The future of Apolyton

[Solver]

There is another solution. I am not a "technical guy". I only know enough to avoid making stupid technical mistakes, and manage the vbulletin control panel side. CFC uses a comprehensive hosting service that manages the servers, software, email server etc for us, taking the need for detailed technical knowledge away from us. Obviously it has limitations (cost is a big one) but it is a robust solution.

Apolyton also had this for a while. But it's worth noting that this comes with an important caveat - they'll handle the core server, email, etc., but won't help with your own software. So they won't for instance upgrade vBulletin or fix a hacked forum.

[Legend]

Apolyton also had this for a while. But it's worth noting that this comes with an important caveat - they'll handle the core server, email, etc., but won't help with your own software. So they won't for instance upgrade vBulletin or fix a hacked forum.

I guess it depends on who the host is, and what you pay. Ours do a lot of this for us as well (yeah, I know that we're on vBulletin 3.8 still )

[Solver]

Okay, for those hosts I am afraid to think of the price

[The Mad Monk]

Who is your host?

[Legend]

Atomic gamer.

[Aeson]

Aeson, under whom?

The point here is, there's nobody to really run the site. Running the site requires a minimum level of technical proficiency. Basically, you need to avoid a situation where the owner doesn't know how to restart the database server or upload some files to overwrite old ones. I won't mention interest in Civ, that's a given.

I've contacted Robert about one possibility. We'll see what direction he chooses to go with it.

[ZEE]

Give it to Solver.

[Alexander's Horse]

Nikolai is a bit hard on the OT. Many of us made significant contributions to civ and Apolyton in the past and it is a tight little community. The friendships and knowledge of Apolyton are very long, back to the beginning. At least two of the members willing to help above are OT posters.

What I'd like to know is what happened to Mark G and Dan Quik....

[Solver]

AH, I think the problem is not so much the negativity, but rather the cornerclub feeling. The OT has basically become a tight community consisting of people who've been there for the better part of a decade - or even longer than a decade. Which is good in itself, except the fact that it's probably prohibitively difficult for someone new to blend into the community.

And it's not like the OT has stopped beating certain dead horses. I checked a coupe of days ago, and people (Aeson) were still arguing with Ben. Amazing how that hasn't been given a rest yet.

As for Dan and Markos, I thought it's fairly common knowledge? Dan hasn't been running a site since departing from Apolyton, and he's mostly dealing with his various podcasts, while Markos has discovered the Shift key and has since then fully devoted himself to Web engineering.

[Alexander's Horse]

Hey Solver, been a long time . thanks for the update on Mark and Dan.

The thing with the OT would apply to the rest of the site - there are tight little groups who have formed close bonds and that is worth saving if we can, some of these people I would lose contact with forever if Poly closed, not the end of the world but I am oddly attached to my friends here - this site goes back to the very beginings of the web - just ask Colon, he always reminds us

What a lot of people don't get is the streppy people on the OT are just street theatre for the residents.

I would like to help but in February I will be going to a very remote place for two years, not even sure about Internet quality

One question never aired is how much it actually costs to run Polly in time and money - any ballpark figures out there? Maybe downscaling the site would help? The current format is a bit dated, looks like a lot of work, also shows inactivity plainly by having many empty forums.

[Solver]

And that history is a large part of why I am not willing to see the plug be pulled completely, and would archive Apolyton in the worst case scenario

My understanding is that the current operation of the site is not especially costly. This is unlike the time period when DanQ quit, as then it used to cost a bit more. As CS indicates in the opening post, this is not a financial matter anyway, it's simply not wanting to run the site anymore.

[Aeson]

The OT has it's own culture, and that's ok. The on-topic used to have it's own culture but that's largely died out. It needs to be revived.

In Apolyton's glory days, both were vibrant. They can be again if the site is managed correctly. This shouldn't be about destroying one half of what Apolyton has been about just to try to bring back life to the other half, and it certainly shouldn't be about shuttering the place up in an archive.

[Solver]

While I'd agree with the sentiment, it's all about whether there is someone to run it in the long term. As it is, the OT can stay alive because it's largely a self-sustaining community, with the on-topic being more or less dead. If it ever comes back, it's due to someone actively doing stuff, not just saying that it can improve with correct management. That is not the question, the question is whether there's anybody capable that steps up, or not.

[Aeson]

I've already noted I offered Robert one possibility.

[Alexander's Horse]

kind of you both