strange feeling, looking at a community that you've existed in since its inception and having the realization that its youngest members were not even born when it was established - and that as the years roll by, it's probably going to get stranger and stranger. I believe the folk of tumblr, sitting at their collective tribal campfires (powered by a steady supply of flame wars) would have described that sensation as "What is time even?" before taking off in unison like a flock of irate seagulls to wage war against the next thing that makes them angry (i.e., everything).

But outside the perception offered by the Rule of Six, the eleventh year of Pokécharms' official existence rolled without much fanfare. Members came and went. Posts were written. Trainer Cards were made. Newbies became regulars. N00bs became disarrayed piles of subatomic particles. Works manifested into the world as the Creative Corner grew support for series - another phase in its growth from a larva of a feature, hungry for creative content, into A Beautiful Butterfly™ (Or at the very least some form of striking arthropod, we're not necessarily Lepidoptera-biased). Pokécharms chugs on as we have for twelve years now in our quest to evolve into the best Pokémon-based creative community we could possibly be and more - typical, but never predictable... and as ever, Crazy and Proud (and after all, as any acolyte of Sheogorath would tell you, creativity and madness go hand in hand!)

I've rambled longer than I've intended, so I'll leave you with this - at the risk of sounding even more cliché - A community, especially one centered around creative content, is primarily the sum of its members and contributors. We couldn't get where we are today without all of you crazy, creative folks out there - and as you keep creating and your works grow, improve and evolve, so shall we.
 
Teapot

Teapot

Virtual Duck Enthusiast
Staff member
Administrator
@KoL:
Pokecharms is now officially a 12, how 'bout that.
For myself personally I have quite a lot to say about 2014, because it ended up being the most important year in my life so far and effectively changed my entire outlook on life, I'm glad to say for the better. This is part of why I didn't have anything to say about 2013 the last time we did this - because 2014 would for me end up defining my view of 2013 as well, and since 2014 had only just started there wasn't really anything I could say at that stage.

Now as far as all of you are concerned, all this resulted in from a 'Charms perspective was a lot more tournaments. From Insane Calculation to standard 6vs6 singles, Monotype to Little Cup, I'm glad to say that as far as I'm concerned, the Organized Play scene this year has been the most successful it has ever been. I can't give myself all the credit though, as these tournaments wouldn't be anything without you, the players who take part, so thank you to all of you who have competed. No matter how well or otherwise you may feel you did, you helped make these tournaments a success, and there's many more tournaments to come and I hope those who have competed before can come back again, and those who have yet to take part throw their hats in as well - the more the merrier as they say.

In closing, my 2014 was amazing, it and 2013 before it ultimately have both made me the happiest and most productive (I'd like to think anyway) that I've ever been, and I'm glad to say it's thanks to Pokecharms itself that I am where I am at right now, one person in particular. You know who you are, and you're likely to read this at some point I hope. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

As for 2015, expect more tournaments and more awesomeness - after all, you can't be an awesome winner if you don't try - more Daikatana jokes, more hating on Other M, more Lord Smugleaf and all those other things I tend to do for whatever reason. #SuckItDown.
 
Teapot

Teapot

Virtual Duck Enthusiast
Staff member
Administrator
@Magpie:
Can't believe how fast these come round! It only feels like yesterday that I wrote my last Staff Retrospective! xD

2014 has been a very quiet year for me on 'Charms, I haven't been around anywhere near as much as I would have liked. This is of course down to the fact that so much started happening in my personal life. Work got super busy and then towards the end of the year, into 2015 I began moving out. I'm now happily settled into my new flat, which should mean more time for me... but sadly the store I've worked in for the last ten years is closing down and thus in the next couple of months I need to find myself a new job :( Ah well. So all-in-all 2014 has been a super busy year for me outside of 'Charms, sadly resulting in me haunting the forum rather than actively taking part. Once I get myself settled into a new job I really, really hope that'll change and allow me to fully throw myself back into the 'Charms family :)

As far as 'Charms goes, it's always so nice to pop on and see how well the Creative Corner is doing. It's literally going from strength to strength and some of the artwork is amazing! It's great to see more participation in the tournaments (hopefully I can take part with my new, fancy internet connection!) and generally see the boards active. 2014 will always be special to me as I got to meet a good chunk of the staff for the first time in person, and catch up with those I'd seen before and missed ♥

Hopefully 2015 will be yet another great year for 'Charms, and I can't wait to see what the future holds. Thanks for not forgetting I exist, haha! I'll be back 8)
 
Teapot

Teapot

Virtual Duck Enthusiast
Staff member
Administrator
@Demelza:
2014 seems to have been a year of big changes for all the ‘charms staff. As for myself, I moved up to Leeds in the early part of the year and moved in with my partner @Teapot in November! In the earlier part of the year I also got to meet up with @Linkachu and the other ‘Charms staff members who I hadn’t previously met, which was a truly awesome experience. I love this team and the people a great deal and ‘Charms will remain my home for a very long time.

Yep it has definitely been a big year of change and it’s only really the last couple of months that I have truly settled into everyday life as it now is. As far as ‘Charms goes I’ve continued to fill my role as a moderator and news reporter - and boy have we had a lot of news. It was fairly early in the year when Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire were revealed for the Nintendo 3DS, being remakes of the original Ruby and Sapphire Gameboy Advance games they were met with a great deal of fanfare which was fun to watch. We had the reveal of fighting game Pokken as well which I look forward to seeing as it nears release. It’s also going to be interesting to see what Nintendo do as a whole in the year going forward with the New 3DS now existing…

Like many of the staff I’ve enjoyed watching the creative corner grow as the year went on, hopefully this year I find more to put more work towards it! Basically, bring on 2015 and I can’t wait to see where ‘charms, Pokémon and Nintendo go. :)
 
Teapot

Teapot

Virtual Duck Enthusiast
Staff member
Administrator
@Linkachu:
Another year gone by! Another year that I'm glad to be part of Pokecharms and to have seen it all right from the start. Each passing year brings with it new members within the Charms community, new content and features, new Pokemon discoveries, and more, and I look forward to being with the site this upcoming year for exactly that.

I must admit, however, that I haven't been as active within the community these past 12 months as I was previous years. I'm determinedly hoping to change that for the future, so hopefully I can succeed at doing such to some extent! That's still not to say that my past year with Charms hasn't been eventful. On the contrary, it's possibly been one of the most memorable years for me yet - just for different reasons.

The summer of 2014 marked the year that I'd finally travel to England for the first time to meet most all of the UK Pokecharms staff members. I spent just shy of two weeks visiting with @Doctor Oak, @Prof. Cinders, @Teapot, and @Demelza, and met up with @Magpie, @KoL, and @baratron over a weekend as well... and it was all absolutely brilliant. That trip holds special meaning for me in far more ways than one, but there was one specific thought that played on my mind throughout it all: how incredible it was seeing firsthand, without a shadow of a doubt, that the people I'd long considered some of my dearest friends truly were exactly that. And it's all thanks to Pokecharms.

I could never place a value on those memories, nor anything else that Pokecharms has given me these past 12 years. I'm happy, grateful, and proud to call it my home on the internet, and I know that many of you within the Charms community feel the same. So Happy Pokecharms Day, everyone! And thank you all so much for making Pokecharms such a great place to be, both as part of the staff and as a fellow member of the community. Stay crazy!
 
Shiny Motley

Shiny Motley

2016 Singles Football
It's so great to see all the changes from staff's point of view; I'm honestly really happy to read all of these and it's really awesome and in a way I guess encouraging? ^^; But yeah, happy Pokecharms Day, all! ♥
 
The Voltagonist

The Voltagonist

Wow. So much remembrance with some of these writings. I kind of wish I discovered this site a few years earlier, but I guess you have to have some form of new generation to keep things going for the future. :)

Once again, Happy Pokecharms Day!
 
bioaura

bioaura

;_; I feel like I missed it! good thing it does not have a totally exact day so Happy Pokecharms Day! :D hopefully I did not miss much of it lol this site has been so important for me even if I have been "offline" constantly lately. And you guys the staff are the epic people that keep this running, you guys are more than awesome! :p
Happy charms day! :up:
 
Mechanist Gamma

Mechanist Gamma

This is very late, but I have to say it. Although I haven't been here for that long, Pokecharms has become part of my daily life. I am SO proud to be part of this wonderful community. Sure, not that many people know me, but I am proud to know who I do. I have made many great friends here, and it's all because of this website. Here's to another great year!
 
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