At least you worked out that I was joking

You remembered my name too, without calling me Henry

Draw me something?

Jeez, thought we had lost Idiot a LONG time ago... welcome back?

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Hmm I like the idea of at least keeping the forums up, or some type of forum/page so we can still communicate with one another.

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ok... here is my best idea so far. Remember RuneVillage is my "baby", and I don't want it to totally die out either. I'd like to see it still exist for you remaining Villagers to have a place to come together into the future. Realistically, I know it can never be what it once was. But at least we can keep the cabin fire burning and a candle in the window for the return of errant Villagers. And in reality, it can be more than that. With some hard work by you folks, you can make a new place sort of like "RuneVillage: The Next Generation." I also know that realistically my place in the Village can never be what it once was either. I can still hang in the back I guess, where most folks can't see me, so don't think my idea here is a comeback for me-- it's hopefully a comeback for the Village. Ok, let's move this think along a bit.

Some of you in your posts here have come very close to what I'm about to suggest, and many of you hit right on some bits and pieces of it, so I'm hoping this idea has some appeal to you folks. I also know that "Mafia" has always been very popular, and in the past two years is probably the thing that have given you the biggest boost-- that and steam. So let's base this on what you've had some minor success with, and something that gives you some new directions in which to go.

Basically, I'm suggesting that you start all over and keep RuneVillage in the back yard.

As a tie-in to the Village, I'm going to suggest something having to do with "suburban" or "suburbs." Difficult domains to obtain, but I happen to know that "theSuburbsOnline.com" is open, and a little searching could turn up something better. "Suburban" also gives a veiled reference back to RuneVillage without coming out and saying it.

Do NOT have the new domain registered to Jack. No offense Jack, but you don't want folks to see an obvious connection here. Jack can figure out who to register the new domain to. Cloak both registrations as well. You can admit the connection if questioned-- don't flat out lie to people, but don't put it out there for everyone to see right off.

*Where* it is hosted is just a matter of logistics-- can be solved at a later date. Just don't go with a "free" host. You can go without a VPS, which is only needed now for chat, and you can let chat go, I guess.

Install a clean, new phpBB on a new hosting account with the new domain.

Un-ban everyone.

Make a "Mafia" Forum.

Play up "mafia" as the main theme of the site. (see header graphic). Have a mafia game going at all times. Have more than one when possible. Recruit new members to play. Get the new members to recruit new members. Let everyone organize a game who wants to play.

Revive the 'TF2' you had for 'steam.' I saw someone here offer to run that forum. Take him up on his offer.

Have score cards or some type of after game reports here that would make other players want to come back here.

Revive "The Library".... maybe without "Bob the Librarian" this time . The Library has always been one of RV's most popular features (most of you probably don't know that at one time I was going to publish a collection of "Tales from RuneVillage.") But at one point it was getting a good bit of traffic. Jaron is still alive, as is Landerpurex, Defeat, Riptide, Znath-- all excellent writers... and a few others of you mentioned it as well. Do NOT restrict the topics for stories.

Have monthly themes again-- just maybe not as obtuse as some of the ones we had on RV.

Have a "Games Chat" that covers offline as well as on-line games.

Have a "General Chat" where you can shoot the breeze, talk about carp fishing and swap recipes.

Have a "Music" forum where you can talk about bands, music, and how to play the kazoo.

Other than that, be *very* selective about new forums except by popular demand.

Put a button somewhere on the forum that links to RuneVillage-- small, unobtrusive (and not hard-coded, Demon, where Google can find it.).

Talk the new forum up everyplace you go on the web, especially at other forums and game locations.

All of you act as if everyone is your friend-- even the new guy wearing the tin foil hat. Be very welcoming.

But most of all-- I said this is the staff forum a while ago-- you've all got to be believers. Fire breathing, foot stomping, believers who see a half-full glass instead of a half-empty one every time you look or think about RuneVillage-- errr... the Suburbs.

Once you have this thing up and going again, and run by a whole new crew, THEN you can go back to being lazy and only thinking of the Village when a fit of nostalgia hits you.

And lastly, for everyone who missed the 1980's and the first half of the '90's-- which I guess is pretty much most of you, here's sort of what the internet looked like back then, before the World Wide Web came out.

happy trails

hiker

If it was that easy, www.digital-complex.net would have become a thing. Now it's just there for all your soul furniture needs until the domain fades away in April (assuming I don't renew the domain out of impulse because I'd really like to use it for game streaming now that it's a built in feature on PS4.)

Forums are DEAD. RuneVillage is DEAD.

Every game comes with it's own built-in social community now. Whether that be steam forums that come WITH the game, or something akin to FFXIV's lodestone. Not to mention the way that social media has evolved in general. Need help with a game? There's probably a wikipage somewhere.

Hell, if I REALLY need help with a game and it's not listed anywhere online I can usually count on reddit or 4chan to have the answer.

Let's be honest here. If everyone was that desperate about keeping the RV community alive, I'd just re-install phpbb3 onto Digital Complex and let it all get migrated there. It's not like I haven't already spent roughly a thousand dollars on the website to just sit there doing nothing, and I have a steady income that lets me foot the bill without donations.

But if I did that, what would happen? Everyone makes an account, there's a month of activity from it being new and fresh, and then we go back to having nothing?

If it's just an issue of hosting or finances, then congratulations, I'm stupid enough to take care of that. Is that REALLY the issue, though? Or are we just using hosting and finances as an excuse for putting down Old Yeller?

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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 don't recall saying it would be easy. But I *do* recall saying that we'd not end up with another RuneVillage-- and by extension, not another Steam, redit or Facebook.

And while there are hundreds of wikis, and a ton of social networks, there are still a gazillion forms all over the net, each with it's own little crowd.

What we'd have, if we're lucky, would be a forum with 50-200 active members who are interested in keeping it going, and with RV runninbg in the backyard, so that one day Jaron doesn't snap awake and realize he's in an empty room.....

That's it. No competition to make the best guides or create a new wiki.

It's just you guys organizing a group and paying back a little, while inspiring them to pay it forward.

Of course lightning could strike twice and you end up with a booming suburb... but that would just be icing on the cake...

hiker

I'm sorry Hiker but you saying that there are even 50 active members is extremely optimistic.

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Not currently, I think he means new members in the future.

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Kikori wrote:

Topsummoner wrote:

Riptide wrote:

I used to get you and J@n mixed up. Except your funnier. And nicer. Happy 21st bro!

Oh man Jan, you just got zinged by Riptide. How much does THAT suck?

Well, statistically speaking, slightly more than a giant suckusaur. A dire one.

PenguinGuy wrote:

Lets see if I remember how to play...

EX REX IS MAFIA SCUM FOURTHVOTER UNVILLAGE BLAH BLAH BLAH SCUM BLAH WINE IN FRONT OF ME BLAH BLAH META GAME BLAH BLAH BLAH SMELLS OF ELDERBERRIES BLAH

Right?

Even more optimistic.

Fact is, forums are never going to be as active as they once were. Social media has changed that. I only come back to RV occasionally out of habit and nostalgia. I wouldn't want to start over on a new website (especially not when I'm 6th highest poster and gunning for 5th! )

Hiker's idea sounds great, but I do not feel that it would work out as hoped. As said, perhaps an initial spurt of activity, just as this little pocket of activity has come about due to this topic, but in the end it will die back down.

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It's not going to happen. It didn't happen in 2008 when we had a whole TEAM of creative, hard-working individuals, and it's not going to work now when we have less total active users than there were members in the aforementioned team.

I don't mean to be mean, but anyone who thinks that we can practically have any sort of rebound is literally delusional.

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I guess I should be somewhat flattered that I am included in hiker's list...

But the fact of the matter is that there is no one here willing/with time to do work for any kind of reboot. The thought should be canned as soon as it begins to form in your head.

I can't pretend like I've done even a fraction of the work for this site that Jack has, or Jaron, or really most people popping into this thread. I have been most active during RVs waning years. But I have been near the center of multiple reboot attempts here at RV. And you know what? None of them worked, and I'm tired of it. As we all become(became) adults, we hopefully began to recognize more quickly things that would be wastes of our time. The new villager never even got off the ground, after 2-3 attempts. The RVET died. We ought to have realized it was the beginning of the end when we could barely get 12 people to show up for a drop party worth hundreds of millions of coins.

I think if we ever were going to reboot, perhaps a mafia-esque site would be best, or perhaps a site for forum games like it. But frankly, Mafia can't even sustain anyone's interest. For a host of reasons the most vocal amongst us saw fit to quit the game, and we stuck a fork in that.

In short, I will assume absolutely zero workload for another reboot or another site, make no mistake. Do I want a new/active RV? Sure. But I want someone else to do it for me.

Bitter sarcasm aside, we have two or three realistic options. One, just let RV die. Two, archive the site and/or put up a memorial page. Or three, which would be my personal pick, streamline and simplify RV into 2-3 forums or even just one to slash costs.

But really. What would option 3 be? Why does RV continue to exist? Its nostalgia factor for everyone here is by far the strongest reason. What is this thread? 3/4 of it is people who rarely visit the forums or haven't been here in months or years. What are you all saying? That you love RV and you'd hate to see it die? But what has RV become for you? An afterthought, someplace you think 'oh yeah' and stop by every once in awhile.

We all let RV die. So let's just lay it to rest.

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I'd say if people want it to die, they should step aside and let other people who want it to live take control and work on it. Even if it might be a futile effort... let them do what they want to try and help.

I don't see the point of leaving people in control that believe we should just let the community die. At that point it's simply a self-fulfilling prophecy. Their own inaction and lack of motivation promotes the death they believe is inevitable anyway. Thus they aid in the downfall.

So let people who want to work to help do what they can to help.

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"The good warrior knows when to fight, and when to withdraw."
- Sun Tzu

I'll smith anything up to 93 smithing if you have the material for me to make it with
My Story, Horrors of Myron County
RV's Drawing archive topic, post yours or comment on others

This is certainly sad, seeing our once cherished community in its death throes. I was never really here in the peak, my time was well after the descent had started. But even then there was always the community, which more than anything I will miss. That's why everyone has dropped by, from the nostalgia of the community that once thrived here. I don't think any new gimmick or gambit will work to revive Runevillage. People are sad to see the community go, and wish to see the community revive. But even then, the once vibrant community has drifted apart, with only some small cliches that have stayed together on outside sources. Even if we manage to band the old community together, its a zero-sum game, there's no real way to recruit new members on "great community."

I would love to see the community come back, but I can't say I'd be willing to do anything for it, and I don't know if the people here can either. We've all gotten older, and have busier lives. In this generalization I know I'm excluding some people who can spend time and who want to spend time in reviving this husk of a website, but unfortunately, I'd have to say I'd love for the community to come back, but I can't work for it. I don't have the time, energy, or hope to work for such a long shot, which has failed so many times before.

It's end-game now. I support those who want to achive what we have, and condense to one or two forums for the future. Runevillage might not be dead yet, but it's mostly dead.

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I've only infrequently visited the last couple of years, so I can't speak to how RV has been going the last couple of years (not too well from the looks of things). But the site has been on a steep decline since at least 2009, and probably before that. In that time there have been countless new ideas and strategies proposed to restore RV, with next to no success. We've tried narrowing our focus in on RS, we've tried diversification; the times have changed and we haven't been able to adapt. There's no shame in that - some of the decline is self-induced, but much is down to factors beyond our control. How's MySpace going these days? While the optimism of some posters is to be admired, I think most recognise that, at this late stage, RV isn't going to improve or grow its member base.

I have no technical knowledge whatsoever, so the costs of hosting and the merits of FB/Reddit/free forums/etc I'll leave to others. I do think, if the cost is negligible, it would be worthwhile maintaining a small corner of the internet for old RVers to congregate; the purpose wouldn't be to try to actively attract new member or promote ourselves, but simply to provide a space for old friends to drop by when they feel like it.

As an aside, I logged into RS a couple of months ago and it felt like I was on another planet.

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Faint as a will o' the wisp
Crazy as a loon
Sad as a gypsy serenading the moon

Not only are these last few posts sad, but they're downright depressing. People I have know for years with absolutely no faith in keeping the Village alive... People who have poured their heart and soul into the Village, just to suggest that the whole community should be scrapped. Sure, Social Media is the new "thing", but I personally believe forums are a much better means of articulating thoughts and feelings, just because you're not restricted to 140 characters, or simply given a "like" button for a post that will disappear in 2 days. Social media is very one-sided (to the poster), whereas forums radiate a bigger feeling of community.

Anyway, I agree with Hiker. Not too convinced on the name though, but the idea seems good to me.

I am (probably one of the few) who's willing to help make a change. My HTML, PHP and MySQL skills are available (and any active work on any website would look awesome on my CV when i've finished my degree ) Also, my database team experience and guide editing skills are a bit rusty, but i'm sure a bit of brasso and a brillo pad will clean them right up

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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.

Josh, after 10 years here, many of us have seen the activity RV once flourished with and, compared to now, it is just too painful to be around.

Way back when, there would be a new post every minute across several different topics in several different forums, and those were just ones that I had posted in and had things to comment on.

The closest we have had to that in several years is Mafia, with the occasional ninja'd post. The only active topic now is this one. Which is about RV dying.

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Sure, activity is nothing like it used to be, and the chances of RV as runevillage.com actaully growing and seeing more activity is pretty much nil, but the point i'm trying to make is not to keep RV alive, but to create a successor to it. Something that can attract a new generation of people, and give the older generation somewhere they feel comfortable in. I'm sure there's enough people left who have enough motivation to scrape together something...

As it is, all I hear is "Ooooh, lets kill RV", "RV is a lost cause", "Rv needs to die". There's a reason it's a lost cause and needs to die, because of you lot who have lost your faith. And i'm not asking you lot to help, as you seem to have made it very clear that you have no desire to help, but for the people who do actually want to continue this legacy for another 11 years, now is the time to grab the hammers, the nails and the powerdrills, and create something fresh and new.

__________________
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.

I think you are being very hypocritical 123King. Looking at your posting history, you went the following periods without making a post:

Jan 29-Apr 29 2012 (3 months)
Jun 9- Oct 18 2012 (4 months)
Nov 21 2012- Jan 2 2013 (1.5 months)
Jan 2- Apr 1 2013 (3 months)
May 27- Oct 17 (5 months)

So basically over the last 22 months, you havent been here for 16 of them. You realize the reason the village is done is because people dont visit? Its the people who have actually been here who can see the writing on the wall. I may not be very active posting, but I visit RV every day. Multiple times a day. For the last 10 years. I think most of the people who have actually watched the site die (you know, because we were here), feel pretty much the same way. Ive already posted my thoughts on what I think the future should be, so Im not gonna get into that again. But Im not gonna let you call out people who have put so much time and effort, because thats a joke. You ended one of your long breaks with the post: "Thought i'd stop by and see how everyone is. How's things going? Minecraft stole my life away D:" And we're the reason that RV is a lost cause? Riiiiight. I admire your willingness to help out at this moment and try to get things back in the right direction. And I'll be here visiting everyday as long as the sites up (runevillage, not the suburbs). But calling people out, pretty much implying they don't care, is crossing the line for me.

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

Yeh, i'll admit i've been hypocritical, but everyone's a hypocrite to a certain extent. Would you rather I didn't try and do something? RV means as much to me as it does to most every other active villager. Sure, i'll admit i might have crossed the line there too, but the point is I don't think we should let the Village die, even in it's current state. I'm just saying the remaining active villagers (include me and my 2 years absence into that if you wish) should do something to at least try and bring some life back into the community. If people don't want to, that's fine, but my coding services are available should people wish to use them. And i'll admit, RV probably should die a death eventually, but i'm sure there's a big enough group of villagers who wish to save the Village, even if that requires (and i suggest it does) migrating to a different domain, to make an active effort possible.

Sorry if I offended anyone with my last post. My bad

__________________
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.

This.

I've been here, visiting at least once a week during my most busy times, but still always here. There is not much left, and I do not see any way of some 'Suburbs' living on, as much as I would want it to.

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I don't get why people think forums in general are dead... They're really not.

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Kikori wrote:

Topsummoner wrote:

Riptide wrote:

I used to get you and J@n mixed up. Except your funnier. And nicer. Happy 21st bro!

Oh man Jan, you just got zinged by Riptide. How much does THAT suck?

Well, statistically speaking, slightly more than a giant suckusaur. A dire one.

PenguinGuy wrote:

Lets see if I remember how to play...

EX REX IS MAFIA SCUM FOURTHVOTER UNVILLAGE BLAH BLAH BLAH SCUM BLAH WINE IN FRONT OF ME BLAH BLAH META GAME BLAH BLAH BLAH SMELLS OF ELDERBERRIES BLAH

Right?