Over the 6 years I've been on this site, time and time again I've heard people saying Newgrounds is just a website and whatever happens on here shouldn't be a big deal to us. Those who think this way may have not thought closer about it or may not even dedicated fans of this site to begin with. These people don't realise how much the staff members on this site care for the userbase.

Although Newgrounds isn't the only site where the admins care about the users' thoughts and expressions on the latest updates and such, this is definitely a rarity on the internet considering bigger sites like YouTube and deviantART don't even give a damn about their users at all. If a large amount of users aren't happy with something about the site, the NG staff will do what it takes to listen to them (as long as they're not being bitches about it, of course) as well as possibly finding a solution to help their users. You can easily see this when they gave you the option to change the flash portal layout back to classic rather than forcing all the users to stick with the newer flash layout. YouTube on the other hand, they didn't give a shit about their viewers' dissatisfaction towards the new site and channel layouts they provided for their site, they left them in the dark.

What really proves that Newgrounds isn't a faceless corporation like YouTube or deviantART is how well known the staff members are. Anyone who's a fan of this site will know Tom Fulp right off the bat. For a site like Google, I don't even know who the CEO is and I don't even care at all. If they don't care about their existence on the site, why should we? Tom Fulp and the rest of the crew, we can easily identify them and that's one of the many great things about them. They'll even go as far as recognising people by their real names and even what they look like. Luis is my great example when he saw me at the London meet earlier this month. He recognised me so well that I didn't even need to introduce myself to him.

The fact that Newgrounds have people like Tom and Luis working for the site and doing whatever it takes to acknowledge hundreds (maybe even thousands) of people amazes me. I am one of many people Luis has met from this site and out of everyone he wants (or rather wanted) to see, he had a special interest in me and I honestly don't know what I've done to impress him and possibly other staff members. Luis once told me I'm a "legend at the office" and I feel there are hundreds of users out there, especially the flash artists that are the main attention of this site are more deserving of such praise than I am. Take note that this was BEFORE I became an icon mod to help out with the new icons. Beforehand, the most I did was managing stats list in Wi/Ht? and being a regular poster in C&C as well as the odd posts in VG and General forum (recently, I've become more active in both forums).

Speaking of flash artists, look at where some of them have moved onto. El-Cid now works with Dreamworks as stated here. We all know how much of a success Adam Phillips is but he was animating for Disney before he worked on the Brackenwood animations. However, he is in the middle of working on a feature film for Brackenwood but these two along with many other animators haven't turned their back on Newgrounds and will still do what they can to provide new material for the site.

Who here can name another site that organises lots of meet ups around the world and keeps up this dedication for the community? Can you name any other site that will keep a good mind of you and come talk to you the moment they see you at a meet up, even if you're just a regular user like everyone else and he's a staff member taking care of some of the biggest things on this site? Finding a site with such dedication is very hard to come by and as the users, we're very lucky to have these great individuals working for the site as well as spending time attending these events.

The Newgrounds community has become so great and dedicated that there's been events held at their very office, most notably Pico Day 2010 which I saw on Stickam live stream and really made me wish I was there hanging out with the other NGers. How many companies would welcome (surely a very warm welcome) anyone to their office like that? As far as I'm concerned, other companies wouldn't organise special events at their office but Newgrounds is unique for their loyal fans and I can't see Tom doubting any of this.

These events work out so well that people from other countries will fly all the way to the specific location just to see everyone there. The fourth London meet is the best example where users from Canada, America and even Sweden flew all the way over to England just for this event organised on the internet. I regret not going to that meet since I don't know when's the next time they'll hold a London meet as big as that one, especially one where Tom makes an appearance and as a user who's been here for almost 6 years now, meeting the founder of this site is something I have to do sometime in my life.

As a huge contributor to the Wi/Ht? forum, I've known many great users over the years and if you're not familiar with certain contributors, you'll be amazed at where some of these guys live and how they they want to attend a future NG meet up just to see myself and vice-versa. The only problem with those living somewhere like Mexico or Brazil is the difficulty of traveling. They can't guarantee us to be able to attend a future meet up but I'll definitely give them one hell of a welcome if they ever make it over here. There are even users who I knew all the way back in 2005 such as gfoxcook, Auz and Andersson that I still want to meet at some point and we're all still here even now (well, gfox stops by occasionally). Again, warm welcomes to them as well if I ever see them in real life.

To finish this off, I just want to give a big thank you to everyone who's making a great contribution to this site whether you're a recognisable flash author, a talented musician, a dedicated artist, a reviewer who always does his/her part to give authors the best feedback possible to make their works better or even a BBS regular who makes a great contribution to the forums and adds many great discussions. Of course, a lot of credit goes to the NG staff for the constant work they put in for this site to make sure it's maintained as well as working on the upcoming redesign which we're all anticipating for. It's individuals like these are why old-timers are such as myself are still around showing as much passion to the site as ever and it's also why I don't see the end of my time on Newgrounds anywhere in sight!

After all that's been explained about the strong community of Newgrounds and some miserable person still insists we're wasting our time for being here for many years, they don't recognise the great dedication of the userbase at all! You may already be aware of the great dedication of Newgrounds but treat this as a reminder as to how great the community really is.

What a fucking milestone post. D:
Congrats on 22,222 Andy.

Too bad no-one who disbelieves this will read this thread.

It's also a portal!

There's a reason I play here. It's wholesome mind-feed.

wow. that's a huge post. and good job for sticking with newgrounds for 6 years!

Can someone please make this post short-hand? I'd love to read it, but I just don't have the attention span D:

Way better review system then youtube has!

also besides the point we can meet up at comic-con and has some beers with Tom.

I agree, the staff is very connected with the users here and I think they actually understand once-in-a-while innapropriate joke and such. Deviantart: Insta-ban.

This is rather true. The admins really do care about their user base, one of the many reasons I come to Newgrounds almost everyday. I just wish I had been here longer, wish I had stumbled upon the site sooner, and wish I did more to help the site.

Ok, I read it all. Really, these were things that people of our era (04' users) already should know. I mean, you and I go on the stickam chat and find all these mods and admins on here, like Luis, Mike and Wade; palling around with one another, getting to know each other.

We all know it isn't newgrounds favorite bird.

At 8/26/10 02:44 PM, Spikrodd wrote: Ok, I read it all. Really, these were things that people of our era (04' users) already should know. I mean, you and I go on the stickam chat and find all these mods and admins on here, like Luis, Mike and Wade; palling around with one another, getting to know each other.

Hell yes! If only more people came to Stickam, they'd find out what NG really is. A community, as stated by Bahamut.

I have to agree that NG is more that just some website. You get the feeling of a community on here. A feeling of family. It's that and much more that keeps me coming back.

At 8/26/10 02:37 PM, Cootie wrote: NG is more than just a website. It is a family if users who should all come here to talk and have a good time. Unfortunately all of us can't get along which hurts the amount of fun that results from NG. But, regardless of the users and their flaws this is still and awesome place that is filled with awesome people.

Thank you for being a friend.

Awh, Yamor you're a brother to me. Hugs for everyone.

Here's my song for the occasion.

At 8/26/10 02:46 PM, Sindread wrote: We all know it isn't newgrounds favorite bird.

What?

Anyway, yes the NG community is probably the most lively and tight knit I've ever seen in an online community. I feel the core of the site is very much the the community we 'reside' in on the site, and something which will continue to draw me to the site for years to come.

It's nice that you hold a particular place in your heart for the website, and I don't think anyone who spends a considerable amount of their time here can really argue seriously with the perks you honour especially. You know as well as anyone that if you have the right stuff, it's an absolutely fantastic place to find encouragement, and to use as a place to showcase yourself. And it's independent, which is probably the biggest problem affecting the larger websites, considering they're sometimes held by larger international corporations I'm not always one with the staff myself, but I have to give them that much. They may as well have deleted me if I couldn't give them that much myself.

I still like using the place too obviously. I spent a bit of my free-time (see, a week or so) earlier this year writing a brief homage to the people I've met (which was also just a bit of a tongue-in-cheek essay parody too, but whatever), which may even need updating now to fit more people in. What I've said about being inspired by Tom to leave the school I was at is actually true, and I look back on it now as a great decision. I'm not all happy for the staff, or a select bunch of the moderators and regulars, as far as I'm concerned personally for different reasons (I'm not angry at anyone or anything bear in mind). I'm held back a bit myself out of one problem in particular really: I cannot draw. Not just, 'this drawing isn't as good as so-and-so's', I mean I'm really terrible at drawing, and animating by extension, as much I love animations, and art. I work around it as best as I can, and I hope that the Writing Portal hasn't been given up on entirely... but that's something else.

Glad to hear you're very happy (and lucky in meeting some of the admittedly friendly top brass), and congrats on the large and funny number of posts.

Newgrounds really ISN'T a website.

We and the creator of this site have a much different mentality than people have on other sites. On other sites people complain no matter what, because they secretly know nothing's gonna change but they can't accept it. But here...But here it's extremely different.

It's amazing how newgrounds is so large, yet has the same idealogy as other small sites. Maybe it's because newgrounds wasn't born to be a money making machine? Maybe the love that Tom Fulp once invested to this was transfered to all of us? Who knows. The only thing we're sure of, is that sites like newgrounds are a rarity these days.

When did the internet become so commercial...When did this happen...

No stat threads! Oh wait, it's Bahamut :3

At 8/26/10 02:34 PM, Bahamut wrote: The fact that Newgrounds have people like Tom and Luis

Dammit Andy! You never changed the piece of proofing that I gave you!

Also, congratulations on 22,222 Posts

It's just a really cool website.

Happy 22,222nd post Bahamut!

I think I have already told you what I thought about your speech. I agree with you that it's great how the admins are standing so close to the users and listen to them carefully. I've been on websites with much smaller communities and with most I didn't have the feeling that there was much interaction between the administrators and the userbase. As a matter of fact, sometimes I didn't even knew who the admins were.

Of course the admins aren't the only reason why I keep coming back to this site. I think the community on this website is also great. I know a lot of websites have a tight community, but I've never been to one with so much diversity as Newgrounds'. There are a lot of great people around here, and of course there are a few rotten eggs but heh... you'll find those everywhere.

Anyway, I also think that Newgrounds isn't 'just a website' for me anymore. I've practically spent the second half of my teenage life on NG and I think hanging around this place has definitely had influence on my development as a person and changed my points of view on many things.

Thanks for the nice speech Bahamut.

Newgrounds is my home. I never want to leave it.

*golfclap*

seriously, gotta agree, even though I have not been around for nearly as long, this site definitely is pure awesome...

At 8/26/10 02:34 PM, Bahamut wrote:

:Paragraph 1

When people say things that happen on this site, they are usually referring to something that upset them or someone else. Most of the people who get upset don't realize what is so different about this site or why it's worth going to at all. Honestly we're better off without them. And yes, the staff members are great, except for poozy, he can go eat a dick. Fuck you poozy.

Paragraph 2

Sounds like some YouTube bashing and staff suck-upery. I like it. This is also true, in this paragraph you seem to give specific examples as to why NG is better than other sites.

Paragraph 3

This is true as well, but you must realize that NG is a different type of site than most. First of all we have a forum, YouTube and Google do not. They are more of a means to entertain oneself and not meant for long term user to user interaction. Just look at the YouTube comments, they're hardly ever productive and don't serve the purpose the forum does. The only way you can fairly compare YouTube to this site is through the flash portal and all the video submissions YouTube gets. If you did compare this, one would be able to speculate (and rightly so) that YouTube is a better place and has much more content and a much larger user base than that of NG.

Paragraph 4

Well, you have a large amount of post, are a productive user, and even noobs know your name. Of course you're a legend. Also take into consideration you would have a hard time naming as many flash artist as there are forum users you know. You are more likely to observe the forum users because of how they submit, how often you see them, and how often you talk to them. Notice you hardly ever talk to flash or audio submitters, notice you look at their work a lot less often than the trivial nonsense of forum goers, notice that a forum user on this site will get more recognition from forum users than from a flash submitter and vice versa. As for Tom and the staff acknowledging everyone, sure there are a lot, but it's still doable, especially with all the mods.

Paragraph 5

Now, why would these successes still work for NG? Well that's what makes this site great. It gives artist a portfolio of their work, they gain recognition, and they get critiqued. This website has great influence over the media especially of that in the game world. You think The Behemoth is anything special? Users on NG can be just like them, they just need the right connections. Eventually this site may even grow to produce the world's best game makers. Only time will tell. As for these persons specifically, they are great artist and are recognized as such.

Paragraph 6

Gaia, 4chan (ew), Facebook (or any other networking site), and most MMO forums and games.

Paragraph 7

True, they are unique in the regard of office meets, but easily explainable. Tom and the staff have a close relationship with the other users of the website, most likely because they use it themselves and the fact that they made the website. Other websites don't do this because they either have huge staffs, aren't as personal, or fear for their safety.

Paragraph 8

I've been here a very long time and I am not compelled to meet Tom, but I guess I could. It's no big achievement, he's like anyone else except he's the founder of an awesome site with a mature user base. Throughout this entire thing you forget that these users, as immature and retarded as a lot of them are, make this website what it is, not the staff. I'm sure you realize this, but it needs to be said; this website would be nothing without its users. I even value you more than Tom, think about it, you as an individual have probably inspired Tom more than he has inspired you.

Paragraph 9

To make this a possibility, I have a proposition for you, and the staff. I doubt it will work however, but my idea is this: We could make a group dedicated to NG meets, that financially supports those who can't travel from one place to the other. The cons are that it is likely to be abused and it will need funding from somewhere, possibly users or donations from other companies. But it's a suggestion that should be considered.

Paragraph 10

Nice special thanks.

Paragraph 11

There will always be haters. They will eventually move on. Don't be too concerned about them. Nice 22,222 post.

Finally you showed to us that epic speech you talked to me a few days ago. Epic 22,222th post.
No matter how... But organizing a Wi/Ht'ers meet-up, is a must to.

About Adam Philips: did you know he was working for EA now on Dragon Age: Journeys?
Look at that game closely and you can definitely recognize his art style.

It's nice how much the admin's are doing for this site, but how about the audio portal?
It doesn't seem like they care much for it while it could be quite simple to make it more popular (audio submissions featured on front page, experience for voting on audio, etc).

Also, the userbase isn't that great, the people on the forums are!
The visitors of this forum do not resemble the average newgrounds visitor at all.

It is also great how much we can communicate with eachother, something wrong with a Flash? Review it! Something else bothering you? PM Tom!

At 8/26/10 04:58 PM, MikeyS9607 wrote: deviantART+Youtube > NG

TRAITOR! burn him!

I think you're right, I fucking hate the new YouTube layout, and I would never expect any admin from that site to care about what I think. But if it was on this site, I guarantee that it would matter if enough regulars gave a new feature a negative review - which is great, because sites can really become awful after a re-design and I've stopped visiting a few sites after they've launched new (horrible) designs.

Also, I was planning to head out to the next 'BIG' London meet-up. Maybe I can get Rucklo to get to the same one. That'd be pretty cool. =)

Well, there is a reason it keeps users coming back. With the humorous style, games, flashes, a great community, with the famous guys and the underdogs, opportunities, music, art, blogs, contests... Kind of looks like school, since you even learn with it.

It's indeed more than just a website.

It's a... humm... a... Super Website... kind of thing.... yeah.

ok.. first of all im not going to read the whole damm thing. also ng is a awesome site

My sentiments and expressions are aforementioned in this thread.