What can be done to save Bond and Beyond from the doldrums?

Awful-looking theme. Oh, and the World Cup's over with.

Brian seems to insinuate that this place never worked because it can't with a bunch of disgruntled members that tried to establish an anti-MI6 or some competitor. Sir, you weren't even in this forum until later when it had already been going downhill, so stop spreading that bullshit (I'm sure you'll continue anyway, whatever). At the start of it we were bitter of MI6, but it was quickly put aside because we wanted to make something great out of this forum. If anything, it was James Page that continued to have issues with the idea of this forum, which is too bad, but that's his deal. The first two years were pretty great. We weren't out to start something big, it was just a small forum by those who wanted to continue what good the old MI6 had. Great Bond discussion that lead up to the release of SKYFALL, fun bar humor, tits, ect. It was all good and I don't regret being a part of it. At the start of 2013 something turned that eventually lead to a lot of great members like Harmsway leaving. What made this place fun was the collection of great members who brought so much character to this forum. They were the reason I stayed on MI6 for so long, and by the time so many have left this forum, I just no longer had the enthusiasm to continue here. I did try to give nuMI6 another shot after leaving BAB, but it ain't the same without the folks that attracted me here.

Reviving this place would be great, but I've moved on. I'd like to remember this place as it was in its prime. Bond forums won't be the same as those good days as far as I'm concerned.

Makeshift Python wrote:

The first two years were pretty great. We weren't out to start something big, it was just a small forum by those who wanted to continue what good the old MI6 had. Great Bond discussion that lead up to the release of SKYFALL, fun bar humor, tits, ect. It was all good and I don't regret being a part of it.

The place wasn't CBn and it wasn't MI-6. I guess, in part, that's what made it great. You could come here and act like an adult with adult interests (hence the titty section and the bar humor). No other Bond forum had that kind of mix. And it was like an island of misfit toys, but only later did the problems develop when a person (or group of people) decided that the site needed to try and be something that it wasn't, nor should ever be: legit and mainstream and popular. And by doing that, it took the edge off. Now it was "safe" for everyone. And by being safe and vanilla and bland for everyone it became less distinctive and a site nobody cared about. You could get that sort of watered-down content anywhere.

The site focus seemed to drift from taking care of the members, to trying to recruit people through Facebook, a website, Twitter, FourSquare, YouTube, Vine, MySpace. I'm surprised we didn't use Scientology or The Guilty Remnant to help us get more visitors. And to what end? What did it get the site?

Yeah, the site was successful in making itself so thoroughly untennable that PG, Tim, and myself voluntarily left. Yet it did nothing to stoke a revival, as some people swore to TPTB that it would. Now those crazy, right-wing, tea-bagging nut-jobs were gone, the place was going to be restored to its former state of pristine glory, right?

Sort of like that Leonardo DiCaprio movie, THE BEACH, where once people started discovering this tiny little corner of the planet/Internet, our little bit of paradise was gone; we had to start acting all uppity.

We then had to start putting "disclaimers" in sections and forums that, you would have figured, wouldn't have required it. A "disclaimer" at the beginning of the American Politics section? A site that can run a titty forum needs a "disclaimer" at the beginning of the News section stating the content found within "might" be "objectionable"? "Proceed at your own risk"?   

And so, where once we were all adults and allowed to speak our mind, we then began being treated like children. We had to begin tip-toeing around others. Can't say anything that might be "offensive"...or "sexist" or "racist" or "homophobic"...or "xenophobic". Well, hell's bells, that doesn't leave much to talk about in the BEYOND section, now does it? No one was expected to man up; they were instead expected to complain about some else's points of view in emails or PM, instead of going into the forums and counter-debating. Because, yes, being expected to argue your contrary point of view was simply too much work; why work for others to believe what you say when you can simply try to get a moderator to ban someone you don't like, or at least pressure the dissenters into leaving??? Eh?

The site needed the BEYOND section to prosper when the BOND part was in between films and traffic would dip down. Now the whole thing is just BLAND AND BEYOND.

I mean, you've got two sections to this site: POPULAR TOPICS and HOT TOPICS. How is there any difference between the two? Are there any differences?

Visually the site is unappealing, and organizationally it makes no sense. There's not the slightest bit of visual stimuli on the front page (except for Christina Hendricks) that would make a person who walked by want to stick around and investigate.

And the thing about being gone for 16, 18 months is that you realize just how time consuming this little hobby can be, and how you CAN live without being on a message board. And once you get away from it for 14-18 months, the incentive to come back isn't quite as strong as it once was. It takes effort to want to care.

Well I'm up for one last shot. If Laz. can do something about the layout - Gravity, Brown, Hilly, Python and myself can try and get this shit off the ground.

I recommend either going with original 6 gun salute or Retrokitty's banners:







FWIW I think the last one's the best, and all ticks Gravity's boxes of fitting in the colours of the Union Jack.

I'm getting too old for this shit.

:)

But in seriousness I'm up for one more shot but to be honest I seem to stick in some form regardless. Once old MI6 went belly up that was it. Never went to CBn or elsewhere (though I see on nMI6 Barry007 has found somewhere else to go) so in spite of the odd nMI6 place it's here or nowhere I suppose.

See all in the new dawn

BaB can always count on you, Hilly. You're one of the few left here with balls.

Largo's Shark wrote:

BaB can always count on you, Hilly. You're one of the few left here with balls.

Most kind, but I wouldn't know about that. If folk knew me in the real-world and all that jazz.

Anyway. Britain's last line of defence.

This message box stinks more than Godzilla's asshole. It is barely four inches wide. Has this site been formatted to fit on an Ipad? Please widen everything and get rid of the world cup theme.

With a new Bond movie in the pre-works...let's just get on with it. I have zero interest in going to other forums and will rather do without one if this one goes to hell.

It's nice to see a few familiar names in this thread.

Thanks to he who gave me a shout to check in. I'm not sure if it will be short-lived if nothing happens.

Well heyyy. Looks like I saved the day.   

Nice to see you too, Dog and indeed, Toppers, well done. You win a cookie   



Let the word go forth, to all men and women, to come...here...

Okay, so first order of business, where the hell is Baker Street?

Will overhaul the site back to it's basic original format/version, then we can build from the ground up. Would like the six-gun salute banner back, but with a simple, modern but cohesive title font. Any takers for designing that?

Also, as I've said for ages now, these boards will be completely free-speech. Let's get the politics thread hyperactive again.

Great to see Gravity back on here, hopefully that can become more than just a flying visit. And Dog Bond... forum legend, what more can I say?

All we need now is j7 ;-)

I see no mention of the hero there. It's all good though, I'm a humble creature.



God damn it I want my recognition.

When I said Gravity, of course I meant your good self Toppers, for the immense gravitas you bring to the place :-)

Exactly man.

Haven't 'popped my head round the door' in a while ... I see the same old 'woe is us' circular argument is still going on. Hmmm.

We do tend to revisit the classics.

--

The blue is much easier on my eyes...  

I think (and hope) that next year, with the upcoming release of Bond 24, the forum will become more active. During this time period, two years ago, there were several threads speculating about Skyfall, so I can't see why it shouldn't happen again.

Much better Laz. Props.

Nameless bureaucrat wrote:

In your admin panel, in users and groups, in users, you will see the ban control option. In the ban control you can trace IP addresses, ban IP addresses or host names and unban IP addresses and hostnames. By banning an IP address it does not matter if a banned member goes and makes up a bogus email and username, they still wont be able to sign up to your forum if the IP is banned. To find a members IP address you can click the small IP button to the top right of any post they have made.

To ban the IP come back to your admin panel and enter the IP in 'Ban one or more IP addresses or hostnames' field then save.You can also unban the IP if you choose by entering it in the 'Unban one or more IP addresses' field.

http://help.forumotion.com/t10774-banning-a-member

So admins can ban members' ISP addresses after all. Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?

Brianfucksforums wrote:

So admins can ban members' ISP addresses after all. Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?

What's this about?

To quote some guy who got a whoop ass and incited riots...can't we all just get along?

I'm tired of this fucking shit.

Brianfucksforums/Ambler Mk. 256 just made the discovery that Forumotion can block IP addresses, which runs contra to what M told us. If that feature had been used earlier we'd have been saved from the never-ending saga of Brian McKaig, which started when his first alias 'SILHOUTTE MAN' was banned on March 30th 2013 for going utterly mental.

Largo's Shark wrote:

Brianfucksforums/Ambler Mk. 256 just made the discovery that Forumotion can block IP addresses, which runs contra to what M told us. If that feature had been used earlier we'd have been saved from the never-ending saga of Brian McKaig, which started when his first alias 'SILHOUTTE MAN' was banned on March 30th 2013 for going utterly mental.

I thought that could be done all along, all boards are supposed to have a block feature. If not, how was j7wild blocked?

I'm just saying...if we're trying to resurrect things here, we need fewer dramas, especially if there are only a handful of members around at a time.

Really wanted to avoid posting in this thread.

I'd recommend the following:

- Whoever is admin (Laz? M? LS? Hilly?) needs to know about Ambler's recent discovery, then apply it.
- Get out of this thread. Time to move forward with actual posting in Bond threads and the Beyond section, except of course, these kinds of threads.

Stop living in the past.

Fear I'm just a mod Fields. I've tried clicking IP on some of the aliases of Brian and get something about needing to be an admin to view it.

What you say and others is right. Time to get out of this circle. Ever decreasing one at that.