Shy

                    

Pictured here without his trademark white mask and reddish tunic, is Shy.  Through his many contributions to the community, he is one of OtakuBoards’ more hands-on members.

Josh, known as Shy on OtakuBoards, first registered as shyguy511 on March 30, 2001 and quickly befriended future Otaku Triad members, N-Man and Cera.  Unlike many prominent, long-term members of the boards, the ubiquitous Shy is fairly modest about his many contributions to theOtaku.com’s  network of sites.  Shy, who has a backround in journalism, has used his talents as a writer to provide theOtaku.com with a bevy of material in addition to gracing the boards with his creative talent. 

In the 2005 thread “Shy’s Soapbox,” Shy actually outlined a portfolio of his writing samples from across the forums.  Along with his often under-appreciated OB Anthology offerings, Shy has been a prolific roleplayer on OtakuBoards.  In Project Gamer, his clean, sharp sense of wit seperated his offerings from a myriad of participants.  Furthermore, it is a little-known fact that Shy played a large role in the creation of Adventure Square sensation, Kill Adam.  Shy’s independent projects, such as “Vignette,” and “Anime Stereotype High School,” had mixed amount of success.  An “Anime Stereotype High School” sequel was later launched by Solo Tremaine, and proved to be more successful than the original.

In addition to his literary success on OtakuBoards, Shy has been a key staff member for the site, off and on, for several years. Shy first began his role as a staff member at the introduction of Otakuboards Version 4, when he accepted a moderator role in the “General Anime” forum. After leaving the staff for a period of time, he took a position in his beloved Digimon forum and became a controversial figure there. Shy’s strict moderation, coupled with the institution of new rules and sticky threads, drew much criticism from the “Digi-peeps” who inhabited that forum.

A few months later Shy was chosen to replace Sephiroth as the category moderator for the “Otaku Anime” section (2003). It that position he continued to strictly enforce the boards’ rules (the sole exception being the Yu Yu Hakusho forum, which he frequently dismissed as being “spammy,” and “useless.”) Meanwhile, Shy agreed to help Rick Hunter during the formative days of AE Boards, when he accepted a staff position. Eventually, Shy would resign from his OB position, leaving Piromunkie to fill his duties. But, Shy was far from finished with his OB staff commitments.

Soon after leaving Otaku Anime under Piromunkie’s watchful gaze, Shy began to reform The Arena with a series of sticky threads and new guidelines. The most notable and controversial of these was the creation of Arena Thread Ratings. Shy’s contributions to moderating OtakuBoards roleplaying were only a prelude to his (arguably) greatest role. After resigning in October, 2004 and leaving his Arena position in the capable hands of Arcadia, Shy returned in January 2005, as OtakuBoards’ first Event Master.

Shy’s first contribution as Event Master was his brainchild, “The Nifty Fifty,” which replaced and improved upon the popular Otaku Awards by using a committee to weigh member nominations. He had taken over the Otaku Awards after Sephiroth had resigned from his staff position, but felt the awards themselves were too subjective and exclusive. Shy’s changes turned what was once a simple popularity contest where few were recognized, into an event where attention was given to many facets of OtakuBoards. During his time as Event Master, Shy also created “The Legionnaires,” an ambitious RPG spanning multiple threads and featuring dozens of players. During the summer of 2006, Shy worked with White to create “The Great OtakuBoards Scavenger Hunt 2006.” The event began in July, spanned the rest of the summer and ended in early autumn.

Shy decided to step down again on October, 25, 2006. However, before he stepped down, Shy took the basic idea of holding an event where potential Event Masters compete for the position by creating their own events, and turned it into the roller coaster ride, “Otaku Idol 2.” Although member interest was initially weak, and candidates’ submissions received lukewarm (at best) receptions from the community, Shy’s management of the event (his interviews and assignments) helped to propel Otaku Idol 2 well beyond its predecessor in terms of overall success.

Shy has also been a key reformer on OtakuBoards, having contributed to the removal of Newbie Lounge and through his attempts to repackage creative writing on the forums in the “Let’s Abolish Profanity in Adventure Square/Reform thread.” Ironically Shy has been one of the most vocal members about discontinuing the unpopular Arena Thread Ratings he had originally created. 

Currently, Shy is playing a big part in Tony’s Orange Lazarus site, submitting quality articles and new content.

Although Shy’s current custom title, as of 4/08/06 reads “Formerly Cool,” his everlasting devotion to OtakuBoards–the infusion of creativity, wit and brilliant ideas he has been responsible for over the years, contradict his modesty.

Notable Trivia:

• Shy is often associated with classic “Merry Melodies” cartoon star Bosko. Shy has tried unsuccessfully in the past to establish Bosko as OB’s official mascot.
• Shy once banned notable members Papa Smurf (Poisontongue,) Mitch, and Tony (Generic NPC #3) within the same 24-hour period.
• In a fit of anger Shy once banned Mimminx from the boards for 24 hours after “totally owning him in a round of ‘Literati.'”

Categories: Former Staff, Members, Oldies