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Morbid

Rooster Illusion
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This is not going to be a well thought out post and kind of rambling, but I thought I should give you all a heads up.

I think I am done.

I honestly take no joy or interest in writing up crime stories any longer. I have burned out past burning out. I took a break to see if anything would change, and it just hasn't. I don't even check for crime-related stories any longer as I just do not care about them at all.

The lack of articles means a lack of revenue and the lack of revenue means this turns in to a much bigger monthly bill than I want to pay.

But I am in a tough position...l the site has been here so long there is a TON of articles that people may still be interested in and I would hate for them to just vanish. There is also the fact that you all have somewhat of a community here, albeit a shrinking one. I don't want to just turn out the lights and lock the doors on you.

So I'm not quite sure what to do, to be honest. The first thing I will be doing is downgrading our server to lower the hosting costs. I have no idea what that may do to site performance -- if anything at all. I am checking on that now. There's a possibility that just getting the cost down may be enough for me to leave it as is and just write some stuff whenever I feel like it.

There's just so much that needs to be done in regards to a site re-design and a forum upgrade that I just dread it. To the point that if anything to go wrong I would just throw my hands up and walk away from it all as I just don't have the time to mess with it if anything major goes wrong.

So, yeah. That's about it. Not sure what else to say, really. Unless we get some writers to pick up the slack, I have a strong feeling this may be the last year for the site (in its current state) and we may just go down to a forum only based site for the handful of you who still want to use it.
 
I have not been here long and have only added 1 story. However, I do enjoy writing and would love to help out however I can.
 
I have not been here long and have only added 1 story. However, I do enjoy writing and would love to help out however I can.

Then help my ass out on the front page, woman (man?)! If I had a couple of consistent writers, this would be smooth sailing.
 
Ah fuck.

Well, you know I'll help if I can. I'm not great at writing for the front page but I can give it another go. I just need direction. I really don't want the site to disappear.
 
:shifty::shifty::shifty::shifty::shifty: Stories are posted in here 405956849784690 times a day. Why is the front page any different?
Morbid rewrites them to be a bit more entertaining to the occasional reader to the site and most of the articles aren't cynical or morose like our comments on the forums normally are.
 
There is no shortage of stories for the front page and no shortage of writers around here!

The problem is he likes his articles written in a very specific way. I know cause I've written a few. It's not as easy as posting in the forum. If anyone wants to help write message him. But know it's a job you'll be doing for free.
 
@Morbid

I've considered trying it before, but my roadblock has always been that you ask for consistency, and, well... with my job and other life shit I just can't promise that.

If you'd take an occasional story over none at all, maybe if a few people can likewise contribute a little bit, we can pick up the slack.

Is that doable, or does it become more of a pain in the ass than it's worth?

I'd hate to see the site die, but I'm not sure what else to offer other than a small chunk of my time trying to bang out a story here or there, if the Bold and the Patreon isn't cutting it.
 
:shifty::shifty::shifty::shifty::shifty: Stories are posted in here 405956849784690 times a day. Why is the front page any different?

Because no one reads them in here. It's a forum.

Editing because that came off wrong. You can see the view count for every forum post. They are fine for a forum, but are a fraction of what a front page article brings and the front page is what pays for the site to run.

It has nothing to do with a lack of stories, I am just tired of writing them. As most everyone who has written a front page article can tell you, it isn't easy... especially not when you have to do it consistently. I can't pay, so I can't bitch about the people who quit after one article.

I also don't have the time to edit or show someone how. I just wasted hours a few weeks back after a handful of well-meaning people answered my call for writers. As @Subrosa and @Jaded can attest, I set them all up and got them all ready to go -- then nothing. Which, sadly, is normal.

But I have been saying this for over five years... that if the front page dies, so does the site. I just cannot foresee myself continuing to be the sole writer any longer. I find no joy in it any longer. Without any other writers, if I stop putting articles up, the amount of revenue we get to keep the lights on dries up with it.
 
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I think we are going to change the site up a bit. Focus on podcasting and Youtube and bring back vBulletin -- which would turn into our front page. Turn the current front page into an archive so we don't lose over a decade of stuff.

I appreciate the offers to write, but honestly I think that ship has sailed.

Let me do some investigating on how much of a pain in the ass switching back to vBulletin will be. I know the cost is around two fiddy, but I don't think they have a xenforo importer -- meaning we would be starting over from scratch (never mind, looks like there is one)..
 
I'm shit at writing, but I will be happy to keep posting as many stories as I can find!
your actually pretty good, you would have been on the top of who I would have asked, along with Everjaded, natch Jaded, Simply, Keeps, some of our members that went away, TMS, Nell knows how, FO, Ech, Baby, Pretty, Craygor, Brandi, and Peanut said she would give it a go
 
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Grr. So it took what, like 10 hours for that ship to sail?

I get being over it ... but damn, you asked for writers, people offered to at least try to step up, and then it's like nope, never mind.
 
it isn't easy...

but you're really good at it ...

The problem is he likes his articles written in a very specific way.

Okay when I was first cruising here on the front page you could tell there was more than one writer because the stories had a different flow or humour ... but I liked the differences and the diversity. So maybe all this specific-ness is too rigid to make it work.
 
Grr. So it took what, like 10 hours for that ship to sail?

Pretty much. I don't feel like going through setting up another writer for the 100th time, to be honest.

After speaking with @Jaded, I feel we are just going to change direction a bit. Knock down the server costs, go back to vBulletin, and focus on podcasting -- the only thing we really like doing anymore.

If people want crime news, they can look in the forums -- or the Facebook Group or Facebook Page.
 
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Yeah, stilll trying to wrap my head around that one too.
Oh well I tried.

I created a thread that started with me admitting it wasn't going to be well thought out and was completely honest with you all in regards to my feelings with the site and why.

After years of asking for writers so I was not the only writer, and years of setting up multiple writer accounts for people who expressed a desire to write but never did or only put in one or two articles before disappearing, I have been the sole writer for the site for YEARS. I am now sick of it and expressed that in my opening post.

When members in this thread expressed a desire to write, I got a little hope (as I always do) but had that shattered by @Jaded who bluntly reminded me that this happens every single time I ask for writers, and every single time it never pans out.

That is nothing against the people who try writing as I appreciate every word I have ever published, it's just the nature of the beast. Writing these stupid things isn't as easy as it looks and it takes up time you aren't getting paid for. I get it.

So, after talking with @Jaded, we decided to go down a different route, as I explained. Lower server costs, archive front page, move to forum only and focus on the things we do enjoy doing (podcasting, youtube, etc).

.
 
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