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Well, I don't know if you should have been scolded or not. everynametaken Send a noteboard - 05/08/2014 01:23:38 AM

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It seems the active membership has fallen into single digits now, after all.

But I think an honest assessment is needed. I, myself, am guilty of lackadaisical interest and not contributing enough. I think there are multiple reasons the site has and is struggling. Here are a few of my thoughts.

1) As Wotmania, we always had kind of a collective chip on our shoulder, but that drove a lot of good arguments, debates and even some of the most awesome stuff I've read at times on all kinds of subjects. I mean go back through the archives, there is some pure gold in there in spots from your knowledge of the sci-fi/fantasy genres to Tom's more scholarly responses to some of the just plain funny, sarcastic and/or witty responses. I think the boards were always looser than other websites as far as what could be posted, I mean take a good luck at Dragonmount. That website is still a turd (ooh, there's that chip).
It was infuriating at times but it was also fun, interesting. But, I also think that discourse was too harsh for a lot of newbies and that is part of the problem. We never really drew a lot of fresh blood in. Add on that the WoT portion was really the draw for newbies and that RJ decided to start taking forever to write the dang books along with the advent of social media like MySpace and Facebook and there just wasn't a whole lot of draw for new members.
Would I go back and change the style of discourse that dominated Wotmania to see this site continue on? Nah, Wotmania and the first few years of RAFO were an important part of my life and I don't think I ever would have stuck around if we had just been another WoT forum site.
But, I think it brings us to the underlying problem with the site currently - we never really reinvented ourselves. We tried to carry on Wotmania on the main message board and yeah, some people did reviews and the TV & Movies board was hot for a few years, but what were we really working toward? I never really knew.

2) We all got old. In addition to not bringing in younger, newer blood, we all got old. I'm thirty-eight and a half, and honestly, I'm super fucking tired. Many of us are trying to balance working stressful jobs and families (so many of us, although not me, have had kids) that at the end of the day, I am just damned tired. I have a poor mother I am trying to help through the end of her years which is a huge financial burden to me and I've been trying to help my brother through his divorce for the last three years until he regains his mental health and gets back on his feet.
See, along with the stress of a divorce, bankruptcy and losing the house, his lovely ex-wife and her family (may they rot in Hell after they all get cancer and die) brainwashed two of the three children into hating and shunning their own father as well as me and my mother. My mother and I worked day and night to try and counter them while my brother lay devastated that the one thing he loves more than anything in this world (his kids) were used as a weapon for no other reason than revenge. I can't imagine what others from the site have been going through over the last couple of years.
I would love to post more reviews (I've listened to over a hundred audiobooks in the last year and a half), but frankly, between trying to make ends meet and keep my family together mentally and physically, I'm just too damned tired at the end of the day.
I don't believe, by the way, that that means I am off the hook as to helping keep this site going forward. I do need to post more (and want to). I'm just saying that so many of us started out at the site fairly young and progressed over the years into adulthood along with all of its myriad of time-consuming challenges.

3) Fuck Mike. There I said it. I don't want to cry over spilt milk, but Mike really kind of fucked us. He could have been nice enough to sell Ben the name or give it to him. The name was part of the legacy that had been established for years and was all over the Internet. I mean, Christ! somebody just a month or so ago came on the board and said they had forgotten how to get here or some shit like that. Oh, and where did that name go (after that shit gave it to Dragonmount after he said he wasn't going to give it to anybody)? Type in wotmania.com and see where it goes. WHAT THE FUCK??? We can debate the value of the domain name, but I really do believe it hurt RAFO in a big way.

Anyway, I guess enough of my rambling. It really is Ben's decision ultimately whether he wants to shut the site down or not. I suspect he is watching. But, if people are interested, I think some discussion should be had as to how to reinvent the site. It may be too late, but maybe combining the boards would be a good idea. Maybe cutting ties with WoT altogether and refocusing on a different direction might be better, maybe some kind of linking integration to goodreads and facebook, etc. I know people had asked for a writer's board at one time, but what if we try to reach out to aspiring writers in some way and give them a home to display their work when they are struggling to get exposure elsewhere? What if we had a self-published board where we could find authors that self-publish on Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, etc. and need exposure? Many of them would probably love to do an interview or offer a sample of their work or have a review of their work done, etc. There is a whole world of audiobooks (love them or hate them as you please) is blowing up big time. There is the ereading community (of which I am a member) that is expanding faster than ever.
I'm just throwing out ideas here, but my point is that I think the site still has the potential to go somewhere, to have a future, and not to die this painful death that it is currently undergoing.

Anyway, my two cents.

But wine was the great assassin of both tradition and propriety...
-Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings
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/Poll: Is it time to pull the plug on this site? - 28/07/2014 08:20:13 AM 1534 Views
umm... - 28/07/2014 12:48:01 PM 941 Views
Yeah, I was in a bit of a frustrated mood when I wrote this - 29/07/2014 07:57:55 AM 1043 Views
I do find your sneering attitude over the site quite annoying, to be honest. - 28/07/2014 02:29:30 PM 1047 Views
*NM* - 28/07/2014 03:12:47 PM 511 Views
I always find these type of responses to be interesting - 29/07/2014 08:04:45 AM 1024 Views
We've gotten old, my friend. - 12/08/2014 06:02:34 AM 974 Views
Agreed. - 29/07/2014 02:56:21 PM 796 Views
Re: Agreed. - 31/07/2014 01:37:01 PM 876 Views
I agree. *NM* - 31/07/2014 01:32:43 PM 631 Views
Honestly, I would like to see one more big effort to revive the site..... - 28/07/2014 04:15:26 PM 918 Views
I like this - 29/07/2014 07:55:04 AM 945 Views
Having goals is overrated. - 29/07/2014 09:57:39 PM 830 Views
Eh, it's summer. - 29/07/2014 10:44:07 AM 811 Views
If you don't enjoy coming here anymore - 29/07/2014 12:03:52 PM 879 Views
A better question would be - 31/07/2014 12:08:18 AM 806 Views
Re: /Poll: Is it time to pull the plug on this site? - 31/07/2014 08:56:46 PM 858 Views
Where on Facebook do you chat about sci-fi/fantasy topics? - 01/08/2014 04:23:57 AM 833 Views
Facebook... ugh. *shudders* *NM* - 05/08/2014 12:33:57 AM 474 Views
My wife and I use Facebook to send around pics of our daughter..... - 05/08/2014 07:18:05 PM 791 Views
Oh, I know, I'm trapped too because of family pictures. - 06/08/2014 02:17:16 AM 818 Views
It would be nice to see a revival *NM* - 31/07/2014 10:19:02 PM 542 Views
Well, I don't know if you should have been scolded or not. - 05/08/2014 01:23:38 AM 927 Views
Very good post.....we all got old! - 05/08/2014 07:16:54 PM 853 Views
_ - 06/08/2014 08:55:09 AM 836 Views
*NM* - 06/08/2014 03:24:11 PM 470 Views
While I haven't commented in a year and seem to be late to this post... - 06/08/2014 04:05:13 AM 881 Views
ditto *NM* - 08/08/2014 01:37:19 PM 655 Views
I'd post more if the CMB didn't take literally 10 minutes to load. - 08/08/2014 07:49:47 AM 771 Views
Are you logged in, and have you set your preferences to limit the length of time included? - 08/08/2014 03:22:26 PM 816 Views
WELP. That would do it. Thanks. *NM* - 11/08/2014 02:44:54 AM 441 Views
Expecting flood of posts any minute *NM* - 11/08/2014 11:00:50 AM 647 Views
It's coming. - 12/08/2014 02:21:25 AM 840 Views
This QotM loaded when I clicked this post: - 12/08/2014 10:27:34 AM 789 Views
The QotM is telling me we need more sexual innuendos - 15/08/2014 10:34:44 PM 840 Views
I presumed that was what "it's coming" meant - 16/08/2014 10:47:32 PM 868 Views
No - 12/08/2014 06:00:37 AM 957 Views
I am literally among the least qualified people on this site to impart any opinion here - 17/08/2014 06:21:22 AM 852 Views
Thank you for taking the time to share. *NM* - 18/08/2014 04:55:56 AM 396 Views
De nada *NM* - 18/08/2014 08:42:50 AM 479 Views
No - 31/08/2014 03:15:20 PM 775 Views
No. - 02/09/2014 07:05:02 PM 724 Views
*NM* - 07/09/2014 02:52:34 PM 421 Views

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