The latest news from the VP world......

[LeeVanCleef]

Also, to give "The Empire" its due (as we squat over here in Virtual Pinball's version of Yavin IV), I think AJ's post puts to rest rumors that he was so upset about Noah starting his own pinball site that he just stormed off. But he could have said goodbye! Fuck that piece of shit. I hope he knows that he's always welcome to drop by the asylum here!

[Ike Savage]

Originally Posted by Itchigo

I haven't said hello to any of the old crew - I think they would have my head for the disarray I caused in the community! I'm sure they think I abandoned everything, which I did - but for a few good reasons. The headaches of the problem children on the forum were getting to be old and everyone had their own ideas on how vpf.com should be run. The forum was up for 7 years! I was also in the middle of a long, bitter divorce. I moved across the country. I spent months trying to find a job. Any money I did have went to my daughter and stacking bills. It took me awhile to recover. In hindsight, I should have handed it off to one of the guys before I disappeared. I thought I could still handle everything (I'm stubborn too). Instead, the server company wiped everything after 45 days of non-payment. I only had bits and pieces of a backup. I did find a directory of all the old tables from the time just before vpf went down. I'm sure some people would understand. I've read through every post out there about VPF.com and anything that referenced my name. I saw a few were concerned for my health and welfare, but most had the attitude of "fuck that piece of shit!".

thanks, itchigo... good man. so the demise was apparently this stuff and not the server farm fire that mr schultz had speculated upon. and i also seem to recall that an FBI case was solved after 40-odd years just the other day.


well, if AJ's actually reading this then i do have to say--

'problem people' were exactly what the staff was for. such was not supposed to be your responsibility. what WAS your responsibility was communication with the staff in a relatively reasonable manner. near the end it was something of a miracle if we heard from you 1-2x a year or so. yea sorry, but that's on you, mate.

also, i take issue with anyone thinking the whole site was 'your baby' or 'your effort' or anything along those lines. i mean, the site, the tables and everything was a flawed but dazzling, unique group effort. the man-hours put in across the board was staggering, and i find the idea that you were hosting the whole thing out of sheer goodness of heart to be absurd if not downright comical. even if site donations did not cover expenses as bob always insisted, even if you hadn't been so very absentee, even if you had been willing to pass on the site near the end as myself and others spent time and effort trying to facilitate... well... there were a lot of factors.

IMO you're a good man but a lousy communicator.

and hey, i've been battling a serious illness all my life which crippled my career and family plans, but i also did bust ass for the site when i was involved. and i get the distinct feeling that more than a few others did as well... many more productive than myself. IMO they and people like destruk and so forth are the ones who should be thought of us gifting us all with VPF more than yourself. of course, you were the one with the kill switch.

when you stopped paying the bills, neglected to communicate, and neglected the offer of others handling the finances and site-running, you let a lot of people down. not to mention the VP project itself-- years and years of great coding examples and development history pop in to mind as huge losses.

so, you know, "good guy" and "fuck that piece of shit" are not necessarily mutually exclusive in life. owning ones actions has always earned my respect.

[LeeVanCleef]

Just goes to show... you never piss off a mod. Even when he's retired! I certainly didn't know as much about the inner workings of the site that you did, Nic, but I always heard it was AJ's football sites that were really covering the bill for VPN. If that's the case, then it's one of the best charity donations I was ever a recipient of. OTOH, he really should have handed the reins over to TMFP. I may not be sure on funding matters, but the inability of the staff to do much with the site certainly leaked down to lowly members like myself. But I think AJ would agree that hindsight's 20/20. You know... couldawouldashoulda, spilt milk and all that. I'm really just glad the guy's okay.

[LeeVanCleef]

Originally Posted by Ike Savage

and hey, i've been battling a serious illness all my life

I think that could be the difference, Nic. You've had to deal with life kicking you in the balls for a very long time. It's not fair, but it also gives you a bit more of an edge to handle the worst that the world can throw at you. From what AJ said, it sounds like life was really puttin' it to him in the jewels toward the end. From my similar experience, it makes it very hard to respond at all, let alone when you're under pressure. We all respond to life's pressures in different ways and, especially here in a group of outright kooks (very much self-inclusive), I think we have to be very careful what we do with our stones in our respective glass houses.

[Ike Savage]

bill... actually the site would have had to be passed to someone other than TMFP. in fact he bought a license for vBulletin and intended to branch off his own VP site at some point, but found that vBulletin was a very steep learning curve by that time.

IIRC valamir cleaver (getting help from a vB expert... shiva, was it?) offered to take over duties from AJ, but AJ changed his mind at some point. not good.

as for site costs-- yea, when i was admin he told me he had to make up the difference most months out of pocket. i believed him, especially knowing the nature of the scene and the internet. being very broke at the time i empathised with that a lot, but it also worked against me because i felt badly about bothering him too much. i wish i'd been more assertive, not that it would likely have changed much. but if we could simply have chatted every month or two it would have cleared up lots of issues... at least from my end. especially because it was not my own needs i was really representing, but the site, users, authors, etc.

i too am glad AJ's okay, of course. sorry, i should have said that straightaway.

i do hope he's learned something from all this, tho. certainly, i have.

[Shockman]

AJ had nobody to take over for him. The staff had too much power, though I agree it was very little outside of a venue for power tripping, which included mostly just modding and banning access.

The opportunity for community leadership was probably an opportunity for succession, and AJ's site was not as much about a site than a community, and the staff was not about the community, or the site, as much as the staff.

Add to that AJ being undermined and I repeat he had nobody to take over.

A horse rancher is got going to give his ranch to a glue factory.

[Ike Savage]

oh, god.

[LeeVanCleef]

Originally Posted by Itchigo

The headaches of the problem children on the forum were getting to be old

Now I remember who I was thinking of when I read this! Goddammit Nic, why did you have to be a problem child?

[sleepy]

It's like the video game, "Paperboy". Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday.
Did you smack the window?

[Ike Savage]

Originally Posted by ruby651

Now I remember who I was thinking of when I read this! Goddammit Nic, why did you have to be a problem child?

i was bored.

[LeeVanCleef]

Man, mother-effing Paperboy! Never have so many quarters been spent on so little talent. There was a "Wednesday"?

[Ike Savage]

Originally Posted by ruby651

Man, mother-effing Paperboy! Never have so many quarters been spent on so little talent. There was a "Wednesday"?

aw... fuck you, bill. maybe one day you'll be well-off enough to buy a modern cellphone so that we can maybe talk live.

it prolly wouldn't work anyway, you being covered with snow and michael feldman flakes and all.

so good luck with that there, MISSY. (in my john wayne voice)

[LeeVanCleef]

LOL! Man, if you could see what I have as a phone... my nephew was laughing at me for using it in 2008! It's a 2002 Nokia clam-shell... and Snake comes with it, free of charge! Of course, it doesn't work any more, what with T-Mobile demanding "money" and all that other nonsense. But my paperwork has entered the gummit's unforgiving maw, so, who knows? In a year or two...

[Ike Savage]

in any case i like reading your updates. por ejemplo, i had no idea that whatsisname did a whole series of monster songs until you did that fun substitution teh other day...

[Itchigo]

Originally Posted by ruby651

LOL! Man, if you could see what I have as a phone...

And?....

[LeeVanCleef]

Is that in case Commissioner Gordon and Chief O'Hara call?

[Itchigo]

Yup, when I see this in the sky I know to expect a call.