ResetEra Ownership Update

[Toma]

Heya fellow Era people and mods. I greet you on this wonderful monday, where someone tried to break into my gallery and could use some good news. :P

Any update on admin communication with MOBA/how communication will be handled in the future or them answering some of the questions we/the mod team would like to know?

 

[breakfuss]

I mod another Xenforo forum, banned members (both permanent and temporary) are not included in the total member count on the front page.

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Wait, what? I'm confused. Are you suggesting ~50k accounts have been banned?

 

[Fuzzy]

Wait, what? I'm confused. Are you suggesting ~50k accounts have been banned?

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+ what Hecht said.

 

[random88]

Wait, what? I'm confused. Are you suggesting ~50k accounts have been banned?

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Both banned and rejected, yes.

 

[A1an]

This is basically how I felt. I couldn't care less who "owns" the site or that Cerium made a crap load of money. Mine main two concerns were whether or not the staff was going to stay the same and whether or not there would be any major changes to the rules.


Neither of those things are happening so I'm fine with all this.

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I agree.

Both banned and rejected, yes.

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Since the take-over?

 

[Haint]

Pretty much where I stand on this. The site was founded as a community effort (albeit only 0.1% actually "done" something to contribute to the creation and migration). So for one individual to hold the keys and just make off with $4.5m with no community input is absurd.

I, and imagine most of the community, thank Cerium for his efforts of taking us this far and the work he and others have put in - but this sale makes him look opportunistic who seized an opportunity for a pay day. He used the Gaf drama and community for his own benefit.

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This was a common (if not the prevailing) sentiment in the sites early days, but discussion was largely quashed and there were even some bans/warnings handed out for "conspiracy theorizing". Ultimately nobody really cared enough then and they don't care enough now. Unsurprising given the site's origins, the mods know a thing or 2 about burying or siloing off controversy. Case in point, like 99% of this thread had no idea large swaths of the community forums had been driven off, just like 99% of the forums at large will never know about the nonsense thats has gone on in this thread. There is a reason we're on a disused announcement board and why any controversy bleeding outside of it has been quickly dealt with.

 

[Hecht]

Both banned and rejected, yes.

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We get...a lot of them. I'd say 95% of them are people with domains that are clearly racist and/or alt accounts, and the other 5% are people who don't realize the non-disposable-email requirement. I still look at reports and handle them when needed, but most of my time is spent looking at alts and registrations.

I would love to have a good answer for the general stagnation, but my perspectove boils down to two points:
1) Forums are "old," sadly. I like Discord and the like for many reasons, but forums are great for other things.
2) We're a left "leaning" site, so obviously that casts out like 75% of the gaming populace. We get a ton of trolls signing up, and sure, one or two make their way through but what you don't see are the massive amount of idiotic incels that make it easy for us.

As far as the stats go, all I can really say is try to make this place the place you want it to be. Tell your friends. I know that there is a fuckton of shit going on in the world on an hourly basis, and I think we should be able to talk about those things alongside whether or not the jaggies in Returnal really distract from the game. A lot of people like to say that moderation directs discussion - and that is somewhat true. We try to make sure that nothing here is falling outside the lines. But if all the users are posting doomsday threads and we decide to stop it, then we are essentially tone policing. I'm asking the users to at least try to help make this a more positive forum. That doesn't mean never posting shitty shit that's happening - it just means that if you want to post a feel-good thread, do so. And if you see a feel-good thread, interact with it.

 

[Vincent Alexander]

I floated this earlier in the topic and earned this tag. Bidding for my account starts at 49 cents no reserve.

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Wow. If I recall, your math had you much higher before. Your value is tanking hard.

 

[ArkkAngel007]

You seem to be confused. I asked the author of the Summary 1 threadmark to clarify that it was not a unanimous decison by the staff. It still hasn't been updated.

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I just updated it, and I apologize for forgetting to do so by the time I was able. I may need to do more, but I'll have to go back and see what all beyond some staff not being on board with remaining volunteers with this purchase that was requested/needed to be addressed.

I don't know if I should dig up the posts from a couple of mods that are looking for the change in volunteer to paid status with the new ownership or are mixed on that particular issue (which should have been individually threadmarked if they haven't been), but I still maintain that's largely between all of the staff and the owners to hash out since nothing any regular user says or does changes that dynamic. Nor did the discussion earlier in the thread shifting to people infantilizing the staff on not being paid seem all that healthy to keep pursuing.

To be very clear as there seems to be some inference otherwise from some of your past posts, I would prefer if they were paid, or at least had a significant fund set up from this purchase as I state in my very first post ITT. I just don't see the point of banging that drum any further when it has been addressed multiple times by the people that actually involves, and many not involved have approached it in a rather uncomfortable direction.

 

[Listai]

Wow. If I recall, your math had you much higher before. Your value is tanking hard.

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Someone tweeted at Elon Musk and apparently he wasn't holding any Era accounts.

 

[Helix]

150 pages hmmmmm

 

[ara]

Hmmm

 

[RpgN]

I've made it up to page 129 and am still going to read the rest. Usually I try to read everything before leaving my own thoughts but considering this thread being long as it is and it has many topics discussed, I thought of sharing some of my current thoughts. My apologies if I say something that mods don't wish to have discussed anymore. I'll remove things if that's the case. So please forgive me and have a bit of patience when it comes to this.

*Forum Sold*
The news of the forum's buyout gives me mixed reactions. I'd be lying to not mention this giving me any negative feelings. I think my issue with this is the fact that it hasn't been communicated to us at all. The details of the ownership is not shared with us besides the fact that the owner bought shares from the rest after a while. Or the fact that era clear ad is not needed to 'keep the lights on'. At times, it feels like it has been kept vague on purpose, the site's profitability I mean. It wouldn't have been met with as much contempt if people knew from the start. On one hand, I understand there are others who might not like one owner to enjoy the profits and how this goes against what the forum stands for. On the other hand, it doesn't affect me as long as the forum runs as it should and certain groups are protected like we have always done. So, please communicate these things better in advance!

*Mods' opinion about not getting paid*
I have to say, I'm surprised by how many members reacted nasty towards the mods. Most of the mods do not want to get paid and we should respect that. Why were some of you pushy? Or the fact you're treating them like children who don't know what they signed up for? Now, it was clear that some were genuine with their concerns or they wish to uphold their values, but please think of others when you want to make yourself heard.

*New forum*
Some are talking about migrating or creating new forums. Honestly? I'm sick of this. People not appreciating what they have or not trying to make the community they belong to a better place. These kind of migrations will splinter the community and it's not a guarantee that we'll come better out of it. Not to mention the fact that we can easily end up in the same situation where one owner profits from the rest and where the owner might be an awful person. Let us see what will happen with the new owners. If they are hands off then what's the point in doing all of this? Not to mention all the hard work the mods put into keeping this place safe for minorities.

*Tags party*
It was wonderful seeing a lighthearted tone and seeing the mods having fun with the rest. I'm weirded out by some not liking this. Then again, I understand that this is a serious topic but see it as a break that was needed. More of this mods ;)

*Cracker*
This is where I have a stronger opinion. I don't know if I fall under white but I am a minority. I perhaps have no reason to speak out against this. But I have to say that the way this word was used and how it was discussed did make me feel a bit uncomfortable. It's not because I think this word is anywhere comparable to other slurs (hell no!) but I did not like how others are spoken down to and how this situation indirectly gives the others the permission to talk down to certain groups. This move just feels like it easily divides the community or gives slightly unpleasant feelings that are unnecessary. Now the (ex)mods had no bad intentions when they used the word. People make mistakes, so what? Just please don't double down on this. Please think of how this could negatively affect the community in the future. It's really something we don't need. The community is negative enough as it is and we're trying to reduce this XD

There is one more topic I'd like to mention but this will be left for the next reply along with other topics that might get discussed in the next 20 pages.

 

[OldBoyGamer]

This was a common (if not the prevailing) sentiment in the sites early days, but discussion was largely quashed and there were even some bans/warnings handed out for "conspiracy theorizing". Ultimately nobody really cared enough then and they don't care enough now. Unsurprising given the site's origins, the mods know a thing or 2 about burying or siloing off controversy. Case in point, like 99% of this thread had no idea large swaths of the community forums had been driven off, just like 99% of the forums at large will never know about the nonsense thats has gone on in this thread. There is a reason we're on a disused announcement board and why any controversy bleeding outside of it has been quickly dealt with.

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i only came here after reading about the sale on another forum.

 

[OldBoyGamer]

.

*New forum*
Some are talking about migrating or creating new forums. Honestly? I'm sick of this. People not appreciating what they have or not trying to make the community they belong to a better place. These kind of migrations will splinter the community and it's not a guarantee that we'll come better out of it. Not to mention the fact that we can easily end up in the same situation where one owner profits from the rest and where the owner might be an awful person. Let us see what will happen with the new owners. If they are hands off then what's the point in doing all of this? Not to mention all the hard work the mods put into keeping this place safe for minorities.

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the biggest reason I'd support a mass migration is because I think it would send a message to other corporate companies that there's no point in buying a forum like Era for millions because everyone will just fuck off afterwards. Personally I think that would be a powerful message. One that is possibly more important to me than the irrational fear that things might not be so good on a new forum.

 

[CitizenVectron]

the biggest reason I'd support a mass migration is because I think it would send a message to other corporate companies that there's no point in buying a forum like Era for millions because everyone will just fuck off afterwards. Personally I think that would be a powerful message. One that is possibly more important to me than the irrational fear that things might not be so good on a new forum.

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They didn't buy resetera for the active community, they bought it for the 45 million archived posts. They can push those out to google searches and get ad clicks. When someone googles "Zelda breath of the wild third dungeon" a resetera thread will be on the list (even if it's a few years old), and then they get ad revenue when people click, etc. This is why some of MOBA's other forums (which are effectively dead) are still profitable—SEO pumping to get ad views.

That's not to say they don't benefit from an active community (it's still ad revenue from users, etc), but the real value are the tens/hundreds of thousands of pages to direct people to for ad revenue.

 

[apocat]

They didn't buy resetera for the active community, they bought it for the 45 million archived posts. They can push those out to google searches and get ad clicks. When someone googles "Zelda breath of the wild third dungeon" a resetera thread will be on the list (even if it's a few years old), and then they get ad revenue when people click, etc. This is why some of MOBA's other forums (which are effectively dead) are still profitable—SEO pumping to get ad views.

That's not to say they don't benefit from an active community (it's still ad revenue from users, etc), but the real value are the tens/hundreds of thousands of pages to direct people to for ad revenue.

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In other words, it's basically capitalist internet necrophilia.

 

[Qikz]

They didn't buy resetera for the active community, they bought it for the 45 million archived posts. They can push those out to google searches and get ad clicks. When someone googles "Zelda breath of the wild third dungeon" a resetera thread will be on the list (even if it's a few years old), and then they get ad revenue when people click, etc. This is why some of MOBA's other forums (which are effectively dead) are still profitable—SEO pumping to get ad views.

That's not to say they don't benefit from an active community (it's still ad revenue from users, etc), but the real value are the tens/hundreds of thousands of pages to direct people to for ad revenue.

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Google is more likely to prioritise something that is actively changing than it is older content from what I'm aware. I'm a member of a much, much smaller forum and to try and drive traffic a little it was suggested that we make newer threads after a while since having a 400page old 5 year old thread doesn't help at all with google searching.

 

[lobdale]

Not sure why anyone is too surprised here, if you're using a product on the internet and you're not paying for it, you're the product

and sometimes you're the product even if you are paying for it

 

[Bus-TEE]

While I've enjoyed Era for the most part it does now feel like I'm closer to the end of my time here as a member than the beginning. I have definitely felt a change in the larger 'vibe' of the forum over the last 18/24 months which might suit others but it is clearly a factor (along with the sale) if others are starting to peel off too.

I've ranted in the past about some members on Era stanning/supporting large, global corporations as if they were sports teams rather than souless entities that do not give a fuck about you and how unhealthy it is for not just people but society as a whole. So it would be interesting to see how many of those same people are now aghast at this change of ownership.

Not sure why anyone is too surprised here, if you're using a product on the internet and you're not paying for it, you're the product

and sometimes you're the product even if you are paying for it

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Essentially this.

It feels odd that there appear to be members on here who grew up with the Internet and yet have still to learn this lesson.

 

[B-Dubs]

Nothing new has been brought up in this thread for a while. With nearly 7500 posts and 350000 views it's had more replies than the entire Constructive Community thread and has been seen almost as many times as the General Guide itself. No other site announcement has ever had this kind of visibility or engagement. And at this point the discussion has long since been exhausted.

At the end of the day nothing has changed about site policy and the new ownership remains committed to our independence. ResetEra will keep on keeping on, same as it always has. Thank you all for your time and input, and for being a part of this forum.

This thread is now closed.