[Soulmate～っ☆]

I joined this site about 6 years ago, and since then I have held the tradition of posting a feedback thread each year after the date I signed up. Some of you may know me, but if you are not a fan of reading you definitely won't enjoy my feedback threads. I will post my threads below if you are interested in reading them but if not I will just summarize what's been going on with me.

• Soulmate - Testimony
  
• Nostalgia, groups, activity, and the reality of leaving hackforums
  
• 4Years HF L33T Feedback Thread
  
• 3 Year Feedback Thread - A year without HF (for the most part)
  
• Almost 2 Years.
  
• Soulmate - My HF Story and Feedback.

After reading the first paragraph and looking at my profile, the first thing you probably thought was "He joined a year ago, why is he making a 6 year feedback thread?" About a year and 3 months ago I came back to HF after taking a break for almost a few years and when I came back everything was completely different. For some reason I felt the need to complain so I wrote a huge feedback thread filled with negativity about why I was unhappy with the site. Obviously (and not wrongfully so), this led to the closure of my account.

I took a break from the site as I had classes and was really busy for a few months. I completely forgot about HF until one day someone mentioned it to me and I really started to miss it. After a few days of consideration I used the contact form to email Omni and ask if I could return to the site. Thankfully he said yes and I signed up under my new account.

I know HF is not all roses, but your experience on the site is what you make of it. Over the past year I have seen so many amazing members and some really good threads made by users in sections all over the forum. I have been in a lot of cool usergroups that changed my outlook on the site, and for the past year it is has been a mostly positive experience. If I traveled back in time 5 years and told past me that I would own a group and be HF Ub3r, I would definitely not believe myself. I have watched myself grow and mature on the forum, and I've seen the site expand as a whole. If you think HF is dying, have a look around and you will see that Omni is constantly making new changes and adding new features to make HF a better place. Looking at the most recent editions of the HF News, you can see that the Crypto Sections have been growing at a rate of almost .05% every week which I think is an all time high. People's tastes change and trends change, and crypto currency seems to be the most popular topic at the moment. We will see how long that lasts, but until then I am proud to say I have been a member for 6 years, and I am hoping for 6 more.

To conclude my feedback, I hear a lot of members talking about how HF is just full of scammers and shady E-Book sellers, and I hear even more people talking about how groups are pointless. Everyone's experience on the site is what you make of it, so if you have a negative outlook then you will obviously not have a good time. I believe for the size of this forum, it is normal to encounter that many greedy people and scammers and it's our own responsibility to not fall victim to their ploys, not the staff's. In my previous feedback, I too was complaining about the purpose and quality of groups at the time but in my opinion it has improved tenfold since then. There are not as many buy-ins or anyone "renting" their group, and a lot of the groups actually have a purpose now. With that in mind, I am going to continue with my groups feedback.

Groups Feedback
Spoiler (Click to View)
Over the years I've been here I have seen the rise and fall of hundreds of groups. It would take days to give honest feedback of every group I have seen or been in, so I will just focus on the ones which are currently active or were recently disbanded.

• Notorious - It took the owner a really long time to find a userbar, so naturally it took a while to get the group off the ground. However, I do think Notorious is a good group because I always see informative threads and contributions from them, not just giveaways.
  
• Echo - The group's description simply says "A lounge group." so you can't expect anything more out of it. It is currently up for sale but I am sure it was fun for those involved while it lasted.
  
• Harmony - Riptide and Rhythm were some of my all time favorite groups on the forum. The userbar is amazing, and I hope that it lives up to the hype. Rhythm was extremely active and there was a lot of shitposting (in a good way) so I think Harmony will be very similar.
  
• Red Lions - Red Lions is the group I have been in the longest since joining, and my membership is coming to be 1 year with them very soon. Currently the group is sitting silently but a lot of us are still very active in the forum and trying to do all that we can.
  
• Equilibrium - I obviously can't speak subjectively, but Equilibrium is like my family. I'm grateful for everyone who helped me start up strong, but now it's becoming a challenge to keep it going. I am not as active as I used to be but I still try my best to run it, and I think those who are in it enjoy the atmosphere.
  
• Dawn - In my opinion Dawn is one of the most helpful and innovative groups on the forum. I have seen groups try to tackle lessons and classes but so far the organization within Dawn has been the best I have seen out of any "educational" type of group. Although it is not perfect and the instructors and students often slack, it has a good groundwork and I hope it keeps improving.
  
• Influence - Influence has a similar idea to what I wanted from a group when I started Equilibrium. Hopefully it will turn out well and becomes a strong unit of skilled members once they open recruitment.
  
• Skill - Besides the skribbl and drawing gamenights, this group has been very fun. I wish more of the members were competitive but at the same time I have seen a lot of good players within the competitive field that are in Skill.
  
• Novus Ordo Seclorum - I think that it is a really smart business move to offer betting tips from an official group. I have not seen anyone complain or make scam reports against the leaders so currently they are doing a lot better than the former Illuminati led by Bandors.
  
• The Order - I had a lot of fun being in this group but I was not active enough to keep up with the lounges. If any group is truly a "lounge group" on Hack Forums, it's definitely The Order. I also believe they are still the most active group with the most posts within their subforum. Other than that, besides a few giveaways they do not reach out to impact their forum, but that is not their goal anyways.
  
• Eclipse - This is another one of those groups I would call my family. The subforum is one of the best around and I have learned a lot as well as made a lot of good friends there. Currently there are not many projects that have helped the community but I'm sure that will change soon.
  
• Torque - Since HF doesn't have a car subforum, Cameron took it into his own hands and bought Torque. I think that since the access is restricted and members picked out by similar car gurus, it works better than having an open subforum. I really like this group so far and not much bad can be said about it.
  
• BLANK - I believe this group is going to be Evolution and so far there are a lot of interesting userbar entries. I know Vyrez has been wanting to own a group for a long time so I am excited to see where he goes with it.
  
• Royalty - Think/Hack your way into Royalty have been some of the most interesting challenges in the groups section and those who have completed them deserve a lot of praise. I have also seen Royalty offer training programs, so I think it is one of the most successful groups to date.
  
• Legends - I used to see products from this group all the time, but a few months ago Raymond said he was stepping away and added some new leaders. I am not sure if they are still deciding on what to do or if the group has just turned into a lounge but I am still hopeful.
  
• Baka - I have always liked niche groups, and I think Baka turned out to be really active and successful. Although groups like this do not actively contribute to the forum, the point is to actually be inside the group and enjoy the contents of the subforum. I am not sure why it is for sale now, but at least the group was not shortlived.
  
• Escrow - I have not heard much about this group, but I read in a thread somewhere that F8 had plans to make it an internal market where you could buy in to deal with other trusted sellers. As much as I am not a fan of that idea, I hope it works out because Factor8 worked hard during his time as an admin and deserves his own group for sure. That, and whenever you buy a group you are allowed to do anything you wish with it no matter what anyone says.
  
• Sheep Gang - I was excited for the return of this group because I missed it the first time. The Skill vs Sheep Gang beef was a lot of fun so I am a little sad the group is being sold. I saw some talented gamers there as well but never really interacted with the members.
  
• Consensus - Since Genesis didn't work out, I am really excited to see another crypto group and it seems to be going great so far. Lookin is leading the group well and the Crypto News are very fun to read. I hope to see a lot of crypto related material from this group and then some.
  
• The Writ3rs - It's amazing how long the HF News has been going and how many different leaders have been able to tackle it. The Wiki team's progress is going a little slow, but in due time everything will be up to date and everyone will be able to take a stroll through HF history. Being a part of the Wiki and News team has been both really fun and an honor so far.

Members Feedback
Spoiler (Click to View)
I have always hated when people do shoutouts in their feedback thread because it's not real feedback, so I will try to keep it short but the people below definitely deserve it.

• Tonight - My A1 since Day 1. I wish there was away to know you're in the glory days before you leave them.
  
• Slade - One of the nicest and most down to earth people of anyone that I know and a loyal Equilibrium member. :)
  
• mael - The 6 month ban will be up soon, so hopefully he will come back. Another great guy who helped me shape Equilibrium.
  
• Views - I've known him for a year now and over time it seems like people want to hate on him more and more. Despite the shady business, he is still a good friend and Eclipse is a good group.
  
• MeshCollider - One of my Red Lions brothers and a really good friend. Equilibrium would not be the same without him and he is one of the smartest members on HF, along with the one below him.
  
• Computer Craft - A loyal leader and a good friend. Another one of the smartest people on HF who worked on the API with MeshCollider and helps me run my group.
  
• Wander - *Cue the laughing emoji. A smart guy who is really funny and good at math. Happy to say that he is my friend.
  
• Shutdown - One of the Equilibrium lounge kings and a really good friend of mine.
  
• Night Fury - A very good friend.
  
• TopKekeroni - My bratan. :)
  
• illuminati▲ - One of my oldest friends on here besides Tonight and a 7 year member. Here's to 7 more years to you.
  

Staff Feedback
Spoiler (Click to View)

• Omniscient - I'm not religious but if I was writing the bible, your story would be the one of God. You created HF for us and nothing would be here without you. Not to mention all those times you have helped me out instead of closing my account. Thanks for all you've done for me personally and for the rest of HF.
  
• Eagle 95 - We talked a few times but I can tell you are really dedicated and are one of the most active staff members on here. You handle reports really quickly so bringing you on board was a great choice.
  
• King of Hearts - I only talked to you once when I was reporting Regulus' account being stolen, but you handled the situation well. You are also good at dealing with reports and finding members who are breaking the rules. I have never used Rocketr but it seems like a great platform.
  
• Skorp - Never talked to you or seen you around except for when you are banning people. You are a real alien for sure so I can tell you're a good staff members.
  
• Minimalist - Any time I see someone write something about you in their feedback thread they always talk about how they knew you before you were staff and watched you come up. Our history isn't exactly like that, but you helped me a lot when I was reporting stolen accounts before you were staff. Now that you are staff, you've helped me even more with questions about the rules and are always really quick to ban the lawbreakers.
  

With that out of the way, my feedback thread is completely finished. Sorry if I didn't include you in my shoutout or said something about you and your group that you didn't like, of course I can always remove it. I hope to see you all later with my next thread a year from today, although maybe it will be mostly new faces. Anyways if you have any questions about me or HF in general just post below or send me a PM. 😁

[X X X X]

Nice to see you've stayed so long on the forums, hopefully many more to come.

[ᏙictorҮ]

Soulmate is a great guy, on the News Team and the Wiki Team, quality banter.

[Night]

Glad you came back after your closure. Thanks for being so nice to me, sadly I didn't meet you when you were on your old account.

[Mαxim]

Read everything but the group's feedback; Well nice thread, and I can agree on many points that you brought up, especially this:

Everyone's experience on the site is what you make of it, so if you have a negative outlook then you will obviously not have a good time.

[Mr. Robot]

Hey really nice feedback mate, grats on 6 years!

[Bαker]

Good feedback Soulmate never knew you before but we've talked a few times and you are chill af.

[ra1d]

Nice feedback, I almost read it all but couldn't be bothered.
Yes
Thanks

[Egregious Jr.]

Nice feedback bro! Cheers to another year.

[TB12]

Highly respect the fact you came back after your original account was closed and went through the trouble to rebuild. Most people wouldn't bother. Great feedback, really enjoyed reading it :)

[Gustav.]

Great feedback man, glad you're still around. And thank you for everything you've done so far. You're an astonishing member, and an amazing friend. 🤩

[Armada]

Damn, one of the few members older than my account.

Great feed back and shot on accurate.

Hope you remain much longer.

[Regulus]

Amazing feedback thread buddy and congratulations on 6 Years on here.
You're one amazing member and I hope I'll see and talk to you you 6 more years :)

[Cloudy]

nice thread fam. I see how it is though with no s/o for the homies.

[Mr Kewl]

You're one of my favorite people on the forum, stay blessed mate. 6 more years ahead of us. :)