You joined in July 2003, but at the beginning of 2003, Zelaron was down for about a month or so (I think a little longer though). After that happened, about 1/2 the active member base gave up hope on Zelaron and never came back, or at least didn't come back for many months, which means that about 2 months of consistent activity was lost for most members that stuck around. It was a very tough transition period to get things back to normal.
If that never happened, I would easily have over 10k by now.
I dont need to elaborate, its all there, when your post count is 1337 then you are teh leet... but your longevity cant tell you that...nor your activity...i mean you cant have "1337% activity" ... and if you did then you are teh leetest!
Bah, who cares how many post you make. If all you do is spam then it means shit, but if you actually help someone or add to zelaron then it should be counted.