An Update on the Status of Sasuke Maniac

[Eclipse]

Hello Sasuke Maniacs!

UPDATED: November 23rd

Sasuke Maniac Forums will not be closing. The site will be undergoing some changes, in the form of site cleanup and change in staffing. If you are interested in being a moderator on SMF, please DM me.

[zoran]

Does it cost money for the staff members to maintain the site?

[YourResidentKojiFan]

Why?

What's the point of this?

First of all, this forum is a great place for people like myself and a few friends I know that were/are on this forum that don't function well in large groups such as serves like TNM or huge Reddit groups. I've made friends off of this place, I'm sure other people have, and probably would've continued to in the future.

Second of all, unlike Discord servers, this is much easier to navigate, and every thread, no matter what it's about, is easily seen. It isn't buried, people don't just ignore it, even if they don't reply, they see it, which allows for more interaction to new users, whereas in a big server, they may not be cared about or noticed when they bring up a point, as opposed to a mod or a mod's friend. Notice how here, yamfriend, etc. didn't get a million replies just cause they were a mod. This place is friendly to everyone with the exception of trolls, and I just have to come out and say, I've heard from multiple sources that no big server is like that.

Third, of course the forum has seen less activity recently, there's been less to talk about. There's been one tournament a year for five years now, and since there's only ~150 hours of SASUKE footage, there's only so much that can be discussed. Did you not notice how after 40, the forum blew up for a couple months? If you're going to shut down the site, at least wait until like, mid-January or something. If it's still dead after a tournament, then fine. But why right after a tournament when the forum will be more populated than ever, especially if it's good?

Lastly, and I don't even know how to describe this, but - Do you know how sad this will be to see? No new posts, ever. What happens to the threads that were alive and well? What happens to anyone who wants to bring up an interesting topic or discovered something? Are they just boned unless they join a big server, which, as I said, they'll probably just be ignored anyway? Why shut it down entirely? If it's barren, it's barren. As you've pretty much said, it's been like this for years. Is it hurting anyone to leave it up? As far as I'm aware, no. Is it helping people? Yes, very much. So like, just, why?

I know this post might not change your mind, but I at least want to not have my thoughts go unsaid.

[LusitaniaAngel313]

I had a funny feeling this would happen, considering how slow it's been lately since Discord became a thing and more widely used. It's a shame but I get it.

[sasukewarrior333]

Oct 11, 2023 16:02:34 GMT -5 Eclipse said:

Hello Sasuke Maniacs!

Over the past 15 years, this forum has served as a gathering point for fans of Sasuke and related shows from across the world to enjoy such programs. We have also had the chance to discuss, talk to, and (in some cases) even meet fellow fans and competitors as a way of enjoying something we have all had in common.

Alas, the past several years have seen a dramatic decline in user activity here on SMF, alongside shifts away from Forums toward other means of online interaction and communication with the Ninja community. As a result, many of the former and current staff members here have (for some time now) considered archiving Sasuke Maniac Forums, and (as of this post) finally decided on a date in doing so.

Effective 11:59 P.M. EDT on December 31, 2023, Sasuke Maniac Forums will be removing the ability for existing users to make new posts on this forum, and removing the ability for new users to register.

Below are some common questions some of you may have:

Q: Will SMF be gone for good from the Internet?

A: For the time being, SMF will become read only in format. In other words, all public boards will still be viewable; users just will not be able to post anymore.



Q: Why is SMF being changed to read-only rather than completely shut down?

A: The SMF staff members believe that SMF does contain a considerable amount of information and discussion that was (and may still be) beneficial to the community. Therefore, we feel that archiving the forum is the better course of action to take than completely removing it.



Q: Will Sasukepedia be impacted?

A: No. Sasukepedia will continue to operate as normal far into the future.



Q: Will I still be able to send private messages, in case I have any questions afterwards?

A: As long as your account was not banned upon this change happening, you will still be able to send private messages to staff members and other users.



Q: I sent a staff member a message a while ago and have not heard a response! What is going on?

A: Only 2 staff members, yamfriend and Eclipse, were active at the time SMF changed over; if you sent a message to someone else, they may never see it, so please instead send your message to one of these two users. Furthermore, keep in mind that we will not check our messages on an archived forum on a regular basis, but we will respond as soon as we read them.



Q: Where can I still enjoy Sasuke and related shows with others in the community?

A: There are various groups of fans of these programs on other social media platforms. While searching for them manually may be a hit-or-miss process, here are a few of the more active communities that we can recommend:

• The Ninja Masters on Discord - many SMF members have already moved over here, alongside many new faces
• Various ninja-related reddit boards (r/ninjawarrior, r/ANW)

Q: What does this mean for watching Sasuke 41?

A: Sasuke Maniac Forums will not be hosting any events for Sasuke 41, however you may be able to watch in other communities.



If you have any additional questions or concerns prior to the changeover, please post them in this thread. Thank you to everyone who has contributed here since 2008, and good luck with all of your future endeavors in the Ninja community and beyond.

I'm gonna be respectful here, as I acknowledge the hard work you and the rest of the mod team has put in over the years, and I fully respect you all.


It's just, I feel this is a little unecessary. Assuming the forums don't cost money to run (in which case would be totally fair and honestly kinda wild you still need to do that in this day and age to run a single forum), what's the problem with it just existing? Sure, year wide activity may be low, but the place always gets super popular again during SASUKE season.


I know I myself have neglected this forum, and I understand most people prefer Discord, but I don't see the value in locking off future posts and making it read only. There's still people here, and it just wouldn't feel right.


It's up to all of you of course, I know that much. I just really hope you'll reconsider, I think it'll make more people sad than you realise for this forum to close. KojiFan is still doing their timeline, which they've put a tonne of work into. It'd break my heart to see that taken from them. 


If you don't change your minds, then anyone reading this is free to ask me for my Discord through PMs, which I'll happily give out, because I've met a lot of wonderful people on here, and while I don't have time right now to seek out, it's really been a pleasure speaking to you all.


But yeah, that's my piece. I hope this won't be the last time I post here, but if it is, it's a been a wild ride y'all. Stay good people. sasukewarrior333, signing off. 

   

[loboticialtree]

I dunno why this should happen. For probably a handful of others, this is the only website where we feel comfortable sharing our thoughts in as opposed to The Ninja Masters Discord. Not just that, why the end of this year? It not that convienent imo, as more people are probably going to be disappointed in that time. 

Even with the great recession of this forum which is less posts, as stated by YRKF, we really can't discuss more due to the limitations of filming.

What good is this for? Nothing, really. While it is understandable (I'm trying to reach), I'm not sure how many Forum Members would want to talk outside of this forum about SASUKE. Also no new posts  Basically someone would rush to post their thoughts on x topic. Which I don't think any random person is happy about.

I didn't want to parrot everyone's opinions about it, but I still did. 

EDIT: Admittedly, I can understand both sides. Heck, I didn't know this forum existed for 15 years until a few days ago. But I don't think some of us want to go yet, but it's understandable. You could give the moderation to some else who wants to keep this forum going, but that won't convince you. I just don't want to use Discord, that's all.

[OwlRTA]

Unfortunate, but I totally get it.

I don't really come here a lot, but I have good memories of this forum, and I'll miss posting here.

[YourResidentKojiFan]

Okay, I've also just noticed something, and if I'm reading the language correctly, this forum doesn't even cost money to keep up, so... Again, why? It's not even costing anyone to keep this up. Really, the bottom line here is-

This benefits nobody, and harms everybody.

[Sasuke Mania]

Oct 11, 2023 16:02:34 GMT -5 Eclipse said:

Hello Sasuke Maniacs!

Over the past 15 years, this forum has served as a gathering point for fans of Sasuke and related shows from across the world to enjoy such programs. We have also had the chance to discuss, talk to, and (in some cases) even meet fellow fans and competitors as a way of enjoying something we have all had in common.

Alas, the past several years have seen a dramatic decline in user activity here on SMF, alongside shifts away from Forums toward other means of online interaction and communication with the Ninja community. As a result, many of the former and current staff members here have (for some time now) considered archiving Sasuke Maniac Forums, and (as of this post) finally decided on a date in doing so.

Effective 11:59 P.M. EDT on December 31, 2023, Sasuke Maniac Forums will be removing the ability for existing users to make new posts on this forum, and removing the ability for new users to register.

Below are some common questions some of you may have:

Q: Will SMF be gone for good from the Internet?

A: For the time being, SMF will become read only in format. In other words, all public boards will still be viewable; users just will not be able to post anymore.



Q: Why is SMF being changed to read-only rather than completely shut down?

A: The SMF staff members believe that SMF does contain a considerable amount of information and discussion that was (and may still be) beneficial to the community. Therefore, we feel that archiving the forum is the better course of action to take than completely removing it.



Q: Will Sasukepedia be impacted?

A: No. Sasukepedia will continue to operate as normal far into the future.



Q: Will I still be able to send private messages, in case I have any questions afterwards?

A: As long as your account was not banned upon this change happening, you will still be able to send private messages to staff members and other users.



Q: I sent a staff member a message a while ago and have not heard a response! What is going on?

A: Only 2 staff members, yamfriend and Eclipse, were active at the time SMF changed over; if you sent a message to someone else, they may never see it, so please instead send your message to one of these two users. Furthermore, keep in mind that we will not check our messages on an archived forum on a regular basis, but we will respond as soon as we read them.



Q: Where can I still enjoy Sasuke and related shows with others in the community?

A: There are various groups of fans of these programs on other social media platforms. While searching for them manually may be a hit-or-miss process, here are a few of the more active communities that we can recommend:

• The Ninja Masters on Discord - many SMF members have already moved over here, alongside many new faces
• Various ninja-related reddit boards (r/ninjawarrior, r/ANW)

Q: What does this mean for watching Sasuke 41?

A: Sasuke Maniac Forums will not be hosting any events for Sasuke 41, however you may be able to watch in other communities.



If you have any additional questions or concerns prior to the changeover, please post them in this thread. Thank you to everyone who has contributed here since 2008, and good luck with all of your future endeavors in the Ninja community and beyond.

...Deep down, I think we all knew it had to happen eventually. I'll be the first t admit I've had my issues with this forum over the years, but I also do recognise the history behind it, it's kind of unthinkable and surreal to think that the forum is clocking out at just over fifteen years (really the fact it's lasted that long at all), so I have to commend everyone on staff, past and present, for working hard for this community over those fifteen years. You all have helped me and others find a safe space to talk about our favourite show(s), not just Sasuke, and I feel you all deserve the much needed break you're getting.

But I also realise that as time passes, all good things must come to an end, nothing is permanent. And as we enter 2024, we enter a new era, and a new medium to continue what was started on the G4 Forums ages back, and was continued here. I am grateful that this site is remaining as read only, as there is an abundance of history featured here. Other sites, of course, have not had the same privilege. I also understand the reasons behind it, as, like was mentioned, there have been only two members of staff who have been active recently, and considering the size of the forums, it's still a lot of hard work, which again, I thank both of you for.

But whilst I do raise these points and can see the defenses and arguments, I ultimately think this is the right time. I feel the server is accepting, and I feel it'll be interesting to see how many will join us there in the future. Thanks for the memories.

[moistynoisy]

Oct 11, 2023 21:47:11 GMT -5 YourResidentKojiFan said:

Okay, I've also just noticed something, and if I'm reading the language correctly, this forum doesn't even cost money to keep up, so... Again, why? It's not even costing anyone to keep this up. Really, the bottom line here is-

This benefits nobody, and harms everybody.

Stop complaining and accept it, all things in life must come to an end, the people running the forums have lives and have other important commitments unlike a lot of people who still use this exact forum, stop being selfish and consider that perhaps SMF is coming to an end because well, people don't have time to run it anymore. This forum is pretty much useless and out of date, meanwhile on external sites like Discord, it's much easier to communicate with people faster than this dinosaur of a website, let's stop complaining and just accept the inevitable, this website was most likely going to die regardless in a few years anyways.

[moistynoisy]

Oct 11, 2023 17:54:41 GMT -5 sasukewarrior333 said:

Oct 11, 2023 16:02:34 GMT -5 Eclipse said:

Hello Sasuke Maniacs!

Over the past 15 years, this forum has served as a gathering point for fans of Sasuke and related shows from across the world to enjoy such programs. We have also had the chance to discuss, talk to, and (in some cases) even meet fellow fans and competitors as a way of enjoying something we have all had in common.

Alas, the past several years have seen a dramatic decline in user activity here on SMF, alongside shifts away from Forums toward other means of online interaction and communication with the Ninja community. As a result, many of the former and current staff members here have (for some time now) considered archiving Sasuke Maniac Forums, and (as of this post) finally decided on a date in doing so.

Effective 11:59 P.M. EDT on December 31, 2023, Sasuke Maniac Forums will be removing the ability for existing users to make new posts on this forum, and removing the ability for new users to register.

Below are some common questions some of you may have:

Q: Will SMF be gone for good from the Internet?

A: For the time being, SMF will become read only in format. In other words, all public boards will still be viewable; users just will not be able to post anymore.



Q: Why is SMF being changed to read-only rather than completely shut down?

A: The SMF staff members believe that SMF does contain a considerable amount of information and discussion that was (and may still be) beneficial to the community. Therefore, we feel that archiving the forum is the better course of action to take than completely removing it.



Q: Will Sasukepedia be impacted?

A: No. Sasukepedia will continue to operate as normal far into the future.



Q: Will I still be able to send private messages, in case I have any questions afterwards?

A: As long as your account was not banned upon this change happening, you will still be able to send private messages to staff members and other users.



Q: I sent a staff member a message a while ago and have not heard a response! What is going on?

A: Only 2 staff members, yamfriend and Eclipse, were active at the time SMF changed over; if you sent a message to someone else, they may never see it, so please instead send your message to one of these two users. Furthermore, keep in mind that we will not check our messages on an archived forum on a regular basis, but we will respond as soon as we read them.



Q: Where can I still enjoy Sasuke and related shows with others in the community?

A: There are various groups of fans of these programs on other social media platforms. While searching for them manually may be a hit-or-miss process, here are a few of the more active communities that we can recommend:

• The Ninja Masters on Discord - many SMF members have already moved over here, alongside many new faces
• Various ninja-related reddit boards (r/ninjawarrior, r/ANW)

Q: What does this mean for watching Sasuke 41?

A: Sasuke Maniac Forums will not be hosting any events for Sasuke 41, however you may be able to watch in other communities.



If you have any additional questions or concerns prior to the changeover, please post them in this thread. Thank you to everyone who has contributed here since 2008, and good luck with all of your future endeavors in the Ninja community and beyond.

I'm gonna be respectful here, as I acknowledge the hard work you and the rest of the mod team has put in over the years, and I fully respect you all.


It's just, I feel this is a little unecessary. Assuming the forums don't cost money to run (in which case would be totally fair and honestly kinda wild you still need to do that in this day and age to run a single forum), what's the problem with it just existing? Sure, year wide activity may be low, but the place always gets super popular again during SASUKE season.


I know I myself have neglected this forum, and I understand most people prefer Discord, but I don't see the value in locking off future posts and making it read only. There's still people here, and it just wouldn't feel right.


It's up to all of you of course, I know that much. I just really hope you'll reconsider, I think it'll make more people sad than you realise for this forum to close. KojiFan is still doing their timeline, which they've put a tonne of work into. It'd break my heart to see that taken from them. 


If you don't change your minds, then anyone reading this is free to ask me for my Discord through PMs, which I'll happily give out, because I've met a lot of wonderful people on here, and while I don't have time right now to seek out, it's really been a pleasure speaking to you all.


But yeah, that's my piece. I hope this won't be the last time I post here, but if it is, it's a been a wild ride y'all. Stay good people. sasukewarrior333, signing off. 

   

To be honest, everything that you're saying like the timelines can still be done on Discord, understand that the Ninja Warrior community online is very small in general so continuing it on Discord is much more helpful in keeping the community alive.

[sasukewarrior333]

Oct 11, 2023 23:27:28 GMT -5 moistynoisy said:

Oct 11, 2023 17:54:41 GMT -5 sasukewarrior333 said:

I'm gonna be respectful here, as I acknowledge the hard work you and the rest of the mod team has put in over the years, and I fully respect you all.


It's just, I feel this is a little unecessary. Assuming the forums don't cost money to run (in which case would be totally fair and honestly kinda wild you still need to do that in this day and age to run a single forum), what's the problem with it just existing? Sure, year wide activity may be low, but the place always gets super popular again during SASUKE season.


I know I myself have neglected this forum, and I understand most people prefer Discord, but I don't see the value in locking off future posts and making it read only. There's still people here, and it just wouldn't feel right.


It's up to all of you of course, I know that much. I just really hope you'll reconsider, I think it'll make more people sad than you realise for this forum to close. KojiFan is still doing their timeline, which they've put a tonne of work into. It'd break my heart to see that taken from them. 


If you don't change your minds, then anyone reading this is free to ask me for my Discord through PMs, which I'll happily give out, because I've met a lot of wonderful people on here, and while I don't have time right now to seek out, it's really been a pleasure speaking to you all.


But yeah, that's my piece. I hope this won't be the last time I post here, but if it is, it's a been a wild ride y'all. Stay good people. sasukewarrior333, signing off. 

   

To be honest, everything that you're saying like the timelines can still be done on Discord, understand that the Ninja Warrior community online is very small in general so continuing it on Discord is much more helpful in keeping the community alive.

I'm sorry to say this, but I have a number of issues with the points you're coming in here and laying down.

Your main argument is that the forum is dead, and that it should shut down because Discord (Specifically, The Ninja Masters) exists. The problem with that is that, even if you believe that, this may very well not be case for many people. I like The Ninja Masters, and I've seen good discussions in there, but I've also seen a lot more rude behaviour skirt by unaddressed, because people are naturally more inclined to insult on Discord. Many people don't feel comfortable engaging in the type of environment TNM provides, and I can understand why, Discord is just naturally a way more aggressive place in general, and you're a lot more likely to be pounced upon for coming up with a take someone doesn't like.

Yes, the timelines could be posted on TNM. The only problem is that, frankly, Discord actually moves too fast for it to be worthwhile. Stuff gets buried so quickly, and the likelihood of anyone reading/noticing it is pretty slim. I won't say SMF is at an ideal activity rate, because posting rates have decreased  significantly but I and many other people actually prefer having a slower pace then what big Discord servers offer. I think it's better having that slow pace, it actually allows people to think about their thoughts more when they post, as there isn't a constant barage of "You and 23 others are typing" (that's an exaggeration, I know)

You also haven't really provided a good reason for the need to shut down here. The staff have other commitments, yeah, which is why the site is barely moderated now. We've had circumstances where aggressive people would enter the community, and since nothing would be done about it, we'd just keep posting like nothing happened. We could actually make do with that, I'm again wondering, what is the sudden need for it to shut down? Like, if it was already nearly unmoderated, what difference does it make? 

And, the part of this I was dreading writing... look, I'm really not trying to get on your case here, but storming into this thread and demanding everyone, particularly KojiFan to just "accept it", that's just... not good man. Calling KojiFan selfish for being upset they won't be able to finish a project they've worked on for months, literal months, a series that you can tell just by reading just how much passion went into it, is absolutely ludicrous to me. Again, there was no need for this to occur. The forums are completely free to host, as can be seen at the bottom of the page. Sure, everything must come to an end... that's not a good reason to just throw something away, shutting the forum down will actually take more effort then doing nothing, I can fully understand KojiFan's frustrations here.

And look, I don't wanna be negative here. I don't like that, I'm not that kinda person. But so many of your posts man, they've just been this really negative stuff. Complaining about Kawaguchi for something he has no control over, calling KojiFan selfish when they're upset for completely valid reasons, this is a genuinely uncomfortable thing to see. Again, I'm not trying to say anything about you as a person, but I just really don't like the fashion in which you're coming into this thread.

Just wanted to address all of this, because this is like, bad. The arguments for this being a good thing don't make any sense when you actually think about them, all this is doing is removing a more peaceful outlet for discussion and ushering people into an unarchivable, fast paced mess of overlapping discussions and voices with no way to have any kind of meaningful focus.

Edit: Wait, I just noticed this...

"the people running the forums have lives and have other important commitments unlike a lot of people who still use this exact forum"

Is that an attempt at a stealthy insult there? Come on man, you're better than that...

[lightningmatt]

I think the main thing to consider is that moderation is a pain in the a**, and there are now very few moderators. Additionally, considering the lack of activity, that makes it way harder to actually find people who are both trustworthy and willing to put in the time commitment. You always gotta keep a watchful eye even during downtime, and at some point it just isn't worth it anymore for those few who stuck around. That's the vibe I get, at least.

TLDR: Trustworthy people only want to moderate discord servers now lol

[Eclipse]

Oct 11, 2023 16:11:35 GMT -5 zoran said:

Does it cost money for the staff members to maintain the site?

It does not cost money to maintain the site.

Oct 11, 2023 16:56:18 GMT -5 YourResidentKojiFan said:

First of all, this forum is a great place for people like myself and a few friends I know that were/are on this forum that don't function well in large groups such as serves like TNM or huge Reddit groups. I've made friends off of this place, I'm sure other people have, and probably would've continued to in the future.

These are fair points. What I can say to that is that there are dozens of smaller Ninja discords, and that reddit group sizes are hugely over-inflated. r/ninjawarrior says it has around 25,000 members, yet when I go there it says I am the only person online.

I have made tons of friends here, so that I fully relate too, but I have also made friends on both reddit and discord.

Oct 11, 2023 16:56:18 GMT -5 YourResidentKojiFan said:

Second of all, unlike Discord servers, this is much easier to navigate, and every thread, no matter what it's about, is easily seen. It isn't buried, people don't just ignore it, even if they don't reply, they see it, which allows for more interaction to new users, whereas in a big server, they may not be cared about or noticed when they bring up a point, as opposed to a mod or a mod's friend. Notice how here, yamfriend, etc. didn't get a million replies just cause they were a mod. This place is friendly to everyone with the exception of trolls, and I just have to come out and say, I've heard from multiple sources that no big server is like that.

This is a matter of personal opinion. While it's easier to find specific threads here, things like searching are significantly worse.

Oct 11, 2023 16:56:18 GMT -5 YourResidentKojiFan said:

Third, of course the forum has seen less activity recently, there's been less to talk about. There's been one tournament a year for five years now, and since there's only ~150 hours of SASUKE footage, there's only so much that can be discussed. 

I don't know if that's really a valid point. Game of Thrones is only 70 hours, yet the amount of meaningful discussion is far more. 

Oct 11, 2023 16:56:18 GMT -5 YourResidentKojiFan said:

Lastly, and I don't even know how to describe this, but - Do you know how sad this will be to see? No new posts, ever. What happens to the threads that were alive and well? What happens to anyone who wants to bring up an interesting topic or discovered something? Are they just boned unless they join a big server, which, as I said, they'll probably just be ignored anyway? Why shut it down entirely? If it's barren, it's barren. As you've pretty much said, it's been like this for years.

It is quite sad. This was my introduction to the community, but there are countless other options besides just a big server.

Oct 11, 2023 16:56:18 GMT -5 YourResidentKojiFan said:

Is it hurting anyone to leave it up? As far as I'm aware, no. Is it helping people? Yes, very much. So like, just, why?

In our opinion, yes it is, actually. 

We get a larger amount of moderation reports - more than we do on reddit and TNM combined. In some cases they can go unresolved for weeks but are often cases harassment, and so people are getting hurt.

In addition, the quality of posts is quite low. Most threads are either devolving into negativity, or are just speculation. In our opinion, the quality and toxicity of content here in the modern time is not a good thing for the community.

Oct 11, 2023 16:56:18 GMT -5 YourResidentKojiFan said:

I know this post might not change your mind, but I at least want to not have my thoughts go unsaid.

I will consider everything said and may propose some things. We'll see.

Oct 11, 2023 17:54:41 GMT -5 sasukewarrior333 said:

It's up to all of you of course, I know that much. I just really hope you'll reconsider, I think it'll make more people sad than you realise for this forum to close. 

Acknowledged, will keep this in mind.

Oct 12, 2023 3:22:47 GMT -5 sasukewarrior333 said:

Your main argument is that the forum is dead, and that it should shut down because Discord (Specifically, The Ninja Masters) exists. The problem with that is that, even if you believe that, this may very well not be case for many people. I like The Ninja Masters, and I've seen good discussions in there, but I've also seen a lot more rude behaviour skirt by unaddressed, because people are naturally more inclined to insult on Discord. Many people don't feel comfortable engaging in the type of environment TNM provides, and I can understand why, Discord is just naturally a way more aggressive place in general, and you're a lot more likely to be pounced upon for coming up with a take someone doesn't like.

On the administrative side, all of us have been here over a decade, and it truly is dead compared to older times. With that said obviously we know it is not literally dead, but the activity is not the only contributing factor.

Your criticisms of discord are entirely valid however and I will keep it in mind.

[Amber]

I want to give some pushback about the sentiments about Discord here. A lot of the criticism I see towards it, I held the same criticisms towards ProBoards.

I think the biggest issue with Discord is that discoverability is far more restricted. You can't really find Discord servers on Google so it is frustrating that the only way in is to know someone who can invite you to one of these servers or having to go to a Youtube channel that promotes the server.

But that to me is the biggest flaw in Discord and the benefits outweigh that by a huge margin. The UI on Discord is so much more clean. This site was made in 2008 and it SHOWS in the UI. I haven't been active on this board in years but every time I check in on things here it's a nightmare trying to re-learn how to navigate this place. Discord also has watch parties and frequent discussions about SASUKE and other shows in the Ninja Warrior franchise. I get that the more casual, short form discussion isn't everyone's preference but I find more people are willing to engage themselves in discussion if they don't feel like they have to post an entire thesis on the current subject to have their input valued.

Could the Discord community behave better? Yeah. But any community could. Eclipse mentions that this place gets a lot of moderation reports - this seems to imply this place isn't some drama-free sanctuary. Especially in proportion to its size. Like I said, the Discord community isn't perfect but I've only really been back in this community for just under 2 years now and I've seen the people in charge on Discord take more steps to make things more accessible for everyone than I saw in the ~5 years I was active on this board.

Are there some things I don't like about Discord as a hub for SASUKE? Yeah. Are there some things I think forums do better? Yeah. But I really don't think this is the end of the world, or a big deal at all, really. This site has run its course. I think with some time and patience, some of the bigger issues with Discord can be addressed and solved. It's really not that bad.

[brz0ny]

come on im pretty sure some of us would be able to help with whatever is necessary to keep this thing running

[YourResidentKojiFan]

Yeah, if the issue is "mods don't have time", then I and at least one other person I know (and probably some others here) would be willing to volunteer and help out just to keep it going.

[thegreatluigi]

Oct 14, 2023 22:30:28 GMT -5 YourResidentKojiFan said:

Yeah, if the issue is "mods don't have time", then I and at least one other person I know (and probably some others here) would be willing to volunteer and help out just to keep it going.

I was thinking the same thing; I would be more than happy to help out to keep this site running. I know I almost never post on here, but I check these boards, and read the new posts, almost every single day.

[YourResidentKojiFan]

Oct 15, 2023 12:28:44 GMT -5 thegreatluigi said:

Oct 14, 2023 22:30:28 GMT -5 YourResidentKojiFan said:

Yeah, if the issue is "mods don't have time", then I and at least one other person I know (and probably some others here) would be willing to volunteer and help out just to keep it going.

I was thinking the same thing; I would be more than happy to help out to keep this site running. I know I almost never post on here, but I check these boards, and read the new posts, almost every single day.

Same. I don't really post too much if you exclude my Kōji Yamada thread, I'll be honest, but every time I get done with work, or dinner, or really anything, I check these boards. I probably check them about 6-7 times a day usually, even. Is that a problem? Maybe, but I'm getting sidetracked. Point is, I'm in the same boat. I really like seeing any potential activity here.

[loboticialtree]

Ok, so there is no sub-board for SASUKE 41? If that's the case, that's kinda disappointing.

Edit: This just feels like a big f-you to everyone who wanted to use these Forums imo. Admittedly I did join the Ninja Masters Discord, but haven't really taken the time to actually use it. Really, if you want to make another announcements in terms of moderation please do so. thanks.