Important Announcement about TMD

[Eddie]

Thanks Steve for all the years of hard work. It's been brilliant. Don't be a stranger now

The moderation on this forum is much better than on SCG's, and for that factor being unchanged, TMD will be fine.

For truth.

[dandan]

http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/10786.html

Zherbus has sold us to SCG after finding out that sprogs cost more than Magic cards! Good luck to him, I say. I think SCG is a safe pair of hands. Hopefully people will wait and see before making any judgements. After all the Vintage community is well known for not making knee-jerk reactions [/sarcasm].

Perhaps SCG can print our fantasy card set 

Thread merged with this one. Now you and Bram are double posters. Muahahaha!
-Jacob

[dandan]

If anything changes, aside that, it should be a new layout to the site.  Different shades of the same color is BORING.
The LEAST we could do is have different colors.  For instance:  The main screen, where you see all the different forums, we could have that be GREEN.  Then, when you enter into a forum, it could be RED.  Then, when you go to a particular thread in the forum, it could be BLUE.  And finally, when you go to post a topic, or a reply, it could be GRAY.
That's not hard to do.  If you wanted to get snazzier, you could actually put emblems, and designs, and people who design threads could actually make the thread look how they want it to when you enter into it.

With TMD being a Vintage site, we basically only need Blue with a splash of Black and Red.

[Bram]

*jerks his knee.*

Seriously though:

The Mana Drain will continue to operate as an independent brand within the StarCityGames.com portfolio and retain its name and unique URL (...) "I want to assure the community that I have no plans to change any aspect of the TMD forums, or how they operate. Expect TMD’s existing rules, policies, guidelines and standards to remain intact."

That's good. I trust Pete about it, too. And good luck to ya Steve, should you read this.

[Bram]

It's not a matter of trust, IMO. Pete stands to gain nothing by weirdness like merging the forums. I trust common sense most of all.

The extra influx of people could go either way, but so long as the forums are still run the same way, I don't see how this acquisition can be that bad for TMD.

Agreed. All this just means reading and evaluating more full membership applications for me

For instance:  The main screen, where you see all the different forums, we could have that be GREEN.  Then, when you enter into a forum, it could be RED.  Then, when you go to a particular thread in the forum, it could be BLUE.  And finally, when you go to post a topic, or a reply, it could be GRAY. (...) If you wanted to get snazzier, you could actually put emblems, and designs, and people who design threads could actually make the thread look how they want it to when you enter into it.

Aaaaaaargh! My eyes start to hurt just visualising that. Total anarchy comes to mind.

[forests failed you]

haha, I'm sure it'll be fine.  Pete is a great guy, and I've chatted with him quite a bit at the events.  He's pretty in touch with what is going on in the MTG world (obv.), and I think he has a pretty good grasp on what the Vintage community is and how it works.  Hopefully the added exposure will bring in a new brood of new Vintage players, and some new and useful users to TMD. 

Thanks for everything Zherbus, you did an awesome job creating this site; and I'm sure that there isn't one person on here who doesn't love you for everything you've done for Vintage!

Cheers and good luck!

Brian

[doylehancock]

Thanks Steve for all of your great work with keeping type 1 going as well as this very important site.

I think everything will be fine.  The site works great why would Pete want to change that.  Who knows maybe now we can get more vintage articles on starcity as well as more appeal to TMD. 

Best wishes Steve

[sean1i0]

First off, it would be wrong of me to not start by truly thanking Steve for what he's done for Vintage.  When I first got into Vintage this website was one of the main sites I heard that I should check out.  I read the posts hear and learned a hell of a lot before I even got my name on the forums and continue to learn insights into this format today thanks to this wonderful place.  I wish him the best of luck.

As for the takeover, I tend to agree that it would have been ideal if Steve could have continued on running this site forever, but his family should come first and so it is...besides we all know that forever is left for fairy tales.  The interesting thing is that people, generally, hate change and I think a lot of us are those types of people, yet we love a game that is about change.  Anyway, as long as Steve can't continue to run this site, then I think that Pete is the one best suited to takeover; he may be part of a corporation, but he has done tremendous amounts for the Vintage community.

[Justin]

I remember when TMD was an idea being floated on BD (r.i.p.) and I have to say the site has been great. Ive burnt more time reading posts on this site than any other with the possible exception of fark. Thank you, Steve, for creating the best community driven place for Type 1 (when it was still type 1 lol. I remember when Type 2 didnt exist!).

With that said, lets all hope the moderation on TMD does not become like SCG's. Some of those guys are f'in useless.

[Buttons]

If anything changes, aside that, it should be a new layout to the site.  Different shades of the same color is BORING.

With TMD being a Vintage site, we basically only need Blue with a splash of Black and Red.

Well, we actually need nearly everything to be brown, or maybe almost-white, with the ads and banners black, all the lines and links red, with maybe the 'post, preview, and spell check' buttons green and white.

[vartemis]

I don't think this will cause much of a change.  I think this might have been a strategic move on SCG due to its waning vintage content.  On the upside, this means that more people will likely visit this forum.   If you are worried about a bunch of "newbs" coming in and posting junk, apply for the test.  This might make the Vintage forum pick up, which is kind of funny seeing as how we just had a thread on how it's so dead!  Any new members would have to pass the same test, so you know they would be serious about their content.

As for colors... many new forums have the ability to change color shells at the top.  Why not have a shell for each color and a brown one for you artifact lovers?

But the real question remains... is this why the TMD cafepress dissappeared, and we cant get tshirts anymore?  or are they gonna have a little SCG logo on them too? hehehe

j

[Methuselahn]

Thanks Steve for everything that you've done.  I agree, the decision to let Pete take over is clearly the best option, securing the welfare of the sight. The sky isn't falling, and things will all work out one way or another. 

Good luck to you and your future!

[smeagol]

Thanks to Steve for running this site for years.


Change isn't necessairly a bad thing, but I'm not looking foward to "TMD Premium"

[vartemis]

It's not a matter of trust, IMO. Pete stands to gain nothing by weirdness like merging the forums. I trust common sense most of all.

The extra influx of people could go either way, but so long as the forums are still run the same way, I don't see how this acquisition can be that bad for TMD.

Agreed. All this just means reading and evaluating more full membership applications for me

For instance:  The main screen, where you see all the different forums, we could have that be GREEN.  Then, when you enter into a forum, it could be RED.  Then, when you go to a particular thread in the forum, it could be BLUE.  And finally, when you go to post a topic, or a reply, it could be GRAY. (...) If you wanted to get snazzier, you could actually put emblems, and designs, and people who design threads could actually make the thread look how they want it to when you enter into it.

Aaaaaaargh! My eyes start to hurt just visualising that. Total anarchy comes to mind.

how about you just stare at a strobe light before you log on... i would think it would create enough crazy colors for you hehehe.

j

[doomhed]

Honestly I think people are completely and totally overreacting about this. A ten spot says that if they hadn't made it public and had merely slid a banner in at the top, no one would have noticed or cared. You go to the page you want and scroll down. It isn't going to be anything different. To get paranoid about fees and premiums is just pathetic. It's still The Mana Drain. Nothing has changed. Nothing will change. Now we've got sponsorship from the top Magic store... is this really a bad thing?

And we've always been at war with Eurasia.

End of an era

[Razvan]

Damn, that's unfortunate, but I think it will be fine. Even if Zherbus is not going to be the big cheese here, it will always be remembered as his site.

[Limbo]

First of all major thanks to Steve for letting us have our little corner of the net for such a long time.

As for the "discussion" about our new "owner":

he may be part of a corporation, but he has done tremendous amounts for the Vintage community

This says it all. Is it so hard to believe that somebody that happens to be in the cardboardcrack business is also genuinly interested in protecting a community from possible trouble by paying the bills now? Of course it is different from when Steve started, as the community is already build up now, but if Steve could bring up the money without ever asking something in return, I'd say the new owner can do so as well...

[jcb193]

Kudos to Pete, as it would be asking a lot for anyone to take on this site for the sheer fun of it.  And with T1 players often drifting in and out of Magic, it's hard to maintain continuity for something this grand.  I hope things will stay the same.  Obviously it might lose some of its earthen appeal in favor of corporitization, but a corporate TMD is better than no TMD- for now.  

That said, many of the people saying "don't worry" are paid by SCG, so i take their opinions with a grain of salt too.

Overall feeling: /shrug  ( i don't expect anything to change, as this site would not be able to flurish under any other formula- not enough interest in T1)

[Mark_Story]

I don't post very often, but I lurk like a fiend, and I would like to thank steve on behalf of many of the other lurkers that come to this site regularily.  Many thanks to you for running a place for people like me to barn ideas, tech, and general information off.

I think pete will do a great job, the ad banner is a bummer, but things change and servers/bandwidth need to be paid for.

For instance:  The main screen, where you see all the different forums, we could have that be GREEN.  Then, when you enter into a forum, it could be RED.  Then, when you go to a particular thread in the forum, it could be BLUE.  And finally, when you go to post a topic, or a reply, it could be GRAY. (...) If you wanted to get snazzier, you could actually put emblems, and designs, and people who design threads could actually make the thread look how they want it to when you enter into it.

This is one of the most horrible Ideas for a site design.  Interfaces need to be predictable, and although your suggestion gives a colour coded structure to the site, it breaks the unity the site needs to function.  Instead of something that appears to exist as one entity, you have a multicoloured wierd pile of pages.  Imagine if windows in your operating system all changed colour based on how deep into the program they were.  That would screw you up so bad..

[Komatteru]

Pete has done nothing but good things for our format.  In fact, the SCG circuit needs to be given a lot of credit for the fact that we even have a format to talk about.  SCG takes a loss on those tournaments, and despite that, they're going to continue into next year.  They've got to be nothing but hassle to run, and what real benefit does SCG get out of them?  I don't see this as a move that SCG has made to make money.  Rather, I see it as something Pete wanted to do for our community.  While it was all before my time, Z did many amazing things for our community, but he has since moved on in his life, and it was time to hand the site over to someone who could care for it the way its always been.  I can't think of a better person to do that than Pete and Star City Games.  They've shown nothing but devotion to the format, and I have absoultely no reason to believe that anything is going to be different.  We might get some new members (I'd predict a short burst initially, but after that, it'll remain steady), but I'm sure we can manage.

And if you don't want to listen to me, ask yourself this.  Do you think Z would have sold the site to Pete if he didn't believe what I just said here?

[sampling_percus]

There will be no policy changes, no merging with StarCityGames.com forums,

phew, i like those forums.

Does this also mean the TMD opens will continue unchanged?

[dexter]

as long as i dont see TMD Premium Membership im happy

[Dante]

There will be no policy changes, no merging with StarCityGames.com forums,

phew, i like those forums.

Does this also mean the TMD opens will continue unchanged?

those tournaments were just something that Ray (imafishman) put together.  They weren't sponsored or run by TMD in any way, just using the name.  At worst, Ray might have to change the name if SCG objects...

[iamfishman]

There will be no policy changes, no merging with StarCityGames.com forums,

phew, i like those forums.

Does this also mean the TMD opens will continue unchanged?

those tournaments were just something that Ray (imafishman) put together.  They weren't sponsored or run by TMD in any way, just using the name.  At worst, Ray might have to change the name if SCG objects...

Pete and I have had nothing but support for what the other is doing with regards to type 1 tourneys.  I doubt he would ask me to change the name, but if he did, I can't imagine that it would have any impact on the torunament itself.

Let me continue to say that, as a result of how genuinely nice Pete is, we have had no problems with scheduling our events in such a way to not interefere with attendance for either party.  From experiencing such good will and teamwork, I am feeling very content with Pete's words of "No changes other than a banner" being the Gospel truth.

[Bram]

That said, many of the people saying "don't worry" are paid by SCG, so i take their opinions with a grain of salt too.

Name ONE person in this thread who's on the SCG payroll.

as long as i dont see TMD Premium Membership im happy

We already have that. Though we call it 'full membership'. And you don't need to pay 30 bucks either; you just have to be a good poster, an intelligent person, and do really well at a difficult test. Bet you wish you could pay the 30 bucks now, huh?

[Zeke]

I highly doubt that SCG would pay people to try to show support in the merge.  This isn't the Bush administration, it's StarCityGames.  They have done a lot for the vintage community, and they have done a lot for magic as a whole. 

A few days ago I was asking myself "I haven't heard from Zherbus in a while....probably around a year!  I wonder what's going to happen to TMD, is it on a yearly contract for the hosting?  Will he continue to foot the bill if he isn't doing anything for the site anymore?"

Now we have our answer, it's going to stay here, and just a measly ad-banner on the top of the page (note: not a pop-up, merely an ad-banner.  Has anyone ever been annoyed by the one on SCG?).

[jcb193]

That said, many of the people saying "don't worry" are paid by SCG, so i take their opinions with a grain of salt too.

Name ONE person in this thread who's on the SCG payroll.

I never said "on the payroll," I said paid by SCG.  I saw at least three people on here (or have commented elsewhere) who have written for SCG.  I am merely stating that those people have a biased view of what SCG does.  Bias doesn't have to mean bad, if they think SCG is the coolest, best run company in the world, it is still a biased point of view.  Jeez........simmer down Magic Players, people might start to think we over-react or are social misfits.     

That said, i don't know what the big deal is.  If Zherbus said, "hey, we're out of money.  For the site to remain free, we need a SCG banner," nobody would care. 

[Godder]

That said, many of the people saying "don't worry" are paid by SCG, so i take their opinions with a grain of salt too.

Name ONE person in this thread who's on the SCG payroll.

I assume by that he was including featured writers, since they get paid for articles that get published.

as long as i dont see TMD Premium Membership im happy

We already have that. Though we call it 'full membership'. And you don't need to pay 30 bucks either; you just have to be a good poster, an intelligent person, and do really well at a difficult test. Bet you wish you could pay the 30 bucks now, huh?

Heh. At least our elitism is merit-based rather than wealth-based.

Actually on topic, while it's a bit of a shame, it's also totally understandable. I had been wondering when Zherbus would offload it, and to whom, for a few months now, so this wasn't exactly unexpected, although I did think it would be a community member who took it over. Then again, SCG has been a good member of the Vintage community for a while, so we're lucky in that regard.

Steve gave us was a great place to go after BD went splat, large amounts of his time, and his money to start things off and keep them going. Somewhat later on, Steve started getting donations via Paypal (check the front page of the site) which helped keep us afloat, but that's just a sign of how awesome we are.

Mad props to Steve, and to quote a great book, so long, and thanks for all the fish.

[Jacob Orlove]

That said, many of the people saying "don't worry" are paid by SCG, so i take their opinions with a grain of salt too.

Name ONE person in this thread who's on the SCG payroll.

To be fair, I did win their article contest for Putting it all Together, so they have paid me $30. If you think that's enough to bias my opinion of them, then feel free to consider me biased. Oh, I've also won power at SCG P9 events, if you consider that relevant.

Also, the day TMD would have paid premium memberships would be the day I quit moderating here. It's just not going to happen.

[Bram]

Also, the day TMD would have paid premium memberships would be the day I quit moderating here. It's just not going to happen.

I'll second that.