Originally Posted by
BadSplice
RCU made a promise to us during the last upgrade that they would keep RCU the great site it had been. Then they sold us out to a large operation for what I have to assume was a large paycheck... and broke their promise to us. My faith in and loyalty to RCU has been broken by this.
Some of you will say I am overreacting to this change.... maybe so but I am SO sick of having this happen. Losing something thats a part of my life cause someone else feels theyd rather change around something that exists instead of making something new for them. So I just lose.
BadSplice, I'm NOT picking on you, and I want to make it clear I'm not trying to minimize your objections or belittle your opinions: they certainly do have merit.
that being said, here are a couple of details you are probably not aware of:
I've been a member of RCU for better than a decade, even though most of my contributions and interests have been on the magazine side of RCU, I've been here since 2002.
The last upgrade that occurred was pretty much a disaster, however at that point in time RCU had ALREADY been sold to Internet Brands.
ONLY My Opinion: IB was not prepared for that upgrade. However with THIS upgrade, they really brought out the big guns, did their due diligence and managed to get 12 years worth of Articles, images, posts, etc converted to their new platform with (again, my opinion) minimum downtime and minimum negative impact on the membership at large.
The old system was highly modified (but never documented) by the original owner of RCU, the system was (ALMOST Literally) held together with bailing wire, bubble gum and a little spit.
The old software was developed by a company that went out of business (and stopped supporting their software) in ~2008 or so. Upgrading or even keeping the forums stable became impossible.
My Brother Mike (AKA MinnFlyer) who passed away last year at the ripe old age of 58 was more than a fixture here, he created nearly half of all the content that is still available in the magazine section.
it both pains me and makes my happy that I still see his photo here in the 'Mike Buzzeo takes a closer look' section.
(it does make me feel good to see his picture on the same page as two of My Reviews!)
When I see what RCUniverse is today, I see a work still in progress yes. but at the very least now I can see that there is still something to work WITH
literally three weeks ago I was petrified that the content here would be lost forever.
RCU is certainly a LARGE part of MY life too, I can tell you from first hand knowledge that NO ONE wants this site (including the forums, marketplace and magazine) to Succeed more than I do.
(even the guys who are actually getting a paycheck for it
) if RCU were to fail, they can find another job.
I don't think I'll find another Brother, or another group of RC people so willing to pitch in and lend a hand, give an opinion (even when theirs doesn't agree with mine
), advise, HUMOR or just moral support.
I truly hope that RCU will quickly live up to your expectations, and the expectations of the entire membership.
and if I have anything to say about it, it will