Myself and New Mibba

Quite honestly, I almost pissed myself when I logged on one day to see that I had a new announcement box. This box looked official, with some red font thrown in there for good measure. It was a statement saying I could go in and beta the New Mibba because I had submitted a tutorial.

The first thing I did after I got logged in to this glorious piece of awesome was go downstairs and brag to my parents that I was a beta testing (kind of). Needless to say, they were confused and simply nodded. Whatever, I was a beta tester... kind of.

I also bragged to my friends at school, but never on Facebook or Mibba itself. That was contained inside, because I didn't want Dujo to smite me or something.

Sure, there were glitches. Sure, I had to try five times before I could log in the first time. And sure, my reader counts were gone. But it was here, it was new and pretty and proof that Dujo had finally gotten out of his TARDIS to write us some code.

Then that day... that day that I didn't have to go to a special secret domain. When this site became the Real Mibba, and the orange layout was gone to be replaced with the blue one.

I kind of flipped out all over the place. This shiz was Facebook-status worthy.

Unfortunately, the one thing bogging me down was everyone else's negative attitudes. We had whined for it for what, four years? And now that it was finally here, all anyone seemed to do was complain. Sure, there were some legitimate complaints, like, "Where did my profile go?" or "The story layout maker is broken." But stuff like, "New Mibba sucks!" and "I hate it, I'm leaving!" was everywhere, and it made me kind of sad. Does the layout of the site really matter that much? Apparently, it did.

But over time, people grew used to it, like I had when I initially was invited to test. Little things got fixed, everyone realized they could still read and write and forum post and blog just like they had before, and things settled down.

I look back over the past... what, two months, it's been? Not even that. I look back and think, "Well. It's here. Thank the gods. Now we can get back to doing what we are here to do." For me, it's creeping in forums and writing stories, maybe reading and commenting on something on occasion. I feel sad that I was among the few people who were totally stoked about New Mibba finally being here, but then I realize that it's here to stay, and the people who aren't happy with it can either leave or put on their big girl panties and learn the site. Personally, my experience with the site has been wonderful since the day I made my account, and it's only gotten better.

Mibba is an internet home-away-from-home for a lot of members. Does it really matter if that home is a shack, a suburban cookie-cutter, or a mansion with a moat if what matters most is what you put into it?