Hello there!
This is my attempt to write a well written Testimonial about HF and how being a member here helped me grow as a person.
I will categorise the parts I'd like to talk about here below, so you can all read my story easily without much of a hassle or confinement.
Joining HackForums and the first experiences:
I joined HF late August of 2019. The first few threads I created was to chit chat a bit, as well as asking people why I couldn't change my Avatar. Little did I know about the upgrades back then. The following day, after my sign up, I decided to use the Introduction to allow myself to open up a little bit to the strangers of HF. This was the best decision I ever made, because in my opinion, several members welcomed me like I was family. Nobody came across as a show off or tried to patronise me, nope! They were all pretty sweet to me and even helping me a hand by referring to the Help Docs, which did help me as a HF noob enormously!This wasn't the thing I expect from a place called; HackForums. I must say, it was the start of a great journey in my opinion.
The growth of me as a person thanks to HF and it's community:
October 23, 2019. This was a special date to me, because it was the exact date that Pikachu and RedCupcake accepted me in their group, which isn't officially a HF group yet, but really active at Discord, named; The Coven. I was so happy to be finally part of a group which was in my opinion the last group I expected to find at here! It's about spirituality, more I won't share for now. I recognised immediately the open minded and similar minded members like myself, to be happy to have me in the group, with at first a very welcoming attitude. This reminded me of the special day I introduced myself to HF with a thread, where Xen (a group member of The Coven) welcomed me. It was nice to recognise a member from HF to be on there, too. A special thanks to RedCupcake and Pikachu for accepting me in their group with so much love!
The group showed me a lot of members who were really nice, and I noticed them at HF as well. The members from HF are often kind to each other, have a great (dark) sense of humour and are sometimes even connected to one of the Admin's, like Omniscient. I never joined a forum where the Admin is so much respected, loved and feared at the same time, while he's participating on threads to make us a better community! This showed me a great lesson online, you can't see people, you can't know them very well, but they will make you feel better about yourself and your personal growth than some family members do! This means a lot to me, helping each other while we don't benefit from it directly. That shows me that there are plenty of members at HF that have a good heart!
I like to help out others, but after joining HF, I started to love to share small stories, creating helpful threads for those who need it.
My first contribution:
Although I didn't write it myself, I have an Social Engineering ebook thread where people who are upgraded or have 25+ posts can contact me to get this ebook with over 450 pages. This was my first contribution to HackForums, ever! I didn't believe my eyes after seeing over 200 replies from members, excluding the massive PM's by those who were interested in this, as well as thankful for me sharing such ebook for free. I noticed over 2700 views and that was the first time I felt really special with basically not much done.This been said, I will happily tell you all that I will contribute more in the future, but the experience that it left in my heart is indescribable! I love to learn, love to joke, but more than anything else; I love to help others who need it.
The inspiration I got thanks to HackForums:
This starts by reading the titles from the Bragging section, where people shared their story about how much they made or what they achieved in their lives. The titles itself made me curious enough to sign up and see what they all had to say. Joining HF and visiting the Bragging section made me enthusiastic enough to work better and harder than never before. I noticed the real deal, not just 9-5 jobs, but real internet entrepreneurs that made more money than I ever seen in my life! I won't share any details further, but I must say, this was a huge inspiration boost for me to keep grinding on my work and side hustles, all legal of course!HackForums - Should I expect anything Illegal?
No, not at all! This was the first time I noticed a website with the word 'hack' in it, that is so much involved in defending the legal parts of the internet as HF. I assumed this would be a place full of viruses, hackers and other 'illegal' topics, but the actual content is mostly legal. This was a great benefit in my eyes, because I love to learn, but I want to learn things on a legal basis, not with the wrong intentions!I must say, after seeing myself as a pretty smart fellow, I noticed how little I actually know about protecting yourself against privacy crimes, viruses and more. All thanks to HF! Even the stuff that is 'Blackhat' is taught in such ways that you can learn from it without breaking the law, something I love to see. There are no 'leaks' like other forum, everybody is good to each other and I did not expect this from a place called HF. I must say, the Admins that run this place, along with Staff, are doing a great job monitoring everything.
Rules are rules and need to be protected and followed, else you're banned, which is a great way to stretch out how important respect and rules are!
The parts of HF that made it special to me as a member:
There are plenty of things to say about this, but what I do love is that you got access, as a default member to a lot of topics, threads, help and of course game like the HackGame it self. What I found interesting was that you can upgrade yourself from normal member to L33T for only a few bucks which was worth it in my opinion. You can benefit from the features and that for some pocket change. No big amounts or hassle was needed to upgraded. Well done! Further I noticed, without experiencing it yet, that UB3R upgrade has got many more features than I already have now as a L33T member. This sounds really promising for the future. Another fun thing I noticed was the 'Bytes' which are basically points you collect by replying to threads, contributing and more. With those Bytes you can play games, gamble and so win more bytes, as well spending it on other members as a gift or in exchange for their Signature space, spent it at HF as a bump for your own thread or more! I honestly love the reward you get from actually contributing high quality posts, instead of spamming for cash.
Overall experience and final words:
What I did at HF in such a small amount of time, which is basically a few months now, is nothing compared to the opportunities I see in the future thanks to the great network, features and of course information from HackForums. The illegal activities aren't really allowed here, which I find a huge plus for such places. Especially for those with bad intentions. The great attitude of members, as well as new members as well as old-timers, are extraordinary! I hope to be able to spent many years at HF and contribute as well as learn more in the future by helping out others and getting help from others. I want to give a special thanks to so many members which I'm limited too, so I decided to leave it be. Omniscient, Staff members like webdev77 and again members like RedCupcake, Pikachu, Xen, Deadmau5 and others made me feel really at home here! If we can keep this forum like it is, or make it even better, I'd feel the need to be here for the rest of my life.HackForums isn't just a place to browse and have fun, it's a place to grow, learn, earn and have fun!
Thank you all for reading!
I hope you like it as much as I liked writing it and I wish for a great time this year, next year and many years after! Thank you all, again and I wish you all a great day, month and of course a great (new) year! 🤝