Happy birthday pokemasters - Eight years today

[Charles Legend]

Look at what I found...



The PokéMasters forums, TPM (also refers to the main site), or TPMf, is currently the only active part of the PokéMasters website.

The forums were started in March 2000 by Pokemaster Kevin and became an instant hit among the Pokémon Community. However, over time, this overactivity led to the ultimate demise of the original forums and they were moved to an ezboard in 2002.

TPM still exists (now as a vBulletin board) and is still frequented by past members and new members alike.

History
Here is an overview of significant events in TPM history.

1. The site opened.
2. The UBB and the chat opened, with PMK (Pokemaster Kevin) and PokeMaster Ben as the main admins.
3. Addition of Hyrulian_Genius (kurai) and LuGiA007 (kainashi) as admins.
4. The website was originally situated at thepokemasters.com (With a .net site originally added for the forums). The change to pokemasters.com and later to .net was due to a domain name ownership complication with the original hosts of The PokéMasters web site and forums, VGF.
5. The Trading forum was deleted, and ASB (Anime Style Battling) was created. ASB still remains a popular game on TPM. ASB was started by Ditto_Pokefreak.
6. PCG (Polls, Clubs, and Games) was created, and nearly deleted. Shazza became moderator and made some changes, and PCG became a popular forum.
7. PokeChamp becomes administrator.
8. The Shippers branch (a club/fad that ranged through a few Pokémon forums, which is better explained in the Shipping article) came to TPM, and a forum was created.
9. LuGiA007 disappeared off the net for months into the unknown, and is de-adminned for inactivity by the time he returns. He adopted grumpy attitude on TPM for a while, but a lot of people didn't care because of his better reputation. This causes some former fans to become enimies.
10. Shortly after, Little_Pikachu (L_P) is adminned, and people start a rumor about her and Kevin (which has actually been going on since before she was an admin).
11. PCG undergoes a series of spam issues, which are taken care of by getting rid of a lot of the population in the process. At one point, Pokemaster Kevin had set the PCG forum to have cans of spam float above the forum, as a reminder not to spam.
12. People notice the Shippers prom being spammy. An epic fight breaks out in shippers, where both sides make idiots of themselves. As a result, the forum gets closed, and the TPM Shippers branch is dead. Some Shippers are still scattered around TPM for other purposes, but a majority left.
13. Server shuts down in the summer of 2002, TPM goes to ezboard. A lot of people think all hope is lost for TPM, and people start leaving. kurai/Hyrulian_Genius quits in the process as well, supposedly because of school. Many people are unsure if that is true and think it was because of the ezboard.
14. Given the unpopularity of the board, Soo (Bugsy, now Kirei) starts an AIM chat called "ummmm" which was originally intended just for fun, or one day, but people start coming there often, it spreads, and later becomes TPM's unofficial AIM chat.
15. Kevin sets up a vB, which happened to be a backup of the UBB. Everyone had their names back, and postcounts; the only problem was lack of a name change feature, but many members got used to it. A lot of members lost during the ezboard switch returned to the new board.
16. Some months later, Zak, Damian Silverblade, Murgatroyd and a few others organize a proposition to Kevin to bring back Shippers (No proms or similar activities allowed). It is successfully brought back, but Little_Pikachu (the only current admin at the time) doesn't approve. An argument breaks out between a few people, and she gets de-adminned in the process. Shipping stays alive for a few months, more members return, but they realize the shipping community on TPM had changed forever, so they agreed to let it die on TPM while being on other forums. L_P was re-adminned by the time the Shipping board died.
17. A bit later Ledian_X, a person with an unpopular reputation as a moderator in Miscellaneous quits. That has a huge impact on a lot of TPMers, some are ecstatic, some are sad, some are too shocked to say a word. That thread is deemed historic by a few people.
18. A few months later, L_P, being the only admin, and having trouble getting a hold of Kevin, adds four global moderators (as we say, supermods). Chris (from the help forum), OzAndrew (from Fanfic), Zak (from Pokémon Anime), and Lady Vulpix (from PCG). Zak loses his position for three months for opening a topic.
19. The board is upgraded to vB 3.
20. Chris becomes an admin.
21. In June of 2005, TPM's server shut down and the site had to move to a new server.
22. In July of 2005, TPM's forums reopened using Simple Machines Forum (SMF) as its new forum software.
23. November 22, 2006 - TPM changed its forum software back to vBulletin due to security reasons.

Administrators and Moderators
Here is a list of the past and present administrators and moderators of TPM's forums. The members denoted in bold are the current staff.

[LIST=1][*]Administrators: PokeMaster Kevin , Little_Pikachu, Chris, gsnetworks, kurai, kainashi, PokeMaster Chris, PokeMaster Ben, PokeChamp, Dodrio[*]Super Moderators: Lady Vulpix, Zak, Chris, Andrew

1. General Discussion: Antiash Superstar, Austrian ViceMaster Alex, Jay Umbreon, Chris the Sandslash, Azura Stardust, Magmar, Onix11, Lugia, Woz, Raichu
2. Miscellaneous Stuff: Kris, RedStarWarrior, Little_Pikachu, Raven Adonis, Kirei, Kris, GreenShirT, firepokemon, Too Cool Scyther, Ledian_X, Damian Silverblade, The Arbiter, Ninetales3001, PokeMaster Misty, ThunderTheTalkingRaichu, Reeb, kurai, The Rusted One, Silver_Espeon, kainashi, PokeChamp
3. Help/The Binary District: Chris, shazza, Little_Pikachu, kainashi, Aipom Of Doom, Cyndaquil7
4. The Pokédex Project: sgator
   
5. Advanced Generation Diamond, Pearl and D/P Team-Rating: mr_pikachu, Number1ChanseyFan
   
6. Ruby, Sapphire, Fire Red, Leaf Green, Emerald and R/S/FR/LG Team-Rating: mr_pikachu, Number1ChanseyFan, Sir Chris, The Muffin Man, Ultimate Charizard, Gligar_Man, Madelyn151, MetalScyther, Damian Silverblade, Dienamight, Azura Stardust, Vaporeon911
   
7. Classic Generation Gold, Silver and Crystal/Gold, Silver and Crystal Help: Mr.E, SupremeChampion, Sir Chris, Strider, Dienamight, Quicksilver, Green_Pikachu, Little_Pikachu, kurai, Number1ChanseyFan, waynetheman, heh_man, Madelyn, Blaze, Silver_Clefairy, Denryuu72
   
8. Red, Blue and Yellow: RaZoR LeAf, Charizard04621, SageOfLaughter, woz, SilverSuicune, The Muffin Man, Ishdul, GodofGaming, Mr. E, Tron, Ditto_Pokefreak
   
9. Other Pokémon Games: Razola, Dienamight, Vaporeon911, Sir Chris
   
10. Stadium: Dodrio, Raven Adonis
    
11. Trading Card Games: Roarkiller, Alec Trevelyan, Water Pokemon Master, Clicky Pen, kurai's servant, Zombie, Draggy, Dean, Ninetales3001, Jolteon999, DewGONG, Pikatogepi, PikaOhki, Gyro
    
12. Video Games: kurai, Metallix, Lezta, PNT510, Razola, red13n, tron, ChronoDugtrio
    
13. Pokemon Anime and Manga: Zak, Aglandiir, Animelee, Craig, Misty, AKA Pokemon Fan, Calaveron, Kasumi/Windforce, Hanada Tattsu, Murgatroyd, Mew26, MistyKasumiWaterflower, Machamp, Ditto_Pokefreak
    
14. Shipping (which no longer exists on TPM): Misty, Archaic, Kaz-Ohki, Murgatroyd, Zak
    
15. Other Anime and Manga:EVme15, Last Exile, Dark-San Mewtwo-D2, fat man with a monkey, PlatinumHawke, Jay Umbreon
    
16. Anime Style Battling: The_Missing_Link, Hypotenuse Man, River, Chris 2.0 (now known as Chris 2.1) , RaZoR LeAf, Charizard04621, Yumimeru, Impereon, The Arbiter, RaichuPet, Herakasam, Ditto_Pokefreak, Blastoise #009, Porygonix, Gengachu, Cyndaquil7, tygerofdanyte, Sniper404, Hugo, Clio670, charizard_69c, Indecent Exposure, PokeMaster Julian
    
17. FanFiction: Gavin Luper, mistysakura, mr_pikachu, darktyranitar, Andrew, PancaKe, dratinihaunter13 Psi Yamaneko, Timeralay, Misty Rocks, Tygerofdanyte, Damian Silverblade, PokeMasterMike, Shadow_Trainer, Blitzzzzzzz, Chicken Winger Mew, Ginger Cat
    
18. FanArt: Saffire Persian, Agent Elrond, Iveechan, Lightning, Meowth_Kitten, espreon, Ninetales3001, Nuriko
    
19. Online Pokémon Battling: Vineon, red13n, GotMiltank, Pikapeace, Ditto_Pokefreak
    
20. Role Playing Games: Bulbasaur4, Weasel Overlord, Roy Karrde, Outlaw JT, The Muffin Man, Ultimate Charizard, Master Rudy, Ginger Cat, Azura Stardust, Tsukasa,, Damian Silverblade
    
21. Polls, Clubs and Games: The_Missing_Link, Wolfsong, pikatogepi, Vidgamer, Lawrence_III_Fan, Pidgeot, Heracross, shazza, Angel Blossom, Dark_Flame, Silver Ledian, Quicksilver62160, cool_daddy_47, Lady Vulpix, Jay, Aipom Of Doom, Cheesey, Kirei
    

Historic Members
Here are a list of members who some deem as historic for whatever reason.

1. PokeMaster Kevin: the head honcho, who is best known for creating the site and this message board in the first place, he also known as the quote ‘Cookie Monster’ do to an old and Mysterious instant regarding Oreo cookies.
2. Happy Hoppip: Quite possibly the youngest known member of TPM. She was only 7 years old.
3. The Rusted One: An ex Misc mod, he was known for his lengthy arguments in debates and discussions.
4. Ash_300: A member with over 36,000 posts, more than any other member.
5. Grinch: Mouthy, perhaps argumentative and an infamous poster.
6. firepokemon: A loud-mouthed member who lied about many different things and constantly argued with others, making him someone who everyone loved to hate and hated to love at the same time.
7. Dodrio: Admin who had wars with firepokemon as firepokemon believed he was corrupt. Quite unpopular.
8. Kasumi: A man who pretended to be a woman... and many male members had a thing for "her".
9. Misty: Originally Catbert, he used to mod the Shipping forum and used mod Pokémon Anime. He once got his name stuck as "Princess_Pikachu".
10. Archaic: Now webmaster of BMG, he used to mod Shipping, but was practically booted out.
11. Blitzzzzzzz: Popular moderator with over 9,000 posts to date, she disappeared a couple of years or so ago.
12. Reeb: In firepokemon's own words "forceful, responsible and intellectual". She moderated General Discussion and Misc.
13. Too Cool Scyther: Originally came from Ultimate Pokémon Network. Won the Misc Mod Elections in 2000.
14. Takeshi: Well aware of himself, he was a good poster and also disliked Dodrio. He was similar to former admin kurai, so they say.
15. KarmaChameleon: Hacked TPM back in the day, he was egotistical and many members hated him.
16. Master_Pokemon_H: A spammer who had posting competitions with shazza back in the years 2000/2001. He always used a cool smiley as his post icon.
17. Vidgamer: Great friends with shazza and used to mod PCG. Still online, but he never comes to TPM any more. He was Little Brother when TPM's Big Brother game first started.
18. Mr.E: Infamous battler for the GSC games, Mr.E mods the GSC forum, although he's nowhere near as active as he once was, given GSC's decline in popularity.
19. Ginger Cat: Ex-mod of the RPG forum, no longer comes to TPM. Wrote Fanfics too.
20. Gligar_Man: Ex-mod of Ruby and Sapphire, he was remembered for being stoned pretty much 24/7. Has since left TPM.
21. Ditto_Pokefreak: Ex-mod of RBY, Anime, Pokémon Battle Simulator (PBS), and Anime Style Battling (ASB). He was the founder of the TPM ASB League, as well as the co-creator of the PBS Anise League. He also worked on the TPM staff with his Mastery 102 Reports.
22. Nuriko: Not that widely known outside of the FanArt forum, there was a period of time where she was constantly modded and demodded due to her erratic activity. Has since left TPM due to depression, but was one of the nicest people around according to some.
23. The Muffin Man: Not the most popular of members, but recently hasn't been as disliked. Got banned in 2004 and used to mod RS and RPG, TMM is very outspoken and very well known. Is currently banned again.
24. shazza: Ex-PCG mod, still hangs around TPM and goes to the IRC chat #pbs. Was one of the most popular (if not the most popular) PCG mod but since has changed quite a bit, as he has said himself. Runs the TPM game Big Brother.
25. Lawrence_III_Fanatic: An ex PCG mod who entertained the board in late 2000-early 2001. She had an odd gimmick of saying she ate yellow socks.
26. The Arbiter: Ex mod of both the Misc and ASB forums, he was previously know as Greyfox10584. He disappeared from the forums in about 2002, but came back in late 2004.
27. Andrew: Quite possible TPM’s #! Drama Queen, some of stuff he is best known for is being a G-Mod, and he used to mod the FanFiction, some of the other stuff he known for is getting drink, taking on a whole bunch of People in a Mall no I mean in the ASB not in real life… XD
28. The_missing_Link: She was once the Sole mod of the ASB, and was one of the key players that helped to change TPM’s ASB System for the better…
29. Chris.2.1: He literally became one of the ASB well known mods, and the TPM ASB Safari Zone was based of places from his Fanfic “The Pokémon Masters League” however he stepped down from his Position as a mod.
30. Blademaster: Quite possible TPM’s #2 Drama Queen, he is quite outspoken and People respect him for it, He is literally a one man army known as the “I Syndicate” which is also one of his Fanfics…
31. (Spoiler:) Charles Legend, he is known both as the Self proclaimed king of the Charizard/ Dragons and in more recent times as The King of the newcomers for bring a four year old topic back to life. He also made the joke that the force and Aura are like Duct Tape and they hold the universe together.

there are history, well all that I could find pluse I added a few members I thought are historic...

~Charles Legend

[mr_pikachu]

...You could've just linked the Bulbapedia page from which you got almost everything in that post, y'know. -_-;;

Anyway. Happy eighth birthday, TPM! It's weird to think I've been around for most of TPM's history...

[Charles Legend]

...You could've just linked the Bulbapedia page from which you got almost everything in that post, y'know. -_-;;

Anyway. Happy eighth birthday, TPM! It's weird to think I've been around for most of TPM's history...

that would not have worked becuse of an Idoit deleated most of it... -_-;;

LOl that history is so inadequate but its still nice to see.

And Mr. Pikachu - someone deleted it thinking it was unnecessary so it only appears as a cache. As for web.archive.org its horrible so I am going to take everything on it and do it all properly.

err yeah you do that but let us see it once you do...

the asb system was perfectly fine under dpf...it was active...now you noobs killed it.

Lets see over Powered sigs, People spent more time running Businesses then they did battling, and the Losers got nothing for a battle that went one for weeks and months at a time. need I say more?

also leave my Lackeys out of this, or else.

Didn't a few people want to make changes and others didn't like it? I don't really know I only posted in asb like four times.

[color] The thing was that the mods at the time which were if I recall right were The_Missing_Link, Charizard04621, and Yumimeru I think then those two left and some one what ever his name was got moded because he said he wanted to help but he ended up trashing it instead, if memory serves then both Razor Leaf and Chris 2.0 were moded.


~Charles Legend

[Vejodi]

that would not have worked becuse of an Idoit deleated most of it... -_-;;

You could have easily linked to an archived version of it.

[Charles Legend]

You could have easily linked to an archived version of it.

O.o?! yeah I guess I could have, but the fact is I felt like posting it! Now I know you were just trying to help but BIDOOF MY BACK OR I'LL HAVE MY LACKEYS ATTACK!

~Charles Legend

[Katie]

Hahaha, yesterday when I wrote the date on my notes I was thinking "March 24th... what's March 24th again?" and dismissed it as probably some old friend's birthday or something. I guess I was kinda right.

Happy birthday TPM, I feel freaking old now.

[The_Missing_Link]

The thing was that the mods at the time which were if I recall right were The_Missing_Link, Charizard04621, and Yumimeru I think then those two left and some one what ever his name was got moded because he said he wanted to help but he ended up trashing it instead, if memory serves then both Razor Leaf and Chris 2.0 were moded.


~Charles Legend

He was never modded, I just asked him to help. And yes, he did muck it up in the end

And Ace, ASB was dead when I decided to do the revamp. It was sorely needed

[DarkTemplarZero]

Lets see over Powered sigs, People spent more time running Businesses then they did battling, and the Losers got nothing for a battle that went one for weeks and months at a time. need I say more?

also leave my Lackeys out of this, or else.

Total nub. T_M_L was one of the people that took my beloved ASB and turned it into a complete shithole. Back in the day ASB was one of the most active forums. There was a time when sub-refs would get no money but people would still sub-ref because reffing was fun. Battles were lightning quick and fiercely creative, with a minimum of the cheesey "flamethrower x3 lulz" crap that passes for battles nowadays. Refs were creative and it was a joy to even read other people's battles. Teams were totally unique to the player. Man I miss the good old days. Now battles take a lifetime and never end because nobody in their right mind wants to ref, it's too damn boring.

[Crystalmaster Mike]

8 years?! And my account dates back to April 21, 2001! Man I feel olde...

Look at what I found...




stuff...

~Charles Legend

That list should have included Bjarni... And WPM. Both members that steer up so much mixed feelings if you talk about them.

Man, reading that list put a lump up my throat... So many people, so many events... And most of them I recognize (hearing about), too.

There should have been a mentioning of the numerous times we got hacked, and about DigiMasters.com (Kevin's idea of an April Fools joke )...

To wrap this up, I shall reference some of the unforgettable words of Bjarni:

I R AUITSM!!! LOOK aT piCtuRe oF my FRiEnd's pElvis!!! (*)

(*) Artistic impression. I neither claim nor deny any said member ever having said these words.

[mr_pikachu]

I R AUITSM!!! LOOK aT piCtuRe oF my FRiEnd's pElvis!!! (*)

Bjarni never said that. I know because he couldn't spell that well.

*chuckles ruefully* When I was new, I actually tried to defend him against some of the near-flames. Then someone (Becca, I believe) told me about the situation. Kinda sad, if only because he gave actual autism a bad reputation.

On a side note, someone really should restart BB. The show was lame; the game was interesting.