Next steps for VVO

[GoblinCampFollower]

I'm personally for letting this site for what it is.
And start a complete new one. No "Cris would have liked this" or "Cris would certainly have done that".
Cris is no more. And we simply don't know what he wanted. IMHO the way he protected things, he wanted this to end with him. Of course my guess is as good as any other. Do we really want to take that burden with us over the next years?

We do know, that we want to continue communicating with each other in some form. Why not with a clean sheet?

I don't like losing the history. I do think he's have wanted the community to continue in some form, but it's not just about that.

I honestly think it may be easier to rescue this place than start something over from scratch. I also do not claim to know much about actually running a website of this nature, so take that for what it is.

 

[Sid]

I'm Dutch, so I can put things very blunt:
When Joshua stays involved long term in a leading role, I will disappear here.
Too many bad memories from the SLU times. I never understood why Cris never banned the trouble maker. Must have been true friendship.

That said, I'm back into lurking mode until things are settled, to not interfere further discussions about the future of VVO.
I gave my 2 cents worth.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

When Joshua stays involved long term in a leading role, I will disappear here.

You've had to step off for your own peace of mind at least twice. Joshua did the same thing.

Therapy seems to have done Joshua a lot of good and I'm glad he's doing well. <3 And I wouldn't bully him into doing anything he doesn't want to do.

 

[mixvio]

I'm Dutch, so I can put things very blunt:
When Joshua stays involved long term in a leading role, I will disappear here.
Too many bad memories from the SLU times. I never understood why Cris never banned him. Must have been true friendship.

It's 2 AM here and I'm about to get to bed but this came in just as I was writing something to say I was getting to sleep and didn't want people to think I had vanished all day — but I don't want to leave this unaddressed either.

I recognise that there's history with some people, which is partly why I wanted to be very clear and transparent and not just swoop in and step on an existing community. I am still organising my thoughts and intend to write something acknowledging this properly when I have a better idea of what I want to say. Making sure the site didn't get shut down suddenly in a couple of weeks if there was anything I could do to prevent it felt more urgent than making a graceful hello.

In the meantime: I don't really have any interest in "leading" this place one way or another and I wouldn't want my presence now to drive people out, this is all your space far more than it is mine. And all jokes aside the last interaction I had with most people here was over a decade ago at the most recent, from my point of view I'm too old and tired to carry grudges the way I did when I was in my early/mid-20s. I don't know what role I'd feel comfortable having in any context yet, but I do know I don't want to be calling the shots whatever happens.

 

[Monica Dream]

I'm personally for letting this site for what it is.
And start a complete new one. No "Cris would have liked this" or "Cris would certainly have done that".
Cris is no more. And we simply don't know what he wanted. IMHO the way he protected things, he wanted this to end with him. Of course my guess is as good as any other. Do we really want to take that burden with us over the next years?

We do know, that we want to continue communicating with each other in some form. Why not with a clean sheet?

I have mixed feelings about this; I'm happy staying and in many ways that's the practical thing to do for the sake of the larger community.

Conversely, since starting Vv1, Cris made it very clear this is his place, and to me -it still feels like it.

At the end of the day I don't have time or money to chip in so whatever.

 

[Monica Dream]

I'm Dutch, so I can put things very blunt:
When Joshua stays involved long term in a leading role, I will disappear here.

That was 2012, as I remember. I'm willing to say 'fuck it' because win, lose, or draw none of us are who we were then (hell, I've gone from being Han Held to Harper Held in world, from Han held to Monica here and additionally come out as trans irl) -hell, I don't even have all my original OEM equipement (heart transplant).

Lotta water under the bridge in all these years, ya know?

My main concern would be more for Joshua himself; the forums were toxic for him and he should (IMO) give some thought as to whether being involved again would be positive for his mental health or a relapse.

He has saved our bacon and I think that needs to be acknowledged and I do -gratefully.

 

[Soen Eber]

The forum has actually mellowed out significantly, I haven't seen any protracted spats for a few years easily, and I seem to recall the "easily offended" people have left in dribs & drabs (as well as a few of the good ones).

 

[Isabeau]

I’m also too old (or it’s just been too long) to remember any arguments. I do remember Joshua’s sincerity, yes at times very blunt, but you always knew what was on his mind. I never felt like there was a hidden agenda. And, yes, part of Cris having him stay was because of the true friendship they shared. Yes, true, even if Cris didn’t share everything. I trust that he is being honest with all that he has stated here.

I’ve mentioned before that I am not a very nostalgic type of person. I don’t feel any need whatsoever to go back and reread threads, etc. I would feel comfortable staying here or going elsewhere. But then, knowing nothing about forum administration, I also understand it might be easier staying with a forum that has already been tweaked and set in a way we all are used to. Then again, maybe it would be easier to starch from scratch. I don’t know. As for what Cris would have preferred, maybe he didn’t even know himself…

Whether we decide to keep VVO going, or move to another, I will gladly help in any way I am able to, including $.

 

[Isabeau]

The forum has actually mellowed out significantly, I haven't seen any protracted spats for a few years easily, and I seem to recall the "easily offended" people have left in dribs & drabs (as well as a few of the good ones).

Exactly. This place has mellowed out considerably. Maybe because there are fewer of us, maybe we’ve grown wiser *cough*, or most probably, the ones who have stayed are +/- on the same wavelength concerning politics and such.

 

[Isabeau]

A tiny part of me does miss the crazy, wild days of spats and threads that would move at the speed of lightning

 

[Beebo Brink]

Regardless of its origins as Cristiano's forum project, what we have right now is a group of people from many walks of life who have been keeping company online for years. I want that community to continue because I like and respect so many people here, and I want to know how they are doing and what they think about life as it trundles along.

I'm fine staying here on this platform; I'm also fine moving to another place. I just want whatever works best for the people who are willing to take on admin roles.

So far, we have two solid volunteers: Noodles and Free. They both get my unequivocal support. So maybe the best approach is for Free and Noodles to discuss with each other to decide what would work best for them, then make a recommendation, or even a "This is what we're going to do" decision.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

I'll gladly put in $10 a month. More if needed.

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

I don't like losing the history.

I really hate losing history. I've watched forums and communities and newsgroups vanish over the years because they can't ever get archived properly even if archive.org wanted to. I'm sick of it.

 

[Soen Eber]

Regardless of its origins as Cristiano's forum project, what we have right now is a group of people from many walks of life who have been keeping company online for years. I want that community to continue because I like and respect so many people here, and I want to know how they are doing and what they think about life as it trundles along.

I'm fine staying here on this platform; I'm also fine moving to another place. I just want whatever works best for the people who are willing to take on admin roles.

So far, we have two solid volunteers: Noodles and Free. They both get my unequivocal support. So maybe the best approach is for Free and Noodles to discuss with each other to decide what would work best for them, then make a recommendation, or even a "This is what we're going to do" decision.

And don't forget Bartholomew has done a lot to set things up on his side, and has very strong knowledge in the area. I know he doesn't blow his own horn a lot but he should be in the admin mix as well, in some capacity.

 

[Lucifer]

thanks for doing this, Joshua. There have been too many forums that have evaporated in the past, and history has been lost. Stepping in on this, especially for something that you are not particularly tied to any more, is a very decent thing to do.

Anyway Free had been setting up a replacement board so she's probably the best person for you to nominate to take this over I think.

 

[Noodles]

I honestly think it may be easier to rescue this place than start something over from scratch. I also do not claim to know much about actually running a website of this nature, so take that for what it is.

I don't think transferring ownership of anything going now will be that hard. It might, might, need some intervention from Cris's family to authorize changing the master email address/log in.

One thing I do want to know, does anyone know if he ran any other communities that may be having a similar crisis moment?

 

[Puretone]

I've had my hammer and tong moments with the old Joshua. But what I came away with was mad respect for him. Plus I missed that razor sharp wit.

Even if it was 'old Joshua', I'd have no problem with his being a super admin. Anyone willing to run this nest of vipers is welcome in my book. I like this place. I like you people. I want this community to be here in the future.

My only suggestion is that there's an odd number of super admins. Major decisions are done via a majority of the super admins.

PS: I for one missed you Joshua. There have been times over the years that I said to myself 'jeez, Joshua would know wtf I'm talking about'. I'm glad you're doing well!

 

[Soen Eber]

As above, I've missed you too, and your snarky wit. I am also curious about your writing career - you'd just started out with some stories I purchased and liked. Hang around, and sell some books

Please give us another chance if you have time, thanks.

 

[mixvio]

I don't think transferring ownership of anything going now will be that hard. It might, might, need some intervention from Cris's family to authorize changing the master email address/log in.

I looked into getting access "properly" under bereavement policies and it needed proof of a court order naming the person asking as the executor of the estate. His family politely told me that while they were willing to help, that effort wasn't going to go very far. Cris doesn't really have any tangible assets, there isn't an estate that they're going to try and divvy up, and they didn't know about this place until ~two weeks ago. I think I managed to successfully make the case that it was important to him and they were willing to help preserve it at minimal effort, but I think that they have probably done as much as they want to.

That's also assuming it's even possible to transfer account ownership anyway, I know a lot of services don't allow it. From a technical perspective, in hosting.com I'm already the only account contact, it took all of a few minutes to update the account with my info and remove his. That may be enough, but transferring somewhere would catch any places where there's another login needed that we don't have. It would also let us set everything up under controlled access even if I personally dread the headache.

One thing I do want to know, does anyone know if he ran any other communities that may be having a similar crisis moment?

I genuinely don't know. There's other websites attached to the virtual server, including some that are attached to who Cris really was in real life, but I didn't want to start picking at other threads (partially another reason why I would feel better about transferring the xenforo stuff elsewhere and letting the rest of it go). The other websites didn't immediately strike me as hosting community stuff, but I can't rule it out.

I have heard that there's a discord and a subreddit, I don't know if Cris was sole admin of those too. The discord account might possibly be salvageable if it's needed, but I have been trying to only get access to the minimum number of accounts possible instead of getting control of Cris' entire online footprint.

 

[Brian]

My life has moved away from here and SL also but I've always snuck back around to lurk. Cris had a way to make everyone feel welcomed. And only days after Dolly Parton, another I never met but felt like I did. I'm fine with remembering both of them for the wigs, full-figures, whatever they presented for their image.

As for history, wasn't the vast majority of it lost with the forum change? I thought there was a limited way to find archives at one time but I don't remember. A way to reread some of those most iconic threads would be a thrill. (Or maybe a trigger. Sorry.)

I think this community would have kept his hands too full to handle any other.