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Location: At the dude ranch / above the sea Gender:
Posted:
Oct 15, 2026 - 4:42am
rgio wrote:
Thanks for clearing up what it is not.
What is it?
I think a mea culpa or explanation might help if appropriate.
It might help to remember that a large portion of the forum posters have a justified mistrust in corporations (hence their eclectic musical tastes, internet savvy, and above average intelligence, to be modest). When something like this happens, I suspect that theyâre less likely to shrug, and more likely to be suspect. More than one of us lived through the horrors of Vietnam and Tricky Dicky and Reagan and more. We can be twitchy.
When RP was a manifestation of William alone, a glitch meant that he was working on code or something similar. Shrug.
Now, itâs clear - and not bad - that RP is shifting to a group-run project. Again, this is not a bad thing.
But it means that when things like this happen - the unexpected erasure of years of personal creativity expressed on the forums - the older RPers can easily drift towards seeing it as something done by well-meaning folks unaware of the love we have of something that was begun/enjoyed before some of them were born, and we twitch.
No, AI wasn't used to purge threads.
it wasn't a malicious effort to erase data, or "new management" or different business concerns.
it wasnât âDOGEâ-y effort to clean house and undermine forum users.
Yes, I'll inquire about restoring removed threads.
Yes, we are committed to providing a positive user experience while limiting people abusing forum content posting/creation / account creation.
Thanks for clearing up what it is not.
What is it?
My expectation is that it was a mistake. Good intentions with unintended consequences. There was a lot of noise from these boards to ban the trolls, and someone finally agreed to pull the rip cord.
What wasn't appreciated was the extent of their posting, and the damage their deletion would do to other postings. The occasional engagement with others infected countless posts, resulting in the need to remove more than expected. You went in to clip toenails, and removed everything below the waist.
I think a mea culpa or explanation might help if appropriate.
No, AI wasn't used to purge threads.
it wasn't a malicious effort to erase data, or "new management" or different business concerns.
it wasnât âDOGEâ-y effort to clean house and undermine forum users.
Yes, I'll inquire about restoring removed threads.
Yes, we are committed to providing a positive user experience while limiting people abusing forum content posting/creation / account creation.
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.
Now you leave me curious which deleted account was a heavy contributor (as I created almost all of these threads, and my account was not purged) to all the photo theme threads in 2026. Themes from 2025 are still present.
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).
We all know what a minor role the forum plays these days, way out of proportion to the major PITA it is to maintain. 
