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Ok, I'll go with this. To have spent 25 years growing and growing up with this place is a pretty big chunk of time invested.
We did help build this place and spread the word. We even helped to build the Library with our own song contributions and suggestions in the beginning.
And love, sweat and tears.
This latest incident here may be that we have just seen the torch passed to a new set of people who look at this place with different thoughts and goals for its future. That we have been told to get over it and move on sorta says this in a nutshell.
It seems that decisions going forward will be based on business concerns and the community that is part of this will soon be the community that was part of this.
You may be right, Kurt: this may have been a business decision to remove some threads. The problem is AFAIK: no one told us to get over it and move on. $h*t just happened.
And Coaxial has a great point 2 posts prior to yours. Overall, if these changes were done intentionally and permanently, it's not a great way to win over longtime members/donors.
Some of the deleted threads are populated by many posts from friends that have either moved on from RP or are no longer alive and I call bullshit to the claim that those threads can't be restored.
Feels very DOGE-y. Just a shrug and a "welp, that's fixed."
Yes, there is a plaintive and somewhat proprietary tone in the responses to this disappearance of many threads. There is a disturbance in The Force, if you will. A pronounced one. There is a sense of loss.
Are these outcries evidence of overly caring? Perhaps, but I think it also tells us something, something intangibly positive.
As strange as it sounds, one could say that we have identities tied to this place â which is inexplicable if not unfathomable. I long ago came to terms with my attachment to this forum and those who populate it. Donât ask me to explain why.
Ok, I'll go with this. To have spent 25 years growing and growing up with this place is a pretty big chunk of time invested.
We did help build this place and spread the word. We even helped to build the Library with our own song contributions and suggestions in the beginning.
And love, sweat and tears.
This latest incident here may be that we have just seen the torch passed to a new set of people who look at this place with different thoughts and goals for its future. That we have been told to get over it and move on sorta says this in a nutshell.
It seems that decisions going forward will be based on business concerns and the community that is part of this will soon be the community that was part of this.
"One thing we didnât mess with: the forum. Some ecosystems are best left undisturbed."
RP admin.
August 24 2026
My last word on the subject isn't mine, unless it's to show gratitude for the restoration (even if impossible) of the fault line.
I would also be interested to know if AI was used to make these adjustments. I realize I don't necessarily have a right to that information, but I would
like to know for my own reasons.
Location: 544 miles west of Paradis 1821 miles east of Paradise Gender:
Posted:
Oct 14, 2026 - 7:06pm
Some of the deleted threads are populated by many posts from friends that have either moved on from RP or are no longer alive and I call bullshit to the claim that those threads can't be restored.
Location: Perched on the precipice of the cauldron of truth
Posted:
Oct 14, 2026 - 6:51pm
rgio wrote:
I would have agreed 100% a week ago. The negative feedback and scale for the sense of loss has been a surprise.
. . .
Yes, there is a plaintive and somewhat proprietary tone in the responses to this disappearance of many threads. There is a disturbance in The Force, if you will. A pronounced one. There is a sense of loss.
Are these outcries evidence of overly caring? Perhaps, but I think it also tells us something, something intangibly positive.
As strange as it sounds, one could say that we have identities tied to this place â which is inexplicable if not unfathomable. I long ago came to terms with my attachment to this forum and those who populate it. Donât ask me to explain why.
I'm relaying to you what I was told by the backend team - accounts were purged and subsequently forum topics that were started by them or heavily contributed by them were also purged in the process. Don't shoot the messenger. Onwards and upwards.
I'm coming to this party/kovfefe a bit late but:
1. What did the banned/removed individuals do?
2. Couldn't William or the backend team post some explanation and encouragement to follow Forum rules?
I'm relaying to you what I was told by the backend team - accounts were purged and subsequently forum topics that were started by them or heavily contributed by them were also purged in the process. Don't shoot the messenger. Onwards and upwards.
You seem to be the only one who actually cares about sharing information. I can see that the problem is fairly straightforwardâjust database queries, restoring lost records from a backup, and so on. But will it actually get done? And if not, why? This uncertainty worries me a bit; itâs not that Iâm a regular on this forum, but itâs painful for me to watch thisâI canât help it.
Well since they posted dozens of times per day in many popular threads, including ones started by BillG 20 years ago, that math didn't really work out.
I assume "onward and upward" means no attempt to fix anything will be made. We all know what a minor role the forum plays these days, way out of proportion to the major PITA it is to maintain.
Deleting users through the forum admin interface has no impact on topics.
An admin can delete a user and decide whether to leave the user's posts or delete those as well.
Removing one or more posts doesn't destroy a topic, even if the deleted user started it. The exception would be a topic with a single post by the deleted user. If that user/post were deleted the topic is gone too.
Users can be deactivated, banned or deleted. And even IP addresses can be blocked if needed.
However, all of that remains irrelevant to the missing subforums/categories in the forum index.
I'm relaying to you what I was told by the backend team - accounts were purged and subsequently forum topics that were started by them or heavily contributed by them were also purged in the process. Don't shoot the messenger. Onwards and upwards.
Deleting users through the forum admin interface has no impact on topics.
An admin can delete a user and decide whether to leave the user's posts or delete those as well.
Removing one or more posts doesn't destroy a topic, even if the deleted user started it. The exception would be a topic with a single post by the deleted user. If that user/post were deleted the topic is gone too.
Users can be deactivated, banned or deleted. And even IP addresses can be blocked if needed.
However, all of that remains irrelevant to the missing subforums/categories in the forum index.
Removal campaigns here are real and have happened off and on over the years. I know as I was a target of one some 10 or 15 years ago. As were Bokey and Beaker. There have been others. Two of the biggest instigators are still here and have posted in this thread.
As I have the utmost regard and respect for you and the kindness that you bring to this place I shall not bother you again.
.
I don't know if you are insinuating me here or not, but I've never called for your removal. I did call for the removal of Umberdog (obvious reasons) and Beaker. Beaker was left in place, and eventually self destructed on his own, only to respawn, later thrown another fit or three and I'm not sure if he was banned or walked on his own. Bokey had is own issues, but it was his own behavior that caused his problems (not just here).
Removal campaigns here are real and have happened off and on over the years. I know as I was a target of one some 10 or 15 years ago. As were Bokey and Beaker. Two of the biggest instigators are still here and have posted in this thread.
As I have the utmost regard and respect for you and the kindness that you bring to this place I shall not bother you again.
.
I was here, remember? Always. I never left or changed my name. I read it all.
You haven't bothered me. You've given in to your own frustration. I've not criticized you at all. I've questioned your motives. It's healthy if you want it. I admire your resilience and winced along with you when you read your own thoughts for all to see on the internet and sided with you more than once. You can save the soft indignation. I like you. I am your friend. I wish you could understand that. I wish you could understand the mirror I gifted you all this time.
This is a damned ignorant thing to say. Just getting that out there. Do me this one favor and don't comment back. It's all I can do to hold back the full bore about right now.
Sorry but I must defend myself on this.
Removal campaigns here are real and have happened off and on over the years. I know as I was a target of one some 10 or 15 years ago. As were Bokey and Beaker. There have been others. Two of the biggest instigators are still here and have posted in this thread.
As I have the utmost regard and respect for you and the kindness that you bring to this place I shall not bother you again.
.
Sorry for not reading through all the recent discussions about the forum, but was a reason given for the post deletions? I see mentions of trolls, but their posts could have been scrubbed from the database without such destructive measures. Or is there something else going on?
UPD: Ah, I see nowâit turns out it is a situation involving the "removal of trolls."
I understand this. Then the question begged is why did it take so long and have to be so heavy handed ?
Not to dump on whoever made this move, but they didn't see the unintended consequences as being so consequential.
Just like whoever "updated" the album metadata over the past year or two... so much wrong information in there now that William had spent so much time maintaining. edit: and low-resolution album art or incorrect art even if the correct album is listed. This live Tom Petty song used to be correctly attributed to the Live Anthology. Other songs are possibly technically correct: Yes, a track may in fact be found on a German K-Tel collection but is that where we will most likely find it? No.
We all know what a minor role the forum plays these days, way out of proportion to the major PITA it is to maintain. 
