destroyer of worlds

Hi, everyone.

Lisa and I have been discussing this, and we think that it may be time to close this board.

As some of you may be aware already, we both are resigning as the moderators of this board so if anyone wants to keep this board open, you'll have to apply to moderate it and go through the Moderator Selection Process.

As it stands, our post counts are still good and we are consistently in the top 20 in terms of post rankings. However, frankly, posting on my part at least has felt more like a chore than anything else for a while now - mainly because of how badly the show ended and lack of interest in discussing episodes/characters much anymore. And right now, we do not have many regular posters left (probably due to the same reason).

As you know, Fan Forum requires that we average at least 12 posts per day, with lower numbers than that leading to warnings and then possible closure of the board. We would prefer to go out under our own terms rather than be forced to close due to low post counts, and the board would also need dedicated new mods to keep it going (after me and Lisa leave).

Lisa and me aren't sure if anyone is interested in modding the board, but bearing in mind that there are still separate boards for two castmembers, it would be best if the new mods are able to post in a variety of threads and topics across the board, in order to be able to keep interest going on the board in the long-run.

Please let us know what you think. We'd be glad to hear any suggestions or advice to renew interest here. Remember that to keep the board going, we need the commitment of a few regular, dedicated posters. As much as we love this board, please don't just post to "save" the board and then disappear again, because we'll be in the same position that we're in now if you do.

We will open a separate thread for me and Lisa to leave longer goodbye messages, before we leave.

Damocles

Thanks Sarah!

Just to let you guys know that we did think long and hard about posting this topic; please keep in mind that we have VERY few posters now that post on more than one or two threads regularly (and the two arguably most popular characters have their own entire boards-show discussion can continue on those), and the quality of discussion has waned in recent times. We'd really prefer to go out without a complete fizzle or due to very low post counts.

Please also only consider applying for a moderator position if you intend to post regularly, on a wide variety of threads, and make an effort to continue discussion (aka what I personally have NOT been doing in recent times). Please do not just apply to keep the board alive out of nostalgia.

Thanks everyone for understanding and we look forward to hearing from you!

destroyer of worlds

Thanks, Lisa. What you said, completely. Please know that this was not a decision that either of us take lightly and we have been discussing it for a while now, taking into account the level of activity on the board and the lack of active discussion now (totally understandable, since we feel the same way about the show's ending).

I can't even bring myself to watch old episodes (which I used to do constantly) because of how utterly disappointed I am with the show now. So, this really needs to be a decision made without too much emotion taken into account, and we have to do what's right for the board/posters. And we want this to be a decision we make together, since you guys are precisely why we have done so well as a board, instead of it being a forced decision later on - due to our posts declining.

Karma Police

It's always bittersweet to open such a thread. You know it's the right thing to do but it's still hard to take that step.

I won't weigh in whether the board should stay open or not bc I'm not a regular anymore but I've opened such threads on boards I modded in the past, and you just know when the timing feels right. And it's better to close the board on your own terms than to be forced to close it bc you can't even meet the bare minimum.

CanIcallYouKate

Oops, I'm one of those ppl who left because of the declining quality of the show LOL

So like Paulina, I shall not comment whether this board should continue.

I feel you guys, though, this must be a bittersweet moment for you.

So let's bring out one of the weird emojis I made for this board one more time lol



What is this bizarre nostalgic feeling of seeing Sarah, Lisa, Paulina posting

April7739

As someone who has not left the board and still posts here, I want to say that I 100% think this is the right decision. It's a weird situation, because it's not the post count that has led to this thread. Are we posting less? Of course, and that's to be expected when a show takes such a sharp decline in terms of its quality before eventually ending altogether. But the reason why it's time for this board to close is . . . well, it's not quantifiable, not something that can be determined by numbers.

The show became a very unpleasant viewing experience in the final season, and being in the fandom has often been an unpleasant experience, too. In fact, posting on this board has sometimes been an unpleasant experience. Still, many of us have managed to find real friends from this show. Indeed, some of my closest friends have come from here, (and I've even been fortunate enough to develop a real-life relationship with Bob and Eliza). But we don't need FF as an avenue for communication anymore. We can chat on other social media. We can text, or Zoom. Our friendships have evolved beyond FF.

Speaking for myself, I barely post in any of the threads anymore, simply because I ended up not liking a lot of the characters (and being disappointed in a lot of the cast members). I fully own up to only posting in a couple of threads. I don't know that any of the posters left on this board would have both the desire and the capability of being a good mod for it. The people who still post often focus their attention on certain threads only, just like I only focus on Clarke/Eliza, Bellamy/Bob, and Bellarke. There's nothing wrong with that. It just demonstrates that it's time for board closure. Additionally, mods of this board have historically been treated horribly. This needs to be taken into consideration when making this decision.

The Bob Morley board is still open, and I can assure everyone that that is a very peaceful and easygoing place to post, and I would love to see you there! And of course, since Eliza is Bob's wife, it's a wonderful place to get to post about her, too. I don't know anything about the ADC board, but it's still open, too, for anyone who wants to focus on her. In my opinion, it is quite obvious that there is no need to keep this board open.

Jerry D

First of all, I’d like to thank Lisa and Sarah for the years they spent moderating this board. I appreciate everything that they did.

I’d also like to ask if we can keep the discussion on this thread to the subject at hand:

• Do people want this board to remain open?
• Is anyone interested in moderating this board once Lisa and Sarah leave?

If no one is interested in keeping this board open that’s fine and we can close the board, but if people are interested in keeping this board open, please post your interest here.

In addition to this, if anyone is interested in moderating this board, please contact one of the Moderator Managers about it, or let us know on this thread.

We give threads like these three days to see what interest or lack of interest there might be in keeping a board open, and then the Management Team and I make our decision based on the feedback from the moderators and the feedback that we receive here, so I encourage everyone to think about this and then we can move forward with our decision.

Thank you.

Damocles

Thanks Jerry!

destroyer of worlds

Paulina. Absolutely agree, even though Lisa and me feel like closing the board is the right decision, it still doesn't make it easy. And to be very honest, if the show had ended well and we were happy with the ending, we would have probably want to keep this board going a lot longer - and posters wouldn't have been disheartened and stop discussing the episodes, posting actively in threads etc. It would be easy to continue posting without much substance and just have one word posts (if we wanted to) but that's not what we want for the board, it has always had quality discussions and posts and we want to keep it that way.

Kate ... thanks for popping by. Definitely bittersweet and I know first hand how you became disillusioned with the show, especially in the last 2 seasons, and with that, it makes it so hard to post.

I love the old gang back together again. And that the GIF is back, I've missed it!

Yeah, I agree. It's an odd situation because it's typically about post counts declining, a situation which we are not in (yet) and far from it. But there's certainly a lot of other considerations that went into me and Lisa deciding to request for this board closure to be considered. I don't know if anyone who has posted here regularly would want to mod this going-forward and since Lisa and me won't be very active here (once we leave), the post counts would probably be affected a lot once we do.

I really feel like things would be pretty different if the last season/show's ending was a lot better/satisfactory and most of us were happy with it. But it is what it is, sadly.

And thanks much, Jerry. 3 days is a reasonable period for the decision to be made.

April7739

Yeah, the last season just ruined so much. It would definitely be easier to keep it going if it had ended on a stronger note, and if the fanbase were less contentious.

destroyer of worlds

Yeah, I mean with a crappy ending like that (which fans in general really disliked, and not just us on the board), it makes it so hard to retain interest and be able to discuss characterisations/episodes etc. Which is so sad since we used to be so excited about this.

BlueDog9

I would definitely rather we go out on our own terms instead of a forced closure. It just all feels bittersweet. Have to admit I'll miss posting various materials on the various threads. (Granted some of those I could move into doing on Bob's board.) Just want to enjoy these last few days we'll have here together.

destroyer of worlds

Kate … we will miss the arts and GIFsets that you’ve posted over the years too. This is definitely bittersweet but I totally agree that it’s best if we can close on our own terms.

And yes, let’s enjoy the last few days on the board.

April7739

Would love to see you over there, Kate! It’s a super chill board to post on!

Always & Forever

Yeah, I’m sure a lot of the threads could be incorporated into Bob’s board, perhaps.