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Like many others, it started out with the desire to "give back" to the community. I entered university, gained access to a high-speed internet line (for those days...), and wanted to use it for the fansubbers. It seemed that was what most fansubbers were doing, and I wanted to keep it going.
Working with various fansubbing teams was a lot of fun, and I made quite a few friends through fansubbing. It was also a bit of an ego-stroker, to feel like I was involved in something that people cared about, and that I was a part of the central process to the online anime community.
Eventually I began to feel that there were more important things in life. With a different set of goals and stronger connections to the "offline world," the benefits of feeling like my fansubbing work was important, and enjoying time spent with my fellow fansubbers, simmered down. With that, fansubbing became little more than a chore that ate up time each week. I quit, and my anime viewing drastically decreased afterward as well.
I don't view my time in fansubbing as a waste. Occasionally I wish that I could contribute once more, but it's not possible now.
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