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mustaine
Member
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# Posted: 11 Dec 2011 00:28
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My
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mustaine
Member
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# Posted: 11 Dec 2011 00:29
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My offer to buy the site still stands
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hydralisk
Member
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# Posted: 11 Jan 2012 14:17
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*dusts off the old pips and whatnot*
Hi!
For those of you that don't know me, my name is Hydra. I like long walks on the beach, picnics, shiny things, chinese foo......oh wait, wrong thread.
Anehways. Well, while I don't know too much about buying that which cannot be controlled as per whosit in the previous post, I would like to tell all you youngin's a story.
When I was but a lad, I came to the outpost in search of....something. Now this was back before bp's couldn't be created, and all this fancy smancy auto-update chat thing came around, and I believe it was a rather cold winter that year, lots of snow....anyhow. I came looking for something....I don't remember what exactly it was. Possibly companionship, perhaps trouble, maybe even I was just hungry. For food. Don't look at me like that. What did I find? Well, ironically, I found a pie to the face from I believe our very own Brandi. So I must have been hungry. This is where I began, and whether it's just nostalgia clouding memory or not, I remember this place feeling very....young. Even those that came before; the ancients, if you will, were still young, and this was still a flawed place, but it was a flawed place acting as the anchor for a very strong community. We evolved, continued to grow and improve, yet I think now that evolution and improvement has perhaps gone too far and is thought as required. Hell, I still regret the day that bp's were done away with (those of you who don't know what a blank post(bp) is, you used to be able to hit the submit button without anything said, was lovely). I think maybe, though I've not been around to judge so fairly, that folks are so absorbed in projects, improvements, etc that after that, there is no desire to come on in and maybe claim the vast spaces of Tenforward as the domain of Hydra, or build a fort of jell-o, or fight in the toaster wars, or anything. That, and times are a changin', I grew up, and now I have a place of my own, a real job, and a cat....which is weird, was the missus idea.
Where was I? Oh yes, back then, I was much younger and full of fire 'n stuff. There was a legacy to live up to, the one put down by folks like Maxwell, CT, Lindax, Henri, and those fine folks who I miss dearly. I sometimes wish very much to go back to those times when it was much simpler, and there just seemed to be....well, more of what this place was....don't rightly know what its called....hrm. We'll call it...Ted. I once new a Ted though, wasn't a very likeable person. So we'll call it Norbert, never met a Norbert before. Anyway, perhaps OTF has lost its Norbert, through no fault of anyone, but sometimes these things just happen. That and sometimes the Norbert you may remember can be distorted by the hazy mirror that is your memory.
Anyway, as I am now famous for half finished thoughts, I'll end this one before I go off to that job thing. I want to thank all the folks who made this possible, and that I do hope everyone has a nice day, or maybe just a nice day on the particular day you find this post in the future.
So yeah. Finish your dinner...or something.
-Hydra
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david1
Member
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# Posted: 12 Jan 2012 00:35
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I doubt anyone who contributed anything to the site would be happy if the site was sold. Period.
Also hear hear hydrid. Agree much, i do.
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mohdanni
Member
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# Posted: 12 Jan 2012 06:02
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nice post, Hydra!
I'm pro-Norbert!
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zachr
Member
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# Posted: 14 Jan 2012 01:49
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If it were to be sold, what would come of it? Is there more information posted somewhere?
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skevington
Member
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# Posted: 15 Jan 2012 02:46
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The site is not being sold to anyone.
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richard_smith
Member
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# Posted: 16 Jan 2012 14:47
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I just wish we could get back on track. I'd like to know why regulars stopped coming in. I'd like to know where we go from here. I think we need to go to those people who've not been around in a while and invite them back. Let them know they are missed. We've all got a couple in instant messenger or email or whatever. When we get back to having a decent attendance then maybe we can get some interest in the things that used to make this place really awesome.
All it would really take is for a us to get a hold of our friends who we met through this place and to ask them where they've been. I'll do it....will you?
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hydralisk
Member
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# Posted: 18 Jan 2012 04:42
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I think I count as one of those folks who hasn't been around in awhile, and while I can't speak for other folks, I can mostly speak for myself. Mostly.
You see, I don't think I left for any particular reason, most of what happened was life kind of took over, other things took priority, and I never did get a chance to wander in and throw chocolate filled balloons at whomever, or continue the epic battle against appliances.
From that, the Outpost, as silly as it sounds for a place that exists only as data on server, holds a special place for me and most likely many folks. Nostalgia occasionally drags me back here, mostly to see how things have gone.
Now, coming back and seeing the state that OTF is in, it's really just disheartening. Most of the departments that were around when I was a regular are either cut back, dysfunctional, or gone. Even depts. that do have people in them seem to be lethargic. Pages that were once fully functional and linked no longer do so, and there just seems to be this feeling of....dereliction all throughout the site. I've also noticed that we've apparently lost sight of what was a core tenant of this place, our PD's. OTF was built as a family friendly site tolerant of other world views, which I think really helped as we had/have a very diverse community hailing from all walks of life, and we defended that idea of tolerance.
Now I don't know how this all came to be, and there may even not be any particular reason for it. Please note, I'm not trying to chastise or blame anyone, as perhaps even us absent folks could bear some of that blame for the current state of things. I don't have any solutions for this, but perhaps simply opening up a discussion and taking a critical look at what is going on and how we get here, we can perhaps find an answer and fix this.
-Hydra
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mohdanni
Member
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# Posted: 25 Jan 2012 03:36
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Open up the Other rooms again so that as needed they can be used when more important or sensitive topics come up??
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ajcardall
Member
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# Posted: 3 Feb 2012 12:16
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Hello folks,
As some/most of you know, we have tried a few times to make something out of it all, but each time we fell short and everyone got bored/busy and fall away, intentionally or otherwise.
Right now, I'm not sure that we have the people to make OTF function like us old timers remember. I don't think the demand or desire is there anymore. We try, and one or two spearhead and get everyone excited for a week or tro, then it all wears thin. If people wish to keep on trying, then I wish them all the luck in the world, but personally speaking, I've tried twice to get a department or two back up and running with activity. events etc being churned out, but nothing comes of it. Last time I proposed widespread changes that were partially implemented, but again, people still lost interest, got bored, go busy, or just gave up.
Speaking from that experience, and from the experience of having been here for over 10 years, I really think if people want to make things work, then the first and most critical priority is to get more and more people logging in - whether that be old members returning, or advertising for newer blood. I also strongly believe we cannot be too focussed on rebuilding what OTF once was as that would be impossible. A new future does need to be shaped and forged, and I do think it is possible, and do have some ideas as to how it can be done.
I would be curious to hear what the EC have to say - are there any ongoing discussions or plans?
-AJ
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quincyw
Member
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# Posted: 4 Feb 2012 22:45
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That's what I said over a year ago.
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ajcardall
Member
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# Posted: 5 Feb 2012 09:28
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Sadly, saying and doing are two different things 
I'd like to hear from the EC 
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iain
Moderator
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# Posted: 5 Feb 2012 19:46
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I'm afraid that there aren't any plans - no news since when you were on the list!
I think it's fair to say that we're all in favour, just that it's disheartening when things fizzle out, and that everyone is always busy.
So, in short... all power to you if you have ideas!
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ajcardall
Member
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# Posted: 5 Feb 2012 22:28
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I'll have a ponder, good Sir, and see what sticks. Won't be able to do this time, however I go away to sea for a few months in April *l*
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stevennorton
Member
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# Posted: 16 Feb 2012 10:08
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Your face?
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christena
Member
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# Posted: 8 Mar 2012 01:57
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aww..I miss you Hydra! <3
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majin_fett
Member
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# Posted: 9 Mar 2012 05:54
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I'm at a point where I want to help out, and do Trivia events and what not, but I'm a fairly newly married man, with a baby on the way. I barely have enough time to do other things for just myself that doesn't include OTF.
I know I'm not the only one with this sort of "issue" (if life can be called such).
If I can find time to help, I will.
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naberrie
Member
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# Posted: 9 Mar 2012 11:18
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As long as there still ARE people in chat regularly,
wheather they are chatting or not, I say there is still a spark of life to the OTF.
Also, Trivia is up and running, sort of?
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generalmax
Member
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# Posted: 15 Apr 2012 14:10
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"Behold the tortoise, he only makes progress when he sticks his neck out!"
Kind regards,
Maximilian
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