User Warned: Please don't make reaction threads
Hey all,
Most of you are probably aware, thanks to the warning up there, that ERA is no longer owned by a solo member of the community and was sold for 4.5M$ to MOBA Network by Cerium. Which, understandably after this deed, seemingly ran off with the money to never return again, for obvious reasons.
www.resetera.com
However, I do believe there is a serious conversation to be had about the current state of ERA. The above thread exposed a lot of dirt and I believe transparency for all is important. Cerium painted MOBA Network as a 'better fit' for this place, but it is to believe that this 'better fit' was simply because they had the highest offer on the table. There is more to read into this whole thing than 'new owner' and the apparently reassuring OP from Cerium, which by appearances was looking to sell ASAP.
Here is the statement from MOBA about the acquisition.
This forum was originally supposed to be built under the ideal that it was by the community, for the community. As a place where minorities could feel safe to participate in. It wasn't supposed to be under a single ownership in order to avoid something similar to what brought this place to be, or the situation that's happening right now. In the vein of keeping that spirit, I'll let the community itself explain the below bullet point through their contributions in the acquisition thread. Our new owner is now a profit chasing entity, which also pretty much goes against every left-leaning values this forum was carrying through this elaborate facade.
-We're now essentially associated with forums supporting alt-right/anti-trans rhetorics.
Now, a lot of the staff is currently under high pressure and tries its best to damage control the events in the acquisition thread. One important thing I'd say is to not hold any grudge against the mods as most seemed to be unaware of the situation, if there are good-willed people in all this story, it's them, they worked their asses off for years and won't see a single cent of this transaction. I noticed that it is said that ultimately, MOBA shouldn't affect this place, it's values and how it operates right now. However permit me to have a reasonable doubt when all their websites have sections similar to the below, also a lot more ease-of-access options.
One other thing to underline would be that the original word choice for ERA Gold/Clear was that the contributions were 'to keep the lights on' when in fact Cerium was cashing in 700K$ a year before selling. If you're still a participant in this scheme, I suggest perhaps reconsidering.
I think I laid out enough, if I'm missing anything important, do not hesitate to contribute here and I'll be glad to update the OP.
How do you feel about all of this? As for myself I'd be hypocritical not to say that I feel gross and feel like we've all been had in this massive, enormous grift. Transparency is important and this is the result of years of miscommunication. I believe that this won't fly for a lot of you out there and that these details are important for everyone to be aware of. Ultimately I really hope that this place doesn't change, but by looking at similar events elsewhere and all of the above details, it seems like a tall order.
If these details makes you want to quit this community, there are lots of growing and interesting communities out there.
May I also plug RetroGameBoard for the retro gaming enthusiasts.
www.retrogameboards.com
TL;DR
Most of you are probably aware, thanks to the warning up there, that ERA is no longer owned by a solo member of the community and was sold for 4.5M$ to MOBA Network by Cerium. Which, understandably after this deed, seemingly ran off with the money to never return again, for obvious reasons.
ResetEra Ownership Update
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...
www.resetera.com
However, I do believe there is a serious conversation to be had about the current state of ERA. The above thread exposed a lot of dirt and I believe transparency for all is important. Cerium painted MOBA Network as a 'better fit' for this place, but it is to believe that this 'better fit' was simply because they had the highest offer on the table. There is more to read into this whole thing than 'new owner' and the apparently reassuring OP from Cerium, which by appearances was looking to sell ASAP.
Probably a combination of A and B.
Here is the statement from MOBA about the acquisition.
This forum was originally supposed to be built under the ideal that it was by the community, for the community. As a place where minorities could feel safe to participate in. It wasn't supposed to be under a single ownership in order to avoid something similar to what brought this place to be, or the situation that's happening right now. In the vein of keeping that spirit, I'll let the community itself explain the below bullet point through their contributions in the acquisition thread. Our new owner is now a profit chasing entity, which also pretty much goes against every left-leaning values this forum was carrying through this elaborate facade.
-We're now essentially associated with forums supporting alt-right/anti-trans rhetorics.
Now, a lot of the staff is currently under high pressure and tries its best to damage control the events in the acquisition thread. One important thing I'd say is to not hold any grudge against the mods as most seemed to be unaware of the situation, if there are good-willed people in all this story, it's them, they worked their asses off for years and won't see a single cent of this transaction. I noticed that it is said that ultimately, MOBA shouldn't affect this place, it's values and how it operates right now. However permit me to have a reasonable doubt when all their websites have sections similar to the below, also a lot more ease-of-access options.
Hopefully this shit won't be plastered at the bottom of every page here like on all the other sites run / acquired by this network.
(screencaps from two seperate sites)
So, after looking around at some of the other sites in the moba network I think there's probably a few changes to the user experience that we can maybe look forward to:
- Affiliate links on the bottom of every page
This seems the most obvious considering they're on all of the network sites footers and the company themselves stated their desire to "grow traffic flows" and "extract synergies" between sites. Bjorn also spent much of his career in the SEO field so I'm sure setting up backlinks will be an early priority.
Given the problematic nature of many of these sites this creates a number of issues and a conflict with many of the communities ideals. It would be strange to impose a news or discussion boycott on Hogwarts Legacy for example while every page contains a link to MMO-Champion which considers any discussion of trans identity as a "forbidden topic". Similarly many of these sister sites are dedicated fan forums for Activision Blizzard properties.
All of these sites are loaded with ads and many of which are the more intrusive kind such as auto playing videos. I'm not sure how reliable the blocked elements counter on adblock is but it shows 20-30 elements blocked on the homepage for Era compared to 80-110 on all of hearthpwn, mmo-champion and mtg salvation.
- More obtrusive and aggressive advertising
Even using adblock doesn't entirely fix the problem as the advert space which has to be manually clicked to remove on each page load will just hold the empty unremovable bar obstructing the page view if blocked.
More disruptive ads gives a great inventive for removal and these sites seem big on their premium options, also including cosmetic badges so everyone can see who the premium users are on the forum!
- Era Clear being pushed harder
All of these sites are designed to be easy to sign up to and quick to make your first post offering registration using social accounts. Something very incompatible with the current Resetera model of private e-mail registration only. It's a difficult sell to believe this would continue at a time when traffic is falling and those leaving seem to outnumber those joining.
- Easier registration
More members means more posts for ads to exist on and more potential subscriptions being sold. They are a business after all.
One other thing to underline would be that the original word choice for ERA Gold/Clear was that the contributions were 'to keep the lights on' when in fact Cerium was cashing in 700K$ a year before selling. If you're still a participant in this scheme, I suggest perhaps reconsidering.
I think I laid out enough, if I'm missing anything important, do not hesitate to contribute here and I'll be glad to update the OP.
How do you feel about all of this? As for myself I'd be hypocritical not to say that I feel gross and feel like we've all been had in this massive, enormous grift. Transparency is important and this is the result of years of miscommunication. I believe that this won't fly for a lot of you out there and that these details are important for everyone to be aware of. Ultimately I really hope that this place doesn't change, but by looking at similar events elsewhere and all of the above details, it seems like a tall order.
If these details makes you want to quit this community, there are lots of growing and interesting communities out there.
May I also plug RetroGameBoard for the retro gaming enthusiasts.
Retro Game Boards
RGB - The boards are retro, the conversation is fresh, and the video games are timeless.
www.retrogameboards.com
TL;DR
