April Responses

Naomi- The "elites" were "newbies" once and I bet the "elites" know what "newbies" went through. Anyway, I don't really know who labeled whom as "newbie" and "elite" and what gave rise to the connotative meaning of both. And somehow, this has turned into a worn-out issue. We each have our own personal pages and have our own purposes for putting it up. We should just do what we all want to do and share our talents and interests. However, if our aim is to be recognized and just stir up hits, then we should face the fact that the Internet is a free entity, swarming with competition... and that if you're good, then people will surely take notice and recognize you.

Owner 0f Fire Senshi's Realm

Mara K- The issue of newbies-versus-elitists seems to be unique to the Sailormoon community; it is one of the few fan factions that has come to be less about the show than about its fans. It's not a matter of who's wrong or right; it's a matter of how much energy you want to devote to something that really isn't worth getting angry over. Both sides can be vindicated by shutting down their computers when they don't like what they see.

Owner 0f Pluto Planet Power

Lunara- Actually <grimaces> I haven't been on the SM scene for quite some time! I had initially deactivated my mail link because I was getting too much mail (from my sailormoon site) and just now hooked it back up. The reason I haven't been around is because of school. I'm a college student and I'm drowning in work with little time to devote to my sites! <groan> I update if and when possible and
shirk my mail like no other!

Anyways, if I recall this correctly from last summer, this has been going on for quite some time (the war that is) and has yet to be solved. My opinion has always been that the new vs. elite war has been triggered primarily by plagiarism. If a newby plagiarizes, it similarly "labels" newbies as such. And so the elitists tend to also care for their own. I wouldn't consider myself an
elitist, I'm not involved enough to be! But, to be honest I don't care about affairs in the SM community anymore because I HAVE to have a 3.2 this semester to stay in school. Simply, I have other worries. So should other people. The war is pointless just like other wars. Respect others and you yourself shall receive that respect. THAT is what prevents and stops wars.

My primary piece of advice: Do your own thing. It scores you more points in the long run.

Owner 0f Eternal Sailormoon Heaven

Michelle- The war between Elitists and Newbies...that's a toughie. I have a secret suspicion that there's no such war at all, it's just something juicy dreamed up by a (very) few disgruntled webpage owners who are neither "elitists" nor "newbies", but people with pages that have been around a while, but still suck ^_- Since they weren't getting the acclaim they think they deserve, they got paranoid and figured that the webpage owners whose pages they kept hearing mentioned as good places to go (while their own went unmentioned) were "elitists" who are trying to keep the newbies (or rather, novice webpage owners) "down" and stop them from being famous. Oh please. Most people have more of a life than that.

Besides, how can you keep a page from getting recognition? Who says anyone cares if somebody's page, new, established or in between, is famous? What's with all this "recognition" talk anyway - that's an awfully arrogant thing to say. Nobody deserves "recognition" just for the effort of sticking up a page. That's not the point. The point is to make something because you love Sailor Moon (or whatever your subject) so much that you want to share everything you know about, or at least some neat stuff that you find
amusing, with other fans. At least that was the point when I made my first webpage. :-)

Proponents of this "elitist vs. newbies" myth would have anyone who will listen believe that there's some sort of competition going on between Sailor Moon web pages. Uh...there is? Where does it say that in the SM F.A.Q.? Does it exist in the Fushigi Yuugi-net too? I don't think so! It's just some conspiracy theory thought up by some immature glory-hounds to feed to newcomers to get some attention and hits :::starts getting steamed::: Um, never mind ^^;;

This so-called "war" (read: hoax) is just another Internet rumor run rampant. "It's a conspiracy, I tell ya! All the good webpage owners (i.e. the ones we have labeled as having elite/great sites) are out to keep the little guy down! See how they never link the newbies (read: my) pages? Just 'cause they've never heard of them and they've got so many links up there already and they don't wanna visit new pages everyday just 'cause they've already found sites they like :::pant, pant::: They're so meeeean!
:::pouts::: "

So new fans keep coming on the scene and discovering the incredible array of information on their new favorite series. And, having not having been online for very long and therefore not being aware of the currents of the Sailornet, they believe the myth of the War Between the Elitists and the Newbies. Along with the marvelous news that there's gonna be a sixth series of Sailor Moon, woohoo! "What, there's five series?! Is one of them the one where all those funny little pictures of baby Sailor Scouts come
from? Hey, did you know that there's gonna be new Scouts coming soon, I saw them on TV!" ^_-

Owner 0f Manga Style

Ben- I wasn't aware that there still was a war. Actually, I don't think there ever was one, just a handful of disgruntled teenyboppers whose pages didn't become immediately successful as they'd hoped.

I dislike the word elite, it has in the past been applied to some of my OL friends by a bunch of whining brats who wouldn't know hard work if it hit them in the face. To my knowledge this entire nonsense started with some people frustrated that their new sites weren't being linked by the more established ones. My response to this is, why should the owners of the well established pages spend their time looking for new sites to spotlight? Owning a SM webpage is supposed to be a fun experience, not a chore. I certainly don't feel obliged to look for new talent, or link to anyone who I don't feel like linking to. Who are these people to tell me what I will and wont do in my spare time? I've become rather tired of the endless bickering that seems to go on in this area. If you do something cool, people usually find it, and if its cool enough, word will pass around.

Nothing lasts forever. The end is nearing, at least from what I've seen, for the current generation of SM pages. Many of the sites aren't updated with the same fervor as in the past. Many of these so called "elites" are moving on, and are caring less about maintaining their SM pages. In the end, the newbies may inadvertedly get what they want, by becoming the only active pages left. It'll be a shallow victory however, as global interest in SM has undoubtedly waned in the near two and a half years since its end.

I no longer update my Sailor Moon webpage.

Owner 0f Millenium

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