Pardon any typos or errors.  I’m actually very tired and need to go to bed.  But I wanted to make sure that I both explained the issues with the Resource Depot forum and our broken file download links… and to complain about how sorely out of touch FileFront has become.

I received an email today, warning that I had files about to be deleted.  I had four days to request that my files remain, starting at nearly 11:00 pm on the 8th of June.

I only received the email today, but I jumped into action and followed the link to save my files.  The only problem is, the link was outdated already.  All of my files… the custom re-skins, the maps, the old GargArena FGD and prefabs… everything… had been deleted.

It’s all gone.  Wiped out by a process that Google reveals to be fairly common.  Particularly of interest were statements that indicated that logging in could be a prerequisite.  Specifically, if you don’t log in often enough, you could loose everything.

But I also found a number of gamers that had a similar experience.  I could now go into just what I think of our former host, their communication skills, and their current state of service.

However, I’m tired and don’t feel like being so negative.  So I’ll just leave my coments to the important statement… the downloads are all down.  And worse, I have not had occasion to update a few of my file backups.

Files such as Devil1′s Young barney re-skin, and the GargArena FDG are all gone.  For now, none of the links work.

I will be using my ModDB account for some of the fileage, as soon as it

EDIT:

I told you I was tired.  You can’t tell by the post, but the Soprano’s style ending was not the only error.  I’ve just corrected some of the spelling mistakes.  I also made many mistakes that I caught while typing the original post.  I was trying to go to sleep at the keyboard, so random words would pop-up or my text would degenerate into letters and garbled words.

Anyway, the point was that our download links are all down and I will be using ModDB to post some of the files when I get around to it.  I also have plans to possibly use the forum software’s attachment options for smaller files.

As for FileFront, I have no intention of trusting them with my files again.  Not until such time as they clean up their act.  When I tried to host videos there, they would last days at best and then be deleted because fifty or so views weren’t enough.

None of the issues I’ve experienced or described are terribly new.  And many people have had these problems before.  But since the entire April Fools incident, this has become more common practice as the company tries to save money by alienating their users.

Good Job folks!

After all the delays and all the rubbish around this entire ordeal… The tangled mess that became File Front has ended.

…

…

With the original founders buying it from Ziff Davis to keep it open.

Here’s an excerpt from the announcement.

1) The March 24th announcement about FileFront suspending its operation was NOT an early April Fool’s joke.

2) This announcement about the original founders buying back FileFront from Ziff Davis Media is also NOT an April Fool’s joke.

3) We’re making this announcement on April 1st because the deal was completed today and we want to bring all services back online immediately.

4) We would NEVER suspend FileFront as an April Fool’s joke.

5) We are happy to be back!

You can read the full announcement here.

To make one point perfectly clear from our perspective… BWL will not be moving back unless something happens with our new host.  I’ve already paid more then $50 in fees to our host for premium service and another more then $50 to my bank in releated fees.

I can’t get nearly that much back.  And I’m going to be skipping a meal or two over the next two weeks until my next paycheck arrives.

This business with FileFront was very poorly managed from the outset.  We as hosted sites had zero warning that the site would close and take us with it.  We also had zero warning that a deal was in the works that might save the old site.

I’m happy to have our new host and be able to expand our functions a little.  Fictions for other games are now more then welcome here and we will be adding at least a handful of additional forums in the gaming section for other popular games our members play.

We have long since passed the point of no return here… and I think we will be better off for it.

Be sure to post suggestions in this thread.  And also indicate if you would be interested in tracking/writing news for one of these games/subjects.  We will choose five by the end of April.  Also, let me know if you have some “feature” that you would like to write about regularly.

We’re looking to take this site a little further then it has ever gone before.  Even so, FileFront continues to offer the best free file hosting option we have.  Therefore, I will continue to use their file services for our downloads.

EVENING UPDATE:

Okay, I’ll admit… when I said I don’t care… I lied.  I do care.  Not because I care what happens to the site or plan to somehow redeem the old BWL, but I care out of shear morbid curiosity.

When I posted this morning, I was a tired and a little irritated.  And I made a number of typos.

Anyway, I feel  like editing the post with a little more effort.

So…

As of this moment, FileFront is still on-line.  In fact, the forums are back up and running.  Many comments on the countless news posts about the FileFront closing are calling shenanigans.  Even on their own forums, there are several new topics asking if the “joke” was funny or if it was all a joke.

As I said a few days ago when we first started worrying about this, a bad April Fool’s joke was a possibility.  But I still don’t believe this to be the case.  I have a hard time believing that FileFront would allow a hoax to go this far.  I mean seriously, there are news articles on actual gaming magazine websites about this.

A joke is a joke.  On April Fool’s Day, everyone expects some form of cheap gag.  For Battlefiled Hero’s, the site became Battlefield Dork.  For Freeman’s Mind, it was the death of Freeman.  On thatguywiththeglasses.com “That Guy” swapped all of his characters for his movie reviews and such.  These jokes are meant to be amusing.

What happened on FileFront is hardly a joke.  If it were an ill-advised April Fool’s Prank, then it would qualify more as a hoax.  The problem with hoaxes would be that they may not be funny and often are hurtful.

I just can’t see FileFront affecting all of its hosted sites, all of it’s sub-sites, all of it’s sub-site’s hosted sites, and the forums and files.  That would be reckless and detrimental.  Not helpful.

Moreover, they HAVE been offering free hosting, free file hosting, etc.  They make any money off advertising.  Shutting down would be more then possible due to cost issues alone… which IS their explanation after all.

Still… it could be an out of control prank.  And at this point, I don’t care.  If it was a hoax, I won’t be going back.  I’ve spent money on our new website.  As have a number of other folks.

According to the forum announcement thread…

I assure you all that the forums being online at this time is not a joke or something that is temporary. What information I have is that there will be more information to be expected sometime tomorrow. I myself am not entirely sure what is going on and why the forums are back online. I’ll know when you know really. I was just instructed to let you know that this is for real and not a joke by any stretch of the imagination. I know many will not believe me because of the terrible timing, but the persons that I had talked to about this would never joke with me about this sort of thing.

More to come as I find it out.

Jeff

There is another possibility.  Someone could have bought FileFront.  There had been some rumors that UGO might be interested… given that they bought the rest of 1up last year.

Or the parent company, Ziff Davis, might have decided to leave the servers on-line for a month or so to allow its hosted sites to move… as opposed to the week they gave us last week.

In the end, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what the news is later.  But then again, that is the real problem.  Zero communication.

No one has given us any real information.  They haven’t explained why the site is still on-line.  They haven’t said April Fool’s.  No other company has announced that they have bought the site.  Nothing.

So… I’m curious.   What is happening?

What do you think?  Was it an elaborate and poorly considered April fool’s day hoax that they are now affraid to end for fear of riot?  Has someone rescued filefront from the brink of oblivion?  Did it receive a last minute reprieve from the upper management types?  A stay of execution?  Did Barak Obama personally fly to California to rescue the company with a federal bailout?  Do you even care?

Should any of us?