Transfer (mostly) Complete. What Now?

[RapeU]

The transfer of ownership is for the most part complete. There are still a few minor things to do, but the majority of it is finished.

So, where are we at?

@Claire is not wrong. The forum is currently on life support. My initial goal was to get enough people to keep this place running. That goal has for the most part been met.

Like Claire, I have a vision for a forum that encourages reader feedback along with author commentary. It would make us unique. However, getting there is going to take a tremendous amount of time and work. In order to reach this goal, I would need a team of people working consistently for a year or more to make this happen.

Those of you who don’t share the same vision, that’s ok. You don’t have to have the same end goal that I do. I think we can all agree that we all share the common goal of keeping this place going. Because if you didn’t then you wouldn’t be here.

With that in mind, if you do share the same vision of active feedback culture plus author commentary, show me. Rate stories. Reply to stories even if you didn’t like them with constructive feedback. Give me contest ideas. Welcome new members. Post some of your own stories. In other words, help us keep the forum from dying a slow death.

Until a culture team can be assembled to meet the end goal, my main goal is to keep this place running as long as I can. And that is where we are at.

[Claire]

I have not been optimistic about the future of the forum, but I want to clarify that this was never because I didn't believe in the concept of the forum anymore. It only lacks the support of the users. So if you care about the continued existence of the forum, I can only encourage you to support @RapeU with your activity.

If you are a regular reader here and not an author, try to aim for as little as commenting and rating three stories per week on average. And if you are an author who regularly posts stories or new chapters here, there is a very easy test for yourself to see whether you are a part of the problem or a part of the solution: Does the number of stories/new chapters you post exceed the number of comments you leave on other authors' stories? If the answer to that question is yes and you would like for this forum to last, then your behavior on the forum is part of the problem.

So show @RapeU some support. He is investing time, money and effort into this. You can start by giving his ongoing story The CUNT Rapist a read and leaving a comment on it. It's probably one of the most underrated stories on the forum currently. And don't just focus on the newest stories, but try sorting the stories in the Public Stories board by rating:

Stories sorted by rating: viewforum.php?f=4&sk=rep&sd=d#sortrow

The stories with a rating of 20 or higher are only a couple of ratings removed from becoming Popular Stories and most of them can be read in 10 to 20 minutes. By pushing stories to Popular and Community Favorite status, you motivate the authors AND help the forum as a whole tremendously.

So, show your new admin some love and show some interest in his stories! This community desperately needs a sense of reciprocity where those who support the community the most also get attention for their creative work in return. And @RapeU is currently definitely the person who invests the most in this forum. If you are grateful for him keeping the forum on life support, don't just say it, show it!

[R.R.Ryan]

I'll do better in the future. I'm not much of a commenter this go-around.

[JTCK]

...
If you are a regular reader here and not an author, try to aim for as little as commenting and rating three stories per week on average.
....

Come on, everyone! It’s really not that much to ask — just three ratings and comments per week to keep this unique forum alive!

And @Claire — so great to see you’re still around and actively involved. Thanks a lot for sticking with it!