VERY IMPORTANT: The Future of the RPF

[beaz]

As some of you have no doubt noticed, one of the roleplaying moderators has set up a new home away from ezboard for the SWFans.Net forums. Due to continuing problems with ezboard, which have been well-documented, and the fact that SWFans.Net CSC status is going to expire in a few weeks, at which time ezboard will start charging $1500/year to re-up, some of the folks who run this place have decided to up and move the whole thing, the RPF included.

This decision affects every member of the Replica Prop Forum and associated forums. The creators of the new SWFans.Net forums are busy copying threads from ezboard to their new board, and they have recently stated in one of the roleplaying forums that this entire ezboard and every thread on it is going to be nuked very soon now, leaving behind nothing but empty pages pointing to the new board.

At the same time, Cliff (a302nsyd (http://pub2.ezboard.com/ua302nsyd.showPublicProfile?language=EN)) and Nikki (Princess Nikidala (http://pub2.ezboard.com/uprincessnikidala.showPublicProfile?language=EN)) have been working very hard on their own home for just the RPF and it's associated forums (archives, Studio-Scale Modeling, etc.). They too have been working hard on migrating messages from here to there.

Here's the difference: unlike SWFans.Net, where the RPF would stiill share bandwidth and resources with the large and active roleplaying community, Cliff and Nikki want their place to be all about props. To that end, they have acquired a semi-dedicated hosting plan to accomodate a community as large and active as the RPF itself.

Now for some quick history: the RPF existed before ezboard and SWFans.Net. The question today is, do we as a group stick with SWFans.Net, or do we go our own way? I'm looking not only for you to vote, but to offer any opinions on the matter as well. Speak now or forever hold your peace!

Do we:

[Romans Empire]

Voted for "Move to our own server, hosted gratis by Cliff and Nikki,"

:)

[ShadowKnight626]

Me too.

[Army Scout]

Me too!!!!

Chris

[LZeitgeist]

What I'm wondering is why nothing at all was said until just this moment, after Nupraptor has already paid the money and gotten things set up over there...?

Now we have too many choices, and feeling to be hurt, and efforts to have gone to waste, on one side of the fence or the other... why were Cliff and Nikki's plans kept secret?

*sigh*

[dentistboy]

Let's go our own way.

[Gytheran]

Although at the present time the RPF and SWFans.net are "joined at the hip" so to speak, I feel it would be nice to separate itself from swfans. This forum is about much more than just star wars and should be considered its own entity as it rightfully is.

This is just my personal opinion. In reality it was Star Wars that led me to this community.

Joe

[jhyphen]

For once, my feelings are not entirely strong one way or another. But on balance, we're much more than Star Wars, so we should probably establish our independence.

[blufive]

i voted to go to cliff and nikki's server.

:)

[Romans Empire]

It's starting to look like we may have to "Move with SWFans.Net to their new server" ;)

[beaz]

Patrick,

Cliff mentioned what he & Nikki were doing almost a week ago, in the CSC Discussion ~ All SWFans.net Posters (http://pub2.ezboard.com/fswvstitanicfrm21.showMessage?topicID=3940.topic) thread.

Unfortunately, that thread was pretty stale by the time Cliff got to it, and I doubt many RPFers were still watching that one. In fact, that thread started out in the roleplaying forums more than a month ago, and so it was already pretty stale when it finally made its way here. As a result, I don't think many RPFers were paying attention to it, and most have yet to have a say in all of this, which is why I felt it necessary to post this thread.

[Duke Chad]

I voted that we go out on our own...

Questions....

When this first came up and Cliff mentioned his plans to do this, there was mention of moving ASAP to the same set up/server as well. Is that still happening? If so, will there be two prop boards that Cliff is putting on his server? Or are both going to be combined as one? Get us back together, so to speak?

Or is ASAP on their own here at EZboard after RPF leaves?

Also...all admins/mods would remain in place? I recall that Cliff mentioned that as well.

Thanks Cliff and Nikki, BTW! You have done a great service!

DC

[Darth Bill]

I'm a little 'conflicted'.

On the one hand, I'm totally for "establishing our independence"...
...but, for the time being, I've been enjoying the new board that Nupraptor set up.

SERIOUS 'deja vu' over there... ;)

I think the 'common ground' in my inner conflict is just the idea of up and getting the hell away from this 'ezboard instability'... ;)



Russ

[JediBrain]

I have some questions that may be pertinent to our decision:

How about the technical support issue? Would the SwFans.nte site have more people who run the place that would provide response to server issues, programming concerns, down time etc? If just two of our members are running our own board, it may become a big job just to keep the place up and active.
While it may be nice to have our own place, it wont be any good if it is up and down all the time.

How similar will the interface to that of this EZboard? Where is the software coming from and do we have the knowlege to support it ourselves? We do have a lot of talented and capable people here, and someone has probably already thought about these technical issues, so I'm just asking this for clarity to make sure we are looking before we leap.

It seems like bandwith usage is the cost driver for CSC status here at EZboard. What about moving to a new home here on EZboard, sans the role players? While we use some bandwith, it should be a lot less minus one or more of our other active community mates. How would the cost of this compare to what cliff and Nikki are paying for their set up?

SwFans.net brings a lot of traffic to us. For this community to grow, we will need new people to join the mix. How will our new site achieve this?

Please tell us what you think.

Brian

[Romans Empire]

Okay... who is Nupraptor and where is this NEW board???

[ViperPilot]

Let the tea go into the harbor!

VP

[aStanze]

Here's the info you requested Roman.:)

www.swforums.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=11 (http://www.swforums.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=11)

[Darth Bill]

Roman,

www.swforums.net/forum/ (http://www.swforums.net/forum/)



Russ

[Hammerhead]

Sorry to be out of the loop, but can someone post a link to the board that Nupraptor set up?

[ReplicaPropPaul]

I'm wondering, if we do go with the cliff and nikki board to "extablish our independance" as it were, what effect, if any, will it have on on the influx of new people? I would assume we get most of our new blood from swfans.net, and I'm thinking if that disappears then things could go stale eventually. I mean, with a community as dynamic as ours, new people are almost a necessity to keep the place going full blast.

[Romans Empire]

Cool beans!!! Thanks you two!!! :)

[JEDIKNIGHT3PO]

We need our own comunity that is away from all of the bull $hit That has been poping up lately

[beaz]

DC,

Cliff & Nikki can answer your questions better than I for sure , but I know that they've been so busy modifying the "out-o-the-box" forum code to make it just right that I'll go ahead and give it a stab, based on what I know.

Cliff & Nikki approached several of us a month or so ago and made a proposal to build a new home for the RPF. This came right after ezboard dropped CSC Blue and stuck SWFans.Net with a $1500 yearly tab. I told them I thought is was extremely generous of them to make such an offer, and that I thought that it was a perfect opportunity for the forum to grow up by moving beyond simply Star Wars and SWFans.Net. I told them I thought that they should do it, and that I had no expectations about or any personal stake in being admin at their new server. They were adamant that they weren't trying to "hijack" the RPF and that they wanted to at least start out with the current admin/mod team once they were up and running.

As for ASAP, I don't know what the situation is there. I suppose Cliff, Nikki, and MJF may have had similar conversations about migrating ASAP as well, so I'll leave that question to them.

HTH,

[PhoenixVader]

CLIFF AND NIKKI, YEAH!!!!


thomas ;)

[Duke Chad]

Fair enough....your "stab at it" were very helpful...thanks Beaz. :)

Hopefully Cliff/Nikki can give us some insight on this...it it not a crucial issue for me..I could go either way regarding if ASAP is involved or not... just mainly curious.

The current mods/admins moving over to the new board is fine by me, BTW.

DC

[jediscout]

Crud! I just signed up at the Nuprator site thinking that was our new home.

Now I'm conflicted. I don't know which would be better.

[Darth Rane]

Just to clear this up:
and they have recently stated in one of the roleplaying forums that this entire ezboard and every thread on it is going to be nuked very soon now, leaving behind nothing but empty pages pointing to the new board.Actually, the only thing that had to be nuked were the posts in the locked forum, for obvious reasons. Everything else is going to be left intact, but locked down (where appropriate).

It's not our intention to "Steal" members of the RPF community: In fact, I support you moving to your own board (since this will reduce bandwith usage for the SWForums.net). But I don't see any reason why we should get rid of the Replica Props forum or why posters can't intermingle between the two boards. You guys are always welcome with us, and I wish you the best of luck at your new place.

-- Nupraptor, Roleplaying Moderator

[rayra]

I've voted to go with Cliff & Nikki's arrangement.

I'll reiterate that this new location will be hosted / served from a larger host (it is not a single server sitting in someone's closet), so I do not think that service interruptions / downtime will be much of a factor (if any at all) - I don't have the technical info, Cliff & Nikki will have to speak to that.

For everyone concerned about splintering or splitting from the RPG folks, or from swfans.net - let's all remember that everything is just an HTML link away, and with a little cooperation from all the parties involved, it can/will remain that way.
Just as swfans.net now points to the 'new' RPF location (where you are reading this), it can point to Cliff & Nikki's board, and to Nupraptor's / the RPG boards as well.
We can maintain the same level of 'exposure' or number of 'highway exit signs' pointing to our new location, as exist now.

The primary point of this is to depart from ezboard.

As to Cliff & Nikki's location, much is going into duplicating the current forums' contents, look and feel / function.


Everyone who is surprised at these events should at least read the last two pages of the CSC Discussion thread Beaz has linked above.


The time to move has come.

[Rob Durham]

CLiff and Nikki RULE!!!!!

[Jodo kast 3]

As much as I`m going to miss EZBoard.......


Lets go with Cliff and Nikki!!!!!



Start packing everyone.....

[mgoob]

I didn't know about the move or anything else until this thread was started.


I vote to go with Cliff because of his rep.


However, if he needs money to run this endeavour, how will we help him out? I don't have a problem giving him money to preserve this site, but what about the numerous others who use this site? CSC support didn't work out too well, remember?

[beaz]

Hey, Nup/Rane,

Not trying to step on any toes here, I just saw your first post in this thread (http://pub2.ezboard.com/fswvstitanicfrm15.showMessage?topicID=1164.topic) and guess I assumed that you meant that you were planning on closing down the whole place once the threads from here were migrated. Sorry if I read that wrong!

As for why we would want to leave, well. First let me say that SWFans.Net has been very generous to host us on their forums for the last couple of years, and I'm sure everyone here is very thankful for that. My sense of this situation is that you essentially have two largish groups of people sharing the same space, but with very little if any cross-pollination. It's like we live next to each other in a duplex, but we hardly even wave "hi" to one another on the front porch as we're coming and going. Even so, we share just about everything, and because there are so many of us, both of us, and our resources are finite, it just seems like it's finally time to find a place that we can paint orange or blue if we want to, stretch out, and call it our own.

Also, there have been times when we thought it might make sense to add a forum or two, but we felt constrained by the organizaton of the community here. Not to mention that the props pages at SWFans.Net haven't been updated in, like, a billion years...

And importantly, while most of the discussion here is about Star Wars props, a lot of it isn't, and so there has always been a bit of discomfort being so identified with a single movie, when we're really about so much more than that. I don't know how many times I've had to correct somebody who described us as "a Star Wars prop board."

Anyway, those are some of the major reasons why I think we should break away. I'm sure others have their own reasons.

[BAlinger15]

Sigh. This issue comes up once every few months. A new board comes up and people jump ship...well, I would certainly think a lot of the new posters are coming here through the swfans.net props page...it is certainly where most of the hard core guys that have been here a long time come from. I'm going to keep a tie in board with the swfans.net/props site....so new ppl coming to swfans.net would probably go there...the new board will I assume be populated by the (actually very powerful) word of mouth. But the fact will be that it's just more and more smaller boards...just like when the ASAP started....and you can ask everyone to set up little "come to this forum!" banners...but it will still just be more smaller boards. As far as I'm concerned, this forum right here, whatever it's called, is 100% linked to Swfans.net and always has been (except for BEFORE there was an swfans.net). But there's only a small number of people here who remember those days....though I will say, the amount of knowledge and quality props going around now far surpasses those days! I also plan to start a new board associated with swfans.net and a new website I am starting about star wars filming locations in tunisia, Death Valley, etc. , which will kind of tie in with this one....I don't know, as always the members of the forum will do what they feel is right......

[rayra]

Brandon, I think I understand your sentiments, but what of the issues / problems with ezboard?

The other boards formed during times of strife, thus the splintering / reduction in number of participants.

This would be (and is intended to be) more of a wholesale migration.

As I mentioned in my previous post, all the linking and cross-referencing between the mentioned boards could and should continue, traffic patterns would be maintained. It makes no difference whether a hypertext link points to the same server, or one on the other side of the planet.
It is just the physical hard disk home of the place that would change.

'The' RPF is wherever the majority dwells.

[Padawan Michael]

I'm in total favor of becoming our own separate board. SWFans.net and the RPF often have conflicting interests, and we're not really as much a part of the SWFans community as the other boards. It would be easiest for both sides if we parted our separate ways.

[BAlinger15]

I agree about the problems with the ezBoard...I think that's why all the swfans.net forums are moving...and I think this one will probably move with it. Maybe something could be worked out w/ Chris/Nikki to set that board up as the official swfans.net forum....i dunno...but there will be some kind of prop replica forum that's a part of swfwans.net, just as there always has been....

[Princess Nikidala]

Duke Chad,

At the time we started working on this, the offer to move to the new server was given to RPF and ASAP with the intention of keeping them separate as they currently are.

MJF has chosen not to come over. I am hoping that once he sees the RPF's new board, that he will change his mind (as the offer is a standing one) :) , but it is entirely his desicion. I have also offered him the modified source code and to setup the information on his own server... That too is a standing offer.

Yes, all of the admins and mods would remain. Cliff and I would have administrator powers, but only for server/software support. Normal BB duties would be taken care of by the admins and mods currently in power.

Thanks for your support!

[Darth Rane]

I figure that, once you guys have your new board up, we can change the RPF forum at SWForums.net into a link to your board, if that's alright. I know we all hardly know each other, but I'd like to stay connected in some way. :)

Balinger: This isn't so much as a splintering away from SWFans - It's just moving the same board to a different service. I sent out an e-mail to the owner of SWFans.net (would that be you, by any chance?) in an attempt to make him aware of this. We're still going to be the SWFans.net forums, but we're just switching to a more reliable (and cheaper) service.

[BAlinger15]

Hey Rane,

So are you working on the swforums.net project? That sounds like a good idea...I mainly would just like to keep this board tied with the swfans.net site. I am not the swfans.net site owner....that's my friend Jason. He did mention something to me about all this. I'm the owner of the swfans.net/props site...

I guess if some are going to migrate to the "new board" that Cliff/Nikki are working on this one will just remain open and rebuild itself...just like the ASAP experience.

[Princess Nikidala]

Brian,

Hardware and network technical support will be handled by the web host. Software technical support would be handled by Cliff and I. We are full time software engineers, and have heavily added to the software to make it look at act more similar to ezBoard. I am aware of quite a few programmers around on the RPF, and am sure we will never be dead in the water.

We chose to try and set up the new RPF on our site for several reasons:
1) More control (over options, fixes to bugs, etc.)
2) Better performance
3) I just don't trust ezBoard, with the flakyness they have had lately
4) We were going to get our own site anyways (not with a BB, but...)

Thanks,
PN

[Capt MarVell]

Cliff & Nicki.

[a302nsyd]

<font size=+2 color=blue>HEY EVERYONE!</font>
Thanks for all the great support!


Sorry for having to keep the new site "under wraps." We've had to ton of work to do on it, and if everyone knew about it ahead of time, it would've put more pressure on us to get it done sooner, which might've resulted in a lesser product ;)

Anyway, thanks to Beaz, we were able to pull all of the board's threads over to the new site. Since you guys aren't registered over their, we had to stick 'em under the name "Anonymous", but he still put the names of you guys in the post :)

Thanks to rayra and Rob Durham and moffeaton, we have tested the site on several browser brands, versions, and operating systems. The Mac is giving us some problems, but after those are ironed out we'll go live. The board runs on most browsers and versions, but it's optimized for IE 5.x....but users of Netscape and the like won't see hardly any difference.

rayra and beaz are also working on some new graphics for the place...thanks again guys!

So, in a week or less, we'll post the URL for you guys to check out and see if you like it or not!


Thanks again for everyone's nice words and support. Our feelings won't be hurt (too bad :lol ) if you don't like the new board.

cdw

[DrStranglove]

I was amazed that NO ONE noticed that I offered to pay half the price for the forum to stay on ezboard for a year. $700 to be exact. My offer is on page two or three of the original thread.


DrPerPlexed...

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrStranglove/files/Jillians%20Girls/StacyCameraLove2.jpg
"There is a difference between pornography and art. Mostly it's in the price tag..." KerrAvon

[4rch0n]

Okay, so when we move please leave a forwarding address so that we don't loose anyone.

Three cheers for Cliff & Niki.

Hip hip.
Hip hip.
Horaayy.

4rch0n.

[a302nsyd]

Thanks again to 4rch0n and all you other proppers for your support :) We'll try our best to not let you down!!!



DrS,

Consider EZBoard's so-called "customer service", advertising, unexpected deletions, and whatever else they plan to spring on us in the future.

It was a super-nice gesture on your part, and if our board and/or the other board falls through, then we'll still have EZBoard to come back to. But, with the way they've been treating us in the past, who wants to PAY for it when there might be other viable options.

We should probably explore these other options before spending hard-earned money on EZBoard.


My .02,
cdw

[LZeitgeist]

Doc - I noticed... I mentioned that it was very generous of you - a couple times in fact. (Of course, I have nothing to do with running the place, but I *did* notice...)

You would have been able to keep us running for another six months, but I think moving was a good idea, so we could get away from the problems that have existed with EZBoard.

You would have helped us continue to survive, but signing on for another six months with EZBoard wouldn't have solved any of the other problems we were having with them... <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/ohwell.gif ALT=":\">

Yours was an excellent and generous stopgap, but a larger cure was needed... again, not like I had anything to do with any of this - I'm just along for the ride, but I thought that *somebody* should respond to you and thank you...

[xwing15]

I come here for the props, and for the company. :)

I am happy to help out any way I can for this board, or for the new board. Wherever it is. :)

[Jokar Lurden]

I voted for the own server :)

[Justin WFCOMICS]

Rock on :) !

Justin =)

[hiyata99]

I voted for Clikki and Niff ;)

[FrankHarris]

i would follow my brothers ........wherever it shall take us!!!!

[Dean O]

Go our own way.

We've been around long before swfans and as others have said this isn't just about Star Wars. (never has been never will be)

[jt001]

Cliff and Nikki rule!!!! :)



jt001

[ShackMan]

I trust Cliff and Nikki, and will follow them to the new board. If anyone wants to stay associated with SWFans.net, I don't see a problem with that (my opinion) either. HOwever, I'd like to point out that:

1) Not all new members come through them. I found this forum 2 years ago while searching the web for info on R2 and lightsabers, wanting to make my own of each. I didn't go to some "general" SWFans board ... I dropped right into this one.

2) Having a bunch of new people find us on a regular basis may not be a good thing. How many times have we had posts saying something to the effect of "Has anyone noticed the massive number of newbies these days?" We go through periods of time when new members are crawling out of the woodwork. I'm NOT saying new members are a bad thing ... but it comes down to statistics to some degree. The more people you have pouring in, the more likely you are to get "trolls" or "coporate spies".

Anyway, I'll go where the majority goes. This board as a whole has become a gathering place for me to learn, as well as meet new friends. I wouldn't want to leave any behind ... :)

Thanks,

ATM

[Duke Chad]

In regard to the new SWfans.net site, I would hope that the Prop section will merely link to Cliff/Nikki board.

Is that the plan?

I hope so, because currently are spread too thin as it is with ASAP, RPF, PBG and now Raz's board. We do not need to be spread even thinner.

That way, SWfan.snet has more room for their role playing and such.

DC

[echo7]

My only input is to make sure you get the Mac issues worked out. There are a good number of Mac users on the board, and all too often the Mac is swept aside in the name of "progress".

That said, I'm all for going out on our own! :)

[gojira61]

I voted to go with Cliff and Nikki.

We need a place to call our own, one where we can establish our independence and not worry about the next bullsh#t that could come up.

Jim

[trammel]

I agree with Duke Chad. A link to the RPF would be better than having yet another prop forum.

-Tom

[Jedirick]

I think the link idea, especially to start, is good as well. Even current forums are getting categorized so much that it is hard to cover all the bases on a daily sweep.

It is somewhat challenging to decide where to post without duplicating to make sure all involved get exposed to an inquiry or information of interest.

I am always afraid I will miss something cool or my question will get overlooked by someone with the answer. Well actually it has moved closer to paranoia!

[beaz]

Guys,

I'm not sure how all of this is going to shake out, but I will reiterate what a few others have already mentioned:

The RPF is not a place, it is the group of people who, at the moment, happen to congregate here. Wherever we go, that's where you'll find the RPF. We're not looking for a different community, just a different building.

Cliff & Nikki understand this, so it's not their intent to start yet another prop forum. What they, and I, and many others apparently are hoping for is that the structure that they are building will become the new home of this forum and its membership.

We're very thankful for the time that SWFans.Net has hosted us here, but we're not the "SWFans.Net Replica Props Forum," and never really have been. We're the RPF, and we'll decide where we hang our hats.

[trammel]

What I meant by yet another prop forum was that if the RPF moves to a new building there is no need for SWFans.net to maintain a separate prop forum of their own when they can simply link to the RPF wherever we end up.

-Tom

[beaz]

Tom,

Agreed. I think an affiliation like that would be beneficial to us both.

[DrStranglove]

Patrick is right that my gesture was a stop-gap at best. At the time of posting no one knew when EzBlue was going to end and I in no way ment to become the front man for the comunity.

I also agree that a new home is needed and quickly. I is good that we have a few computer minded people here to provide one. I can only offer monitary support, I know nothing about scripting code!!!


DrS

[Amber Padawan Learner]

I voted we go our own way as well. I agree with what others have stated that the RPF isn't the board itself but the people who gather together. So, anywhere we all get together is ok with me but I lean toward moving out to be independent because the RPF isn't just about SW props any longer. I feel that it has come into its own, so a break with SWFans.net seems appropriate.

[obiwan shinobi]

Cliff,

you know you have my support :)

let's see where this thing takes us

Dan

[TK171]

For one,
I don't get here as often as I should, but I will follow my prop buddies
wherever it ends up.

on that note. I don't know who this "CLIFF" guys is...or this chick
that is helping him ;)

but I'm with ya my troopa brotha....and I'll be there! :lol: ( wherever that may be)

[rayra]

vote percentages have been pretty steady (~77% bounce with own server) since around 60 votes, that's good to see.

180 votes and counting...

[Bobbywan]

I would like to say THANK YOU Cliff & Niki, and to ALL the people involved in tested and putting together this new board!!!:)


You guys RULE!!!!!!


~Bobby

[Dann]

I also voted
"Move to our own server, hosted gratis by Cliff and Nikki,"

And that's VERY generous of them, they very well could've just saved the RPF.

Thanks Cliff and Nicky!
:)

[BAlinger15]

Beaz wrote:

"We're very thankful for the time that SWFans.Net has hosted us here, but we're not the "SWFans.Net Replica Props Forum," and never really have been. We're the RPF, and we'll decide where we hang our hats. "

Uhhhh....never really have been? What was it when the forum just started out then...and everyone came here through SWfans.net, except for the people who posted on the older (crappier....) board that was an extension of the AOL boards (who came over through posts there that that board was closing and this was opening)?

I know that everyone loves to throw around words like independence, revolution, censorship and King of England but come on now...the roots of this place are what they are.

[a302nsyd]

The continued support from you all (our friends and prop buddies) is outstanding... you people are great! YOU RULE :)



Brandon emailed me last night with an idea about making the new board the official Replica Props Forum, and have SWFans.net link to it.

Once I determine that our 30GB Bandwidth is ample, it sounds like we should go for it. I'm like Allen though (his #2), but hopefully the good will outweigh the bad.


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


A small handful of features that we have added to this new board are:

1 - it's FREE
2 - the "search" feature works and is fast
3 - we're almost done with an in-house auction site for members only
4 - you can set your preferences so that you don't see other's signatures in their posts
5 - if the board has more than one theme (colors/fonts/graphics) created by the admins, you can set your preferences so that you see a certain one all the time



Gotta get back to work. Thanks to those who have been offering us money $$$ :) This is a great bunch of people.

cdw

[BAlinger15]

With all the custom work Cliff/Nikki are putting into their board, and the fact that a decent freeware board is getting harder and harder to find...it seems like the ideal situation would be to have this board move there, and redirect the swfans.net link to that board...hopefully that way we can keep some "new" traffic heading into it....

[a302nsyd]

Sounds good, Brandon!

[dualedge]

I feel like a little droid being herded around by jawas. I guess it's time we loaded up the sandcrawler and moved on ;)

Where ever we go, as long as it'll run on my mac, I'll be happy.

Rob

[rayra]

:lol: - it's good timing, my CSC just expired < 1 hour ago - "I see ads..."

[beaz]

Hey, guys,

Sounds like we're on the same page.

Brandon,

Sorry if I came off sounding overly dramatic - I didn't mean to. All I was saying is that there was a core group of people at the AOL forum - which existed before SWFans.Net and ezboard - who decided to migrate here when the opportunity presented itself. Thanks to SWFans.Net, word-of-mouth, and search engines everywhere, our numbers have been steadily increasing since those days.

All I'm saying is that we now find ourselves in a position similar to the AOL "old-timers," and it's once again time to make a decision about our own future, as a group.

Thanks for your offer to link the SWFans.Net props page to the RPF on Cliff & Nikki's server. That's very generous, and I believe that we'll all benefit thanks to that affiliation.

[KennerToys]

I am all for moving to our own board. Cliff and Nikki have my full support if they need it.

[LZeitgeist]

I'm just curious... is Nupraptor going to be hosting the new SWFans stuff, but minus the RPF, or did Nup pay the cash in oder to start a new place for the RPF to be, and the SWFans stuff was going to follow just because there was room for them?

If we go to Cliff and Nikki's place, I'm going to feel *really* bad for Nup, having gone and started up the new board already... <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/ohwell.gif ALT=":\">

I'm happy that we have choices, but I'm very, very torn, because both parties have put forth so much personal time and effort into this... I don't want to see either party with nothing to show for their time, money and efforts... <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/ohwell.gif ALT=":\">

[rayra]

Nupraptor came from / started out with a role-player focus, and in the CSC Discussion thread you can see all the sides of the discussion.
There was much discussion about the RPG and RPF being seperate entities, and that maybe they should each carry their own weight.
Nupraptor was first to take public action in bringing a new home online, and I believe offerred the RPF the space as it was available (since the new role-playing board was established anyway).
Cliff & Nikki et al will have to provide info on their timeline, I have no idea.

I strongly encourage everyone to at least skim the CSC Discussion; pub2.ezboard.com/fswvstit...3940.topic (http://pub2.ezboard.com/fswvstitanicfrm21.showMessage?topicID=3940.topic)
The first several pages deal primarily with role-player commentaries, the thread was not moved into RPF space until about page 5 or so.

[The HeatMiser]

I like the idea of moving to Cliff-n-Nikki Land. There's just something about DIY that appeals to me on this. The amount of traffic this board generates tells me that it should be on its own so as not to cramp the other SWFans forums for bandwidth. The features that Cliff listed appeal to me also.

It's nothing personal against SWFans; I registered on their new home also because I occasionally frequent the collecting forum. Nobody here is under any contractual obligation to go to just one site over all others, are they?

HM

[Ham Solo]

If Cliff does the new board like he does his props, you know it will ROCK! ;) :)

[JediBrain]

Nikki,

Thanks for the response to my questions. I"m just one of those guys who likes to have his bases covered. I hope it didnt come across as my questioing your technical skills or ability to manage this forum. I wasn't. I have perfect faith in you and Cliff.

Right now, I'd like to see us use Cliff and Nikki's server as the offical SWFans.net RPF. That way we keep our community of poeple, and our affiliation with a great Star Wars society. Just my thoughts.

Brian

[PaulF2000]

Guys,

I am all for Independence If we need to raise funds for the host let me know, I will kick in my share! If we started this like a club, dues would be due anyway. Now I know there will be those that don't want to pay or do any work, but want to have the RPF, that's fine I and others will pick up the slack. :)

Paul

[Atreyu]

LZeitgeist,

Don't fret. Nup and co. were made aware of this seperate RPF board before they even went ahead and bought all the software. They completely support it. So don't feel torn. :)

Personally I think it's an excellent idea, as it's be a rough trot for the admins over the past 2 years to juggle the interests of both communities. This move should result in giving both communities some breathing space to develop and expand without running into each other all the time. :)

[The Rear Admiral]

Im following Cliff and Nikki!

[TheLivingForce]

Nikki and Cliff all the way:) :) :) :) :)

[LZeitgeist]

Atreyu - thanks very much for that heads-up...

As long as we're not just leaving Nup to swing in the wind, I'd like to change my vote up there - let's head for Cliff and Nikki's. :)

[Hammerhead]

[chanting]

Cliff and Nikki!

Cliff and Nikki!

CLIFF AND NIKKI!


I'm fired up for this!

BTW: What will happen to all of the threads in the 'Archive' forum? There's some good info in there that I hope will be migrated. Is tha the plan?

[jediscout]

Cliff & Nikki, with a link to Nup's forum.

[Nupraptor]

I think that having a seperate board for the RPF posters will allow you all to be able to cater more to your specific needs, which wasn't really feasible when you had to share interests with all the other posters here.

Also, there's one other (somewhat) selfish reason why I support you on making a seperate board: The RPF is a large portion of this board, and as such, it's where much of the traffic comes from. Since bandwith is an issue, this allows me to relax just a little more. :)

[Motorfish]

I voted for the independant route as well.

[rayra]

239 votes, still holding fairly steady at 76-77% to go with Cliff / Nikki's setup.

http://home.earthlink.net/~rayra/dev/noezboard.jpg

[jhyphen]

I like how agreeable everyone is being. The other spin-off boards were difficult childbirths, to say the least....

[Darth Malbona]

I will go with the flow, as long as members who were banned, stay banned.

[glimadyne]

If Cliff AND Nikki are involved, I am there! LOL

[Tom Lee 1976]

Hey,Cliff & Nikki!

Sorry,I'm late,
We hit by a powerfull typhoon here........
My bike is almost dead,http://www.ezboard.com/image/emoticons/frown.gif

Anyway,I'll be with you!http://www.ezboard.com/image/emoticons/wink.gif
You got my support.
And take a break don't be tired!

Have a nice weekend,guys!


Tom

[Gytheran]

I may be a little slow on this one, but my instinks are telling me the majority would like their own web space.

Then again..... it could be just me