Hello everyone! We're coming up on our 4th anniversary this month and I almost can't believe it's been that long. It feels like we got started yesterday. It feels like we've been doing this forever. Two years ago I stepped down as General Manager and I've tried to leave the day-to-day management of the site to the staff as much as possible, but I've still been doing what I can to help and to ensure that the technical and logistical needs of the site were being met.
The pressure of being the sole owner of ResetEra has always remained, however, and personal health concerns have made it increasingly difficult to shoulder that on my own. I've wrestled with this decision for a long time now, but when I'm honest with myself I know I won't be able to keep doing this forever. The right thing to do was to find a responsible buyer for the site.
And so after months of deliberations and negotiations, I can let you all know that as of today ResetEra officially has a new owner. No, it's not Spencer's Gifts!
There were several potential buyers to consider, but in the end the clear best fit was MOBA Network. They're a company based in Sweden which owns a number of community-driven gaming websites; they have a good track record of acquiring sites and giving them the resources to succeed without interfering with how they're run. Crucially, they have absolutely no desire to change the ResetEra community or its culture in any way. Their MO is to stay in the background and only handle the business and logistical end of things.
The staff will retain total independence when it comes to moderation and the day-to-day management of the site. That independence will be held as absolutely sacred, in the same way that editorial independence is treated at journalistic publications.
It is my honest belief that this arrangement is the best way to secure the future of the site, to give it the kind of safety net that I can't on my own, without sacrificing anything that makes the site what it is. My time as the owner of ResetEra has been one of the greatest honors of my life. I would never give it up without knowing that it will be in good hands.
I know there will probably be a lot of questions about this so I'm going to try to answer as many of the big ones as possible here and now:
Not much! It'll mainly just be someone else keeping the lights on. There will be no imposed changes to the rules or to the staff. Members will not have to change how they post. B-Dubs has agreed to stay on as general manager. At the staff's request, and with the new owners' permission, I will continue to make myself available as a consultant in case they ever believe I can be helpful.
MOBA Network has ample resources and a well-established infrastructure to support websites under their umbrella. Whatever the site needs to succeed in the long term, they will be able to provide. They are equipped to do this better than I can or any individual owner could. The site will no longer hinge on a single person.
Why did MOBA Network want to buy ResetEra?
We fit with their user-driven approach. They're not a journalistic network, they're not a game publisher, there aren't a whole lot of popular gaming sites out there which suit them. They like ResetEra and they believe in it. At the end of the day it's an investment.
The people who've been handling paid work, such as the tech team, will be making their own arrangements with MOBA Network to continue doing what they do. Moderators are still volunteers.
Why is this happening now?
In a couple weeks we'll be celebrating our fourth anniversary as a site, and that seemed like a good window to aim for. Deals like this take a long time to come together, so the process began months ago.
No. They have many sites and none of them have been forced to influence each other in any way. They have a good track record of preserving the independence and the separation of sites they acquire. Their other sites will have no bearing on us and we will have no bearing on them.
We needed to wait for MOBA Network to formally disclose the purchase, which meant waiting until the start of the business day in Sweden. This was the earliest possible time that it could be announced.
Yes! MOBA Network is not in the user data business and never will be. They're not going to sell your data. Nothing is going to change about how your data is handled and protected.
The pressure of being the sole owner of ResetEra has always remained, however, and personal health concerns have made it increasingly difficult to shoulder that on my own. I've wrestled with this decision for a long time now, but when I'm honest with myself I know I won't be able to keep doing this forever. The right thing to do was to find a responsible buyer for the site.
And so after months of deliberations and negotiations, I can let you all know that as of today ResetEra officially has a new owner. No, it's not Spencer's Gifts!
There were several potential buyers to consider, but in the end the clear best fit was MOBA Network. They're a company based in Sweden which owns a number of community-driven gaming websites; they have a good track record of acquiring sites and giving them the resources to succeed without interfering with how they're run. Crucially, they have absolutely no desire to change the ResetEra community or its culture in any way. Their MO is to stay in the background and only handle the business and logistical end of things.
The staff will retain total independence when it comes to moderation and the day-to-day management of the site. That independence will be held as absolutely sacred, in the same way that editorial independence is treated at journalistic publications.
It is my honest belief that this arrangement is the best way to secure the future of the site, to give it the kind of safety net that I can't on my own, without sacrificing anything that makes the site what it is. My time as the owner of ResetEra has been one of the greatest honors of my life. I would never give it up without knowing that it will be in good hands.
I know there will probably be a lot of questions about this so I'm going to try to answer as many of the big ones as possible here and now:
What will this change here at ResetEra?
Not much! It'll mainly just be someone else keeping the lights on. There will be no imposed changes to the rules or to the staff. Members will not have to change how they post. B-Dubs has agreed to stay on as general manager. At the staff's request, and with the new owners' permission, I will continue to make myself available as a consultant in case they ever believe I can be helpful.
What benefits will this have for the site?
MOBA Network has ample resources and a well-established infrastructure to support websites under their umbrella. Whatever the site needs to succeed in the long term, they will be able to provide. They are equipped to do this better than I can or any individual owner could. The site will no longer hinge on a single person.
Why did MOBA Network want to buy ResetEra?
We fit with their user-driven approach. They're not a journalistic network, they're not a game publisher, there aren't a whole lot of popular gaming sites out there which suit them. They like ResetEra and they believe in it. At the end of the day it's an investment.
Are the staff getting paid?
The people who've been handling paid work, such as the tech team, will be making their own arrangements with MOBA Network to continue doing what they do. Moderators are still volunteers.
Why is this happening now?
In a couple weeks we'll be celebrating our fourth anniversary as a site, and that seemed like a good window to aim for. Deals like this take a long time to come together, so the process began months ago.
Is MOBA Network going to try to force us to interact with their other sites at all?
No. They have many sites and none of them have been forced to influence each other in any way. They have a good track record of preserving the independence and the separation of sites they acquire. Their other sites will have no bearing on us and we will have no bearing on them.
Why is this being announced at this hour?
We needed to wait for MOBA Network to formally disclose the purchase, which meant waiting until the start of the business day in Sweden. This was the earliest possible time that it could be announced.
Will my personal account data be safe?
Yes! MOBA Network is not in the user data business and never will be. They're not going to sell your data. Nothing is going to change about how your data is handled and protected.
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