Alolan_Apples
“Assorted” Collector
About a year ago, I came up with the TBT Eras. They were the Pioneer Era, the Wild World Era, the City Folk Era, the Early vBulletin Era, and the First Modern Era. Because of how short the first four eras were and how long the last one was, I plan on breaking up that last era, as we have seven eras.
The new era list for TBT is:
First Modern Era:
Back when ACNL first came out, the community of Bell Tree Forums has expanded, being more active than before. Even ACNL made this site more famous. This was the most active TBT has gotten. However, this was also TBT at its roughest, as there was a lot of fighting, trolling, and other forms of immaturity. Also, the collectible craze was so crazy that it resulted in high prices for collectibles and higher IGB to TBT exchange rates. And you have to be fast enough to catch a restock.
Some highlights of the First Modern Era was the change in board organization, the introduction to all five fruit collectibles, the four times staff applications opened, the Halloween craze in 2014, and all of the following events:
Repeated Event Era:
After the June 2016 Direct, the site has improved a lot on organization and management. The site has a Discord server, a Contact the Staff board, seashell welcome currency, and a staff team with members that would make the best site staff.
The main idea of the 6th Era was that the staff listing stayed the same. Ever since staff applications closed in 2016, it has not re-opened. It’s been like that for quite a while now. When Jake, Tom, Laudine, and Peter joined the site staff (and when Oblivia was promoted to administrator), this new era began. The ten staff members that were managing this forum have been the same ones for over two years. When three of these members retired, this era has ended.
The reason why I called it the Repeat Event Era was because of how some of the events were the same in both 2016 and 2017. The Egg Hunt, had a different set of egg collectibles and a different set of clues, but they were parallels to each other. The 2016 and 2017 TBT Fairs, despite different themes, differences in contests and events, and the Arcade event, were essentially the same both years as they had their parallels (especially when the same staff were running it). The Woods Expedition, they were almost the same both years. The Advent Calendar event, even though there were more in 2017, both had the Advent Calendar and the 12 Days of Christmas raffle. 2018 was a different year that broke the repeated event trend, but it was still part of the era since we had the same staff.
Another major point of the 6th era was that TBT was getting very inactive. Due to how old ACNL was, members have been leaving this forum. This resulted in fewer TBT in circulation, collectibles getting rarer, less participation in events, and quieter boards. While it has improved after how rough 2014 and 2015 were, it’s depressing to see how small the community has gotten.
New Horizons Hype Era:
After the staff listing has changed for the first time in two years, the site has entered a new era. About a month before the era began, there was a Nintendo Direct that announced that Animal Crossing is coming to the Switch. Because of the teaser, people were excited that a new Animal Crossing game is finally on its way. This resulted in a new board created, and increase in speculation for the new game.
At this point, New Leaf is so old it’s no longer special. But a new game is coming out. There were also more Bell Tree Weeks, improvements to the Christmas and Easter events, and a few changes like the birthstone restrictions removed.
Like the last era, the community was shrinking, but by now, the effects were already noticed for quite a while. It is scheduled to end on the day before ACNH comes out.
The new era list for TBT is:
- Pioneer Era - 12/19/04 to 12/4/05
- Wild World Era - 12/5/05 to 11/15/08
- City Folk Era - 11/16/08 to 1/12/11
- Early vBulletin Era - 1/13/11 to 6/8/13
- First Modern Era - 6/9/13 to 6/8/16
- Repeated Event Era - 6/9/16 to 10/20/18
- New Horizons Hype Era - 10/21/18 to 3/19/20
First Modern Era:
Back when ACNL first came out, the community of Bell Tree Forums has expanded, being more active than before. Even ACNL made this site more famous. This was the most active TBT has gotten. However, this was also TBT at its roughest, as there was a lot of fighting, trolling, and other forms of immaturity. Also, the collectible craze was so crazy that it resulted in high prices for collectibles and higher IGB to TBT exchange rates. And you have to be fast enough to catch a restock.
Some highlights of the First Modern Era was the change in board organization, the introduction to all five fruit collectibles, the four times staff applications opened, the Halloween craze in 2014, and all of the following events:
- Clash of the New Leaves
- 2013 Halloween Story
- 2013 TBT Fair
- 2nd Annual Egg Hunt
- TBT Beach Party
- 2014 TBT Fair
- Friday the 13th Woods Event
- 3rd Annual Egg Hunt
- TBT Fire Festival
- TBT Spooktacular 2015
- Jingle’s Jolly Jamboree
- 4th Annual Egg Hunt
Repeated Event Era:
After the June 2016 Direct, the site has improved a lot on organization and management. The site has a Discord server, a Contact the Staff board, seashell welcome currency, and a staff team with members that would make the best site staff.
The main idea of the 6th Era was that the staff listing stayed the same. Ever since staff applications closed in 2016, it has not re-opened. It’s been like that for quite a while now. When Jake, Tom, Laudine, and Peter joined the site staff (and when Oblivia was promoted to administrator), this new era began. The ten staff members that were managing this forum have been the same ones for over two years. When three of these members retired, this era has ended.
The reason why I called it the Repeat Event Era was because of how some of the events were the same in both 2016 and 2017. The Egg Hunt, had a different set of egg collectibles and a different set of clues, but they were parallels to each other. The 2016 and 2017 TBT Fairs, despite different themes, differences in contests and events, and the Arcade event, were essentially the same both years as they had their parallels (especially when the same staff were running it). The Woods Expedition, they were almost the same both years. The Advent Calendar event, even though there were more in 2017, both had the Advent Calendar and the 12 Days of Christmas raffle. 2018 was a different year that broke the repeated event trend, but it was still part of the era since we had the same staff.
Another major point of the 6th era was that TBT was getting very inactive. Due to how old ACNL was, members have been leaving this forum. This resulted in fewer TBT in circulation, collectibles getting rarer, less participation in events, and quieter boards. While it has improved after how rough 2014 and 2015 were, it’s depressing to see how small the community has gotten.
New Horizons Hype Era:
After the staff listing has changed for the first time in two years, the site has entered a new era. About a month before the era began, there was a Nintendo Direct that announced that Animal Crossing is coming to the Switch. Because of the teaser, people were excited that a new Animal Crossing game is finally on its way. This resulted in a new board created, and increase in speculation for the new game.
At this point, New Leaf is so old it’s no longer special. But a new game is coming out. There were also more Bell Tree Weeks, improvements to the Christmas and Easter events, and a few changes like the birthstone restrictions removed.
Like the last era, the community was shrinking, but by now, the effects were already noticed for quite a while. It is scheduled to end on the day before ACNH comes out.
