Amazing thread here. One of those little-guy-gets-the-trophy stories.
*ahem* Now for my wall of text. Gonna be a lot longer than my post in the unofficial thread.
Though I wasn't a member here at launch (joined December 23), this place has still had an impact on my life. I won't lie, this place, and the people here, have helped me through depression, even if they didn't know they were. Before I joined this place, I kept to myself, only really talking to a couple people online, and that was only now and then. I was a prick, eventually falling to a point where I was trolling forums and such for my own amusement. But then, due to a twist of events, I watched My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, then wanted to discuss it with others, found this place through Google, and joined. In past forums I had been on, I was treated like garbage. Won't elaborate on that since it's kinda frustrating to, but yeah, I was very pleasantly surprised that I was accepted into this community with open arms. Not trying to sound sappy, but this forum kind of restored my faith in humanity.
Since then, I've been a fairly active member here. While I'm not extremely active, I like to think that what I do post either makes somepony laugh, or adds something to the discussion. So, in that way, I feel like I contribute to the forums. Sure, I was a chat mod before the chat closed down, then a sectional mod for a while, but meh, I've always wished I could throw a few bucks this place's way as a thank you. Part of it's the fact I'm kinda greedy and usually use my spendable money on adding to my gaming collection, and part of it's the fact that I don't have Paypal or anything.
Feld0, you've achieved something amazing here. You, along with the mods, have brought us a well-moderated, clean, beautiful-looking, active forum for the discussion of our favorite cartoon featuring the lives of colorful fantastical equines. In my opinion, this is the best forum on the internet. The community is the best I've ever seen. I've never seen a member who I would call a "jerk", not counting trolls, who were banned quickly by the previously-mentioned moderators. Keeping a forum of this size clean takes a lot of work, and you all do it well.
Not gonna do many specific member shoutouts because it would make this post 50 feet long, but I can do a few. Chigens: You rock, woohoo! Platinum Rook: You are best sniper. Vicke: We don't talk much, but you rock too. Woohoo! Zoop: We don't really chat much, but you're a pretty cool guy. /)
In conclusion, congratulations on one year of existence, MLPforums! May you, and we, the members, see many more anniversaries. I look forward to seeing the evolution this place goes through as time goes by.