User:Rand21althor
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[edit] Intro
Rand21althor is an occasional contributor to Wikipedia. He is also known as RAND_AL'THOR, on Nintendo's NSider Forums. Rand based his screen-name on one of the main characters in Robert Jordan's fantasy series The Wheel of Time.
Rand remained a constant member on NSider Forums until the forums were closed in September, 2007. Currently, Rand is an active member of NSider2 Forums (a fan-run forum created after NSider Forums were closed), Doctor Who Forums, The Outcasts Guild, and EncycloClique.
On Wikipedia, Rand generally assists in maintaining in updating pages relating to Doctor Who, as well as various video game franchises he is interested in.
[edit] Wikipedia Contribution Abilities
| en-5 | This user is able to contribute with a professional level of English. |
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| AF-2 | This user is able to contribute with a good level to audio files. |
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| PH-2 | This user is able to take good quality photographs. |
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| BG-2 | This user is able to contribute with an intermediate level using Bitmap graphics. |
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[edit] History
Rand first joined NSider back in 1998, before the forums were just known as the Nintendo Online Messageboards. He was an active member on NSider, but was better known as the Co-Admin of The Outcasts Guild forums. RAND_AL'THOR is an active member on several forums, as well as the author of a somewhat popular webcomic series, which began in November, 2004, called A Step Out of Phase.
NSider was the first forum Rand joined. Rand came upon another forum after having made his own forum, now known as "The Nexus", in Computer Applications II class. He was searching the ProBoards advertising index for forums that matched his video game interests, and found Golden Sun Realms, a fan-run forum devoted to discussion of the Golden Sun video games for the Game Boy Advance.
Golden Sun Realms was soon shut down by ProBoards administration, with the exact reason for this action having never been disclosed. The most probable cause of the decision is that various members were continually posting comments in foreign languages. Such an act is against the ProBoards Terms of Service.
The main admin of Golden Sun Realms, one ShiningSoldier, quickly made a new forum to replace GSR. This new forum was called The Outcasts Guild, and was a general discussion forum, which included sections for video games, anime, and television topics. The original group of members were all from GSR, and that group of members remains more or less the same core group of members that post on ToG today.
Rand became a member of forums run by various members of ToG.
These forums include:
--JS Den, run by ToG member General Shnophie (this forum no longer exists)
--Chocobo Forums, run by ToG member Sephiroth (this forum no longer exists)
--EncycloClique, run by ToG members UnleashedMadness and General Shnophie
--Hyrule Castle Forums, run by ToG member LinkFan.
[edit] Association with Outcasts' Guild
Rand al'Thor joined ToG after having been a member of the deleted Golden Sun Realms forum. It was ShiningSoldier, now known as Ramirez, who passed word of ToG along to Rand. Beginning as a normal member, Rand gained enough support and popularity among the members of ToG so that he was promoted to Moderator of several sections of the forum. Later on, a new campaign was begun by ToG member Dragoness requesting that Rand be made a Co-Admin of ToG. The main administrator of ToG, Ramirez, went along with the campaign, and made Rand a Co-Admin.
Rand remained a Co-Admin of ToG until early 2008. At this time, a small group (probably just one person, actually) of people got together in an effort to have ToG shut down. This involved spam posts submitted throughout the forums. The posts broke many rules of the forums, and put the forums in danger of being deleted by ProBoards administration. Rand reacted immediately, closing all the spam threads and deleting all offensive content. The attacks continued. Rand attended a meeting of staff members via instant messaging, where it was decided that the staff members in attendance would delete their accounts in an effort to protect their privacy, as it had been seen that the attackers could gain access to staff accounts. Rand, along with the staff members attending the meeting, left the forums, deleting their accounts. Thus Rand stepped down as Co-Admin of ToG.
Rand recently returned to ToG on June 12, 2008. However, his member status is currently a normal member.
[edit] Association with Nintendo NSider Forums
In June of 1998, Rand joined the Nintendo Online Community. The forum no longer exists, as it was later closed in favor of the Hyrule Town Square, an online community focusing on the Legend of Zelda franchise of video games.
[edit] Work on "A Step Out of Phase"
In November of 2004, Rand began work on his own webcomic series, entitled "A Step Out of Phase". The webcomic centers on a group of five Robot Masters from the NES game Mega Man II, and tells the story of their pursuit of the supposedly evil mage Naende. The first volume was never completed, but Rand posted story notes on how the volume was supposed to conclude. Volume Two of the webcomic is currently running. The webcomic was run for a short while on Rand's own personal forums, but eventually found a home on ToG.
The original format for the webcomic took after Brian Clevinger's 8-Bit Theater webcomic series, in that Rand used a full page for each episode. That format ran for 29 episodes, plus a number of special episodes. Following on from that, Rand switched to a four-panel format, much in the manner if Bob and George. This has been the standard format for the webcomic ever since, save the occasional special episode (most notably the 100th episode).
On Thursday, 15 October, 2008, Rand posted the 200th episode of the webcomic, which occurred amidst the Fall Break 2008 filler arc. The webcomic will celebrate its fourth anniversary on Sunday, 23 November, 2008.
