283.

That's the number of posts made on RuneVillage in the month of October 2013.

That's an average of 9 posts per day, which is a typical amount for one active user on an active forum (like what we were back in 2007). October 2013 was our least active month in the past ten years. Second to that is September 2013, the month prior. November is looking pretty grim too, with only 251 posts so far. However, I expect that number to go up pretty dramatically solely because of this topic.

At our peak, which was around 2007, we were averaging between 25,000 - 30,000 posts per month. Our activity has dropped 99% since then. I'm pretty sure we were still pruning at that point, so the drop may be even more dramatic.

This graph shows our month-to-month activity from October 2012 to October 2013.




That peak at April represents a couple of very active Mafia games.



This graph shows our month-to-month activity since the 2009 rollback:




You'll notice a couple of dramatic declines: One almost immediately after the rollback, and another on September 2011, the month that we lost Jagex's support due to the unveiling of Hiker's history.

The point of this topic is to ask you all a simple but tough question... and I expect a realistic, honest, and well thought-out response.

Is it time to let RuneVillage die?


We have enough donations to last us through the middle of March, and after that we'll need more donations to keep going. But is there even a point anymore? You may have been surprised by the amount of donations we received last time, but truth be told most of that money came from one person. The expectation you should have when you make a donation is that your money is going to a good cause.

It should go without saying that I appreciate every bit of help that you've all given to RuneVillage, but I would feel guilty to ask for more donations when the trend shown above points so obviously to our site's eventual death. Where we stand now, every donation you make will go to one cause and one cause only: life support. We just don't have the resources or wherewithal to make a rebound, or to make any sort of significant developments. We've tried it, multiple times in RuneVillage's history, but it has never produced any long-term positive results. We're sinking a lot of money into what is basically just an inactive forum.

There is no single active branch of RV remaining. RVA, RVET, SotW, The Database Team, The Guides Team, The Villager, The Website Team, and even smaller branches like RVBB and RVDD have withered away. Even the chatroom has been almost completely inactive lately. The homepage update we made last year was seriously a last-ditch effort in an attempt to help us thrive at least somewhat. But compared to last year, our activity has dropped by 80%.

The harsh reality is that the internet is changing and moving at pace faster than we can keep up with. We can blame Jagex, we can blame Hiker, Henner, Jerkstick, even Frank, but the reality is that being an RS fansite is the reason why we were active to begin with, and also the reason why we can't really branch out to anything else.

We were active because we had an active RS userbase, and we've been inactive because we fell hopelessly behind the bigger RS fansites. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that we all changed. We grew up, moved on to different games, or moved away from gaming entirely. There's really no point in us being an RS fansite anymore, but at the same time that's really all that we could ever be. During our most active years, the game our users cared about the most was RuneScape. It's not like things would be different if we'd decided to become an all-purpose fansite in 2007; those already existed in abundance. People came to RuneVillage and we were active because we provided RuneScape help, but that's not something we're capable of doing anymore.


I'm sorry I couldn't make this "all-purpose fansite" thing work. I know how much this place means to some of you, but everything has a beginning and an end, and RuneVillage is no exception by any means. We've had a good run these past 11 years, but there's just nowhere to go from here. Please think about that and try to understand how true it is: there is nowhere to go from here. I'd rather see us accept our fate than to keep struggling and trick ourselves with false hope.


I don't speak for any of the other admins or staff members in this post. They're free to disagree with me, and no final decision has been made.

Also I'm inviting Hiker to post here because I believe he at least deserves to give his two cents in this topic, if he wishes.

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Those graphs really speak for themselves. You hit the nail on the head, Jack. All we could ever provide was Runescape help. Our own motto was "Where Runescapers escape." The main problem is Runescape is a dying game as well. Gaming is changing. MMO's are failing and MOBAs are taking their place. Gaming is evolving. Hell, World of Warcraft is losing massive amounts of subscribers too.

This was bound to happen, and frankly I'm impressed that we lasted this long. The fact that we survived the Roll Back is really a testament to how much all of us really care about this site. Then came the straw that broke the already old camel's back with the Jagex/Hiker fiasco. The nail in the coffin. We somehow were able to hold on 2 more years, but the time has come. 11 years for a single fan site in my opinion is incredible. We grew up, graduated high school, college, some of us got married, had kids. We all changed, and I believe that this site truly made me a better person.

Heck, Facebook has free pages. We could make one there (which I believe we already have) and anyone that wants to can chat and hang out there and it would be totally free.

I want to sincerely thank every single person that has put countless hours and personal time and money into this site. Without you, there we would have failed long ago. You were and are the backbone of this site. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

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Awesome sig made by Goten!

RuneVillage has very much been a large influence in my life, over the years. I have made many friends, learned, laughed, and overall evolved as a person in my time here.

That being said, I think this is a path that most of us knew we were heading down for quite some time. Activity begets activity, and the lack of interest due to evolving mediums of internet communication, maturation of the older members of this forum, and a drift/split from Runescape have all played their part in it, and it's sad.

But, there will always be memories, and they will last a lifetime. I thank everyone who has made my stay here wonderful. Which brings me to my idea...

Now, I'm not saying that this website is going to officially die. But, if it does, I'd hate to see the domain name start redirecting to a blank page, placeholder website, or, even worse, a site that mocks what our community has been over the past decade+ (people are cruel on the internet). So, I have a suggestion: Let's make a "memoriam" site. It'd be simple (perhaps a couple of pages, thanking the financial contributors, staff, etc.) where we could have the community immortalized. We could accept anecdotes/memory submissions from anyone who is still around, and any other suggestions would be welcome.

I would be more than happy to host it on my dedicated server. I'll even pay for the annual domain name fee. It's the least I could do.

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Queen Black Dragon Kill Log

Good guy Kurt. <3

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Awesome sig made by Goten!

Runevillage is not allowed to die, damnit.

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Honestly, I think it IS time to let it go. We could try a free platform for communication, but the truth is, RuneVillage is a shadow of itself. RuneScape is losing numbers and we are as well, there's not a lot of us left, and not to sound all gloomy, but I don't see that changing for the better.

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It's definitely time and it has been for a while. The site has been in heavy decline for a long time. Sad, but true. Everybody knew this before the graphs. If only we had the graphs for 2004 - 2006, they would have been insane compared to now.

I hate the idea of losing access to all the classic threads currently still available. I also hate the idea of not being able to check in a few times a week to see what's going on with those of us who are still here, but a Facebook page could probably help with that. Then again, maybe it's time to move on anyway for some of us.

It is unfair to expect people to keep paying their money for such little return imo.

I love Ventrue's idea, and maybe we could make a last ditch effort to advertise the Facebook page on here to ensure everyone who cares has something to hold onto when Runevillage is gone.

One thing is for sure, Runevillage deserves a proper send-off. I am in favour of ending the story sooner than later.

Anyway, we seem to have 5 people agreeing with this option, and that's a majority here isn't it?

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Guild Wars 2

~ Kudzu, Dreamer, Frostfang, Eternity, Flameseeker Prophecies ~
~ Nevermore, H.O.P.E, Moot, Incinerator, Meteorlogicus, Howler ~
~ WvW Rank 964, sPvP Rank 75, 25,437 AP ~

To paraphrase Mark Twain, "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

Hello everyone.....

Jack sent me a "heads up" on this thread, and I'd like to comment on it-- however, true to my form, I'd like to give time for others to check in... Jaron has not been by nor Lou or Kik or a few others who are still active. So I'll hold off a bit on my main comments, other than this:

I would hate to see the Village die, even if it were maintained as nothing but ThePub where old members could check in from time to time... but I think it can still be more, but it would take a bit of work.

And most of that work would come from you guys-- I would be willing to help some from the background, but would no longer put myself out front or as the head guy. (I've even thought from time-to-time on some ideas for the Village.)

But I still have hosting as well, and I'm still in the domain business-- in fact, I still have all the other RV domains (who was wondering about it being sold for a porn site??)

Please think hard on this folks...

hiker

I agree with Hiker, but then I would be making deals with the devil, so to say. ha

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and this is me testing fun stuff.

For the last few years, people have always joked in leaving topics that maybe RV will be dead before they get back. Maybe this time it'll be true...

Here's a little story...

When i was 12, the Internet, for me, was still a very large and confusing place. A few of my friends were playing a browser-based MMO at school called Runescape, and suggested i should play. To start with, i was sceptical, and never really played much. But then i started to get hooked. In order to help me through this game, I started using RV. To start with, i just used the quest guides and databases. Then i decided to join the forums, and i never looked back. From editing guides, to administering databases, to throwing tantrums, i poured my heart and soul into RV. RV became part of my life, and not just a small part. It helped me grow up and become the man i am today (still in bed at 1:30pm eating toast and drinking black coffee because i cba to get milk ) And, as Jackstick kindly pointed out, we've all grown up. We've found different interests. We're studying for degrees and doctorates instead of SATS and GCSE's now. Time moves forward, but the village didn't move fast enough...

But that doesn't mean we should let the Village die. Even though activity is low, RV still has a few hardcore follower, checking in every day to see who's posted what. And that is the most valuable thing RV has. Its community. Sure, the community isn't as big as it once was, but regardless of when in RV's history you look, somewhere will be a familiar face. And i believe that we can always preserve this group of like-minded friends, but it might not be the simplest task.

For one, i still believe a rebranding is very much needed. The events of September 2011 have tarnished our good name irreparably, and i believe the name should be dropped. Sure, it's a big decision to make, but in my opinion it's for the best. Also, a refocus is needed. A "General Fansite" was too broad and never really going to work, but i believe that if the admins can agree on an unexplored niche, RV can have a strong future as a community. It might not be called RV anymore, but I'd rather lose the name and keep the community than lose both together.

But if my incoherent ramblings are ignored, please at least dump the Village on Kurt's server. It'll be too sad to lose the village forever.

Also, nice to see you drop by Hiker

On another note, i know someone somewhere has all the old (and mostly outdated) content from the old main page. Could someone, somewhere, at least for nostalgia purposes, host it?

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There is a village, which is hidden in the shadow of a mountain.
Everybody is suffering from a lack of light.
One day, the eldest of this village leaves for the mountain with a teaspoon in his hands.
The others ask him what he intends to do.
He replies that he is going to move the mountain.
"But you will never succeed!" they cry out.
"No, i will never succeed, but somebody has to start."

~~~The Wising Up Song - Misty's Big Adventure

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Kikori wrote:

Runevillage the forum is pretty well much done. Runevillage the group will eventually die, but as long as we're still friends with each other in the end, it's still a pretty big thought in our heads. Runevillage the family is forever, no matter where we settle down. If absolutely nothing else ever comes of Runevillage in the future, that alone is a pretty damn awesome thought.

First, not sure if it was intentional but posting this in the Field of Death forum is pretty funny.

On topic, yes it is time to let RV, in it's current form, die. For quite awhile, the real purpose of RV has just been to keep the site's current and past users connected. In 2013 there are many options to do that should not carry a financial cost. We should be exploring our options to continue for free, with the only cost being the runevillage.com domain. Even more drastic would be to let the domain go, but for the relatively low cost of that I don't think its necessary.

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's been a quirk in RV for years, many Globals appear to have been made in the Field of Death forum.

But yeh, the morbid irony is pretty amusing

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There is a village, which is hidden in the shadow of a mountain.
Everybody is suffering from a lack of light.
One day, the eldest of this village leaves for the mountain with a teaspoon in his hands.
The others ask him what he intends to do.
He replies that he is going to move the mountain.
"But you will never succeed!" they cry out.
"No, i will never succeed, but somebody has to start."

~~~The Wising Up Song - Misty's Big Adventure

Hidden: 

Kikori wrote:

Runevillage the forum is pretty well much done. Runevillage the group will eventually die, but as long as we're still friends with each other in the end, it's still a pretty big thought in our heads. Runevillage the family is forever, no matter where we settle down. If absolutely nothing else ever comes of Runevillage in the future, that alone is a pretty damn awesome thought.

Wishful thinking aside, is there anything we can do about this while maintaining the old 'Village feel? With Jagex disowning us we can't make it as a RuneScape site anymore. So we tried the "game site" thing while keeping the same name, didn't work much either. We're not bringing in new members and we're slowly losing old ones. I mean, there are things we can do, but they risk us not being RuneVillage as we know it.

I think the only option, while maintaining ourselves as RuneVillage is to let it go. Maybe have a free forums like previously suggested and just keep the domain(s). We don't need to operate as we currently are anymore though, as sad as it is.

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It's time to let it die. RV is just a depressing shell of what it used to be.

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It's tough, but I still play. I keep losing, but I still play! - Taichi
Digital Complex is officially launched!

I think that I also agree that it is time to let RV die, though it is a bit of a depressing thought to let it go. =/

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I'd prefer if the village stayed around. I like having a place that I can go and chat. And see how people are doing. And share things about me

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Really hurts to read, so many memories here.

It does make sense though, I can't see this place ever coming back to what it once was, and it's somewhat depressing to see it in the state it's in right now.

I'd really just hate for it to never be seen again. What's the total size of the site (or at least the forum)? Would a read-only version stored somewhere be possible? Or at least an export for some of us to hoard? I don't want to lose everything about this place.

Ventrue's idea sounds great as well. If we do let this place go, at least something to hold onto would be nice to have. And to keep in touch with everyone, a Facebook group or something similar would probably accomplish the job. I found this post from Kingy posting it on Facebook, and being able to find everyone and stay in contact would be so much better than just letting everything go.

Judging by the response on that fb post, I completely agree. Life has moved to Facebook, forums aren't the social thing anymore.

But yes, it is time for The Village to die. Prolonging it in its current state is just painful for some of us to watch. It is akin to seeing a loved one slowly deteriorate, compared to choosing to commit euthanasia. I know it is a difficult decision, and not a very nice image I have put forth, but that is how I currently see it.

I am here, but would rather this so before it worsens.

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Thank You For The Sig Stalesoul!

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http://img84.exs.cx/img84/8593/henryhero4rc.gif

Im all for a move to facebook but agree with donub, an archive would be much appreciated

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Once a Staff, always a Staff.

RV will forever live on in our hearts.

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But... if the seal should be broken and, despite all the time that had passed,
it wasn't enough, and you were without a heart,
if you continued to be only a created thing who acted wildly and forcefully,
I would... eliminate you! Raitei Shourai!

Support me on my goals?