The state of the forum?

[KevShmev]

Feels like bosk's post (link below) got glossed over to the due obvious nature of the thread, but it feels like it is worth unpacking more, no? 

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=55459.msg2679618#msg2679618

Is the forum on borrowed time?

[King Postwhore]

It would be a shame for this forum cease to exist.

[Evermind]

Yeah, also saw this and very curious about this.

This is my seventh year on DTF which isn't too long, I know, but basically this is the only online community I've actually stayed in as an active participant. I thought I'll post a few times and probably forget about it, or maybe I'll post some stupid shit one day or overshare some personal details and then stop visiting this forum in shame. Seven years later, I've met several people from this community, visited concerts with them and had a great time. I check this forum when I wake up and gearing up to go to work, I check it at work and after work, I've bought tons of music because of people introducing new bands to me here, I hope I did the same for other folks here. I've made a lot of friends here which I'm honestly honored to have.

This forum has become a huge, huge part of my life. I never thought it would happen when I posted my first message here in 2013, but somehow it happened. Sometimes when I have a difficult day I open DTF and some stupid exchange between king and Tim (or other people, but usually it's them) lightens up my mood. I will be gutted if this forum goes away.

[King Postwhore]

I aim to be the medicine for this forum and mocking Tim takes all our pains away.

Still love that knucklehead too.

[jingle.boy]

Yeah, also saw this and very curious about this.

This is my seventh year on DTF which isn't too long, I know, but basically this is the only online community I've actually stayed in as an active participant. I thought I'll post a few times and probably forget about it, or maybe I'll post some stupid shit one day or overshare some personal details and then stop visiting this forum in shame. Seven years later, I've met several people from this community, visited concerts with them and had a great time. I check this forum when I wake up and gearing up to go to work, I check it at work and after work, I've bought tons of music because of people introducing new bands to me here, I hope I did the same for other folks here. I've made a lot of friends here which I'm honestly honored to have.

This forum has become a huge, huge part of my life. I never thought it would happen when I posted my first message here in 2013, but somehow it happened. Sometimes when I have a difficult day I open DTF and some stupid exchange between king and Tim (or other people, but usually it's them) lightens up my mood. I will be gutted if this forum goes away.

This.  Exactly.  Hopefully Bosk elaborates some more, because there are more than a few people here whose daily routine is connected with this community.  While I'm FB friends (and irl friends) with many, I'm not sure that would replicate the 30k+ times I've shared my thoughts over the last decade+

[Elite]

Agree 100% with Ruslan.

[TAC]

I aim to be the medicine for this forum and mocking Tim takes all our pains away.

Still love that knucklehead too.

 






I didn’t gloss over it Kev! I have it 3 solid  s.


Bosk did say he’d share though.

[Buddyhunter1]

I also sincerely hope this forum sticks around for as long as possible. I’ll admit I pretty much never visit the actual Dream Theater side of the forum these days, but the General Music Discussion forum has been invaluable and I’ve really grown accustomed to the community there.

If this forum goes under I’d have to get all of my music recommendations from Anthony Fantano and that would be a very dark fate.

[jingle.boy]

I also sincerely hope this forum sticks around for as long as possible. I’ll admit I pretty much never visit the actual Dream Theater side of the forum these days, but the General Music Discussion forum has been invaluable and I’ve really grown accustomed to the community there.

If this forum goes under I’d have to get all of my music recommendations from Anthony Fantano and that would be a very dark fate.

That can be said for a ton of users.  We come for the DT-side; we stay for the GD/GMD (and for some, P/R).  I can't remember the last time I purposefully went into DT-side.

[gmillerdrake]

This is the only online community I’m a part of and it’s been a valuable one at that. Consider many here close friends despite having never physically met them and bluntly.....it’d suck to lose this place.

If Bosk and the powers that be have needs that must be met and are becoming more difficult to attain.....I would love to know how I (or we) could help to assure this community sticks around.

[Adami]

God dammit, what did Stadler do now?

[Cool Chris]

I saw that post, then didn't see any follow up or comments about it, and I thought "surely I wasn't the only one who saw that..."

I am on this site more than any other except for YouTube. I do not have accounts with any other forum or social media platform. When I was at my last desk job, there were days I logged more hours here than I did performing actual work.

I was under no presumption this site would last forever, but neither did I ever want to see the end come.

[faizoff]

I pretty much echo what everyone said, this is one of 2 forums I check online. Having a forum is very different than using other social media. There is a connection here that cannot be replicated anywhere else.  I'm glad it's here and thank all the people behind the scenes. I really hope it continues.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Sorry for being out of the loop but why is there discussions about closing the forum?

I also sincerely hope this forum sticks around for as long as possible. I’ll admit I pretty much never visit the actual Dream Theater side of the forum these days, but the General Music Discussion forum has been invaluable and I’ve really grown accustomed to the community there.

If this forum goes under I’d have to get all of my music recommendations from Anthony Fantano and that would be a very dark fate.

That can be said for a ton of users.  We come for the DT-side; we stay for the GD/GMD (and for some, P/R).  I can't remember the last time I purposefully went into DT-side.

Yea i'm one of those but I do sneak onto the DT-side from time to time.

This is a really cool forum if you're a music nerd, seriously! I really appreciate the diversity of music that's discussed daily on this forum but also everything that goes on in GD.

I get sad even thinking about it.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

If Bosk and the powers that be have needs that must be met and are becoming more difficult to attain.....I would love to know how I (or we) could help to assure this community sticks around.

This^

I'd love to be able to contribute/help in any way that I can to ensure this forum doesn't die.

[MirrorMask]

I saw that post, then didn't see any follow up or comments about it, and I thought "surely I wasn't the only one who saw that..."

You weren't, but I think none of us wanted to derail that thread for very obvious reasons.

I was "born" on forums, I used to visit them a lot back when the internet was "young", and I was on plenty (James LaBrie's one included), eventually I found my home on the Blind Guardian forum and I cyber-lived there, making a lot of national and foreign friends.

Then Facebook exploded and that and the other forums eventually died down, and the golden era of forums finished, and I didn't post actively in anyone else, until this one.

I joined back in the lead up to The Astonishing, and I still feel a n00b around here, but since the glory days of the Blind Guardian forum, this was the only one where I could finally find the pleasure of visiting and posting daily again. Sure, there's FB and Reddit but nothing beats a forum, losing this one would leave me stranded and saddened.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Yeah, I've been on this forum for over 7 years now, and I hope it sticks around. There aren't many good forums around these days.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

I've been a member of this forum since like 2007, and somehow I did not get banned despite being an utter moron for the first four or five of those. Since then I've just been... Unseasoned. I'd hate to see the place close down. If the issue is financial, then perhaps a Patreon page would help? Just a thought, perhaps a bad one, but feel like I have to throw something out there.

[TAC]

I've been a member of this forum since like 2007, and somehow I did not get banned despite being an utter moron for the first four or five of those. Since then I've just been... Unseasoned. I'd hate to see the place close down. If the issue is financial, then perhaps a Patreon page would help? Just a thought, perhaps a bad one, but feel like I have to throw something out there.

Bosk will give us an update I'm sure. He alluded to it in his post. I'd be surprised to hear it's financial. It's not like there's a Donation period every year.  I thought the was enough given each donation period to last a bit.

[King Postwhore]

It's all about time. It's easy for us to just come on and post. It's harder for them to maintain,  moderate these forums as they get older and real life priorities take over.

I totally get it.

[TAC]

Yup, I'd be surprised if that wasn't the issue.

[Evermind]

I mean we're a fairly friendly bunch. I don't know what going on behind the scenes but I can't imagine the actual moderation of this forum would take that much time. I moderated a subforum when I was a teenager and it was a lot of work, but that was mostly because it was for an online game where everyone were competing and waging war with each other. DTF is very chill compared to that.

Even if it's that, don't just drop the thing. Pass it over to someone who wants to keep this. This forum, this community is golden, it would be a real shame to lose it.

[Metro]

I'm primarily a lurker nowadays, but this place has been a part of my daily life since I was a Sophomore in High School. Now 9 years later I'm a big boy with bills to pay and shit. I've been a member of several different forums throughout the years, and I frequently post on reddit, but DTF has always been my mainstay. Even if I don't post much, I've always enjoyed reading through all the discussions, and this place has introduced to so many different bands I probably never would have checked out otherwise. I would hate to see this place go. Whatever I can do to help it keep going, I'm in.

2020 has been shitty enough. Let's not make it any worse.

[TAC]

2020 has been shitty enough. Let's not make it any worse.

 

Right?

[lonestar]

 

[Nick]

I will wait for Bosk to make a post on the subject, but just so everyone is not left hanging I'll give a few quick thoughts.

-As alluded to in his post the one conclusion we all reached rather quickly was that this place won't be going anywhere anytime soon.
-There are a couple items up in the air that we're working through, but should hopefully have a greater idea on what the future will look like when it's all sorted.
-So many of us on the mod/admin side have also been a part of this for a very long time like most of you, and we don't take that history lightly and it has really driven our discussions thus far.

[Indiscipline]

Never been on other forums, never been on social media, so I can't make comparisons, but this place has special people.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

Honestly, as much as I love their backlog, DT has been regulated to that list of bands I might listen to whenever they put something new out, but that's about it.

I haven't been on here as long as some of you fogeys, but this community is the main reason I stick around. It's rare to find such a quality group of music fans with a diverse array of tastes and points of view. It'd be a shame to see this forum go.

[TAC]

I will wait for Bosk to make a post on the subject, but just so everyone is not left hanging I'll give a few quick thoughts.

-As alluded to in his post the one conclusion we all reached rather quickly was that this place won't be going anywhere anytime soon.
-There are a couple items up in the air that we're working through, but should hopefully have a greater idea on what the future will look like when it's all sorted.
-So many of us on the mod/admin side have also been a part of this for a very long time like most of you, and we don't take that history lightly and it has really driven our discussions thus far.

Thanks Nick for a post "from the inside".

[KevShmev]

Then Facebook exploded and that and the other forums eventually died down, and the golden era of forums finished, and I didn't post actively in anyone else, until this one.

Yep, there aren't many good forums left, and let's face it, most FB group pages dedicated to a single group or artist kinda suck, a) because there is never a good way to organize it neatly like you can a normal forum like this one, and b) most admins/mods of those group pages have that stupid rule where you can only start topics that are about the artist to whom the page is dedicated (with rare exceptions).  Imagine this forum being one where we could only have threads about Dream Theater 99% of the time. That is what most group FB pages are like, and is a big reason why most are a waste of time as those pages just became ejaculation sessions to the artist rather than a page with real discussions.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Personally I feel like reddit was the bigger killer of forums compared to Facebook.

[KevShmev]

I will wait for Bosk to make a post on the subject, but just so everyone is not left hanging I'll give a few quick thoughts.

-As alluded to in his post the one conclusion we all reached rather quickly was that this place won't be going anywhere anytime soon.
-There are a couple items up in the air that we're working through, but should hopefully have a greater idea on what the future will look like when it's all sorted.
-So many of us on the mod/admin side have also been a part of this for a very long time like most of you, and we don't take that history lightly and it has really driven our discussions thus far.

Thanks for this post, Nick! 

Not sure what the plans are for the future, but I'd love see this forum get moved to a place that is just as user-friendly as this one is, but with features that most forums still going have (like "like" buttons, for example).

[TAC]

I don't know. The format to this forum is perfect, honestly.

It's so much better than say, maidenfans.

[T-ski]

I’ve been registered here about ten years and although I haven’t been an active poster during the whole time, I’d  hate to see it come to a close as I look forward to reading this forum everyday.

[KevShmev]

I don't know. The format to this forum is perfect, honestly.

Yeah, if it stays here, all good by me. I just think it would be cool to see some newer features that most existing forums now have as well.