In rememberance of Avatar Forums

[Eltu]

Originally Posted by Raiden

It seems to me that there are several options for resolving this event, based on what happens next with A-F.


1) If A-F is sold to another party and dismantled or otherwise destroyed, the members who were active there could come here and participate. A-F and ToS are more similar than A-F and Learn Na'vi, so it would probably work.

2) If we can get HNM or someone else to obtain archives and other content/materials from A-F and merge it with ToS, we could have old discussions, photo threads, and other important items from the early days of our community (yours truly has some old posts there under an alternate alias...) in a safe place to be archived away.

3) Someone outright buys all of A-F and restores it to normal, minus the useless garbage that Lon tried to shove into it. Alternatively, A-F could be bought and merged with ToS for improved interconnectivity, but these options are supposed to be for the benefit of members of that community, and they should have the final say.

Numbers two and three are arguably the best options, but make no mistake; A-F went down because Lon is an incompetent, greedy ****stain, and not because of something he couldn't control. Our forums/website hasn't had any funding problems yet, and we haven't shoved the donation button in user's faces or filled all the empty space on the side panels with ads.

Avatar-Forums would not be able to outright merge with ToS - we are using different forum software and combining databases in this manner is always a daunting task in the first place.

That being said, keeping AF archives here is not an impossible future!

In either case, it's somewhat of a separate issue and as for AF, I see two possible outcomes-

1) AF is either not sold, or sold and, as you put it, dismantled. Users who find ToS would have the opportunity to join up, and hopefully find a home in this community.

2) AF is sold and restored. Its community will remain as usual, while people who found ToS in the meantime may stick around if they so choose.


In either case ToS will remain the same - which hopefully is a good thing

[Wind12]

Originally Posted by Raiden

Numbers two and three are arguably the best options, but make no mistake; A-F went down because Lon is an incompetent, greedy ****stain, and not because of something he couldn't control. Our forums/website hasn't had any funding problems yet, and we haven't shoved the donation button in user's faces or filled all the empty space on the side panels with ads.

Can't agree more with this, it is so sad that the owner of our home has more in common with Selfridge

[Human No More]

I had a look into the possibility of obtaining an archive, but seems it isn't going to happen. I would probably also consider it unlikely AF will be sold given what's being asked for it cost-wise (very few forums are profitable, and those that are are usually due to some unique quality, while the asking price is... not low.) - at this stage, unless something changes, it's probably going to shut down. If that's the case, then the best bet might be to try and scrape together a consistent mirror from archive.org, to at least preserve the public threads. I will offer to host an archive again at some point down the road if nobody has bought the forums if the alternative is to let them all get lost, but I don't really expect any luck if I'm being honest.

[Wameyn]

As an AF member since Jan 2010 and then later a moderator it's been quite sad to see my home destroyed, but I am thankful for the kind words and offers to help from those here at ToS. I am also thankful to see several of my fellow AF tsmukans and tsmukes here as well.

[Ja'k Dawsiin]

Originally Posted by Wameyn

As an AF member since Jan 2010 and then later a moderator it's been quite sad to see my home destroyed, but I am thankful for the kind words and offers to help from those here at ToS. I am also thankful to see several of my fellow AF tsmukans and tsmukes here as well. Sadly we've known for a long time something like this was bound to happen at AF.

I never knew why there was a split at AF or what it was about. It always seemed to be a topic of taboo. However I've heard from a few members in these last few days more about what happened and why. My hope is that no one at ToS or LN will judge the members of AF by the Owner/Admin. There were some really great people on there who will be looking for a home.

this hai, Wameyn

[Wind12]

@Wameyn, I concur. Kaltxì ma tsmukan Avatar has sent me on an incredible journey and AF was a MAJOR part of that journey, I joined in 2011 and it seems like yesterday, I want to thank everyone who has tried to help us/is trying. Us Avatar fans will make it through, and will be stronger in the end.

[Crickett]

I just want to mention something to people coming here from A-F who weren't originals there.

This site was modeled after how Avatar-forums ORIGINALLY looked.

[xcrunner08]

Originally Posted by Raiden

Numbers two and three are arguably the best options, but make no mistake; A-F went down because Lon is an incompetent, greedy ****stain, and not because of something he couldn't control. Our forums/website hasn't had any funding problems yet, and we haven't shoved the donation button in user's faces or filled all the empty space on the side panels with ads.

I would like to point out that part of the problem is Lon bought the forum for an absurdly high price, pretty much at the height of the Avatar craze, and it was virtually impossible for that type of forum to increase in value. Thus, I don't think the problem was necessarily that he was greedy, rather that he put himself in a hole by purchasing it and never recovered from that. A-F was living month by month the past couple years.

That being said, while I'm not around either place much anymore it is still sad to see the place go if only because so many people enjoyed it there. Regardless of what happened a few years back, its good that all the A-F people have a place here now. All the best towards this forum, looks like you're about to get an uptick in traffic :p

[Crickett]

Originally Posted by xcrunner08

I would like to point out that part of the problem is Lon bought the forum for an absurdly high price, pretty much at the height of the Avatar craze, and it was virtually impossible for that type of forum to increase in value. Thus, I don't think the problem was necessarily that he was greedy, rather that he put himself in a hole by purchasing it and never recovered from that. A-F was living month by month the past couple years.

That being said, while I'm not around either place much anymore it is still sad to see the place go if only because so many people enjoyed it there. Regardless of what happened a few years back, its good that all the A-F people have a place here now. All the best towards this forum, looks like you're about to get an uptick in traffic :p

It could have increased in value if Avatar had turned into the massive franchise it was supposed to be by now. The first sequel was originally supposed to be out last year with a novel (series?) written by Steven Gould. In reality there has been no novel, the sequels haven't even started filming yet and instead we have articles written about Avatar's lack of cultural impact.

Avatar-forums could have been the premiere forum for the next big sci-fi franchise. But sadly it wasn't.

Nice to see you still come around from time to time xcrunner.

[Disco Scratch]

Originally Posted by Crickett

It could have increased in value if Avatar had turned into the massive franchise it was supposed to be by now. The first sequel was originally supposed to be out last year with a novel (series?) written by Steven Gould. In reality there has been no novel, the sequels haven't even started filming yet and instead we have articles written about Avatar's lack of cultural impact.

Avatar-forums could have been the premiere forum for the next big sci-fi franchise. But sadly it wasn't.

The fact that the main AVATAR fan site had to shut down is concerning. Where are the AVATAR fans?

[Sight Unseen]

Originally Posted by Eternal Enigma

The fact that the main AVATAR fan site had to shut down is concerning. Where are the AVATAR fans?

AF didn't have to shut down. Certain individuals thought it monetarily advantageous to liquidate their domain assets. If that sounds cold and distant, you're absolutely right; the decision to take AF offline was made (IMHO) without any consideration for the commmunity built around it.

Also, ToS is full of Avatar fans. There are dozens of us! dozens!

[Marvellous Chester]

The numbers have dwindled over time and for the last year or two, there has been a core user base of no more than about 15 people, and I swear half of those only continued to visit AF to keep in touch with friends they'd made on the site.

There are few fans because Avatar hasn't really had a massive impact. It has more or less been forgotten about now.

On the plus side, I bet it has been some time since ToS saw this level of activity XD

[Eltu]

It should never be about the number of fans, anyway - but rather how much we enjoy spending time in our community.

[Unknown]

Also, who knows how these communities will look once the sequels are released. Even if activity is low here (but picking up now because of AF), it might be pretty hectic in the future and we may not be able to enjoy the closer-knit community we have right now. Not to say it won't be exciting to see how it changes with the sequels.

[xcrunner08]

Originally Posted by Crickett

It could have increased in value if Avatar had turned into the massive franchise it was supposed to be by now. The first sequel was originally supposed to be out last year with a novel (series?) written by Steven Gould. In reality there has been no novel, the sequels haven't even started filming yet and instead we have articles written about Avatar's lack of cultural impact.

Avatar-forums could have been the premiere forum for the next big sci-fi franchise. But sadly it wasn't.

Nice to see you still come around from time to time xcrunner.

Very true. While I still think it was a shame it went down that way, I applaud the original admins for the decision to sell so quickly from a purely financial perspective. Though I wish they had thought to mention it to ANYONE. Seriously, I remember when Lon had admin privileges all us mods freaked and tried to ban him because we didn't know wtf was happening.

But yea good to see you around too! I still check in and given most people who were around in the beginning eventually moved here I stopped bothering at A-F until i saw what happened.

Originally Posted by Unknown

Also, who knows how these communities will look once the sequels are released. Even if activity is low here (but picking up now because of AF), it might be pretty hectic in the future and we may not be able to enjoy the closer-knit community we have right now. Not to say it won't be exciting to see how it changes with the sequels.

The post-release craze was insane. If Avatar 2 even remotely touches that level of activity expect all sites to go bonkers.