How do you say goodbye to the forum you've created and loved

[wildmaven]

Over time, some forums reach their inevitable end, but if you've poured your heart and soul into a forum that you created and ran, it's very hard to pull that plug. It's like losing a big piece of your life.

[Retread]

Oct 14, 2019 11:42:44 GMT -8 wildmaven said:

How do you say goodbye to the forum you've created and loved

I dunno, let's ask Brian ...

[Former Member]

I agree. I totally understand. I don't want to delete my forum either because I did pour my heart and soul into it. It has helped me land some jobs as well.

Honestly, I wouldn't say goodbye. I would keep it. It's like collecting old movies. You never know when it will catch value again or if it becomes active again.

[Kami]

In April, my friend and I closed down the forum we've been admining for the last fourteen years.

In truth, we hemmed and we hawed over the decision. We had so many ideas, and so many plans, but at the end of the day the interest wasn't there. There were a lot of factors: it was a "dead" fandom, with no new content being released; the second series wasn't nearly as successful as the first in terms of online fandom; RP forums overall are less popular; the plot was more difficult for people to follow due to more "real world" connections (eg: electricity, a specific time period of influence, etc).

Eventually, we figured that it was better to shut down voluntarily, while a couple of people were still present and somewhat checking in, instead of letting it become a complete ghost town. We also figured that we wanted to shut it down on good memories, rather than let the frustration and anxiety over how to keep the forum alive turn the love we had into resentment.

I'm still sad, like losing touch with an old friend, but I'm looking forward to the next thing we're going to cook up. If it's even a fraction as successful as this one, I'll be a happy camper.

[wildmaven]

@nikkicold , Kami thank you both. It's been a hard decision, but I've finally disabled registrations and the members are finishing up the final plot. The site will remain as an archive of our adventures, and I'm sure I'll go back from time to time to reread some of them. As mentioned, it's like losing a part of yourself. Some of the members have already migrated over to my new site, one that I hope will work, as it's not a format I've seen before and it'll allow people to RP when they have time and step away when life gets in the way.

[Former Member]

Any time friend!

I think that it is a good idea to keep the site as an archive. I have a section on my Home page called: "The Scrolls" and that's all of my old stories with my members. It was fun. We all used to spend like 5 hours a night instant messaging each other and replying. We even raced sometimes. I keep the old role-plays in honor of the website since it is 14 years old.

Never let go of your heart!