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Topic Summary

Posted by: Plagosus
« on: January 20, 2026, 03:57:32 pm »

I am pleased to hear that Flag is working to save the content of the old forum and that obviously explains the delay. It would though be nice to hear how he sees the issue progressing and, if the end is not in sight, for him to give his blessing to use the temporary forum I referred to above. Apart from anything else, if we start to gather as many people as possible together now they can all be alerted at once as soon as the new forum is up and running.
Posted by: PJ Franklin
« on: January 19, 2026, 05:27:26 pm »

First off Jack, thank you for hosting this frustrating topic. I empathize with everything I've read thus far and am unsure I have anything new to contribute so much as to try and emphasize that Ian wants to get our forum back online. Given why Dreamhost took us offline is the very, very complex rub. If this were just a simple matter of starting a brand new forum from scratch, he would have done it by now. The problem as you all are well aware is that the old forum has far too much old, revered historically valuable content to not try and save. But to do so given how Ian altered the original phpBB software from it's basic programming, well, he's tried to explain some of the details and it went right over my head in two seconds flat and so he's still muddling how to please himself, us and especially Dreamhost. Having said that, the story archive is not only alive and well, but thriving. Better than that, our rudimentary age verification page has not, at least from my point of view prevented our readers from reading and voting at basically the same rates as before AG. Yes, it seemed touch and go for awhile, but I think runs smoothly now. Most of our story hits are more realistic than before in my opinion. Anyway ... feel free to ask me questions if you have any and I'm glad for a chance to contribute to this thread, so thanks again Jack!

PJ 
Posted by: David M. Katz
« on: January 19, 2026, 03:53:35 pm »

Quote from: David M. Katz on December 06, 2025, 06:04:36 pm
Quote from: Plagosus on December 04, 2025, 10:16:28 am
https://msf.createaforum.com/index.php ?

What is this?  Why does it exist?

My last updated understanding is that non-authors would be welcome on the recommendation and/or invitation of an author. The whole idea is to keep the new place free from nefarious new members who, in all likelihood, are not even human. I think (it is my understanding as I do not have direct word from Flag on this) the idea is that Flag wants membership available to authors and like-minded people who have been verified as real people who would also participate.
Posted by: HumbledBareBoy
« on: January 16, 2026, 06:27:40 pm »

Quote from: Plagosus on January 16, 2026, 02:01:08 pm
The proposal is that the new forum will only be open to authors.

Oh, goodness gracious, that sounds awful! I would hate to exclude readers themselves from the discussion.
Posted by: Plagosus
« on: January 16, 2026, 02:01:08 pm »

The proposal is that the new forum will only be open to authors.
Posted by: Emlyn Morgan
« on: January 16, 2026, 10:29:19 am »


I'm puzzled about references to Flag's projected new mmsa forum being private. So who would be included and who would be excluded? Was the old Mmsa forum private? I assumed anyone accessing mmsa could access the forum.
Posted by: Plagosus
« on: January 15, 2026, 05:32:22 pm »

Quote from: Jack on January 15, 2026, 05:10:54 pm
Quote from: Plagosus on January 13, 2026, 10:18:33 am
There does though have to be a limit. We had a forum where, over some 20 years, a community was built of those with an interest in common who enjoyed participating. All the regulars must be missing it, some more than others, perhaps even feeling that they have been deprived of a safe haven. At what point should we say that we cannot wait any longer to get together again? Will this thread still be relevant at Easter?

What if we temporarily added an MMSA-related section here with similar topics to discuss stories and posting questions?  DMK obviously would know, and we could inform Johnno and PJ, so there would be official input.

Sounds good to me.
Posted by: Jack
« on: January 15, 2026, 05:10:54 pm »

Quote from: Plagosus on January 13, 2026, 10:18:33 am
There does though have to be a limit. We had a forum where, over some 20 years, a community was built of those with an interest in common who enjoyed participating. All the regulars must be missing it, some more than others, perhaps even feeling that they have been deprived of a safe haven. At what point should we say that we cannot wait any longer to get together again? Will this thread still be relevant at Easter?

What if we temporarily added an MMSA-related section here with similar topics to discuss stories and posting questions?  DMK obviously would know, and we could inform Johnno and PJ, so there would be official input.
Posted by: Plagosus
« on: January 14, 2026, 03:01:33 pm »

Quote from: Emlyn Morgan on January 14, 2026, 01:55:40 pm
An alternative site would not entice me because it would not have a direct connection with Mmsa and its readers and authors. The connection was of the essence of the lapsed forum.

The point about any alternative site is though that it would be about MMSA, just not "official".
Posted by: Emlyn Morgan
« on: January 14, 2026, 01:55:40 pm »

Personally, I've got used to life without the Mmsa forum. When it's restored I'll use it. In the meantime, however long, its absence won't trouble me much.

An alternative site would not entice me because it would not have a direct connection with Mmsa and its readers and authors. The connection was of the essence of the lapsed forum.
Posted by: Plagosus
« on: January 13, 2026, 10:18:33 am »

I have now learned that Flag has said that he does not want a temporary forum because it will prejudice the security of the new forum which will not be open to the public. He says that users of the temporary forum will be tempted to give out the URL of the new forum on the temporary forum. That does not sound very convincing to me given that there are various other outlets on which the URL could be made known. However, mindful of all the hard work Flag has put in over the years, I am happy to respect his wishes.

There does though have to be a limit. We had a forum where, over some 20 years, a community was built of those with an interest in common who enjoyed participating. All the regulars must be missing it, some more than others, perhaps even feeling that they have been deprived of a safe haven. At what point should we say that we cannot wait any longer to get together again? Will this thread still be relevant at Easter?
Posted by: Plagosus
« on: January 12, 2026, 04:09:02 am »

I have just received a message from Zonka on King's Dungeons about the possibility of an alternative temporary MMSA forum. It was he who opened the forum i referred to above. This is what i wrote in reply:

I always thought that it was Johnno who opened the forum, possibly because it was he who informed me of its existence. Anyway, as you say, it is still operational and I have just posted a reply to your message. If we are to have an alternative it makes sense to use a forum which is up and running.

The MMSA forum has been down for nearly two months now and I think it has got to the stage where we are justified in making alternative temporary arrangements. If Flag has real life issues preventing him from setting up a new forum we can all accept that, but it should not stop us from having a place where we can meet until he can give the matter his full attention.

The question is how to communicate to everyone that the alternative exists. It has already been made known in Jack's House and can be published in King's Dungeons. Apart from that, those who network widely can inform their contacts by email.
Posted by: Plagosus
« on: December 22, 2025, 10:41:21 am »

Quote from: HumbledBareBoy on December 21, 2025, 09:58:41 pm
Quote from: Plagosus on December 04, 2025, 10:16:28 am
should we be encouraging people to post in this forum or in the back-up forum started a few years ago: https://msf.createaforum.com/index.php ?

Any answer, YES vs. NO, on whether any of us should try checking out the backup forum linked above? If only for curiosity's sake...

If we had an idea of when the new forum is going to appear it would be easier to answer the the question. I suggest we wait to the New Year and then think about whether the back-up forum is publicised.
Posted by: HumbledBareBoy
« on: December 21, 2025, 09:58:41 pm »

Quote from: Plagosus on December 04, 2025, 10:16:28 am
should we be encouraging people to post in this forum or in the back-up forum started a few years ago: https://msf.createaforum.com/index.php ?

Any answer, YES vs. NO, on whether any of us should try checking out the backup forum linked above? If only for curiosity's sake...
Posted by: HumbledBareBoy
« on: December 20, 2025, 09:55:50 am »

Quote from: Plagosus on December 20, 2025, 02:47:53 am
Here's an oddity.

Thanks for updating and keeping us abreast of the issues!