With the next book coming out very soon, we could have really used the newbies. I really wish we had kept WoT a bit more at the forefront , at least at first, so they won't all go to Dragonmount instead.
Ya pays yer money and ya takes yer chances. I still believe this is the biggest reason the links all redirect to Dragonmount, but on the other hand, why should a Pratchett fan, or Tolkien fan, or Martin fan who either never heard of or (worse) intensely dislikes WoT come to a WoT focused site? Five years from now we may be taking in Dragonmount refugees....
Why would a Pratchet/Tolkien/Martin fan come to THIS website either? They likely have their own themed websites they would go to before this one. At least if we had a theme, we would have some sort of draw to come here, especially with the next book due out soon. As it stands, I don't really see any draw to come to this website other than for the community, and that only appeals to people who were already members of Wotmania, not new people.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the work that went into this place and I hope we do get a lot of newbies. I just don't know how that will happen yet. Hopefully, the higher ups do

You may recall I made those and others when the Transition Committee first opened discussions on the direction RAFO should take. EXCLUSIVE fans of other authors aren't likely to come here rather than to their own niche sites--but they weren't likely to come to a WoT site either. It was a judgment call, the age old dilemma of specialization (and thus reduced demand) vs. generalization (and thus competing supply. ) Added to that were sustainability issues since we all thought at the time there was but a single WoT book remaining.
The decision, as I understand it from the outside, was that with the inherent risks in running a WoT site beyond the end of WoT, and the knowledge most WoT fans have at least some interest in other Fantasy but many Fantasy fans have no interest or even distaste for WoT, a broader Fantasy/SF focus served us better. The point has also been well made that the best way to stimulate interest in our WoTMB as well as the site, the best way to retain the majority who said in the Quick Poll that the WoTMB would be their primary one, is for each of us to contribute quality threads and discussion to the WoTMB BEFORE rather than AFTER TGS is released. Clearly if few or none of our regulars are seriously discussing WoT much we can't expect a bunch of newbs to seek us out and do it for us; they'll go where they can join those discussions rather than being forced to begin them. So ultimately how big WoTs role is here really depends on the members more than the Admins, who chose a broader focus in part because the wotmania OFMB was so much more active at the time than the WoTMB. I can't give you a date for the same reasons I won't be able to document it much with canon (i.e. time constraints) but in the next week or two I'll try to post my own long convoluted theory on how the many divisions among groups of channellers will be resolved in coming books, and I think there will be plenty of meat on that bone to gnaw.

Honorbound and honored to be Bonded to Mahtaliel Sedai
Last First in wotmania Chat
Slightly better than chocolate.
Love still can't be coerced.
Please Don't Eat the Newbies!
LoL. Be well, RAFOlk.
Last First in wotmania Chat
Slightly better than chocolate.
Love still can't be coerced.
Please Don't Eat the Newbies!

LoL. Be well, RAFOlk.
Does anyone know why wotmania redirects to that Dragonmount and not here? *NM*
01/09/2009 04:37:17 PM
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Because wotmania wanted to direct newcomers to a WoT dedicated site, I'd imagine.
01/09/2009 04:41:31 PM
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Cause someone, I am not naming names...
01/09/2009 04:41:33 PM
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ooh! I know this one!
01/09/2009 04:45:16 PM
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01/09/2009 04:46:26 PM
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I'd guess Mike had agreed it early on and felt he had to go through with it
01/09/2009 04:43:49 PM
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Another reason may be that his friendship with Jason goes much further back than with most of us.
01/09/2009 05:24:38 PM
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Thank you for the sensible answer, Burr.
01/09/2009 06:12:15 PM
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We need to let things go.
03/09/2009 10:50:54 AM
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Well, the transition group asked if he'd at least consider it...
01/09/2009 06:57:03 PM
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Re: Well, the transition group asked if he'd at least consider it...
01/09/2009 07:00:25 PM
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Nonsense. Insulting people endlessly is the best way to get them to do things!
*NM*
01/09/2009 08:51:18 PM
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why does it matter, though?
01/09/2009 05:56:22 PM
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Because we are going to need new members
01/09/2009 06:06:52 PM
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There were plusses and minuses to a decision either way.
03/09/2009 10:47:08 AM
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Re: There were plusses and minuses to a decision either way.
04/09/2009 07:38:55 PM
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Believe me, I understand your points.
05/09/2009 02:55:03 AM
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We are just disapointed for the lack of acknowledgement of Bens hard work...
01/09/2009 06:36:08 PM
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