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xFirst up is what I like to call the newbie stage. You've just joined the site, and everything is all rainbows and butterflies. You tend to txt tlk, and do a bit of trollin' around the forums every now and then. You utterly heart the Towns/Rally's. You like the site, and can see yourself hanging around for a little bit.
xAfter you've gotten a good feel for the site, you exit the newbie stage and enter your late teens. You've dropped your l337 speak, and your txt tlk, and have generally matured; no longer trolling/posting random topics with no point. Your grammar and spelling have improved. You contribute to forums, and you may have one or two that you're settling into, and are becoming a regular in. You may still like Towns/Rally's, but you don't badger users for gold anymore!
xYour later teenage phase can last for a while, but once you clear that hurdle, you're onto your late adult stage. This is when you've become and are acknowledged as a regular in either a certain forum, guild, and you are respected for your input. You may have started a Guild by this time, and it is thriving with users that you love to hang out with. You tend to have finally managed to buy the many items that you want, and are beginning to enjoy the simpler things on the site, such as the weekly EI Report, Events, Shop Updates, and Manga Updates. You find yourself content where you are, and are generally peaceful. You may find yourself posting less in your regular forums, and lurking more. You prefer to read others opinions, and make a few comments now and then. Also: Your focus may be beginning to shift towards your guilds.
xThe next stage seems to hit some users while skipping others. It's the dreaded mid-life crisis! Users that go through this phase seem to relapse for a bit into the late teen/newbie stage all over again! You may become discontent with your regular forums, and may leave to seek your fortunes elsewhere. It may take a few rejections before finding a new home-forum, or figuring out that your old forum really wasn't all that bad. Other symptoms include selling out everything in your inventory, and buying completely knew items be they expensive or cheap. Avatar-block* is common, and upon occasion, you may say something stupid in the forums that makes you face-palm later.
xWhether you hit or skip your mid-life crisis, you eventually end up as an oldbie. Being an oldbie doesn't necessarily refer to your real life age or your join date. Oldbies tend to withdraw from their home-forums, gradually posting less and less, and are beginning to become more active within their guilds. They feel at home with the sub-community where they may be respected for their wisdom and knowledge of the site, and like the feeling of knowing everyone, and everyone knowing them. Put simply, oldbies withdraw from the greater community into the more close-knit families of their Guilds.
xThen, finally, there comes a time when you become magically omnipresent, or decide to leave the site. You have reached the zen-master stage You've become completely aloof and untouchable. Your guild loves you, and you love them. You've had a good run on this site, and begin to log in less and less frequently, happy with your legacy. Some choose to log off for good, distributing your items among your friends in your guild. Sometimes this requires relinquishing a Guild Captaincy to your Vice-President. Final days can be sad, but overall, you are content.
**Definitions:
Avatar-block; Similar to writers block in the case of not being able to make a good avatar. You are generally unhappy, and cannot seem to get anything to match/work.
