What happened to Amazon Warriors Fans Fan Board?

[Kafunanapa3]

Hey, there!
Long time lurker and raee poster. Just wanted to ask about AW Fans message board. I went to check up on it after a while away, only to see that it had shuttered its doors.

Apologies if this has already been discussed.

[tostig]

Hi Kafunanapa3. Thanks for asking. The board was always an experiment. My goal was to have a community where the models and Olaf could interact with fans and serve to bring the international fanbase together, transcending language and cultural barriers. To that end, I am proud of the friends we made and believe it was a resounding success. But when the two year renewal was due, the price was jacked up threefold from the introductory rate and the membership had never really grown to meet my expectations. On top of that, I was NEVER comfortable being admin of a site like that, and really took it to heart during those rare times when someone accused me of being draconian, or censoring them. I felt I was doing something for the community out of kindness, and could not understand why people could not give me a break or cut me some slack if I made an error in judgement here or there. Some of the crap Bluestone is putting up with right now reminds me that it is a thankless job to administer one of these sites. I explained all of this to Olaf, and he seemed to understand and accept my decision to close the site while remaining friends. With all due respect to all the talented people in this community, Amazon Warriors remains the bleeding edge of the community and I remain a devoted fan.

[jhsnuff]

Sorry to hear that. I only visited once or twice and never joined, but I liked what I saw. So sorry you had to quit.

[Marakh]

Sad to see it go as well, but totally understandable with the triple cost increase. Remember there will always be sour apples and assholes in every community no matter how small or nice the majority is. You just can't let them get to you. The problem is when they get to the rest of the community and ruin it for the rest (we've had prime examples of this on all these forums). You just can't have patience for such people, they never learn and can only be dealt with by perma bans. And then they create a new account via different email, and the cycle continues.

[indiefilmfan]

Thankless job indeed... I just noticed this older post, but since I was likely one of, or perhaps THE biggest sour apple or asshole you had on your forum in the short time it was up, I thought I'd post my thoughts regarding it's demise.

At one time during it's life, I was probably one of the more frequent contributors there, as I began posting my reviews of Olaf's vids there exclusively once you opened it.

Then, you and I had a disagreement and I left, simple as that. But casting my personal thoughts on that matter aside, I think, for the most part, you did a very good job running that board, and it's a fucking shame to see it gone.

That may come as a surprise to hear me say that, but just because I quit going there doesn't mean I didn't want it to thrive for the benefit of others (and certainly Olaf). That shit between you and I on your board was unfortunate, and I think you were sincere when you said you realised immediately it was wrong.

But I was insulted, and at the very least, needed to step away for a while, so that's what I did. I don't believe in arguing, and wasn't about to carry on on your board and taint it with public drama. That's just not my way. So off I went, taking the high road... or so I thought.

Then, some time later, as you now know, it was brought to my attention about the bumping of my old posts there and the placement by you of something I wrote in some new "Art Thread"...

Well, so much for some time to cool off... The flame had been reignited and doused with petrol, and there was zero chance after that of my returning to be active on your board. And the rest is history. But I think your nose has been rubbed in that business long enough.

It took no small effort on your part to take something you were passionate about, and from it create something bigger and put it out there for the whole world to see and participate in, and you did it mostly to benefit another person (Olaf) and his business.

Now I've only been a part of this community for a couple years, but I'm unaware of any such personal effort by anyone to bolster the sales of any producer that I can think of. And for that, you should be commended (Especially by Olaf, whom I have no doubt did so).

For the last year, I've even been considering starting a site myself. Not just a forum, but something else for this whole community that would have a small forum just as a part of it. I'm still debating...

But as stated above, it is a thankless job. It's very unfortunate they raised the price so much on you. Since I hadn't been there for a long time, I have no idea how active it was at the end, but regardless, it was an honest effort by someone to give something nice to this community and for that, it's a damn shame it's gone, just like D.S., F.N., and others recently mentioned.

Then there is your podcast. It's good you took all those down, at least for now, since we both know you made a very grave error at the beginning out of pure naivety. But again, you created something for the benefit of the community, and for that, you should be commended. I'm sure there are many people who eagerly await you reposting them later.

It may also surprise you to learn I forced myself to sit through a couple of those podcasts. I'm sure you can guess which ones. Since you already know I have almost zero interest in whatever you may have talked about with all of the rest of those people you've had on, that doesn't mean I can't recognize the value in what you were trying to do for everyone else's benefit around here.

And again, at least as long as I've been around, no one else has done anything remotely like that for the community. Given recent events, though, that calf is best kept in the barn, at least for a little while. Discord would perhaps then be the best medium for that, as it's easy enough to manage and filter out the shitheels, and it would also allow for a live audience who could be allowed to interact with typed out questions for the guests.

In any case, I imagine you were bummed out when you made the decision to close your board down after the countless hours you sank into it, followed by taking your podcasts down. But I believe in being fair, and that bullshit between us aside, you ran a nice little board for a while, which if I had to guess, pleased 99% of the people who frequented it. And it's a damn shame it's no longer around for the rest of this community to enjoy and participate in.

That's just an honest opinion from the 1% who wanted to cave your head in at one point. And I reckon that's the closest you'll ever get to an "attaboy" from this sour apple...