All Good Things [Archive]

Neo

01-13-2012, 05:26 PM

I've renewed Gametavern's IP through January 2013, and I'm currently not planning on renewing it again after that. It's clear to me now that there's really nothing more that I plan on accomplishing here. All my interests and so forth are wrapped up in other projects, and I don't have the time to give the site the kind of attention it deserves.

And besides, we all know that the world is going to end on December 21st, 2012. Sure, there are these so-called "scientists" and just plain "rational" people who deny our impending doom, but here on planet Reality you and I know the truth - It won't be long before the dead rise up to feast on the flesh of the living. The zombies are coming, my friends, and they will show no mercy and offer no quarter.

I will be participating in a zombie run (http://runforyourlives.com/) in early December, which is like Warrior Dash except with a capture-the-flag zombie element thrown in. It's perfect timing as it will occur a few days before the actual apocalypse. Great training run for the real thing. I recommend the rest of you start training and make similar preparations. You'll want to be highly organized when the walkers come so that you don't find yourself asking questions like "Where did I put my shotgun," or "Did I remember to board up the bathroom window," or"Why is mom eating the cat?"

:chainsaw:

Fox 6

01-13-2012, 08:28 PM

There really should be a ticker for the remainder of GT's life

Bond

01-13-2012, 09:39 PM

So ... new forum or let die?

Angrist

01-14-2012, 03:00 AM

Who's up for some more games of Mafia this year? Starting next week or so. Oh and who wants to organize it?

Typhoid

01-14-2012, 05:44 AM

So ... new forum or let die?

Personally, I think we've got a good, entertaining thing going here. If there was a new incarnation of this forum I would be down from the start.

There really should be a ticker for the remainder of GT's life

I also agree. That would be hilarious.

Jason1

01-14-2012, 01:30 PM

Why cant we all just get a donation going or something and everyone just pay whatever you can contribute and then we can renew it and it could still be GT, just not owned and paid for by Neo anymore?

Fox 6

01-14-2012, 08:12 PM

Can we do a hostile takeover of Nerds on the Rocks?

TheSlyMoogle

01-16-2012, 09:37 PM

Couldn't someone else just take over?

It feels bad man to let it die.

Neo

01-17-2012, 02:09 PM

Sorry my internet was down. Idiot sprinkler installer cut the cable line a while back. We jury rigged it but I guess it finally gave out. Now we've got a brand new feed installed.

Anyhow, Vampyr has offered to take over the site. There are a lot of details that have to be worked out, but I'd like to see the site continue in some fashion with someone at the helm who actually wants to invest the time to make it succeed.

Whoever does it will probably want to switch servers, as I'm sure you can find a better deal than what I'm paying now. There are usually discussions on the vBulletin forums regarding which hosts are good and which suck.

Neo

01-17-2012, 02:11 PM

There are basically three things that would need to be transferred:

The website name
The host
The vB license

Angrist

01-17-2012, 02:27 PM

Do you have any cost indication, or would you rather not post that online?

Neo

01-17-2012, 03:16 PM

Let's see... It's $55.50 billed quarterly, so that works out to $18.50/month. I don't know, maybe that is reasonable for what we're getting.

We're currently using 627/900 MB, and our monthly bandwidth limit is 30,000 MB. Looks like we average about 8 GB per month so we're well under the limit.

The vB license is paid for, but there is a yearly subscription fee if you want upgrades (which is part of the reason we haven't gone to vB 4). Not sure what that runs these days. vB 4 looks pretty fancy - has iPad/iPhone apps.

Bond

01-17-2012, 06:59 PM

I'll give money.

Jason1

01-17-2012, 08:52 PM

Wow, over $200 a year just to keep the website running does seem a little steep, but what do I know? I would be willing to contribute if needed.

Bond

01-17-2012, 09:09 PM

Also, who bought GameTavern.com?

Acebot44

01-18-2012, 02:53 AM

I can give the monies

Jason1

01-18-2012, 10:16 PM

I think we should keep it .net!

Ginkasa

01-19-2012, 12:20 AM

I think the best option is to let GameTavern die and we can separate by having to choose between two, different gaming forums. One could be called "GamePub" and the other would be named after the 3DS for some reason.

BreakABone

01-19-2012, 12:21 AM

Neo

01-19-2012, 11:26 AM

After many tense hours of negotiation, my people have finally reached a deal with Vampyr's people. It was touch and go for a while, but cooler heads prevailed and a compromise was finally reached.

On February 14th, 2012, the 11th anniversary of GameTavern, I will transfer ownership of the site to Vampyr.

We really dodged a bullet this time. I'm know Vampyr is the one who is perfect for the job. Vampyr has all the right moves and even knows kung fu. This site still needs a lot of work.

Don't worry about the financial situation; money's not on this Vampyr's mind. Instead the only currency......is blood. YEAAAAAAAHHHH!! :cool:

At this Tavern, all the drinks.......are colored red. YEAAAAAAAHHHH!! :cool:

There's no need to study astronomy. If you want to see stars, just look......under your name. YEAAAAAAAHHHH!! :cool:

Not every post can be seen. There are some messages that will always be........private. YEAAAAAAAHHHH!! :cool:

Jerry Sandusky may have had all the right moves, but on this play.......I'm calling a penalty. YEAAAAAAAHHHH!! :cool:

Vampyr

01-19-2012, 11:55 AM

My first official move as CEO of GameTavern is to outlaw David Caruso jokes. :p

As Neo stated, I will be taking the helm of GT in a quest to lead it down the path of greatness. Neo will be taking the blue pill.

I actually already have a server of my own that I pay for each month ($20), that I use for hosting my personal projects and just playing around with. I have a 200GB monthly limit, which is way above the 8GB that Neo says we use. My other projects don't generate anything close to 1GB (yet). 200GB seems low compared to the 30,000GB that Neo mentioned we currently have, but my server is a VPS (virtual private server), as opposed to a shared host. We may actually see some speed increases (not that GT is slow anyway).

I also have 200GB of space available, and GT is currently just over .5GB, so no worries there. I have a registrar that I currently use for my other domain names, so I'll just be transferring GameTavern.net to there. That will be about $15 a year.

That being said, I'm going to look into upgrading our version of vbulletin. I would really like to have some of the newer features. It is pretty expensive, so we'll see about doing a round of donations. I won't clutter the forums with advertisements, but we might look into having a small one on the front page or something.

Some people may be wondering about my qualifications to run a website, but rest easy knowing that it's actually my real life job to build and maintain web applications.

As for the future of GameTavern, I have some plans. We won't be going down the route of video game reviews & news. That's been done a thousand times before, and there are bigger sites than us out there that do it better than we ever could. Instead we will focus on finding our own niche and continue doing what we already do best: having a tight knit community.

And of course, a special thanks to Neo for giving us vagabonds a place to hang out all these years. As we can now see, it wasn't exactly cheap for him.

Neo

01-19-2012, 12:56 PM

Now that I'm in my lame duck phase, I feel like I should be handing out pardons.

Anyone feel like they need absolution for something?

BreakABone

01-19-2012, 01:17 PM

Now that I'm in my lame duck phase, I feel like I should be handing out pardons.

Anyone feel like they need absolution for something?

Sure, I'll like to be redeemed for the whole dubloon stuff.. ran quite the trade back then...

Then there was shadowLink's baby pool...

And.. well I've done a lot of things.. er.. so just clear them all.

Fox 6

01-19-2012, 03:42 PM

Viva El presidente! Viva!

Neo

01-19-2012, 03:56 PM

Sure, I'll like to be redeemed for the whole dubloon stuff.. ran quite the trade back then...

Then there was shadowLink's baby pool...

And.. well I've done a lot of things.. er.. so just clear them all.

:angel: *spouts off something in Latin* :angel:

You are now cleansed of any sins you may have committed. :bath:

Go forth my son, and rejoice. Be not seduced by the temptations of the flesh, unless she cometh with no strings attached and be dtf.

Typhoid

01-19-2012, 04:20 PM

The day this forum dies is the day the internet gets shut down.

And of course, a special thanks to Neo for giving us vagabonds a place to hang out all these years. As we can now see, it wasn't exactly cheap for him.

Agreed. It honestly never really occurred to me (I mean, it occurred to me, but I never really thought about it) that someone is actually paying out of pocket so we can continue to all communicate with each other. Neo should be revered as a Saint in the future of the site.

So, will there be sweeping changes? 100% overhaul, new members, new forum staff, new look, new colours? :ohreilly:

Neo

01-19-2012, 04:44 PM

So, will there be sweeping changes? 100% overhaul, new members, new forum staff, new look, new colours? :ohreilly:

I like that I can make suggestions now instead of being the one shooting them down. Awesome.

Though at the same time it's going to feel weird. I'm so used to just jamming whatever I want down your throats and hahahaha SCREW YOU if you don't like it.

Neo

01-19-2012, 05:38 PM

vBulletin 4 does look pretty bad ass. It has an integrated article publishing system that would make it easy to post news or whatever. It also allows users to setup and maintain their own blogs. Is that something you guys would be interested in?

KillerGremlin

01-19-2012, 06:59 PM

Although I have contributed nothing meaningful to this empire, I would be open to helping brainstorm new directions....

Teuthida

01-19-2012, 07:04 PM

Thank you Neo for keeping the lights on all these years.

GT's been a great way for me to keep track of what movies I've watched and music currently listening to. And I guess you folks are tolerable enough.

It could become the forum for NOTR. It does link here...

Typhoid

01-19-2012, 07:07 PM

Is that something you guys would be interested in?

I would definitely use that as my outlet for my time-wasting-nonsensical-topical-ranting rather than my normal posts.

I'm sure other people would use it for much more useful things than me, however.
That also might be a good way to draw in new members. Give them a place to maybe show things off, artwork, maybe videos of how they did in a certain video game (or something).

KillerGremlin

01-19-2012, 07:24 PM

I would have suggested turning GT into the forum for NOTR except that it sounds like Vampyr has plans for the site. :p

Bond

01-19-2012, 07:57 PM

Someone should let Vampyr into the staff forum. It would be great to see a new thread considering the last one is from July of last year.

Vampyr

01-19-2012, 08:32 PM

I should really get a more professional avatar.

So, will there be sweeping changes? 100% overhaul, new members, new forum staff, new look, new colours?

First things first I'm going to have to do an audit of vBulletin 4 and see what all it's really capable of. It seems to be like a full blown CMS for managing content on a website, which is cool. Hopefully it's easy for me to leverage my own programming skills to take those turn-key solutions and make them something truly unique for our site.

Blogs are a great idea. Like I said - I really want to focus on the community aspect of GameTavern, and build new features around that. Just having blogs wouldn't be enough - people would never go read them. We have to find a way to integrate those blogs into the forefront of GT and make them visible. I think I know how to do that.

I would have suggested turning GT into the forum for NOTR except that it sounds like Vampyr has plans for the site.
NOTR will always be our sister site, but I think gametavern deserves to be something completely game oriented. It won't try to compete with Nerds on the Rocks, though.

Someone should let Vampyr into the staff forum. It would be great to see a new thread considering the last one is from July of last year.

I'm in your forum, reading your really old threads.

Bond

01-19-2012, 08:41 PM

Yeah... let's not make any of that public. I feel like there were some unique conversations from a few years ago.

Typhoid

01-19-2012, 08:42 PM

I should really get a more professional avatar.

Nah.
I think it fits the situation.

Neo

01-19-2012, 09:32 PM

I'm in your forum, reading your really old threads.

Oh crap, better delete that "Vampyr is a nut licker" thread. Sorry!

And what the hell is NOTR? Is this something I should have been aware of?

Weird.

Combine 017

01-19-2012, 09:37 PM

Yeah... let's not make any of that public. I feel like there were some unique conversations from a few years ago.

You cant bring up stuff then tell us we cant see it, thats not fair. :(

I gotta know now!

Teuthida

01-19-2012, 09:59 PM

And what the hell is NOTR? Is this something I should have been aware of?

http://nerdsontherocks.com

It was suppose to be the front page for GT but became its own thing. Hosts three podcasts: Nerds On The Rocks (themed shows about various topics), Dual Wielding (gaming), and The Comic Anvil (comics); has comic and game reviews, satire articles, and other stuff (I just started a crappy little comic there).

Neo

01-19-2012, 10:06 PM

That's pretty cool; I'll have to check it out.

Edit: Hah, I see there's even a thread about it. Shows how much I pay attention.

BreakABone

01-19-2012, 10:38 PM

Oh since we can expect changes

Can we also get a version that is smart phone friendly?

Site is awful to navigate on the go.

Angrist

01-20-2012, 04:40 AM

Yay!

Vampyr

01-20-2012, 10:38 AM

Oh since we can expect changes

Can we also get a version that is smart phone friendly?

Site is awful to navigate on the go.

I believe that if we upgrade to VB4 the site will automatically have a mobile style. There is a "mobile" license you can purchase, but I believe this is just for publishing iPhone/Windows Phone/Android apps for your forums, which I don't think we really need.

Right now I'm trying to decide if I want to purchase the full Publishing Suite (which includes blogs and a cms), or just the forums and roll my own blog/publishing software. I already have an application I wrote that does some of those things.

jeepnut

01-21-2012, 11:25 PM

Thanks for evrything Neo. It was always great to know that this site was still here whenever I remembered it existed on about a twice yearly basis.

Congrats Vampyr!

Dylflon

01-22-2012, 07:41 PM

I'll help out by posting more. I will also donate a bit of money if necessary.

Neo

01-26-2012, 10:20 AM

Thanks for evrything Neo. It was always great to know that this site was still here whenever I remembered it existed on about a twice yearly basis.

It's been fun.

In other news, I just want to take this opportunity to remind everyone that I am the undisputed King of the Arcade, and not to forget that. Even though a new arcade with new games is somewhere on the horizon, I will forever be burned into the annals of time as an unstoppable force of unparalleled magnitude whose gaming genius knows no equal. In all of recorded (GameTavern) history, there has never been a more dominant competitor whose name instills terror most true in the hearts of users.

I unabashedly acknowledge that a few records do exist, such as Professor S's curveball high score, that have yet to bow before the unsurpassed brilliance of my mere presence. But rest assured the empire that is my collection of high scores will spread to all corners of the arcade and envelope all that stand in its way.

Now if you'll excuse me, destiny calls.

ZebraRampage

01-29-2012, 10:57 PM

I would also like to say thanks Neo for the time and money you've put into this forum. I've been here for 10.5 years now, which is hard to believe.

I have never been one to post very often, but I do come to the site a few days during the week and check out what everyone's talking about. I suppose I should try to post more, but I always found that if I had something to say then I'd say it. I'm kind of interested in having a bigger role with the forum, and maybe that would get me more involved, so keep that in mind Vampyr when you're making all of your changes.

Oh also, whatever happened to GameMaster?

Ginkasa

01-30-2012, 01:25 AM

He hasn't posted for nearly three years. Its kind of scary when someone just disappears like that on the internet since you can't just call them up and make sure they're not dead or something.

TheSlyMoogle

01-30-2012, 03:50 AM

It's been fun.

In other news, I just want to take this opportunity to remind everyone that I am the undisputed King of the Arcade, and not to forget that. Even though a new arcade with new games is somewhere on the horizon, I will forever be burned into the annals of time as an unstoppable force of unparalleled magnitude whose gaming genius knows no equal. In all of recorded (GameTavern) history, there has never been a more dominant competitor whose name instills terror most true in the hearts of users.

I unabashedly acknowledge that a few records do exist, such as Professor S's curveball high score, that have yet to bow before the unsurpassed brilliance of my mere presence. But rest assured the empire that is my collection of high scores will spread to all corners of the arcade and envelope all that stand in its way.

Now if you'll excuse me, destiny calls.

I completely forgot about the arcade... A long time ago.

Angrist

01-30-2012, 06:55 AM

He hasn't posted for nearly three years. Its kind of scary when someone just disappears like that on the internet since you can't just call them up and make sure they're not dead or something.Didn't he get mad when someone found his website which contained almost his whole personal life? I think that's when he left.

I think he lurks the forums. And I still think he might be behind the funny spam bots.

BreakABone

01-30-2012, 11:06 AM

I completely forgot about the arcade... A long time ago.

If the arcade supported mobile support, I can see people using it more.

Ginkasa

01-30-2012, 05:10 PM

Didn't he get mad when someone found his website which contained almost his whole personal life? I think that's when he left.

I think he lurks the forums. And I still think he might be behind the funny spam bots.

That's odd, because he seemed pretty liberal with the use of other people's personal info. He typically referred to me by my full, real name (not that it was a secret or anything; it was just odd).

Typhoid

01-30-2012, 08:44 PM

That's odd, because he seemed pretty liberal with the use of other people's personal info. He typically referred to me by my full, real name (not that it was a secret or anything; it was just odd).

That's what makes me think he was just either A) 5-7 years ahead on the 'trolling the internet' curve B) Just a weird dude who never took the internet too seriously.

Bond

01-30-2012, 08:57 PM

Or he killed himself ... I think suicide has to be at least one of many possible explanations.

TheSlyMoogle

01-31-2012, 03:42 AM

Or he killed himself ... I think suicide has to be at least one of many possible explanations.

Straight Truth. I bet he offed himself.

Combine 017

01-31-2012, 03:55 AM

He sent me a PM about a year ago in response to a drunk thread, so he must still be lurking around somewhere.

Bond

01-31-2012, 06:26 PM

He sent me a PM about a year ago in response to a drunk thread, so he must still be lurking around somewhere.
Post screenshot of said PM?

Combine 017

01-31-2012, 07:31 PM

Post screenshot of said PM?

I dont know what it means, I think its a bunch of lottery numbers? :P

http://i42.tinypic.com/5v3bzq.png

Bond

01-31-2012, 08:09 PM

Isn't that a Xbox 360 code at the end?

Combine 017

01-31-2012, 08:51 PM

Isn't that a Xbox 360 code at the end?

Thats what I thought when I looked at it last night and I tried entering it, Xbox codes are 5 digits each, that one is 6. :p

Fox 6

01-31-2012, 09:27 PM

Wait, new theory!

GameMaster = Anonymous

TheSlyMoogle

02-01-2012, 10:38 PM

Methinks maybe his account was just hacked.

Neo

02-14-2012, 10:16 AM

Ten years ago I rescued GameTavern from internet oblivion and built up a gaming haven which endures to this day. Over the years I have withstood numerous hackers, crushed rival websites, and survived countless assassination attempts. I have crowned Survivor winners, installed life-enhancing vBulletin mods, become King of the Arcade, engaged in pointless political debates, and sent my software minions on quests to retrieve and re-post news from other websites.

Today my reign of terror comes to an end. No longer will you be subject to my fanciful whims or forced to dance dubstep for my own amusement. Today I hand over the keys to my successor, Vampyr, whom I trust will lead GameTavern into the future, assuming the future still exists after the zombies come. I know it will be tough to live up to the level of greatness that your now former ruler exuded in spades, but I have faith.

And so you too, should have faith. Not simply because you will be subject to severe beatings should your allegiance begin to waver, but because Vampyr has the skills, experience, and drive necessary to ensure our continued success.

So drink up, friends. :beerchug: This is one celebration that is sure to get me all frothy.

Vampyr

02-14-2012, 10:23 AM

Thanks for the good times and leadership.

Enjoy your retirement and transformation into an internet meme.

BreakABone

02-14-2012, 11:29 AM

How do I say goodbye to what we had?
The good times that made us laugh
Outweigh the bad.

I thought we'd get to see forever
But forever's gone away
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

I don't know where this road
Is going to lead
All I know is where we've been
And what we've been through.

If we get to see tomorrow
I hope it's worth all the wait
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

And I'll take with me the memories
To be my sunshine after the rain
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

And I'll take with me the memories
To be my sunshine after the rain
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.