My HL2.net Experience

[Tyguy]

This thread is directed more to people who have been here for a while but the rest of you should at least ponder what I'm about to share.

I joined in 2004 when Half Life 2 was about to come out. I was in college and having a great time. I had my share of problems but for the most part I was a happy kid. I spent the majority of my time in the speculation threads doing my part to yell at everyone making gman threads as well as trying to get a grasp on the HL universe. I'm not sure when it was when I started posting in off topic but that's where the bulk of my posts are now.

Almost 5 years later I feel like a completely different person. I'm no longer a raging conservative with a "ends justify the means" thought process. I feel like the forum has helped me discover my true feelings towards the world and for that I am extremely grateful. I also feel like I've gained a lot of knowledge from you guys/girls/other. Obviously there are...ahem...many occasions when my IQ plummets after reading a few threads but for the most part the majority of posts are coming from intelligent people. Give yourselves a round of applause.

Now for the "poor me" part of the post. I developed an anxiety disorder to compliment my obsessive compulsive disorder and I was recently informed that I am, in fact, bi-polar. Needless to say, I've got issues. I'm wondering if my somewhat new take on reality has a play into that. The things I've learned over the years are things that, while true, are still kind of disheartening. I never questioned the news or the world around me and I would take everything as it was presented to me. It's as if I pulled a 180 on the majority of my political and moral views.

It just feels like I was living in a dreamworld for a good portion of my life and it's sad that I only began to realize this a few years ago.

/whiny post

 

[Phobie]

Congratulations!

 

[Eejit]

Happy Birthday!

 

[CptStern]

hey at least you're on the road to recovery, admitting you have a problem is usually the hardest step

 

[Warped]

bi-polar?? are you sure they're not just sucking your wallet dry and saying you have a problem?? do the pills help?? just making sure your not getting screwed royally! my friend is bi-polar and i question if the disorder is actually man made or if its real. tbh, i think most of the psychiatric industry is a sham

 

[Tyguy]

bi-polar?? are you sure they're not just sucking your wallet dry and saying you have a problem?? do the pills help?? just making sure your not getting screwed royally! my friend is bi-polar and i question if the disorder is actually man made or if its real. tbh, i think most of the psychiatric industry is a sham

The only thing I take in clonazepam...other than that, hell no. I'm not going to be a guinea pig for the drug companies any more.

As for the bi-polar thing, it's taken a while for me to get an answer as to if I do actually suffer from it. The majority of psychiatrists I've spoken to seem to agree that although it's not a major example of bi-polar-ness, I'm still not at the baseline.

 

[Dinkleberry]

This thread is directed more to people who have been here for a while but the rest of you should at least ponder what I'm about to share.

I joined in 2004 when Half Life 2 was about to come out. I was in college and having a great time. I had my share of problems but for the most part I was a happy kid. I spent the majority of my time in the speculation threads doing my part to yell at everyone making gman threads as well as trying to get a grasp on the HL universe. I'm not sure when it was when I started posting in off topic but that's where the bulk of my posts are now.

Almost 5 years later I feel like a completely different person. I'm no longer a raging conservative with a "ends justify the means" thought process. I feel like the forum has helped me discover my true feelings towards the world and for that I am extremely grateful. I also feel like I've gained a lot of knowledge from you guys/girls/other. Obviously there are...ahem...many occasions when my IQ plummets after reading a few threads but for the most part the majority of posts are coming from intelligent people. Give yourselves a round of applause.

Now for the "poor me" part of the post. I developed an anxiety disorder to compliment my obsessive compulsive disorder and I was recently informed that I am, in fact, bi-polar. Needless to say, I've got issues. I'm wondering if my somewhat new take on reality has a play into that. The things I've learned over the years are things that, while true, are still kind of disheartening. I never questioned the news or the world around me and I would take everything as it was presented to me. It's as if I pulled a 180 on the majority of my political and moral views.

It just feels like I was living in a dreamworld for a good portion of my life and it's sad that I only began to realize this a few years ago.

/whiny post

So much of this rang true for me too, it's uncanny.

You've learned lessons so many people don't, and as such have huge advantages in understanding the world around you.

I think I'm more unipolar than bipolar (but not so bad, otherwise I wouldn't be where I am), but found these videos fascinating:
Stephen Fry - Secret Life of a Manic Depressive
It's a 12 part series.

 

[Vegeta897]

While it's hard to say for sure, I think HL2.net has definitely played a large part in shaping who I am today. It'd be interesting to see what kind of person I'd be if I never came... Better, worse, or just different?

I've been here for almost all of my teenage years. That's a lot of growing up.

 

[Tyguy]

I've been here for almost all of my teenage years. That's a lot of growing up.

especially at a time in your life when you are learning the things that will guide you for the rest of your life.

 

[PvtRyan]

Almost 5 years later I feel like a completely different person. I'm no longer a raging conservative with a "ends justify the means" thought process. I feel like the forum has helped me discover my true feelings towards the world and for that I am extremely grateful. I also feel like I've gained a lot of knowledge from you guys/girls/other. Obviously there are...ahem...many occasions when my IQ plummets after reading a few threads but for the most part the majority of posts are coming from intelligent people. Give yourselves a round of applause.

You're welcome, you were a good student. Now for another matter: I do charge a fee of $20 an hour (trust me, I'm cheap) and I did put at least 100 hours into you, so pay up as soon as possible. This goes for the rest of you too: pay or I'LL STAB YOU.

 

[CyberPitz]

I would like to thank this forum for helping me with my spelling/grammar. When I first started posting, I was just the typical kid that would type in 1337 speak sometimes, and lots of lolz. I've gotten a lot better, and it's 100% due to this forum. Not anybody in particular, but just the general postings.

I also showed up in the Off Topic at ~1,000 posts. That's a lot of Off Topic posts.

 

[Sheepo]

Thank you for:

A great deal of typing improvement
General increase in knowledge in many subjects
Helping me out with a few specific things
Entertainment
Helping me shape my personality
Grammar, spelling, and language improvement
McHammer

 

[mchammer75040]

Thank you for:

A great deal of typing improvement
General increase in knowledge in many subjects
Helping me out with a few specific things
Entertainment
Helping me shape my personality
Grammmar, spelling, and language improvement
mchammer75040

Why you're welcome!
HAR HAR I've been here longer than everyone in here (except ryan), whadda ya think about that? Bite me mods, you can't touch this.

Anyways yes this forum as well as philosophyforums.com made me realize how much of a tool I've been most of my life, not that my posting on either of these sites is in anyway insightful but its definitely made it easier for me to have my beliefs challenged by someone else. The feeling of being totally anonymous on a forum made me less insecure with debating my beliefs with others...and once I did, I realized how baseless they were. If it was face to face I would have just walked away, rather than actually think about what they said.

 

[Pi Mu Rho]

Bite me mods, you can't touch this.

When will they realise?

 

[Omnomnick]

When will you embrace Druckle's phrase?

 

[Rizzo]

Mchammer is a god damn spamer. 1000 posts a month!

 

[mchammer75040]

But.... but...why????
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1npdZnzP9yo&feature=related

 

[Omnomnick]

^ lol

 

[Sheepo]

Haha, McHammer just pointed it out to me. Well played moderators.

 

[Qonfused]

Oh you guise...

 

[Dan]

I was always right when I joined, and I am still always right.

 

[Raziaar]

It's going to be changed back, right? That's not cool.

 

[mchammer75040]

Pi can't do shit man, I'll lead a resistance against him. All those who want to follow me say AYE!

 

[Raziaar]

I've already been leading a resistance by making fun of him all the time. But this steps over the line! It's one thing to make somebody's join date earlier in time(even though it's ridiculous), but it's an entirely different thing to ****ing do that... to a veteran no less!

There's no veteran respect.

 

[Jintor]

Is this our circlejerk thread for the next six months?

 

[mchammer75040]

Yea what of it you attention whore?? You wanna be in the middle or something??

 

[Raziaar]

This thread is directed more to people who have been here for a while but the rest of you should at least ponder what I'm about to share.

I joined in 2004 when Half Life 2 was about to come out. I was in college and having a great time. I had my share of problems but for the most part I was a happy kid. I spent the majority of my time in the speculation threads doing my part to yell at everyone making gman threads as well as trying to get a grasp on the HL universe. I'm not sure when it was when I started posting in off topic but that's where the bulk of my posts are now.

I originally posted predominantly in the half life forums, but once I touched off topic area I never went back. The forum quickly became my home. I think this was facilitated more easily due to the acceptance of my dancing cow avatar.

Almost 5 years later I feel like a completely different person. I'm no longer a raging conservative with a "ends justify the means" thought process. I feel like the forum has helped me discover my true feelings towards the world and for that I am extremely grateful. I also feel like I've gained a lot of knowledge from you guys/girls/other. Obviously there are...ahem...many occasions when my IQ plummets after reading a few threads but for the most part the majority of posts are coming from intelligent people. Give yourselves a round of applause.

I too used to be a pretty hardcore conservative... always attacking hippies, drug usage talk, homosexual talk, supporting the war etc. It's really weird to see how much I've changed over these many years I've been on the forums. Anybody who has been in politics for a long time knows that I was one of the conservatives in the arguments.

But I've changed. I refuse to say it was entirely halflife2.net that changed me, but it certainly helped. I really just got a look at myself and realized that this was not who I want to be. That I based all of my ideals and beliefs on nothing. I had no solid base to stand on and still retain those beliefs. I really started to look inward and rapidly changed myself on nearly every front.

Now for the "poor me" part of the post. I developed an anxiety disorder to compliment my obsessive compulsive disorder and I was recently informed that I am, in fact, bi-polar. Needless to say, I've got issues. I'm wondering if my somewhat new take on reality has a play into that. The things I've learned over the years are things that, while true, are still kind of disheartening. I never questioned the news or the world around me and I would take everything as it was presented to me. It's as if I pulled a 180 on the majority of my political and moral views.

I'm sure I have bipolar as well... for the simple fact that my mother had it quite severely. I'm assuming my depression I get a lot of the time, and my mood swings from time to time are a case of me having bipolar deep down somewhere. But I won't ever let it affect me and cripple my life as much as it has my mother's.

For me, I think my complete 180 on my political and moral views has sort of helped me on the front of my mental health. I truly believe this. In some ways it's incredibly difficult to be as skeptical as I am these days, as being a skeptic isn't fun... but compared to the alternative of always worrying about religious stuff and thinking I'm going to go to hell etc, it's much better.

 

[Jintor]

You know, it never occured to me how many people I interact with on a daily basis have some form of slight mental disorder, and I mean that in the nicest possible way. I really just don't think about these things.

 

[Krynn72]

Pfft, mental disorders are for wimps. STDs are where its at.

 

[mchammer75040]

Krynn would know since we trade off often.

 

[Shift]

I blame the atheists. Think they're so big!

Anyway, yeh I have also changed A LOT since I first joined, I was a happy chappy with a perky personality, now I a lot more impatient and don't hesitate to call someone a dumb ass for giving such a dumb ass opinion.

 

[Qonfused]

I can't say I've changed a whole lot politically or morally, it was just detailing. Even then, I doubt it was because of HL2.net. My musical tastes have radically changed, though, which is due much to HL2.net. I might have found my niche eventually, but HL2.net definitely sped that process up. I've gotten to know a lot of cool people from here, a lot I still talk to occasionally on messenger. I'm sad that more "lasting" friendships never formed; the lack of any physicality sucks. Anyway, so there you go. I can say that this site used to be more of a part of my life, but lately I find myself just lurking.

 

[Tyguy]

while hl2 didn't change my opinions, it certainly aided in helping to change them.

plus there were lol cats...which im pretty sure made me dumber, thanks hl2.net

 

[Phobie]

I haven't changed at all since I joined in 1970.

But seriously, I haven't changed because of hl2.net. I've met some really amazing people who I'm glad I can now call friends, and I've changed a little with age, but that's about it.

Plus there were lolcats, which I'm pretty sure made me dumber.

 

[Dinkleberry]

Unfortunately I missed the lolcats. Did it go something a bit like this?...

 

[Tyguy]

i just got dumber

 

[Sheepo]

Oh I get it.

Spoiler

It's a cat

 

[DEATHMASTER]

vac cat

 

[Raziaar]

I've changed in the past week. I've decided to stop being mean to girls.

I will no longer put dirt in their imaginary tea, or pull their ridiculous pigtails as if I were holding the reins of a horse.

 

[MorganFreeman911]

I would like to thank this forum for helping me with my spelling/grammar. When I first started posting, I was just the typical kid that would type in 1337 speak sometimes, and lots of lolz. I've gotten a lot better, and it's 100% due to this forum. Not anybody in particular, but just the general postings.
.

This post rang/rings true to me the most. Joining this thread EARLY in to 2006 (some time in the first week of January, if I do remember correctly), where I was still a young kid (still not much older, but more mature due to this place) gave me a new outlook on life. As well as my spelling, obviously. I used to spell like a toddler who just had been given his first keyboard, and I have made new lifelong friends from this forum as well.