Yugioh Card Maker Forum

Hello everyone,

It occurs to me that when one writes such a thing and posts it in such a place, they will require a lengthy and somewhat daft parenthesis (albeit untraditional) to explain themselves and their reasons. Having said that, if you’re not a fan of long posts (this one, with just the first chapter, is 3,800 words), big-people talk, non-fiction books, Australian English (as in “colour” is better than “color”), or threads in the Fan-Fiction forum that don’t somehow revolve around “Yu-Gi-Oh”, “Pokémon” or some other fad of a similar nature: stop reading this right now and go ask your parents about how the First World War began. However, if you have ever desired becoming a moderator of YCM, declared your “love” and “devotion” to site or stated that it is the “best site on the Internet”, I suggest that you read on, as you will likely learn many things you previously did not.

To those of you who were intellectual enough to read beyond the above paragraph, I thank you, and welcome you to my chronicle of the history of the Yu-Gi-Oh Card Maker forums, or, as they are commonly referred to, YCM. I have created this chronicle for a number of reasons. I hope to enlighten many of the members of this forum who were not fortunate enough to witness the key parts in YCM’s history as they happened. Many members I see discussing such historical events, persons and happenings of this site haven’t quite got the story correct (at the best of times), and that is, to me, frustrating. Until a few months ago, YCM was a major part of my life, and my time here taught me quite a lot. I felt I should honour YCM with such a documentation of fact so that her members know what really went on and so they can respect what this forum has been through - There have been many highs and many lows, as well as a great deal of interesting occurrences in between.

Having been there from the practical start (despite leaving precisely four months ago as of May 8, 2008; and no, I did not plan to post this on the four-month anniversary of my leaving, that is just a coincidence), I know nearly as much of the forum’s history as YCMaker himself. Some of the more intellectual of you will notice over time that this is not a chronicle as they are traditionally defined. I will cover the history of the site as chronologically as possible, but it will not just be events in YCM’s history that will be discussed (like the forum wars, which have, over time, become heavily shrouded in innuendo from this chronicle’s target audience); I will also be covering certain members who I think had a great influence on the forum, and perhaps even some aspects of the forum itself.

Let me say, first and foremost, that the information in this chronicle is written strictly through my eyes. This means two things. First, you won’t be hearing too much to do with the Custom Cards, Yu-Gi-Oh or Graphic Design sections of this forum unless I was directly involved. I spent very little time in those areas, venturing into them only when I wanted or needed to or when my services as a moderator were required. Second, the opinions portrayed in this chronicle may be slightly biased in one way or another, and for that, I must apologise in advance. I’ll also note my poor sentencing skills, my love for commas, and my lack of ability to keep things in the same tense and person. Until I stop learning about silly-old books like To Kill a Mockingbird in my English classes and start learning such useful information as stated, I believe that my grammatical hiccups are, for the time being, incurable. One must also note that due to my schooling I have a very busy life and can’t dedicate as much time as I’d like to writing, and that, obviously, includes this chronicle – my first non-fiction work created by my choice. For these reasons, it may be once in a blue moon that you read a new chapter of this chronicle, but I will try to make it is often as possible. I believe that is all I need to cover in this parenthesis, so the only thing left to do is begin!

Now, where to start? Some of you may think it would be best to start at December 24, 2006; as that is the date on which forum “first began”. If you did think something along these lines, I thank you, as you are the reason why I’m writing this chronicle. You would be correct if referring to the current Yu-Gi-Oh Card Maker forums, which were created on December 24, 2006, but, as myself and a select few others who are learned in the history of YCM would know, this was not the absolute beginning.

The date December 24, 2006, is commonly misconceived as the start date of YCM. In actual fact, YCM began a long, long time before this date. To properly document the history of YCM, one must travel back to a date when many, if not, all the current members of YCM did not even know it existed, bar none. I’ll note that I was not a part of YCM at or even close to the time of its creation, so the following details may be slightly warped, as they go only from what is obvious and what I can determine from records remaining on the forum itself and its Admin Control Panel.

The true date of the creation of YCM is July 9, 2005, at approximately 10:08 AM (GMT). YCMaker (under the name “yugiohcardmaker”) registered an InvisionFree forum, entitling it, quite simply “Yugioh Card Maker”. It is likely that this was either in conjunction with the release of YCMaker’s downloadable Card Maker (known as “Yugioh Card Maker 1.0”), or shortly thereafter. It has to be said that it was a very small, bland and unappealing board, featuring just three forums; ‘Created Cards’, ‘Questions, Comments, Suggestions’ and ‘General’. One could guess that YCMaker only ever made it to act as a small support board.

This forum sat, likely, completely idle for over a month until August 17, 2005, when a member finally joined. This was not something to be rejoiced, though, as this member did not post, and only a total of eight members joined before the end of 2005, only two of whom posted, and neither of whom more than just once. It wasn’t until April of 2006 that another member joined, yet still nobody appeared to have any plans on making more than just the one or two posts. Things changed, though, on June 10, 2006, when a member who was to become YCM’s first moderator (other than YCMaker himself, obviously) registered.

Many of you may think that I’m referring to myself with the above sentence, but this is incorrect. The name “DarkChaotix” should’ve gone down in history as YCM’s first moderator, but due to my name appearing second and in bold on the current YCM member list, many members have misconceived that it is I who holds this title. I most certainly was not the first moderator YCM ever had. I was, in fact, the third. I’ll try to refrain from dwelling on misconceptions so aptly and get to the part of actually rectifying them. Most of you should have already grasped that DarkChaotix joined on June 10, 2006. It is certain that between this time and June 21, 2006, DarkChaotix was appointed YCM’s first moderator.

He made only nineteen posts in his time on the forum, and now, unfortunately all these posts, save one, have been lost. This is likely the result of activity sweeps or server crashes on the board, and the reason why much of the history of the InvisionFree YCM before August, 2006 can only be vaguely recorded. The one post that remains on the board was the made on June 21, 2006 (which is how the possible dateline for his appointment of moderator was calculated), and appeared in the forum’s most popular and oldest surviving thread. It was a thread created by YCMaker to discuss whether the next Card Maker (which many of you know as the predecessor to the current Card Maker) should be a downloadable program like the first, or a web-hosted application (like the current version). Created on June 20, 2006, it wasn’t replied to until the next day, when DarkChaotix stated his opinion. For those of you who read the first edition of this chapter, you may recall me noting that this one surviving post from DarkChaotix would be his legacy. However, I spoke far too soon, as on June 17, 2008, two years and one week after his registration to the InvisionFree YCM, DarkChaotix reappeared, registering to the current YCM and actually commenting on the chronicle! This has, technically, made what I originally chronicled about him incorrect and irrelevant, so it has largely been removed. Rest assured, DarkChaotix will be rediscussed greatly later. What I will say now is that, obviously, DarkChaotix had little reason to stick around, and soon disappeared, never to be heard of again for over two years.

The first anniversary of YCM came and passed, likely unbeknownst to anyone, as the forum slugged through July, 2006. Fortunately though, things soon began to change. August, 2006 could, arguably, be one of the most important months in the history of YCM. However, August was very much like previous months up until the August 25, 2006. It was to be on this date that the forum’s second moderator came to join – This particular moderator appointed to his position just two days after his registration. “SuperSanji” is a name familiar with some members due to his frequent reference, more often than not, from myself. He made only a total of thirteen posts before disappearing, and in this time he was, as stated, appointed a moderator position. At the time, YCMaker did state the reason for this appointment, stating it was nothing more than a token of thanks for SuperSanji actually using the forum. SuperSanji seemed to completely ignore this bestowment (arguably with good reason), and I had always thought of him as a bit on the arrogant side. After becoming the first person to ever suggest the addition of “Tokens” to the Card Maker, SuperSanji disappeared in early September.

August would not pass as uneventfully as previous months, though, for on August 30, 2006, two members joined who would, ultimately, rescue the forum from the brink. This binary began with a member called “yugimuto2006” (later known as “eminem93” of the current YCM), who, while not providing the forum with overly much, did provide the second member of his binary company. This second member of the said binary was to become just the thirty-seventh member to join InvisionFree YCM. If you guessed me; well done; for you guessed correct.

I registered to the InvisionFree YCM under the user name “frunk”. It is highly likely, though, that had Yugimuto and I not joined the same day, neither of us would’ve stayed much longer than those who came before us. I was quite the typical “noob” [sic] at first, not knowing anything about forum etiquette, proper posting manner or anything of the sort. The moral behind this, I suppose, is that everyone starts somewhere, and in my case, the InvisionFree YCM was first forum I’d ever joined. I imagine Yugimuto was much the same, but, oddly, I recall very little of him. The early days were quite placid.

Both Yugimuto and I made scattered posts in each other’s company, but Yugimuto appeared to have a lacking interest in sticking around. I was quite the same, but I account my interest in the forum to the fact that I was appointed a moderator. Like SuperSanji before me, this happened just two days after my registration, and, despite YCMaker not providing an explanation, it was likely just a token of thanks for being active on the forum like my predecessor. This raises the question, though; why was Yugimuto not appointed as well? This question, due to my lacking memory of this time, could be answered, possibly, by looking at Yugimuto’s posts. I, though, have chosen not to look into it for two reasons. First; due to InvisionFree’s ongoing disbandment of the InvisionFree forum system (to make way for their new “Zetaboards”), it is now extremely difficult to locate such information. Second; it really is one of the great “not that it matters” questions of YCM. I think that there is no reason for it to be answered at this stage, or at least, no reason for it to be answered by myself.

A very notable registration took place on September 5, 2006. This member was to become a very famous member of the current YCM, and equally infamous in the early days thereof. “One Love=Yugioh” may not be a name familiar to many current members of YCM, but the case is not the same for his current alias; “Falling Pizza”. The account One Love=Yugioh was never logged on to after the day it was registered and was used to make just three posts. Only one of his posts remains in existence: the infamous post that brought YCM its most famous card (or at least what is widely regarded to be so) of all time; “Jonus”.

Jonus was a “Pig-Type Fusion Monster” with no listed fusion material, outlandish attack and defence points, an “over-produced” circulation, a photo of an unknown, overweight man grimacing and an effect that read; “Nha Trang is a breath of fresh air coming from Vietnam’s south. It’s a major coastal town and has that bright, lofty, pastel air about it. In fact, the city reminds me a lot of Santa Monica, California, which is weird.” Its creator stated that “this Yugioh Trap card is inspired by the voyages of Jonus”, and listed its creator as “©2006 Sarah”. Falling Pizza, through the use of IP records, has been confirmed to be One Love=Yugioh, and thus the one who posted Jonus. When asked, he has said he could not recall why he created Jonus, nor could he explain any of its features.

“Ashes Right Hand”, a now-inactive member of the current YCM, joined on September 13, 2006, but there isn’t much of a tale behind his 21-post contribution to the InvisionFree YCM, as he was just another member who happened to post, and there were a good half-dozen or so of these in the end. A few days later, I departed on a holiday (which I account for overwriting my memory of the early events of my joining) which saw out the rest of the month for me. Thus, September, 2006, was, ultimately, quite a bland month. It needs to be noted, though, that it was towards the end of this month when Yugimuto disappeared.

When I returned in early in the next month, I came to find that the forum was largely idle. Due to my registration within a short period of time to two other members who posted more than the majority of accounts registered on the site, seeing the forum as idle was new to me. October, 2006 wasn’t to be easy or extremely fun, particularly the first 20 or so days. Between October 19 and October 22, though, a number of members joined and posted unusual amounts for the InvisionFree YCM. None of the names really need to be repeated, though one did go on to join the current YCM, known as “setojim” on both sites. After this small wave of activity, though, the InvisionFree YCM would slump once again.

Early November was wholly uneventful and looked to be turning out much like September and October. On November 12, Yugimuto returned, albeit for a very short time, before disappearing again, and, as I recall, he did not return to the InvisionFree YCM after this point in time. Two days later (and finally, might I add), another very notable registration took place. At first, “steven” seemed to be much like those members mentioned for late October; just another member who joined the forum before drifting out of activity. The difference with Steven, though, was that he seemed to have quite a fair bit of time on his hands (like I) and stuck around for a long time. One might describe him as “another noob” [sic] if he was still active on the current YCM, but this isn’t a fair description. Had Steven not been who he was and posted as he did, there is a great possibility the current YCM would not exist. With Yugimuto’s second disappearance, and the absence of several past active members, I was, nearly two and half months after registering, losing interest. I don’t think I should ever be criticised for this, though; these times were the worst the forum had seen since I’d joined.

Steven, though, took over from Yugimuto in the role of being the active member (other than me), and he kept my interest in the forum to its ever mediocre level. As November continued, a number of members posted a good half-dozen or so times each to keep the forum running. Soon enough, December was upon us, and as we continued to make what we could of the site, another notable member registered to the site. “maddog15” joined on December 5, 2006, becoming another member who would “keep me interested” in the forum. Yet, his 38 posts may have ultimately been in vain had not YCM’s fourth ever moderator joined on December 18. Despite being synonymous with my name in the early days of YCM, his name is now a relic, and little known to some. “Danilus”’ contributions to YCM would be phenomenal, and members of the current YCM should thank him for the entire modern Yu-Gi-Oh section. It was he who originally suggested the addition of the forums “Fan-Fic”, “Your Deck” and “Yugioh TCG”, and later on the current YCM, he was to be the mastermind behind the ill-fated “Card Trade” program as well.

All of Danilus’ ideas (excluding Card Trade, which was not even a concept at the time) were implemented onto the InvisionFree YCM, but these forums weren’t overly popular, as they only existed for a small amount of days before the site came to an end. One final registration needs to be noted, though, before one can round off the history of the InvisionFree YCM. “Poc” joined on December 24, 2006, and, for reasons about to be stated, didn’t have much of a chance to impact on the InvisionFree forum at all. The site, at this point in time, had a number of active members (to recap; Danilus, Steven, Maddog, myself and a few others including Poc), and YCMaker noticed its potential, and, on December 24, 2006, he created a “News” forum and made a thread in it stating; “I've noticed this site seems to be growing more and more rapidly, so I've decided to create a new forum which is a bit cleaner and more organized. … I'm not going to remove the current forum any time soon, so take your time migrating there.” None of those who remained active, though, wasted much time moving to the new site. I was the second member to join the current YCM as I saw the announcement posted by YCMaker approximately half an hour before Maddog and Danilus.

It took roughly two days for the InvisionFree YCM to be almost completely abandoned. Members joined it at scattered points in time after its abandonment; some of whom were genuinely new, but a lot of whom were members of the current YCM who registered to it for reasons still unknown, and some of whom even posted. For this reason, sometime after December 14, 2007, I disabled the option for new accounts to be registered. Only a fraction of InvisionFree YCM’s genuine (those who joined on or before December 24, 2006) members are known to have registered to the current YCM, and only six of whom (as of June 17, 2008) are still active. These members deserve to be known as true veterans of YCM, and their user names are as follows (I have listed them in order of their joining to the InvisionFree YCM and used their current YCM user names); YCMaker, DarkChaotix, eminem93, Frunk, Falling Pizza, Ashes Right Hand, setojim, bluecool, steven, achoi2 (though he never posted on the InvisionFree YCM, and used the name “alexchoi12345”), RyanKoopa, maddog15, Danilus and Poc. There is a possibility that that list could be longer, but there is no evidence to suggest such a thing. As stated earlier, DarkChaotix reappeared on YCM on June 17, 2008, more than two years after his original registration to the InvisionFree YCM. This proves that there’s still hope for this list to expand.

This, I suppose, is all there is to it. I could have gone in to greater detail, like perhaps with some of the events and notable discussions, but the fact is that there wasn’t many of them anyway, and you really had to be there to truly respect such information – never fear, though, as it won’t affect you either way.