Here are a few of the responses I've received from those writing regarding TSC's shut down. Most of the users will not be named as it was an indeed a correspondence of a private nature, but those who will be surely won't mind.
"I'll do what I can to make TSC come back."
-User 1
"Welp. I feel like an asshole now. I already gave the list of past grievances in my PM. And there was that one time I said you were being pissy back in 2010. But other than that none come to mind. I think the place is freaking awesome, basically, and I don't think my actions should be responsible for bringing it down. I love the people there, I think we're a great, tight-knit community that's way better than SoA, and I think it's important for us to stay that way for future members to come and join us. That's it in a nutshell."
-User 2
"Hey, if TSC could come back again, that would be great. TSC is awesome and pretty much a major reason why I haven't killed myself yet. I don't really have any past grievances besides Star."
-User 3
"Bring it back whenever you're ready. I definitely want the site back as soon as possible, but if the reason you shut it down is because you needed a break, take as much time as you need. However, if you want an alternative way to indefinitely spend time away from TSC, you could let be run via the absence policy. The site has managed to continue at low-medium activity levels while you were away for a few weeks before, and returned to normal when you came back, so that's an option you might want to consider.
I don't know your exact reasons though, so just do whatever you feel you need to do. I will (albeit sadly) indefinitely await the return of TSC for however long it takes. In the meantime, if you want to remain in contact with me, please feel free to do so."
-User 4
"What is the dramar surrounding TSC this time? Because as far as I'm concerned all this forum promotion stuff seems to be a waste of time and now I'm left with forums which I don't even wanted to be signed up to!
I don't know about you, but I'm getting fed up of all the dramar when I log on. Why can't you just have a cult of all the problem users?
Why should I have to explain why I want something when I'm not even the reason to why?!
But if you really must know. What about all the people I've tried to get signed up? How bad is that going to look when they get there and find that the site is shut down?! I'm now left with forums that I don't even want to be on!
What about hours I spent doing that opening for Tescia TV?!
Why should people like me be tarred with the same brush as the handful of users that are causing the trouble in the first place?!
It's getting to the point that "if" it goes back online, you won't be seeing me around. Because I just don't see the point in having to put up with all of this. And I know others will be thinking the same way.
I would highly consider what you are doing, here. For the sake of a few problem users...you're willing to condemn the site to quite possibly its death."
-User 5
"I saw your message at the forums, and unfortunately, I still don't understand why. This site is pretty great, so why shut it down? Since I have a small window of time like yesterday when you were sending us the stuff that guy wrote to you because of school, I'm gonna make this short.
Please keep TSC active. By the way, does this decision have anything to do with that guy? It seems pretty weird.
I hope you keep it active for all of us.
Thanks for asking. This website is too great for Sonic. Organized and looks nice enough, and the people are friendly and also fans of different stuff. Registration was easy, unlike Sonic Retro, and there was the chatbox too. Its a good forum and all, it was worth staying in. So its worth bringing it back. The only problems were sometimes the lack of topics, but that's something I always get over. Also the forum system just can't give you the option of how many posts per thread. But other than those two, the forums are completely find. We're even in 7th place now.
Please don't take down the forums. Its good already, so why take it down?"
-User 6
"I'm here to place my vote on bringing back TSC.
I sent you a PM on TSC asking about the shut down, but I guess I better just follow your instructions on sending you a message to your email account like you said. I want it back because I'm invested in it. Because I want to see you succeed, and others there as well.
The biggest thing I feel that's holding the site back is the self doubt. It's a great site, and you're a great admin. So there's no need to feel like the site would be best shut down. It has a great potential, and proves that by how well it's grown over the years.
Here's to hoping for its return."
-User 7
"Just wondering what going on with the giant bold text at the top of TSC. Excuse my skepticism, but I can't say I believe it's been shut down forever. An old, defunct Line Rider forum did a similar thing as an April Fools' joke back in... 2008, I think. They shut down for real last year, so it didn't actually happen as a result of that. Again, just wondering what's going on, as I literally just joined! D:
(and SoA sucks, so I need somewhere else where I can express myself without being warned for silly things like saying "shite" in a post)
Frankly, after reading the thread at SoA, I don't see any reason for it to not stick around. SA2's just as much of a dickbag there as he apparently was at TSC, plus I liked the freedom of expression I had at TSC.
If it's reasons you require, I have several:
- TSC is one of the most relaxed forums I've ever joined. A lot of them have had silly rules (SoA sticks out here) or irrational admins.
- Despite the Thing with Mly, I don't have anything against him at all. Trust me, I've encountered far worse.
- As for grievances, I can't say I had any, though that may just be my short membership time getting in the way of a definite answer.
As I said, it's pretty much a deal of TSC > SoA for me. And no, I don't think the admins are corrupt. In fact, you're one of the few admins that actually tend to listen imo.
Just out of curiosity, what brought this about? In addition, if you guys can survive drama like this, then you can pretty much survive anything.
But just understand this: I've seen Mly before. I know how he works, and it's not a good idea to keep unbanning him."
-User 8
"Dear Zezima,
I was hoping that the announcement on the top of TSC is some type of sick joke.
Unfortunately, if it is not then I must know why you are shutting down TSC?
Please take the time to reconsider your decision as you have a large, growing, close and dedicated community who will have to find another forum to post on. This reminds me of the final days of =BS= except without a crazy, anime obsessed, power hungry, fascist moderator abusing his privileges pulling the plug (Sugoi_Sakaki). Since I joined, the forum never once felt like it sold out unlike many others I used to visit.
If you do end up shutting down the site, just know that even though I was not the most active member on the forums I had many great times on there.
Hopefully you keep a mirror of the site around or make a new forum in the future.
Reasons I want TSC back:
1. Many old friends of mine from other forums are only active on TSC, shutting it down would sever contact.
2. There are some quality members on the site (if you look hard enough) who would not want to go to another forum.
3. Sometimes there are interesting threads that make it worthwhile.
Do I want it back?
Yes.
Grievances:
Some of the newer users just suck up to admins and have dragged a majority of discussions into the gutter. Also, some of the moderators are too strict to some members of the site.
Zezima won't make up his mind about whether to keep the chatbox or remove it completely.
P.S. Why would you make Mario 2.0 a moderator and then shut it down right after?"
-User 9
"Why are you shutting the TSC down? This is the only Sonic forum that I have ever liked.
I liked it mostly for the people and the layout. I like the simplistic look (like google compared to yahoo) and the fact that you can embed just about anything. Many other Sonic forums focus on some kind of Sonic role playing, or there are too many non-Sonic fans who troll the forums. Other well known forums, like Sega's forums, have so many users that any post that you make is buried under 100 other (mostly useless) posts. I guess I like smaller communities....I played Timesplitters Future Perfect on xboxlive when there were 20 people all together that played. I know I'm not here much, but I enjoy reading it when I do get on. I've got work and school most of the time. Most people here seem to be level headed, authentic Sonic fans here.
Why take them down? Are the moderators getting tired of keeping this forum up and running?"
-User 10
"I'm not gonna get emotional or say anything to long but just stop attention seeking and bring the site back up. You know you're going too, so just do it."
-SpeedyBlueDude
"I've been with Tescia for quite some time now. Maybe not the longest, but it's been a while for me at least. I've been working to help keep the forum alive in whatever way I reasonably can, and I can do even more now than I could before.
I care about this forum, probably more than I really should, and it pains me to see it go down like this, if it stays down. I've even asked my personal friends, some of whom don't even like Sonic, to join the forum simply for the great community you have created.
They were skeptical, but the two that did join are enjoying it, even after only a day or two, and with such a short time of being there they're already asking why the forum is gone, and trying to get me to talk you into bringing it back. That's how good the forum is, people who don't even like Sonic want to be a part of your Sonic forum. I have also invested quite a bit into this forum myself, and I will continue to do so for as long as the forum fights with me.
However, all of my effort, and everyone else who also fight for our forum, all of our effort will go to waste if you don't even let us fight for our forum. Bring Tescia back. Bring back The Sonic Community. We are a family, and we will fight for our family."
-User 12
"I have been reading quite a bit at your website, and grew to like it. Unfortunately, it seems that the administrators have locked it down for an unknown amount of time...
I really wanted to contribute to your website and learn more about Sonic and all of his games (you could call me somewhat of a freshman - first game were Unleashed!), so I find it sad that the website is closed. I guess there is a lot of Sonic-communities over the Webs, but yours look better than most and seems to have a lot of very dedicated people supporting the site. That values more than anything I can think of, that might cause you to lock down your site!
So, long story short, I really hope you will open the site again eventually!"
-User 13
If you want to know why the site was brought back; read the above.
If you want to know why the site was shut down; read the above.
"I'll do what I can to make TSC come back."
-User 1
"Welp. I feel like an asshole now. I already gave the list of past grievances in my PM. And there was that one time I said you were being pissy back in 2010. But other than that none come to mind. I think the place is freaking awesome, basically, and I don't think my actions should be responsible for bringing it down. I love the people there, I think we're a great, tight-knit community that's way better than SoA, and I think it's important for us to stay that way for future members to come and join us. That's it in a nutshell."
-User 2
"Hey, if TSC could come back again, that would be great. TSC is awesome and pretty much a major reason why I haven't killed myself yet. I don't really have any past grievances besides Star."
-User 3
"Bring it back whenever you're ready. I definitely want the site back as soon as possible, but if the reason you shut it down is because you needed a break, take as much time as you need. However, if you want an alternative way to indefinitely spend time away from TSC, you could let be run via the absence policy. The site has managed to continue at low-medium activity levels while you were away for a few weeks before, and returned to normal when you came back, so that's an option you might want to consider.
I don't know your exact reasons though, so just do whatever you feel you need to do. I will (albeit sadly) indefinitely await the return of TSC for however long it takes. In the meantime, if you want to remain in contact with me, please feel free to do so."
-User 4
"What is the dramar surrounding TSC this time? Because as far as I'm concerned all this forum promotion stuff seems to be a waste of time and now I'm left with forums which I don't even wanted to be signed up to!
I don't know about you, but I'm getting fed up of all the dramar when I log on. Why can't you just have a cult of all the problem users?
Why should I have to explain why I want something when I'm not even the reason to why?!
But if you really must know. What about all the people I've tried to get signed up? How bad is that going to look when they get there and find that the site is shut down?! I'm now left with forums that I don't even want to be on!
What about hours I spent doing that opening for Tescia TV?!
Why should people like me be tarred with the same brush as the handful of users that are causing the trouble in the first place?!
It's getting to the point that "if" it goes back online, you won't be seeing me around. Because I just don't see the point in having to put up with all of this. And I know others will be thinking the same way.
I would highly consider what you are doing, here. For the sake of a few problem users...you're willing to condemn the site to quite possibly its death."
-User 5
"I saw your message at the forums, and unfortunately, I still don't understand why. This site is pretty great, so why shut it down? Since I have a small window of time like yesterday when you were sending us the stuff that guy wrote to you because of school, I'm gonna make this short.
Please keep TSC active. By the way, does this decision have anything to do with that guy? It seems pretty weird.
I hope you keep it active for all of us.
Thanks for asking. This website is too great for Sonic. Organized and looks nice enough, and the people are friendly and also fans of different stuff. Registration was easy, unlike Sonic Retro, and there was the chatbox too. Its a good forum and all, it was worth staying in. So its worth bringing it back. The only problems were sometimes the lack of topics, but that's something I always get over. Also the forum system just can't give you the option of how many posts per thread. But other than those two, the forums are completely find. We're even in 7th place now.
Please don't take down the forums. Its good already, so why take it down?"
-User 6
"I'm here to place my vote on bringing back TSC.
I sent you a PM on TSC asking about the shut down, but I guess I better just follow your instructions on sending you a message to your email account like you said. I want it back because I'm invested in it. Because I want to see you succeed, and others there as well.
The biggest thing I feel that's holding the site back is the self doubt. It's a great site, and you're a great admin. So there's no need to feel like the site would be best shut down. It has a great potential, and proves that by how well it's grown over the years.
Here's to hoping for its return."
-User 7
"Just wondering what going on with the giant bold text at the top of TSC. Excuse my skepticism, but I can't say I believe it's been shut down forever. An old, defunct Line Rider forum did a similar thing as an April Fools' joke back in... 2008, I think. They shut down for real last year, so it didn't actually happen as a result of that. Again, just wondering what's going on, as I literally just joined! D:
(and SoA sucks, so I need somewhere else where I can express myself without being warned for silly things like saying "shite" in a post)
Frankly, after reading the thread at SoA, I don't see any reason for it to not stick around. SA2's just as much of a dickbag there as he apparently was at TSC, plus I liked the freedom of expression I had at TSC.
If it's reasons you require, I have several:
- TSC is one of the most relaxed forums I've ever joined. A lot of them have had silly rules (SoA sticks out here) or irrational admins.
- Despite the Thing with Mly, I don't have anything against him at all. Trust me, I've encountered far worse.
- As for grievances, I can't say I had any, though that may just be my short membership time getting in the way of a definite answer.
As I said, it's pretty much a deal of TSC > SoA for me. And no, I don't think the admins are corrupt. In fact, you're one of the few admins that actually tend to listen imo.
Just out of curiosity, what brought this about? In addition, if you guys can survive drama like this, then you can pretty much survive anything.
But just understand this: I've seen Mly before. I know how he works, and it's not a good idea to keep unbanning him."
-User 8
"Dear Zezima,
I was hoping that the announcement on the top of TSC is some type of sick joke.
Unfortunately, if it is not then I must know why you are shutting down TSC?
Please take the time to reconsider your decision as you have a large, growing, close and dedicated community who will have to find another forum to post on. This reminds me of the final days of =BS= except without a crazy, anime obsessed, power hungry, fascist moderator abusing his privileges pulling the plug (Sugoi_Sakaki). Since I joined, the forum never once felt like it sold out unlike many others I used to visit.
If you do end up shutting down the site, just know that even though I was not the most active member on the forums I had many great times on there.
Hopefully you keep a mirror of the site around or make a new forum in the future.
Reasons I want TSC back:
1. Many old friends of mine from other forums are only active on TSC, shutting it down would sever contact.
2. There are some quality members on the site (if you look hard enough) who would not want to go to another forum.
3. Sometimes there are interesting threads that make it worthwhile.
Do I want it back?
Yes.
Grievances:
Some of the newer users just suck up to admins and have dragged a majority of discussions into the gutter. Also, some of the moderators are too strict to some members of the site.
Zezima won't make up his mind about whether to keep the chatbox or remove it completely.
P.S. Why would you make Mario 2.0 a moderator and then shut it down right after?"
-User 9
"Why are you shutting the TSC down? This is the only Sonic forum that I have ever liked.
I liked it mostly for the people and the layout. I like the simplistic look (like google compared to yahoo) and the fact that you can embed just about anything. Many other Sonic forums focus on some kind of Sonic role playing, or there are too many non-Sonic fans who troll the forums. Other well known forums, like Sega's forums, have so many users that any post that you make is buried under 100 other (mostly useless) posts. I guess I like smaller communities....I played Timesplitters Future Perfect on xboxlive when there were 20 people all together that played. I know I'm not here much, but I enjoy reading it when I do get on. I've got work and school most of the time. Most people here seem to be level headed, authentic Sonic fans here.
Why take them down? Are the moderators getting tired of keeping this forum up and running?"
-User 10
"I'm not gonna get emotional or say anything to long but just stop attention seeking and bring the site back up. You know you're going too, so just do it."
-SpeedyBlueDude
"I've been with Tescia for quite some time now. Maybe not the longest, but it's been a while for me at least. I've been working to help keep the forum alive in whatever way I reasonably can, and I can do even more now than I could before.
I care about this forum, probably more than I really should, and it pains me to see it go down like this, if it stays down. I've even asked my personal friends, some of whom don't even like Sonic, to join the forum simply for the great community you have created.
They were skeptical, but the two that did join are enjoying it, even after only a day or two, and with such a short time of being there they're already asking why the forum is gone, and trying to get me to talk you into bringing it back. That's how good the forum is, people who don't even like Sonic want to be a part of your Sonic forum. I have also invested quite a bit into this forum myself, and I will continue to do so for as long as the forum fights with me.
However, all of my effort, and everyone else who also fight for our forum, all of our effort will go to waste if you don't even let us fight for our forum. Bring Tescia back. Bring back The Sonic Community. We are a family, and we will fight for our family."
-User 12
"I have been reading quite a bit at your website, and grew to like it. Unfortunately, it seems that the administrators have locked it down for an unknown amount of time...
I really wanted to contribute to your website and learn more about Sonic and all of his games (you could call me somewhat of a freshman - first game were Unleashed!), so I find it sad that the website is closed. I guess there is a lot of Sonic-communities over the Webs, but yours look better than most and seems to have a lot of very dedicated people supporting the site. That values more than anything I can think of, that might cause you to lock down your site!
So, long story short, I really hope you will open the site again eventually!"
-User 13
If you want to know why the site was brought back; read the above.
If you want to know why the site was shut down; read the above.
