Death of a forum...

[cyberfret]

For those of you who have been around awhile, you have witnessed the life from these forums drain away. This forum started back in 2001 and was part of Cyberfret.com. It was later moved to GuitarLodge.com, back to Cyberfret.com and now back to GuitarLodge.com.

I have not been able to dedicate any time to the forums, because in all honesty I have to put time into things that put food on the table. As evil as that sounds...

The main problem is that there is just a constant stream of spammers and other evil doers who register and post all kinds of crap in the forums. They are robotic submissions, followed up by real idiots in Eastern Europe and China who help circumvent the security processes that helps weed out the spammers.

So what I had to do for the last couple of years was go to a manual process of activating new users. So basically anyone that has a weird looking user name, or weird looking email address I delete. Problem is, real legitimate users sometimes have weird usernames and weird email addresses.

So that drastically limits new users to the forum. Because of the delay in the process of activation, even those that do sign-up and are activated don't come back because of that delay.

Allowing instant activation like in the old days opens up a flood of crap. I know, I tried it again earlier this year. That is a reason I had to close the forums for months a couple of years ago. Links that spammers would post in the forum would take visitors to web pages that would contain viruses, or sell drugs etc.

Google shut down Cyberfret.com for about 4 days a couple of years ago because of that issue. I knew that I could not allow the forum to cause that vulnerability in Cyberfret. So I closed the forum, but then moved it back to GuitarLodge.com by itself.

So I would love to have the community back that we once had. It was a positive place to interact with other guitar players. Unlike so many forums out there. I can't dedicate the time to try and build it back. I do appreciate the work the moderators have done. I did just check and a couple of them have not been around for 6 months or more. Understandable...not much to see here.

So the questions is what do we do with the forum? Probably not many answers to that question since this will not be read by many. But I thought I would at least post to give those once regulars who might be stopping by for old time sake some insight into what happened.

--Shawn

[Magnum]

Sad. I always loved this forum. It was not like others.

I learned a lot on this forum. Although I do not play much anymore, I used to check in here once and a while.

[Warlock]

I just don't think that we will have much luck reviving it. A lot of people post and never get responses. That pretty much sends them off looking for a place they will be heard. Not that it's the forums fault, just not enough active people here. If the forum goes, so be it. I enjoyed my time here and it was nice to have a place that wasn't filled with know it all 15 year olds. My interest in the guitar has really gone down the last couple years or so. Mostly because my gear is junk and between the playability of my guitar and the tone of my amp I just don't want to play at all. I'm planning on getting some new gear next spring, pretty much replacing everything. Going for a tube amp and a high quality guitar. Hopefully sweet sounds will rekindle my love for the instrument. I will check in every so often, as long as the forum remains up. Thanks for giving it a second shot CF.

[rifferm]

It's sad that the forum is dying out. But I admit that I'm part of that as well. I haven't been on here in months. I have learned a lot in the past, but I don't have time to really dedicate to playing anymore. Yaaaay responsibilities. Hopefully, one day it will return to prominence, but I think Warlock kinda nailed it.

[MadMattUK]

Sad times indeed, crazy to think the forum is 10 years old! 10 frickin years!

It was once a very active hub, with posts every second. You could post a thread and expect an answer within seconds.

Good forum for guitar/music fundamental chat only, unlike a lot of forums that are littered with irrelevant shizzle.

For me playing the guitar and guitarlodge went hand in hand. Still remember signing up to the forums (stumbled across it after googling online guitar lessons and finding the parent cyberfret site). It was my first year of guitar playing and first year of university.

Good times all.

[Zed]

Why not appoint some moderators so that you don't have to do all the work yourself?

[NeoTrix]

Wow I havent been here in a long time (4 years ago).

I know now it seems irrelevant to post, but I remember logging here almost daily.

The thing I loved about this site was that it did helped me tremndously when I was first starting out (6 years ago). Friendly community, helpful members...overall just good memories here

It's really too bad that that this forum has died..

I just want to note that even today, I am still influenced of what this forum has brought to me. I stopped by here today because a friend of mine is starting out for the first time, so I recommended him to check out here

Anyway, I hope everyone is doing good with their life and music. I know I didnt bring much to the table when I was active, but I did learn alot from other members

[bonsy]

Originally Posted by NeoTrix

Wow I havent been here in a long time (4 years ago).

I know now it seems irrelevant to post, but I remember logging here almost daily.

The thing I loved about this site was that it did helped me tremndously when I was first starting out (6 years ago). Friendly community, helpful members...overall just good memories here

It's really too bad that that this forum has died..

I just want to note that even today, I am still influenced of what this forum has brought to me. I stopped by here today because a friend of mine is starting out for the first time, so I recommended him to check out here

Anyway, I hope everyone is doing good with their life and music. I know I didnt bring much to the table when I was active, but I did learn alot from other members

What a decent chap you are, Iam sure all the people who helped you out who may pop in from time to time will appreciate your effort to say high! Hopefully you and your friend will return more often. Cheers and good luck.

[MetalZ0n3]

I almost forgot about this site! Haven't been here in a while after I heard the forums were closing, are they back up now?

[Warlock]

Been up for quite awhile Metal, but the old level of activity has not come back. There are a few diehards that show up on occasion though. I hope that it gets some momentum back.

[Musiceroko]

Sad to hear that this forum is dying. When I first started playing the guitar this forum helped and inspired me a lot there are nice and great people here. I used to visit this forum everyday when I was in college. I played in a band, worked in a music store, traveled the world working for a cruise line and still coming back to this forum once in a while.

[wild_axeman]

America is dying. The world is dying too. Stupidity has reached epic universal
proportions. Critical mass idiocy achieved. The idiocracy is going to end very badly.
And no one cares.

Have a nice day.

[cyberfret]

Originally Posted by wild_axeman

America is dying. The world is dying too. Stupidity has reached epic universal
proportions. Critical mass idiocy achieved. The idiocracy is going to end very badly.
And no one cares.

Have a nice day.

....I am guessing you are having a bad morning...or a bad late night

I care.

America and a good chunk of the world is definitely in trouble. If it all goes bad and the world goes "Mad Max".... be sure and grab your guitar so we can jam. Acoustic would be best if there is no electricity...

...

On another note...I am starting a new forum on Cyberfret.com shortly. Just starting over for various reasons. It's all set up. Just a few more tweaks and it should be ready to go. Hope to see you there where we can continue to discuss post apocalyptic guitar playing

[ianb]

Let's see what the new forum brings.

Idiocracy, cracking film. Not liking how it is currently playing out in a reverse darwinian survival of the thickest.

[wild_axeman]

Hey guys, I know politics is taboo, but I figured this forum was dead so I thought it might be okay to leave a thought provoking parting message. I really don't like politicians. I'll check out the new forum and pick a new name.