We got off topic, but I want to assure to the admins that I like this place, and all I want to do is let more people know about it so they can enjoy it as well.

This is the only site that I am regularly posting on

Personally, I think crashing the site would bring a lot more people in...

Bite me. I just spent my night fixing a downed router and trouble shooting a loose cable. grr.

I just spent about two hours going through all my email accounts to make sure I didn't miss a renewal notice for the domain...heh..

Thanks for the laugh guys

Yeah, the domain expiring would, um not help the site at all

Especially how some domain name services like to operate. "Well when the site went down it was getting X amount of traffic, that means it will now cost you XX amount of dollars to buy it back since it expired!" Which happened to a friend of mine a few years back. What was nothing more than a vanity site with a small forum for a few of us local gamers was suddenly valued at around 500 bucks. Needless to say he didn't buy it back.

Yeah that sucks. There is much more competition these days and I think everyone is trying to keep competitive in order to survive.

Not to say there aren't shady outfits out there. I have worked in IT for years and even worked for a hosting company and I have never heard of that happening.

But I don't doubt you. With the way things are going with companies these days, never doubt the power of greed.

Often. Like here and here

The Haven remains the only generalist forum where I feel comfortable posting. It has the right level of moderation and a true generalist mission statement. Unfortunately, I just don't find many threads useful anymore nor do I feel posting threads about gaming here is very productive. I suspect it's the same for many people I don't know the exact reason(s) as to why it's not working out. This very thread as well as the two threads I just mentioned above should give you some ideas.

Personally:

-It's got a very tiny user base.There's a low probability you'll actually get meaty feedback on a specific topic and game. Most of the time, people talk past each other. I don't think it's the users' fault. People can't give more than polite, vanilla feedback on stuff that doesn't push their button, myself included.

-Big communities can survive on the basis of utility alone. For instance, one can get a lot of use out of RPG.net without giving a fuck about any member over there. Because you're pretty much guaranteed to get information or feedback on any topic. It can be all about the topic. In smaller communities, you build rapport with other users. This will weigh in your decision to contribute to a thread that may not push many of your buttons, simply based on your desire to try and help someone you know. Unfortunately, the original good vibe of the Haven has gone through a great deal of erosion as far as I'm concerned.

I'm one of the original members who thought the Haven would be much more popular than it ended up being. The mission statement and moderation seem to be what a lot of roleplaying forum users were asking for. But I'm starting to realize it's bullshit. They ask for something they don't really want. Gamers like the passive aggressive mindgames of RPG.net, the sectarian nature of communities like the RPGsite, Story-Games and the Forge.

These days I read RPG.net when I want to see what's going on with the hobby and I sparsely participate at ENWorld, since a new edition of DnD is coming. I come to the Haven every now and then but nobody would give a shit about what I have to say and right now, I don't see a single roleplaying-related topic I give a shit about.

I'm keeping an open mind and hope this will change but frankly, at this point, I think you can stick a fork in the Haven.

I still think that the lack of actual features other then a message board does hurt the site.

If I owned the site there are a bunch of things I would do to help get this site moving more. But I don't