When did you join?

I joined in October 1999, while in college studying Computer Science.  I was also working as a developer at a local gambling games company at the time, and learning DirectX (mainly DirectDraw).

What brought you here?

I don't actually remember how I found the site, but I do remember sometime in my first year or so, me and a coworker of mine discovered an article "Why plugable factories rock my multiplayer world!" that completely took me to the next level as a programmer. (the article didn't do it all by itself, but it kicked off a sequence of learning and trying things over the next 6 months that was the most learning and growth I've had in a similar period ever.  I also really enjoyed the NeHe articles on OpenGL which I used to learn OpenGL for a job a few years later.

Why do you participate? 

I don't really participate much currently.  I've been in corperate america developer gigs since about 2003, when I switched from C++ and embedded systems to C# and web based / service oriented software development.  I maintained my game dev / C++ skills for another 4-5 years after that, but once I had my daughter I simply haven't had enough time to keep up with all of my hobbies and passions.  I have however learned a little unity 3d because a friend of mine now works in the industry, and in fact participated in a game jam a few years back, and just this year built a clone of an old bar top game "color invasion".  As for why ... the participation I've been doing since 2002 is almost all just to enjoy interacting with people, and mainly to help answer questions for beginners and intermediate developers.  Although I do find the brand new member's constant repeated questions sometimes frustrating, I love when someone is just on the cusp of "getting it" and you can give them a few insights into how to level up.

On 6/13/2019 at 7:48 AM, Eck said:

Ahhhh. The NeHe tutorials... so good!

Wasn't there a DirectX equivalent NeXe?

When did you join?

Either late 1999 or early 2000. Lost the original account, and created this one in 2002 I think.

What brought you here?

Tutorials, and the only game developer community I could find online.

Why do you participate?

I was pretty active back. Lots of things going on here: ATI sludge ads, Hot Chicks thread, old timers antics. It's just force of habits now that I check back once in a while.

When did you join?

I officially joined in March, 2005.  I had participated in the forums since about 2001, because back then they provided the option for anonymous posting. 

What brought you here?

Primarily social reasons through IRC.  I was already a moderator on Undernet's #C, #C++, #gamedev, and some other channels. I was invited over to the version on the AfterNET network, although I didn't care for it at first.  At that point I was already developing games in school, one of my projects included a networked space shooter in astronaut-style, which I tinkered on both in my graphics class (OpenGL) and network programming classes.

Secondarily, I used articles and references the site had collected, there is a tremendous collection both here on the main site and on the older archive.gamedev.net site.

I recall discussions like in chat when Washu's tentacle issues became legendary, and watched as an "I'm bored" post grew into the "eat rope" joke.  There were people who would ask what to do with their medical conditions, although that never made sense to me. (If you discover you've got a tumor that looks like an additional organ growing inside your privates, why would you post that on a game development site rather than a medical site or actually going to a real life doctor?)  There were also the game dev comic strips that ran for a while, showcasing common themes of the site like the consequences of talking too much about your reputation score.

The web site wasn't founded until after I had graduated, but I was active on the site before I found my first game industry job.

Why do you participate

I enjoy teaching and helping, so again mostly for social reasons. There are a lot of connections to people within the industry, and it is a great place to ask technical questions and to receive technical answers.

Over the decades I have switched over from bright-eyed recent college graduate to grizzled veteran, so I rarely post my own questions although that still happens on occasion.

I still remember my surprise back in the early days when I was frustrated on an issue with NAT punch-through, and after reading the seminal article on mindcontrol.org, I asked a question here on the site only to have the original author help me through the troublesome code.  

We have a lot of experts on a lot of topics on this site.  It's a fun place to have technical discussions with other smart people.