Opeth forum will close down?

Well, Mike, You're being so unfair with the loyal and real fans, but we understand. let's move in.

www.theroundhouse.com is available....

 

Haha I remember the context in which I said that :Smug: You're funny .

EDIT : I'm honest.

 

Does that mean we won't be able to post anything ?

 

Hm.
To the archives... just like the Anathema-forum back in the days.
Thankfully Mike is posting on myspace, keep that up will ya, allways a fun read.
Cheers!

 

Will it be moved to the Unofficial/Extra Forums section or is there an archive section i can't see?

 

Well, at least one thing less to waste my time with in the day.

I still think it's absolutely unnecessary.

Some may ask themselves why it went so well here the last two days.

 

the bigger the fanbase the more idiots. sad but true
I am quite dissapointed that things ended like this
I've been reading the forum since beginning in 2001 and have spent some great time here but yes, couple of last years everything went downhill .
It was really great that Opeth was so close to the fans. I have met Mikael several times and chatted with him, also it was great to chat with him in the forum. I never would have thought that he'll make decision like this some day. (well, I remember that forum was also closed for a few mounths before realease of Ghost Reveries becouse of leaking mp3s)
I am still thinking that it happened becouse not so good moderating, I've seen a lot people banned here and also quite a lot who left by themselves...
Well, at least forum will be archived and opened in read only mode as I understand.

If that's the end then good bye everyone!

 

Archive mode. Fitting, I suppose, but unfortunately the best of times are buried beneath several years worth of posting.

If you guys would sit a while and read, I'd like to share another point of view on the entire situation, from someone who was both a long time member of the board, and one of the few who 'ran' it.

People by nature seem to have fairly short, or selective memories, so I can in some regard understand why this thread has come to the point that it has, with rampant finger pointing, outrage, and a healthy touch of panicked denial thrown in.

To give you some perspective, I used to go by the alias 'Moonlapse' and was the mod here back around the time that the forum's true 'golden days' had started to wane. You might have known the alias as belonging to the person who wrote up the forum guidelines and FAQ, which I'm surprised to see still linger at the top of the board today. To give further perspective: this period of 'collapse' was several years ago. The one important thing to glean from this situation is that the forum had been on a steady downward slide for many years. Many years prior to when a good percentage of you joined, or even knew about this place.

In an attempt to shutter away the inevitable, the forum came together and voted a moderator in. Things at this point weren't so bad. The troll regulars were obviously opposed to the idea of active moderation, but for the most part I could handle the day to day duties of the place. The initial approach was to take it as it comes and be the 'silent moderator' who did the admin stuff behind the scenes. There wasn't even a set of concrete guidelines at this point; we were just guided by common sense. A few months into the 'moderatorhood', a user petitioned me via PM, asking to become a moderator and help out with the day to day tasks on the forum. Thinking that this may not be such a bad idea, as we were in different timezones, I accepted and in turn petitioned Deron and Anna to let him become a mod. That user was Mr Samsara.

Shortly after he became a mod, we chatted together about a few things and so came about the forum guidelines. They came in response to a few cries of unrest, people claiming they didn't know over which premise they were banned, or had their threads deleted. This was an attempt to make things crystal clear for everybody, and ultimately empower us to do whatever was necessary to keep the place 'clean'.

At this point it was becoming decidedly more difficult to keep the place in order, as the trolls had become insidious and essentially shaped and guided the course of almost every thread made on the forum. It wasn't so much an issue of outright trolling, but rather this line-walking, circus-act of seeing how far they could push discussions into unrest before they provoked 'the powers that be'. At this point I was favoring the strong-handed approach of filtering it out wherever I could, temp banning, deleting and always trying to give concrete reasons (in case common sense failed). Mr Samsara took the gig a little more personally and had a few outbursts at select users - which he was well within his rights to do, but unfortunately did nothing more than spur them on and leave the 'administration' looking like it had cracks in the facade.

You see, these people thrive on being adverse, antagonistic and any emotional response you give them merely justifies their existence. The one fact is, and has always been, that if the community at large had wanted to help itself, it always could have. Always. Even before the very first mod was ever appointed.

You see, moderating a place that has no desire to help itself is a losing battle. No matter how long you keep those doors shut, they will just be intent to blow open with greater force. I tried it many ways, and I truly liked this place and the band enough to give it a significant few years of my life. The point at which it turned was not when, as previously suggested, I became 'overwhelmed', but rather when I saw no hope for this place.

It was obvious that the best days were long behind it, as each new 'generation' of Opeth fans was bringing its own array of infantile questions, mannerisms, clique communities that 'ganged up' on other users etc.

Mr Samsara seemed to be invested in this place to an emotional degree, and I think part of that is what made him a good moderator. He actually seemed to *care* about the place. He cared enough to get enraged and give some punk a verbal beat-down whenever it was warranted. I was always on the cooler, methodical side and I think both ways had their merits. Between us we were a good team. Ultimately, however it was pre-destined.

Samsara never had a chance. I never had a chance. The forum ultimately never had a chance. The reason for it is that YOU, the users, did not care enough to ignore the bait. You did not care enough to write more profound posts, to ask more unique questions, to consolidate the frequently asked information and point newer members to it. Instead you paraded around, parodying the common-fire questions that would come with each new member, sparking the birth of yet another troll-like personality on the board. These trolls were fed with all the willingness one could ever ask for.

Now as it comes time to lie in the beds you made for yourselves, you cast the blame above. You cast the blame at a person who was willing to do all the tedious work associated with moderating a forum as busy as this one, expecting no return except perhaps acknowledgment and a kind word.

There is truth in the old saying 'you cannot help those who cannot help themselves'.

It's been a fun ride. Good call on closing the place down, Mike. As you said, you should've done it a long time ago. I didn't hear about you guys taking a break, as I'm out of the loop these days, but I hope it gives you all more time to spend with your families and less in those dingy tour busses, eh!

Cheers mate.

 

Welp, there you have it. Until the next time...

"Now, now my good man.... this is no time for making enemies."

- Voltaire (1694-1778) on his deathbed in response to a priest asking that he renounce Satan