What a nasty thing to do to an exceedingly loyal and tight-knit community.
I've joked in here about people needing to lighten up about Derek's dumb tweets but Mike closing down his forum actually offends my sensibilities. I never posted there or anything but jeez. I get that it can't feel good to have people on your personal website take shots at your art but at some point you gotta realize that, like it or not, you are also the steward of a global community that has existed for over a decade. It's rude as hell to just wipe that out on a whim.
I can't speak for Mike, and I certainly can't compare my own forum to the size of his or how DTF has grown here. But I wanted to respond to the bolded part of what you said. I ran a forum devoted to Queensryche for more than 10 years. It became, at its high point in 2012, THE source for news on the band and held a treasure trove of information.
But at some point, you get haters for the way you and those who you rely on, run things. That leads to criticism, to bashing, to hurt feelings, and then finally, trolling. And the trolling gets old. It wasn't just MP that got bashed. Forum admins get trashed all the time for what they do. Hell, bosk1 has a group of people that constantly shit on him for the way he runs this place. And personally, my forum has been closed down since December, and there are trolls that literally stalk me online, clipping and pasting anything I say to libel me on another forum...even though the forum has been closed for nine months.
All of it -- what MP.com, here at DTF, and what I dealt with -- is pathetic.
The fact is, while you call it being "a steward of a global community that has existed for over a decade," and that "it's rude as hell to just wipe that out on a whim," there also comes a point in time that enough is enough. You're not wrong at all. But these forums become a huge burden. You wouldn't think that they do. It's just an online forum. But when what you say and do online, and in a community constantly gets bashed and misinterpreted, there's a breaking point for most people.
Mike Portnoy is a public figure. He's made some huge mistakes, but as a public figure, he's open to a higher level of scrutiny that guys like bosk1 and myself are NOT. And MP kept his forum alive for almost 20 years. That's...incredible, given the abuse he takes online. I lasted a bit more than a decade. How far will bosk last? I don't know, maybe for another 10 years, maybe another month. You have to ask him.
Again, you're not wrong, antigoon. But at some point, those that steward a community that is very much tied in with themselves personally, need to make decisions that help them move forward. I am sure MP realizes what he's done, and probably feels a bit bad about it too (I know I did). However, if he felt it needed to go away to help him get to a better place, I completely get it, and wish him the best, even if I am bummed that forum is down/gone.
SoA is Mike Portnoy's attempt to resurrect his love of progressive metal and give people a band in the creative vein he's most known for. And if his forum is being used by people to slag it, I can't blame him for being angry.
Topic: Mike Portnoy's "Prog Metal" supergroup: Sons of Apollo (Read 308800 times)
