Biarritz or bust?

The Sweeper

Today is a very important day for boards.ie. Today is the day that the supreme überlord DeVore, by his own admission, came close to suggesting a board he didn’t realise was already in existence.

So what?

Folks, that’s like God looking at a Giraffe and going “when the fork did that get made???”

So what does this mean?

Boards is growing at a rate quicker than the perception of its creators can match. Everything’s getting bigger, (betterfastermore), more expensive to run, more difficult to maintain

moreusersmoreculturemorekudosmoreboards

…a lot like what happened to the hotmails and the googles of this world…

So my question is, when boards gets even huger, when it starts attracting even more attention, when it starts to offer services like ‘user@boards.ie’, when we start to pay for things we want, when Dev has to quit his existing business and start another one that is purely 100% boards, when the outlay starts to exceed the income, the joy and the job satisfaction

-and one of those lurking net investor monsters who want to buy everything rises from it's bottom dwelling hovel on the seabed and starts to rise to the surface, cash streaming from its gills-


…my question is,


Will Dev sell us to the highest bidder?


(and doubtless retire to the deck of his 40-foot yacht anchored off the coast of Biarritz to recline on his sun lounger and have bikini-clad models serve him strawberry daquiris and lick his earlobes and when they eventually leave him alone to go for a swim one of his mates will slap him because, also by his own admission, he hasn’t copped on yet that they want to ride his bones…?)

Beruthiel

and doubtless retire to the deck of his 40-foot yacht anchored off the coast of Biarritz to recline on his sun lounger and have bikini-clad models serve him strawberry daquiris and lick his earlobes and when they eventually leave him alone to go for a swim one of his mates will slap him because, also by his own admission, he hasn’t copped on yet that they want to ride his bones…?)

well, I would sell yesterday if I could have all of the above (sub. women models with male ones of course!!)

so I vote yes!

bubbles

Well, Dev was saying in #boards.ie there a while ago that he was once offered a very large lump of money for boards.ie.

But of course they turned it down... like the fools they are.

They should have taken the money, sold on boards.ie, and then set up another discussion board! We know all the regulars would have moved to the new home.

ykt0di9url7bc3

IMHO It'll come to the point where anything internet related in Ireland will have links with boards.ie...

think of it being the ultimate Irish focus group...
think of it being the platform for debate on all aspects of Irish life...
think of it as the ratification on any new ideas crop up!

now for every Irish gaming site, i can see a link back here, so every Irish gamer will have some sort of contact with this site in the near future as greater levels of Internet access are achieved...

They'll talk in #fortress.ie and then post on boards...and naturally introduce thier friends to it...

Talk of boards.ie email, new political parties and a home-grown ISP...

The real question is "Where do i buy meh shares?"

regi

Well, first of all, it wouldn't be up to DeVore - strictly speaking, it would be up to a majority of DeVore, Cloud, Vexorg, Tr1n1ty and me. I think I can also safely say that the general will of the users will be an extremely important part of any decision making.

…a lot like what happened to the hotmails and the googles of this world…

I don't think that's a fair comparison, as they are both run as definate commercial ventures, and boards is not. We don't really have definate plans to do anything, beyond a few simple short term goals and a few wacky longterm dreams.

Shiminay

Tom'll never stoop so low - he enjoys this too much.

And the others wouldn't let him

amp

I think that Majd may not have been completely serious when writing the above. A certain amount of urine extraction may have taken place.

If not:

a) I apologise profously.
b) She don't know boards too good.
c) MORE! MORE!

sutty

What dan said...

but just in case

I wub you tom

logic1

Well let's put it in perspective for a minute here.

Boards isn't all that big at the moment. I'm a member of several bulletin boards that have 30, 40 and 50,000+ members.

Alot of these boards do have private member only sections where you have to pay a subscription fee to access and they have various other little perks for paying members but ultimately they still remain free for the general public.

These boards (not boards.ie but the other big ones) have never been sold for loads of money and I doubt the owners have ever been approached with an offer to buy them although some do have advertising banners etc.. which is more than understandable.

So to be worrying about anyone selling about Boards I think is a bit premature. Give it another 5 or 6 years and post the topic again

.logic.

Dustaz

Originally posted by bubbles
Well, Dev was saying in #boards.ie there a while ago that he was once offered a very large lump of money for boards.ie.

But of course they turned it down... like the fools they are.

They should have taken the money, sold on boards.ie, and then set up another discussion board! We know all the regulars would have moved to the new home.

lol,I remewmber that, the pair of us saying "jesus you FOOL!!!"

Cant understand why you guys didnt take the money and run as fast as your collective legs would take you. Was it because Regi was play EQ at the time and couldnt leave his PC?:)

Beruthiel

Originally posted by sutty
I wub you tom

oh well, he'll never leave now!! lol

gandalf

Well I reckon that boards is Devs evil little plan to take the country over. Its like a virus spreading throughout the country via the internet

Mark my words you'll have pictures of the "Great Admin" plastered all over the country in less than 5 years and Regi running the thought police................

Gandalf.

Mr.Applepie

Originally posted by logic1
I'm a member of several bulletin boards

.logic.

What? You little whore! Pimping yourself around on other bulletin boards! And here was me thinking boards.ie was the only bulletin board for you:(

DeVore

What regi says is true. Its not for me to decide. We are all part owners of Boards.ie though we all mostly share the same view of its future.

We have been approached before and due to our total indifference to the idea it all fell on the floor.

Remember all the admins have their jobs. Mine happens to be what we refer to as "Crowd Control" (a term from EQ!) whereby announcements, interactions and general musing is done by me (cos I've the biggest gob on me). The other admins work on their areas at least as much as I do on mine but you guys see more of me and its natural to assume I have some sort of authority I guess. Well I dont, and it would have to be a joint decision.


People here have to understand what we are planning on doing with boards so that

1. We dont get smacked with "sell out" claims if we do some of the things we are planning on doing. (Like paid for email etc).

2. People understand that we are NOT looking to make millions from Boards.ie. Its MUCH more altruistic then that and in fact we are really much more interested in what Boards metamorphsises into next... That way people feel more inclined to get involved and make some commitment to the site with feeling like we're about to **** them over. Mods is a good example of that, why should they do "work" for us if we are just going to line our pockets with the fruits of their efforts in years to come...

I'll be proposing a kind of "Charter" for all of boards.ie soon and we can discuss this then.

If anyone cares, I voted No

DeV.

Mercury_Tilt

This post has been deleted.

Typedef

Originally posted by Minesajackdaniels
Will Dev sell us to the highest bidder?

More power to him if he does.
What are we? A bunch of Communists(no pun)? You don't like what goes down here, you don't have to participate.

This to me is like using Windows or Linux, if a distro becomes too commerical for me, I can choose whether or not to use it, just like I did with Windows.

If I find some benefit (for me) in something, I do it. I find benefits on a social interaction level for myself as like, a fella in the world and that works for me right now.

If the guy who owns the site wants to shock horror make some money out of it, then that is his issue, if I don't like it or member(x) doesn't like that, then that is that respective member's issue.

Sell it all I say and give me a big fat consultancy fee.
/Troll

Cuidado con el gato baby.

amp

Originally posted by DeVore
What regi says is true. Its not for me to decide. We are all part owners of Boards.ie though we all mostly share the same view of its future.

We have been approached before and due to our total indifference to the idea it all fell on the floor.

Remember all the admins have their jobs. Mine happens to be what we refer to as "Crowd Control" (a term from EQ!) whereby announcements, interactions and general musing is done by me (cos I've the biggest gob on me). The other admins work on their areas at least as much as I do on mine but you guys see more of me and its natural to assume I have some sort of authority I guess. Well I dont, and it would have to be a joint decision.


People here have to understand what we are planning on doing with boards so that

1. We dont get smacked with "sell out" claims if we do some of the things we are planning on doing. (Like paid for email etc).

2. People understand that we are NOT looking to make millions from Boards.ie. Its MUCH more altruistic then that and in fact we are really much more interested in what Boards metamorphsises into next... That way people feel more inclined to get involved and make some commitment to the site with feeling like we're about to **** them over. Mods is a good example of that, why should they do "work" for us if we are just going to line our pockets with the fruits of their efforts in years to come...

I'll be proposing a kind of "Charter" for all of boards.ie soon and we can discuss this then.

If anyone cares, I voted No

DeV.

Translation: I'm not the boss. The hippy commune needs a manifesto!

Bravo! Well said!

Tbh I think we need a government styled on the UN. Dev can be the US, Regi can be the UK, Cloud can be Russia, Vexorg can be France, Lucutus can be Germany etc. etc.

This would obviously be the permanent security council. Each one could veto a particular major decision.

Then the rest of the countries/boards can be represented by moderators, who would be assigned by the security council. And as for the users, well they can complain to the security council in the Admin forum.

GOOD GOD!! THE UN STOLE OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT!?!

TO THE LAWYER MOBILE!

The Sweeper

/me examines fingernails and grins like an alligator...


Okay then, d'ya reckon the admins would agree to a 'strategic alliance' if it provided the scope to do everything they ever wanted to with boards.ie?

And just happened to involve the exchanging of a wad of cash?

DeVore

Originally posted by Minesajackdaniels
/me examines fingernails and grins like an alligator...


Okay then, d'ya reckon the admins would agree to a 'strategic alliance' if it provided the scope to do everything they ever wanted to with boards.ie?

And just happened to involve the exchanging of a wad of cash?

As a "hippie commune" (thank you Brother Amp), we'll get nowhere if we arent prepared to deal with corporate types. And they dont take the "free exchange of ideas" as currency.

The question is "what DO we want"?

We already "sully ourselves" in those terms as we have commercial arrangements with a hoster, an advertisment company and some of us are even involved with those evil capitalist Spin Solutions feckers...

We may have odd views on how things work but we are still going to have to deal with companies who's bottom line is cash.

If BT came to us and said "we'll offer you a virtual ISP branded Boards.ie Dial Up and split half the cash with you" would we do it? Sure!

If someone said: Hey we want to buy the site off you and pimp our **** on it.... then the answer already has been: no.

Can you give me a more detailed example? Any situation where WERE happy with the trade off and what WE are getting from the deal in exchange for something WE are happy with giving away in return.... well thats a no brainer.

The trick is that "WE" is about 10,000 users

As Amp put it, the hippy commune needs a manifesto. You need to know where the admins are going with all of this (not to mention so do the admins!) and we need communicate that.

Honestly though, do you think I could poke my face outside again if we did something right out of character?

DeV.

phaxx

Originally posted by amp
Tbh I think we need a government styled on the UN.

Dear Sir,

I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

Sincerely,

phaxx

DeVore

Oh yeah, meant to mention. The whole UN Gov thing?
Not going to happen.

Benevolent dictatorship has gotten us this far and while some of you dont trust me, *I* trust me implicitly.
Besides you get the final vote, with your browsers.

I cant stand committees anyway.

What I'm more thinking of is a clear definition of what you can expect from us over the next 5 years. That way you know in advance what you are involving yourself in and noone can say "ah here it comes... bet they have pop-ups next".

Its also a committement by us to you guys that you can say "oi, you said you wouldnt!" (ie: no popups, ever... no selling mailing lists etc).


DeV.

Shiminay

If I see popups, I shall jump up and down upon the rib cages of the Admins - I can find ye all quite easily (but I probably won't be able to get replacement lungs with as much ease)

Anyway, as for our style of government, the Dictators/Admins work quite well IMO - they're the reason it's *still* working as well as it did when we all started how many years ago?

"If it ain't broke - don't fix it!"

Let the Admins make the decisions - I don't want to have to think - just spam!

amp

/me puts on slightly more serious hat (with propeller attachment)

There are two main issues as I see it:

1. Financial.
At the start boards was made possible by 5 or 6 admins chucking sharing the cost of the server and connection and other stuff. As boards grows that burden cannot continue to grow on these people. The advertising and other "revenue streams" will hopefully counter this and boards can continue it's incredible growth.

2. Accountability.
Boards started off as a benovelant dictatorship (BD). And why not, the admins and others did the sterling work in their own time and spent their own money for without which boards would not exist.

But this is changing. The BD is evolving into a democraticlly influenced entity. If and when the community starts paying it's own way then this is entirely necessary.

However imo Boards can never be fully democratic. And the reason I mentioned the UN is because that neither is that. The security council isn't elected. They just won Word War II (and fair play ).

As an example of why boards should never be fully democratic: Imagine the Admins were all elected and someone like myself went round getting the loony vote and somehow managed to end up as an Admin?

Do I know how to fix and sql database or debug a flangemaster 2000? No. Can I install the next version of VBulletin? Not on your nelly. Could I stop hax0rs pentrating security? Nope. Could I pull off Glenstal? Nein.

In short boards has a crew of Admins that run it, and run it well because each one has unique abilities that full elections wouldn't provide.

So elected leadership is not possible and imo not desirable. But that doesn't mean that issues of importance cannot be decided by elections. Karma was voted down because it was incredibly unpopular for example. Moderators and Admins sometimes need to be told that something isn't working. And if the users of the boards feel they aren't being listened to they will decide to feck off elsewhere. And without users boards is just a pc sitting in a room somewhere.

/me takes off hat, drops pants and runs away screaming

BioHazRd

Sweet Jebus - what's the world coming to.

Amp has said something profound, and I agrree with him..

Quick run to the caves, it's our only hope.:p

Bio

amp

I do have the odd moment of clarity

DeVore

Scarily enough I agree with Amp entirely....


"and it will burn up to something no bigger then the head of a Chihuahua..."


DeV.

amp

Originally posted by DeVore
Scarily enough I agree with Amp entirely....


"and it will burn up to something no bigger then the head of a Chihuahua..."


DeV.

Oh bloody hell. There goes all my fight the power credibility.

VOTE FOR AMP AS ADMIN!! YOU KNOW IT MOCKS SENSE! WINNERS DON'T DO DRUGS! DEVORE IS A POOPY HEAD!

Ahhh, that's better...

Anyway. Manefesto's and charters are the wrong words. We need a Constitution. A sort of combo FAQ/Rulebook/guideline type yokey which is highly visible and can be used thusly:

MUPPET: I LIKE TEH WAREZ! BRITS OUT! MAKE ME MOD! I WANT A FLANGEMASTER 2000 FORUM! DEVORE IS A POOPY HEAD! WHY AM I BANNED FROM CS? IS THIS A CONSPIRACY? CLOUD SHOT JFK!!

Non-muppet: Eh... Read the constitution

Trouble is, how to write the darned thing. Do other forums have such a thing? Can we rip it off? Is ripping off parts of real-world(tm) countries constitutions feasible?

What rights, if any, can each user be guaranteed for example? Is having such a constitution going to stifle a moderators style on different boards? Would rules for one forum be appropriate for another? Etc. Etc.

There's a lot of questions there and more as time goes by. But I'm going to stop now as my fingers hurt and too many people are agreeing with me which is scary.

Where's Logic? My latest arch-enemy! Surely you have deeply controvertial and hurtful things to reduce me to tears as oft times before?