[FAQ] We're NOT moving

Edited for truth.


The purpose of this FAQ is to try to provide some straight answers based on what we know about the situation. We?re now well on our way into the move, and things are going fine.

<hr />

<h2>Frequently asked questions about the forthcoming move</h2>
<a href="#whenmove"><b>When are we moving?</b></a>
<a href="#whymove"><b>Why do we have to move?</b></a>
<a href="#whatloss"><b>Are we going to lose our usernames and posts?</b></a>
<a href="#pruning"><b>Will posts be pruned?</b></a>
<a href="#whatsystem" ><b>What board system will we be moving to?</b></a>
<a href="#layout"><b>Will we be keeping the current layout?</b></a>
<a href="#features"><b>What new features will we have? </b></a>
<a href="#icons"><b>Will we be able to upload our own icons?</b></a>
<a href="#server"><b>Will TF.N host their own boards in the future, or will we be hosted by someone else again?</b></a>
<a href="#time"><b>What is the timeframe for this move?</b></a>
<a href="#moreinfo"><b>When can we expect to know more?</b></a>
<a href="#baby"><b>I'm scared.</b></a>
<a href="#pretty"><b>Your words bore me. Show me pretty pictures.</b></a>

<hr />

<a name="whenmove"><b>When are we moving?</b></a>

At the moment, the largest bottleneck is with IGN. We're waiting on them for help in creating the tools we need to transfer information from our current database to our new database. Hopefully, we'll be moving before the end of the month.


<a name="whymove"><b>Why do we have to move?</b></a>

Our contract with IGN is due to expire soon. Continuing to use IGN Boards was explored, but it was determined that that would cost upwards of $2000 per month. Given the high price tag, that was unfortunately unacceptable. So, it has become necessary to find a new board system.


<a name="whatloss"><b>Are we going to lose our usernames and posts?</b></a>

Hopefully not! Word from Philip Wise is that "our goal is to move every user and post over to the new platform." And if Mr. Wise is determined to move every user and post over, there's a good chance that we're going to move every user and post over. Having said that, we unfortunately cannot make an absolute guarantee in that respect; the only guarantee we can make is that we're going to try our best. We?re certain of only one thing: we definitely won?t be starting completely from scratch.


<a name="#pruning"><b>Will posts be pruned?</b></a>

Possibly. The exact manner and fashion, and whether it will be done before or after the move, has yet to be decided.


<a name="whatsystem"><b>What board system will we be moving to?</b></a>

We're moving to vBulletin.


<a name="layout"><b>Will we be keeping the current layout?</b></a>

Yes, we are. Raven, Dingo, Grimby the Hutt, Night4554, and YodaJeff are well on their way to configuring vBulletin to look and act very similarly to TF.N.


<a name="features"><b>What new features will we have? </b></a>

We?ll be gaining many of the features of vBulletin. Some vBulletin features may be disabled for various reasons including the desire to increase system performance or because we feel that like stars, the features don?t contribute to a happy community overall.



<a name="icons"><b>Will we be able to upload our own icons?</b></a>

No. It's the opinion of the Mod Squad that control over icons should be kept by us to ensure a) a basic level of quality, b) that the icons don't get too large and cumbersome for 56k users to load, and c) that nothing profane or unacceptable to the TOS will be uploaded.


<a name="server"><b>Will TF.N host their own boards in the future, or will we be hosted by someone else again?</b></a>

Astaran has addressed this issue directly. ?The board will reside on "our" own, dedicated servers. Number, type and setup depends on the software we will be using, so more on that later.?


<a name="time"><b>What is the timeframe for this move?</b></a>

Astaran has addressed this issue directly as well. This will be done within weeks rather than months, we

 

Good work, Gandy .

Thanks for posting this.

 

Thank you for posting this Raven. It is needed to help quell the numerous redundant questions. Hopefully, Wise is right and the move will be smooth. The last thing we need is a different board style, name stealing, and no moderators.

 

I was hoping for a thread like this to put out all the answers, thanks.

 

www.offtopicboards.com for anyone that wnats to see what they look like. As a user there, I do like the style, and it's easy to navigate and such. The only issue is that sigs can get out of hand, but I'm sure it can be fixed.

 

What are these Off-Topic forums you speak of?

EDIT: Nevermind! Good timing Ignant.

 

Right now is the plan to move in such a way that both FF and the JC will stay together?

ETA: don't listen to Ignant. The ACTUAL off topic boards they're talking about are at http://forums.offtopic.com/

 

As far as I understand things, it's all supposed to move together.

 

I haven't seen any mention of it in the FF boards - I know it's really the FF mods who would be responsible for that, but I'm assuming they know and will tell that community when they're ready?

 

Great, now I don't know who to trust!

 

If you look at the one I linked vs the one Ignant linked it becomes pretty obvious

 

Do we know if the new boards are as fast as IGN?

 

Uh, I have noticed however, that the Dimmu Borgir forums, which are on VBulletin, have seriosu login issues. You can never log in, and when you do, it logs you out again very quickly.

 

Awesome, glad this is here. It actually answered most of my questions.

~PK~

 

Prediction One: All posts will be lost

Prediction Two: All usernames and user details will be lost. (including the precious and really important reg dates and post counts.)

Prediction Three: This website will not exist by May 2006.

Prediction Four: In reality, Phillip Wise does not care about 1, 2 or 3.

And now, let's finish on a song:

That's great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplane -
Lenny Bruce is not afraid. Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn -
world serves its own needs, don't misserve your own needs. Feed it up a knock,
speed, grunt no, strength no. Ladder structure clatter with fear of height,
down height. Wire in a fire, represent the seven games in a government for
hire and a combat site. Left her, wasn't coming in a hurry with the furies
breathing down your neck. Team by team reporters baffled, trump, tethered
crop. Look at that low plane! Fine then. Uh oh, overflow, population,
common group, but it'll do. Save yourself, serve yourself. World serves its
own needs, listen to your heart bleed. Tell me with the rapture and the
reverent in the right - right. You vitriolic, patriotic, slam, fight, bright
light, feeling pretty psyched.

It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.

Six o'clock - TV hour. Don't get caught in foreign tower. Slash and burn,
return, listen to yourself churn. Lock him in uniform and book burning,
blood letting. Every motive escalate. Automotive incinerate. Light a candle,
light a motive. Step down, step down. Watch a heel crush, crush. Uh oh,
this means no fear - cavalier. Renegade and steer clear! A tournament,
a tournament, a tournament of lies. Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives
and I decline.

It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.

The other night I tripped a nice continental drift divide. Mount St. Edelite.
Leonard Bernstein. Leonid Breshnev, Lenny Bruce and Lester Bangs.
Birthday party, cheesecake, jelly bean, boom! You symbiotic, patriotic,
slam, but neck, right? Right.

It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine...fine...


UKS

 

Wow, UKS! Way to be optimistic! Go you!

 

Well, I've been through one move and I can't remember anything going wrong then. (But I was oblivious back then and still am. Fan fiction is a bubble! ) I hope everything goes well.

 

Yes, listen to Carmen. I had no idea there were two OTs. I was wondering why Gandy was referring to the off shoot site.

I know word travels fast around here, but can you put something in each forum header, jsut to be sure all suers know?

 

A notice was posted in the City Rep forum referring to this thread and another...hopefully if they are doing their jobs they'll read that thread and take care of passing the info along to their repective groups.

 

I've also posted a thread in Collecting directing people to this thread and the comments thread.

 

Great, now I don't know who to trust!


Trust noone but yourself.

 

Trust your instincts.

 

Save your history, screen shots, bios, threads, and whatever else to your hard drive and/or burn to your CDs for future re-posting, etc. Technology has come a long way since the UBB->IGN/Snowboard days, so there are ways to make this move as painless as possible. *gets out trunk, packing boxes, sealing tape, CDs, and prepares for move*