EPTBut this blog isn't about that. It's about the reasons why TL has kept my mind busy and free at the same time, why it is so great, and basically why recently this place has been amazing to me. It's been one of the few places where I can enjoy myself in the past week or so, getting away from my troubled life. Here is what I'm thankful for:
1) Open minds, union of talents!
TL has a lot of very talented people, in almost all areas of creative expression. There are also a lot of people who promote this expression in our community: they deserve mentions as well. Some names that come to mind are defenestrate, with his amazing poetry, mikeymoo, who is all too modest about his piano and singing improvisations [they fucking rule], KizZBG's alffla's Pachi's and many others' amazing graphics, FakeSteve's MSPaint threads, Plexa's blogs and FEs (and of course all of the FE writires, including HotBid Manifesto Manablue and others), chobopeon's battle of the bands and battle of the writers, decafchicken, mahnini, and other contributors of the "Pony Express", and many many others.
All of these people are what make TL different from other forums - the creative minds that power the entertaining and involving activities and sights around this site, for the people by the people. Some of the best works come from the union of several people, several minds, all into seperate pieces of work. Some examples I can think of right now are the various inspirations that I've seen (and proudly caused) recently. Take this for example:
1. I made an MSPaint thread, asking for requests.
2. Someone made a creative request, to which I made the "My Broodling Romance" .gif.
3. Mikeymoo's piano+singing improv thread, inspired (if I understood correctly) in part by my poem in chobopeon's writing contest thread, gave the inspiration to MTF to write a poem based on my .gif.
4. Mikeymoo took the poem and turned it into song form, and did an amazing job at it too.
I simply can't express how unique and amazing this is, especially for a forum based on a gaming community. If you open up your talents and lend some time to these forums, others do the same and together you create something special. I think everyone, from the creators, promoters, and participants to the viewers and listeners of the products, is thankful for this conflux of ideas and talent.
Some important links to sources of greatness! (mostly recent):
FakeSteve's MSPaint Thread
My MSPaint Thread
Defenestrate's Poetry Thread 1 (Parallel to Fakesteve's MSPaint)
Defenestrate's Poetry+MSPaint Thread 2
Mikeymoo's Piano + Singing Improv Thread
Chobopeon's Creative Writing Thread
Chobopeon's Battle of the Bands
Tasteless' Hilarious Bombay Movie Dubs
TL FINAL EDITS!
Plexa's Blog!
List of the "Pony Express" releases!
... And I'm sure there are many others that I've missed x:
2) Involved and interesting... Mafia!
Chuiu & Dapperdan's creation of the Mafia threads has sparked some of the most fun people have had on TL in a while. The games are intricate, involving, and are rewarding for the amount of analysis you choose to put into them. The amount of work put into these is enormous, both from the total time put in by the moderators and creators, as well as all the participants. I don't think anyone can argue that Mafia is not one of the best things to happen to TL. I believe the first Mafia thread became the largest and most viewed thread on TL, and Mafia 2 is shaping up to be bigger and better. Round of applause for Chuiu & Dapperdan!
Mafia threads:
Mafia Game 1
Mafia Game 2
3) Community activities and services [game-related]
Who remembers TL's Race Wars? TL.net Attacks? Idra vs. Incontrol, lefnaij vs. Ret, and other TL matches? I certainly do. There is simply so much that the staff and important members have done for us to make TL entertaining and informative about the SC universe. The ongoing help given in the strategy forums, the recent burst of activity in the replays section (thank you Incontrol ;D, and others of course), the Liquibet system, the TLPD and VOD streaming, the pro-scene music archives, the Power Rank, good moderation... These and many others are what makes TL the best of the best in terms of SC community building and coverage. This fucking site rules.
Links (although I'm sure all of you know these xD):
IntoTheWow's All-Time Pro Scene Music Compilation!
Power Rank!
Replays!
Strategy Forums!
Liquibet!
Team Liquid Progaming Database! [HOLY FUCK ORGASM]
VODs + Other Torrents!
4) Sense of identity and community... In short, (almost) everyone!
Anyone who cares enough to spend some time on this site is usually recognized as an individual, with many ways of expressing their personality and qualities (unless you're a douche, in which case you get banned). The openness of the General forum, the various projects that members can participate in, and the blogs section all work together to give active posters a sense of identity. I don't know about the rest of you, but a lot of people on this site are more than just anonymous aliases on a gaming website - a lot of these people bring a real sense of humanity to the site, which is something rare on the internet nowadays. People like d4d, Cambium, and lilsusie (just 3 names off the top of my head, there are MANY others) document their experiences and present them here, and I think many of us enjoy reading about them (even if it makes us a bit jealous
). Then of course there are the "colorful" personalities of some of the most active posters, namely people like )ToT(Incontrol, Rekrul, CharlieMurphy, and Strafe. Though opinions about them are mixed at best, they do their own share of making themselves and this site seem more human.Go explore!:
Blogs!
General Discussion!
5) Moderators
This is similar to point 4), but I felt the moderating staff deserves their own section. Sure, we all feel injusticed when we get temp banned, try to argue it when we come back, bring it up months later, bitch about it on IRC (or at least I do << )... But let's face the facts, most of these guys are just and they are what makes TL a more structured and thus more civilized forum - and that is what this whole blog has basically been about. They ban inconsiderate noobs that would undoubtedly come in mass as if the depths of internet shit set rally to TL and went mass assholes and would ruin this site. They also do innumberable hours of work for this site, even outside of moderation, be it through write-ups or organization of events or adding site features. Big thank you MUST go out for that.
One more thought that many of us probably overlook: without an excellent moderating staff, there would be none of the great things we love about this site. Hell, there would be no Team Liquid in the first place!
To sum things up... I'm sure I represent the sentiments of many of your members. I think I speak for everyone when I say Thank you Team Liquid!
(jk)
