Merging In Under Tennis-Prose.com

[britbox]

Hi folks,

Over the next couple of weeks or so, Discuss.Tennis will be merging in under the Tennis-Prose.com website run by @scoop and his fellow writer Dan and will fall under the Tennis-Prose.com umbrella.

Scoop has been writing about Tennis for 25 years, is well-connected within the Sport, has written numerous books and gets interviews with many of the big names within the sports.

The Blog posts on Scoop's site attract a hardcore of knowledgeable tennis fans. With this forum moving under the Tennis-prose.com banner, the blog posts will automatically translate into threads and the comments and commentators will also automatically become forum posts and forum posters by default.

It will strengthen this small community with an influx of new members and new discussions!

The forum will largely stay as it is, all the existing posts, threads etc... will be retained - you might just see some rebranding with logo/colours etc before and during the move.

Onwards and upwards

 

[Nekro]

Hi folks,

Over the next couple of weeks or so, Discuss.Tennis will be merging in under the Tennis-Prose.com website run by @scoop and his fellow writer Dan and will fall under the Tennis-Prose.com umbrella.

Scoop has been writing about Tennis for 25 years, is well-connected within the Sport, has written numerous books and gets interviews with many of the big names within the sports.

The Blog posts on Scoop's site attract a hardcore of knowledgeable tennis fans. With this forum moving under the Tennis-prose.com banner, the blog posts will automatically translate into threads and the comments and commentators will also automatically become forum posts and forum posters by default.

It will strengthen this small community with an influx of new members and new discussions!

The forum will largely stay as it is, all the existing posts, threads etc... will be retained - you might just see some rebranding with logo/colours etc before and during the move.

Onwards and upwards

wow that sounds cool!!! I've been watching and reading Scoop and what i like about him is that he can think out of the box, and new members are always cool, so I'm very excited about this move

 

[Moxie]

I enjoy Scoop's perspective and look forward to new conversations with his followers.

 

[mrzz]

This is all part of the CONSPIRACY to ERASE HISTORY. Why these boards keep moving? From tennis.com to tennis-digital to tennis.whatever to tennis.frontier and discuss.tennis and now this... so every time the HIDDEN POWERS can REWRITE OLD POSTS and ERASE those that DENOUNCE THE TRUTH!!!!

 

[britbox]

This is all part of the CONSPIRACY to ERASE HISTORY. Why these boards keep moving? From tennis.com to tennis-digital to tennis.whatever to tennis.frontier and discuss.tennis and now this... so every time the HIDDEN POWERS can REWRITE OLD POSTS and ERASE those that DENOUNCE THE TRUTH!!!!

Don't worry mate. We'll keep your predictions

 

[britbox]

This is all part of the CONSPIRACY to ERASE HISTORY. Why these boards keep moving? From tennis.com to tennis-digital to tennis.whatever to tennis.frontier and discuss.tennis and now this... so every time the HIDDEN POWERS can REWRITE OLD POSTS and ERASE those that DENOUNCE THE TRUTH!!!!

Joking aside...

Tennis.com - they closed the forum. They was the halcyon days of Tennis Forums IMO - loads of posters, lots of humour, lots of trolls. Web V1.0 I guess, when forums were hugely popular and basically the social media of their day.

Tennis digital - Tino, who developed the tennis.com website, set this up as a commercial venture. The tennis.com forum was broken, they didn't intend fixing it and would go onto close it. So most who were still active moved to Tennis Digital. A lot of the old posters got lost along the way during this move.

Tennis Frontier - Tino decided he was going to close Tennis Digital as it wasn't commercially viable - not bringing in any funds. I think his original sponsors dropped out. A few of us got sick of being pilgrims cast aside at the whim of website owners and we still had decent numbers in the community, so we decided to set up Tennis Frontier. Originally, that was myself, Moxie, Tented and Nehmeth. Nehmeth dropped out early doors. I built the website and we ran with it. Still going now, albeit under different ownership.

Discuss.Tennis - This was started after a not-so amicable divorce with Tennis Frontier. Quite a few posters got banned or run off the boards or left of their own accord. Some of these people I'd been posting with on the previous boards going back a decade. Set up discuss.tennis to keep them together under an umbrella. Too late for some who had already joined other boards or just drifted into the sunset and post on social media instead, but a few of us kept together. I never really intended originally to build a full site, more just a message board to keep a few old faces talking... but ended up getting a bit competitive and probably wasted more time than I care to mention.

Tennis-Prose - Forums are in rapid decline. Social Media is King. It's hard to recruit for forums in this day and age. Most run with Twitter or Facebook, which are cool in their own right. So the merging into Tennis-Prose makes sense as it adds more users, more threads and they have good writers in place who will make good contributions. Kind of safety in numbers whilst keeping some posters who date back to the tennis.com era together after all these years.

This move, unlike the others will be pretty seamless. The forum content remains, all the threads and posts remain...You'll just see different logos and different colours. Even your bookmarks/favourites will work - they'll just auto redirect to the new website.

 

[scoop]

Happy to be part of the partnership - always enjoy the banter and discussion with knowledgeable tennis observers - we all started at the old Tennisweek site which was a fantastic forum if any of you remember it (probably not) - It was so popular that even James Blake popped in once to defend himself from Dan who was a constant Blake critic back then under the alias of "James Himself" - Patrick mcEnroe was also a reader of the site forum and probably several other insiders - At tennis-prose one of the chief objectives was to carry on the tradition of Tennisweek which was sold to Img by the owner and creator Gene Scott's wife after Gene suddenly passed away about ten years ago - But here we are now in 2017 and looking forward to continuing what we are all doing with our favorite sport on earth

 

[britbox]

our favorite sport on earth

Do you have tennis over boxing @scoop?

 

[scoop]

Yes because boxing is not giving the fans the best vs the best nearly enough and corruption in boxing is out of control - way out of control - And US fighters are protected and given safe easy or in-house "fights" - In tennis we always get to see the best vs the best -

 

[mrzz]

Discuss.Tennis - This was started after a not-so amicable divorce with Tennis Frontier.

Sorry for asking, but how are things now with the people there? I ask this publicly as I also post there -- there are good, both old and new, posters to discuss with -- and a lot of times I find myself wanting to start the same discussion on two boards, which seems strange. Also, even if lately some new posters appeared, it would seem the site is lacking a bit of effort and/or maintenance. All this to say... any chance mommy and daddy can get together again?

 

[britbox]

Sorry for asking, but how are things now with the people there? I ask this publicly as I also post there -- there are good, both old and new, posters to discuss with -- and a lot of times I find myself wanting to start the same discussion on two boards, which seems strange. Also, even if lately some new posters appeared, it would seem the site is lacking a bit of effort and/or maintenance. All this to say... any chance mommy and daddy can get together again?

I'll put out a feeler and see if they are interested in coming in on this merge.

 

[mrzz]

Here´s to hoping it happens. And, if not, I always have the hate thread.

 

[Nekro]

Sorry for asking, but how are things now with the people there? I ask this publicly as I also post there -- there are good, both old and new, posters to discuss with -- and a lot of times I find myself wanting to start the same discussion on two boards, which seems strange. Also, even if lately some new posters appeared, it would seem the site is lacking a bit of effort and/or maintenance. All this to say... any chance mommy and daddy can get together again?

As i said more posters are always good but why would they want to do this? As you heard, they banned many old posters from tennis.com times.... and as we saw that policy kinda failed cause the board got kinda dead... However, the posters who stayed there agreed with that policy cause they didn't come to BB's site (except the new ones ofc)... And as we know the leadership and the mods changed too, however, the posters could always come here, even right now but they don't..... So even if, let's say, Katie? told them "let's merge with these other peeps" do you think they would be happy?

Also, if this merge happens, the owner there paid the hosting bills and spent her time on the board for nothing? why would she give up her board....

So the merge with Scoop's site which doesn't have a forum like this yet and a merge with tennisfrontier would be very very different in many ways....

Anyway, as BB said these are tough times and social media is king, and ofc more people are good, i'm just thinking loudly here.....

 

[mrzz]

I hear you Nekro, surely there are differences, they are the reason of the split. But I still think it would be beneficial for both -- discussion wise (the reason we are here, as the name of the site leaves explicit), at least.

Surely some differences would have to be dealt with. I also do not like the excess of moderation that use to happen there -- and sometimes still flashes up. But that's the name of the game of living in a society (even a digital one): solving differences.

And also there are a lot of Nadal fans there, as we have here. I sweared to myself I would not waste so much time with such people anymore. If the boards merge I can offend both groups in one post, thus saving 50% of my time.

 

[britbox]

As i said more posters are always good but why would they want to do this? As you heard, they banned many old posters from tennis.com times.... and as we saw that policy kinda failed cause the board got kinda dead... However, the posters who stayed there agreed with that policy cause they didn't come to BB's site (except the new ones ofc)... And as we know the leadership and the mods changed too, however, the posters could always come here, even right now but they don't..... So even if, let's say, Katie? told them "let's merge with these other peeps" do you think they would be happy?

Also, if this merge happens, the owner there paid the hosting bills and spent her time on the board for nothing? why would she give up her board....

So the merge with Scoop's site which doesn't have a forum like this yet and a merge with tennisfrontier would be very very different in many ways....

Anyway, as BB said these are tough times and social media is king, and ofc more people are good, i'm just thinking loudly here.....

It's not going to be one or the other. This is moving under Tennis-Prose, that's been agreed and is going to happen.

It's whether TF are open to the idea of merging our boards and moving over when it happens, which would be a bigger user base, more traffic, more discussion + I would hope some of the very knowledgeable writers and blog commentators on Tennis-Prose would enter into some of the forum discussions... so you'd have three user groups forming a stronger community rather than the two.

Quite a few users cross post on both DT and TF - so it would make their lives easier. Some post predominantly on one but drop in on the other... it would make their lives easier too. Some good posters who have drifted away from both sites might drift back with the re-energized discussion from an increased user base. I think a lot of visiting boards is habitual - you get in the habit and then keep returning...you get used to certain posters, groups and banter. Also, things like post counts etc matter bizarrely to some people. If a merge did happen - all the historical threads, posts, post counts, from both forums would be retained - just under one roof. If the same user had posted across both sites, their posts and post counts would be combined under the one username. Some people might not like it, but I'd hazard a guess that number would be relatively small.

 

[Moxie]

I think it would be great to get the whole community together again. It feels a bit like the old days of manning the lifeboats as tennis.com was closing the forums behind us. If there is really little appetite left for an intimate tennis conversation forum, I'd say our best strategy would be to merge ourselves into one decent conversation and community.

 

[Nekro]

It's not going to be one or the other. This is moving under Tennis-Prose, that's been agreed and is going to happen.

It's whether TF are open to the idea of merging our boards and moving over when it happens, which would be a bigger user base, more traffic, more discussion + I would hope some of the very knowledgeable writers and blog commentators on Tennis-Prose would enter into some of the forum discussions... so you'd have three user groups forming a stronger community rather than the two.

Quite a few users cross post on both DT and TF - so it would make their lives easier. Some post predominantly on one but drop in on the other... it would make their lives easier too. Some good posters who have drifted away from both sites might drift back with the re-energized discussion from an increased user base. I think a lot of visiting boards is habitual - you get in the habit and then keep returning...you get used to certain posters, groups and banter. Also, things like post counts etc matter bizarrely to some people. If a merge did happen - all the historical threads, posts, post counts, from both forums would be retained - just under one roof. If the same user had posted across both sites, their posts and post counts would be combined under the one username. Some people might not like it, but I'd hazard a guess that number would be relatively small.

yeah, i practically said the same things, except i asked why the old "hardcore" tf members.... who didn't join here after the split would love to come here now..... some of those hc tennisfrontier members were newbs on tennis.com, they arrived just before the the old forums got screwed or after the new adminship got installed...... and from what i saw they didn't shed even a teardrop the real good oldschoolers from tennis.com got banned on tf... they were like a minority that suddenly turned into a majority and they enjoyed it from what i saw....

Also, i didn't know about this, but mrzz just said there are still flashes of excessive moderation there... Practically the reason you made this site.... Don't you think with a merge the people would step in the same shit again? I mean, if what mrzz said is true the gap between the 2 boards' philosophies is too wide maybe? And new and ugly conflicts would arise? That would make the profit of 5-6 new posters who are already able to post here too little compared to the mess the difference in thinking would cause?

Anyway, as i said i'm for all kinds of merging, i was just wondering why those people i just talked about would like it.... Really it's just loud thinking, like i don't know jackshit about the owner there or which mods did what there, i'm just rambling as usual lol

 

[mrzz]

mrzz just said there are still flashes of excessive moderation there

Internet teaches you to chose carefully your words. I wrote it in a way that I could be a bit misunderstood. Sorry about that.

Some years ago, yes, what we have there was seen by most, including me, as heavy moderation. The last, say, year and half, is much lighter, but we do see moderation -- as opposed to our absolutely free grounds here. But, in fairness, there was no more banning, I would guess no more deleted threads (maybe merges in sake of organization), and moderators intervening most in the sake to keep threads on topic (which is a role played mostly by the own posters here). Probably a more strong word here and there about PED's, which is the touchy subject there -- but yet nothing compared to what we had earlier. I hope I let the picture clearer know, and if a moderator from tennis.frontier is reading this, please correct me if I am wrong.

Moving forward on topic, I prefer the complete freedom we have here, but on the other hand I do understand (duh!) the reasons behind moderation.
The ill effect of non-moderation, for me, is to lose some good posters which just feel sick of the direct name-calling that sometimes happen (which is part of the game on the internet, and a price to pay for freedom). What I would try to do to circumvent this is to encourage posters to use the ignore tools more (which I never used and I am not completely aware of the possibilities).

 

[El Dude]

That's pretty much how I feel too, mrzz - moderation only if things get truly out of hand into blatant personal attacks. Maybe the less stringent style is partially my "fault," as I've been moderating over at TF for about a year and a half and take a very relaxed approach, to such an extent that one or two posters have complained about it. Some feel that a moderator should be a kind o model citizen and impartial in all situations. I just see it as me being a poster first, a moderator only if I have to be.

Anyhow, I'm one of those folks that got involved at Tennis.com just a bit before it closed down. When banning started happening at TF, I wasn't even aware of it until long after and started wondering, what happened to so-and-so? I think some of it was self-banning.

There are very few posters who only post at TF, as far as I can tell. I'm guessing all or most would be fine with a merger.

 

[Nekro]

Probably a more strong word here and there about PED's, which is the touchy subject there

Guess then someone has some catching up to do.....Doping accusations had been taboo at the peak days of tennis forums, cause there were no social media and stuff and everything happened on forums and things were completely different otherwise too... Now forums like these are relics, all is happening in the social media, doping accusations are raining from everywhere, even big names, like Nastase and Joe Rogan are accusing Serena Williams for example of doping without proof, do you think she will sue anybody? These players could spend their whole lifetime sueing away.... the world has changed so much since the peak times of forums...... the likelihood of anybody sueing a tiny little board like tennis frontier is zero...... The player would just make a complete ass of him/herself....

The ill effect of non-moderation, for me, is to lose some good posters which just feel sick of the direct name-calling that sometimes happen (which is part of the game on the internet, and a price to pay for freedom). .

well, luckily, as Federberg so often says, we're all adults here, i guess teenies on teenie forums are affected more by name calling....

I prefer the complete freedom we have here

Me too

There are very few posters who only post at TF, as far as I can tell. I'm guessing all or most would be fine with a merger.

Good, then i guess all depends on the owner....