Years Online: 13
@StarFox_Online | Starfox-online.net
Although it existed in some form since 2004, StarFox-Online was given new life in 2006 by two community members, “DZComposer” and “Mr. Krystal”. “StarFox-Online was intended as a place to aggregate information about the Star Fox series, and as somewhere where fans could share art and stories as well as participate in discussion and roleplay involving the Star Fox universe,” explained site administrator “Sawtooth”.
Although the focus on the site always remains on Fox and his adventures, creating a home for fans is a secondary priority according to moderator “OneUnder”. “StarFox Online strives to be a community organized around a mutual enjoyment of the Star Fox games and universe, but not strictly limited to them. The forums reflect this. Star Fox topics are always open for discussion, but more general ones on various video games, films, pop-culture phenomena, and current events, among other topics, are welcome. The site tends to see a rise in membership around the release of a new Star Fox game or an otherwise significant update to the series, and the members that stick around for a while tend to be close. As time has passed, StarFox-Online has gained members, moved servers to be able to host larger amounts of content, and has started to feature notable fan works.”
“Our fansite is like a family at this point.”
“Our fansite is like a family at this point,” affirms forum administrator “Dr. Orange”. “It’s really hard to describe this for me since I’ve been here for so long it just feels like a second home. We get together and talk or have fun and support each other and laugh with one another. And while over the years our site’s design changes and games come and go, that’s been the constant trait of StarFox-Online over these past years.”
Some of the community has become literal family; at one point the admin team consisted of two married couples. Sawtooth explained that their unique, accepting spirit has helped many of the community find their voice in the world. “Some of my most dependable and longest term friends I’ve met through this site, people I’ve talked to every day, or at least every other day, for upwards of five years. For me—I grew up on the site and as a sheltered middle class kid—it opened my eyes to what different kinds of people were out there and how they thought and acted. It also gave me an anonymous social outlet where I felt free to be myself and not have to change or hide my personality to fit within what I perceived as the norm, for better or for worse. This allowed me to grow into my own person, and I can credit StarFox-Online with giving me a lot of the confidence I needed to become who I am today.”
OneUnder mirrored the same sentiment. “Being able to immerse myself into the events and atmosphere of the games through discussions in the community worked wonders for assisting me through difficult times.”
To keep up with the changing Internet landscape, the site has adapted. “Message boards as a format are having to evolve to survive, since the notion of what social media means has changed so significantly in the past few years,” explained Sawtooth. “As such, we’ve added a live chat feature to the site, and have expanded to a Discord server, where we have to have a separate moderation team due to the pretty high level of activity. We’re also trying to build out our editorial content and provide new and interesting articles, as well as archiving content related to the series. I’m really excited to see what we can do to grow the site and be a better home for the Star Fox community.”
The team was universally ecstatic about recent events in the fandom. “I was absolutely floored,” recounted Sawtooth, speaking to the announcement of Star Fox 2’s inclusion on the Super NES Classic. “I think the release of Star Fox 2 on the Super NES Classic will really revive people’s interest in the series.”
“To think that we’ll finally get to play the game, and see two characters that didn’t make appearances in any other Star Fox games to boot, is truly awesome,” echoed OneUnder. “It’s not every day that you get to play a game that was canceled over two decades ago, after all, let alone a Star Fox game!”