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Post by acousticwolf on Sept 27, 2015 11:52:42 GMT
Glad I've found you all again, it's been a lonely week.
I get the feeling they've been moving towards Facebook for a while now and this could just have been the excuse they needed. It's a real shame but as others have said, they are a business and they are in the business to make money not friends. I read somewhere that businesses operate with psychopathic tendencies, perhaps it's just taken longer for them...
Cheers
Tony
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Post by Timelord007 on Sept 28, 2015 8:18:15 GMT
Jason comments sums it up perfectly, I'm very annoyed with how Big Finish have treated us there loyal customers basically saying to us "get stuffed" & basically treating us like imbeciles closing the forum on the day series 9 premieres implies were incapable of debating in a healthy discussion, add to the fact the recent omission of the writer's notes & loss of subscribers special releases i find they are giving us loyal customers the V sign.
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Post by lidar on Sept 28, 2015 10:39:46 GMT
On the one hand I can see how the forum had reached a point where BF were no longer able to manage it and they had no choice but to close it down. I get that & I can't in all honesty be too harsh on them for taking the decision.
At the same time I do agree that some warning could have been given. I don't think BF realised just how much the forum had come to mean to some users. I also think that they will be the losers as well - less regular visitors to the site, the loss of customer feedback, the loss of customer loyalty/goodwill. Although BF always said they couldn't take ideas from the forum, I did notice some occasions when things suggested on the forum were announced a few months later, whether by coincidence or otherwise.
I also think there might have been some sort of halfway house short of full closure - community moderators, being quicker to permanently ban some troublemakers, closing it at weekends when Ian/Joe aren't working etc.
Still, what's done is done. I hope we (the forumites) can all move on together.
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Post by fitzoliverj on Sept 28, 2015 16:36:22 GMT
While the surprising nature of the shutdown was probably a mistake, if the BF team really were having to put as much effort into forum admin as they've said, then ending the forum was probably - regrettably - the right decision; and I'm not sure having fan moderators wuold be entirely appropriate for a small licencee business like Big Finish.
Those of us who used to be on the Telltale Games forums will recall what happened there was much worse. As the company changed focus (i.e. stopped making everything that the fans liked) they revamped their forum into a new structure that was much less user-friendly (and none of my posts worked, whcih didn't help). Maybe it was a coincidence, but it sure helped drive away the longstanding fans who were no longer going to be catered for.
Thank goodness, I've seen no suggestion that Big Finish are going down anything like a similar path.
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Post by Timelord007 on Sept 28, 2015 21:51:20 GMT
As someone who suffers from social phobia i found the BF forum a godsend as it allowed me to improve my social skills & along the way have met many nice people & only encountered a couple of dickheads, i think they should reopen the forum & pilot it with moderators & feel our feedback helped contribute helpful feedback, i received many nice pm's from John Dorney, Jonathan Morris, James Goss, Joe Lidster & Matt Fitton when i pm them of my review's of there stories which added a nice camaraderie, i honestly feel like I've lost part of my family as so many of you have been kind, caring & very supportive of my review's during my time on the forums over the last two year's
The moderating works for Doctor Who online who are quite strict with the content, if anyone is on that forum I'm Timelord 1975.
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Post by aemiliapaula on Sept 29, 2015 0:16:22 GMT
I don't have any experience with other fora (yes, that is the plural!), but on the whole people seemed pleasant and even when there was a misunderstanding sorted it out among themselves. And if things got too heated, someone like Timelord007 would jump in and try to be positive and give some perspective. Love your unique sense of humor! |
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Post by Timelord007 on Sept 29, 2015 8:10:58 GMT
I don't have any experience with other fora (yes, that is the plural!), but on the whole people seemed pleasant and even when there was a misunderstanding sorted it out among themselves. And if things got too heated, someone like Timelord007 would jump in and try to be positive and give some perspective. Love your unique sense of humor! Thank you, I'm available for bookings for Birthdays, weddings & funerals  , many people have said I'm a one off including my mum, i had pneumonia last New Year & had hallucinations that there was two of me, when i told my mum this she literally turned white & heard Jerry Goldsmiths Omen score playing. |
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Post by Ela on Sept 30, 2015 1:43:35 GMT
I don't have any experience with other fora (yes, that is the plural!), but on the whole people seemed pleasant and even when there was a misunderstanding sorted it out among themselves. And if things got too heated, someone like Timelord007 would jump in and try to be positive and give some perspective. Love your unique sense of humor! |
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Post by aemiliapaula on Sept 30, 2015 22:51:39 GMT
true, I just naturally gravitate to the original vs the Anglicized
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Post by Ela on Oct 1, 2015 4:51:07 GMT
true, I just naturally gravitate to the original vs the Anglicized Gotcha. I don't speak Latin, so...  |
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Another manic Mondas
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Post by Another manic Mondas on Oct 3, 2015 16:38:24 GMT
There were problems
on the Torchwood board one poster got so upset he requested himself be banned.
While I stayed away from the off-topic "lets talk about trucks" it apparently was turning into a flame war and had to be closed.
I've no idea how many other rows may have been happening.
2 particular problems may be linked to the timing of the closure.
There were some arguments about the current TV show and Moffat which would likely flare up with the show back on TV so the forum was closed while the first episode was being broadcast.
One person banned from many Dr Who related forums came to the Big Finish boards because he hadn't been banned there - he received a twenty day suspension (and some were calling for it to be permanent) - I believe the 20 days were more-or-less over...
so Big Finish wanted the forum to be closed then and not later but didn't want to spoil Big Finish Day by letting anyone know about the impending closure before or during the event
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Post by fitzoliverj on Oct 3, 2015 18:13:45 GMT
I don't know if anybody here has heard the recent Kasterborous podcast, which makes allegations about sharp practices behind the scenes of online fandom (listen to it for details; I'm not willing to repeat them here as I have no independent knowledge of such things), but I wonder whether Big Finish felt they had to shut down the forums for related reasons.
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Post by kimalysong on Oct 3, 2015 20:04:51 GMT
I don't know if anybody here has heard the recent Kasterborous podcast, which makes allegations about sharp practices behind the scenes of online fandom (listen to it for details; I'm not willing to repeat them here as I have no independent knowledge of such things), but I wonder whether Big Finish felt they had to shut down the forums for related reasons. No but I'd appreciate if you would summarize |
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Post by acousticwolf on Oct 3, 2015 20:18:18 GMT
Me too. It all sounds a bit ominous.
Cheers
Tony
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Post by mad-link on Oct 3, 2015 23:10:22 GMT
I think BF have made a tough decision closing the forum, but one that in the long-term makes sense for them. I wasn't happy to find the forum closed, I had a moment where I wondered what I'd do all day, and like everyone else I kept selecting the forum button in the vague hope it had re-opened.
Im taking it on faced value from BF that the forum was time-consuming and open to spam attacks, not to mention having to patrol the board constantly just in case someone said something outrageous on a public space. I may be wrong, but there majority of media companies who have fan forums usually have an arms length association with them; ran by other interested parties rather than the company itself.
A bit of a gamble from them in terms of potential sales lost from disgruntled fans..I'm still going to buy stuff from them as I'm sure the vast majority are. And, I'm now posting on an independent fans site that has rose like the proverbial phoenix. Early days I know
Hell, it even has the same topic headings as the last one
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Post by whiskeybrewer on Oct 5, 2015 11:02:02 GMT
I just think it was sad and unexpected how quickly the forum went down. For me i was online, making comments (was trying to get to 2000 before the end of the year, was about 200 away i think lol) before the episode of Doctor Who. I then went to sign on the sunday morning, to talk about my theories from the episode and little bits that were dropped in and the whole thing was closed. In the space of 12 hours it was gone. I expect from BF's side they didnt plan it that way but if felt like a huge slap to the face.
Thats how i felt personnally.
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Post by acousticwolf on Oct 5, 2015 11:25:34 GMT
I just think it was sad and unexpected how quickly the forum went down. For me i was online, making comments (was trying to get to 2000 before the end of the year, was about 200 away i think lol) before the episode of Doctor Who. I then went to sign on the sunday morning, to talk about my theories from the episode and little bits that were dropped in and the whole thing was closed. In the space of 12 hours it was gone. I expect from BF's side they didnt plan it that way but if felt like a huge slap to the face. Thats how i felt personnally. I think that's how a lot of us felt. I was lucky and found this forum (via Red Rocket Rising) almost a week after the old one closed. I just hope we can get most people back together again (preferably here lol). Anyway, I've just been really cheeky and invited Matt Fitton to come over  . It would be nice to get some more writers/producers over (I know Rob has frequented the Dark Shadows forum), but not sure if they would see it as a conflict of interests. Anyway, it's worth a try if the official forum is not coming back. Cheers Tony |
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Post by jasonward on Oct 5, 2015 11:30:10 GMT
BTW, on the subject of writers/producers etc posting here, be aware with the guest function, you can easily claim to be anyone at all, so be wary of posts from "guests" claiming to be someone known.
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Post by david on Oct 5, 2015 11:30:01 GMT
Having spoken to Ian at some length, the reasons given really are the only ones. He and Joe spent too much time moderating arguments, spam attack being almost constant and concern that - like last year - certain posters would become troublesome when the new series came back on air.
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Post by acousticwolf on Oct 5, 2015 11:33:15 GMT
BTW, on the subject of writers/producers etc posting here, be aware with the guest function, you can easily claim to be anyone at all, so be wary of posts from "guests" claiming to be someone known. That's very true, but it can also be said of the internet as a whole. I choose to believe people until they give me reason not to (sometimes to my detriment lol) Cheers Tony |
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, many people have said I'm a one off including my mum, i had pneumonia last New Year & had hallucinations that there was two of me, when i told my mum this she literally turned white & heard Jerry Goldsmiths Omen score playing.
. It would be nice to get some more writers/producers over (I know Rob has frequented the Dark Shadows forum), but not sure if they would see it as a conflict of interests. Anyway, it's worth a try if the official forum is not coming back.