Hey Wait A Minute

[justaguy]

YeAh LmAo. suddenly you're completely okay with a guy that withheld thousands of dollars just because a website is back up. not to mention i'm sure you're all the same people that said "Wow Synfs Such A Prick!" when you read that blog entry. there's no reason for synth to even post a side of his story because tasselfoot had absolutely zero reason to lie in his explanation (he very obviously had a great deal of respect for synth up until he evaded paying him income for however many months).


tl;dr U Smell Like ****

[bob bob]

Originally Posted by justaguy

YeAh LmAo. suddenly you're completely okay with a guy that withheld thousands of dollars just because a website is back up. not to mention i'm sure you're all the same people that said "Wow Synfs Such A Prick!" when you read that blog entry. there's no reason for synth to even post a side of his story because tasselfoot had absolutely zero reason to lie in his explanation (he very obviously had a great deal of respect for synth up until he evaded paying him income for however many months).


tl;dr U Smell Like ****

If you dont like him, why are you here then?

[Plan_Bsk81127]

I'm glad to see that you guys know so much on this situation and have no other valid point or evidence other then "oh he didnt pay tass", "he didnt pay his employees", "he didnt pay". You are seriously convincing me with points using information that is dull and not new. I dunno how you do it. Teach me

[MrRubix]

So I have to ask, Synth, what is your current business plan/method of monetizing the new re-launch?

[bob bob]

and the award for fastest ban goes to.....

[Hurleyisgod]

Originally Posted by Synthlight

It's clear that you don't know fully understand the larger picture Vendetta. You probably don't realize that long after the money had dried up, I was still paying people people like Tass a significant amount of money out of my own pocket. I stretched myself as thin as possible and even opted skipping mortgage payments to try and keep things going. I had thousands of dollars in obligated payments each month that didn't just go away. I took big risks putting tens of thousands of dollars in leases in my name so that I could help us all succeed. When advertising money goes away or the hardware breaks, they don't just tell you it's ok and that you don't need to pay for it anymore. The people surrounding me weren't responsible for those 4 and 5 year leases.

I am not saying I am perfect. Yeah, I did crumble under the enormous pressure of a failing business model that happened to feel the heat of the economy. Would I have handled my communication and choices upon reflection? Absolutely. Do I stand to gain anything by spending a ****load of my time to bring FFR back up? I really don't. I have debt, taxes and lease payments still banging at my door each day. Do you know how much of that FFR's current revenue would cover if I didn't pay anyone to help? Probably about 5% of what is due each month. It wouldn't even come close to taking care of a single server lease payment.

As a matter of fact, it would probably benefit me more financially to scrap FFR and recycle it's metals for money. I realize very much so that there are going to be some who see it from one side and others who understand my reasonings for bringing it back online. It's very easy to hit that power button and not deal with any of this but that isn't the right thing to do.

It's easy to attack me for the events that happened before FFR went down and I admit that I pulled an asshole move by turning recluse and not being able to handle it but don't forget that I cared very much about FFR since it began in 2002 and spent years working hard on FFR as a hobby. I truly cherished the community and the dedication of the people involved. I wanted nothing but the best for the FFR community. Try to tell me that if you had companies approaching you waving huge cash in front of your face that you wouldn't take the bait. As a matter of fact Jason and I were approached by a huge media company on the east coast in 2006 that offered us $5 million payout over 3-5 years if we agreed to let them own 51%. I remember sitting in the hotel room with him in New York making the call to tell that company 51% was not acceptable because we didn't want to lose control of FFR. We know it would kill the deal. It was the ****ing hardest decision ever. We only ever accepted money when we were able to spin off percentages of sub-companies such as Rithum. Would you have made the same decision or would you have taken the money and run? I put the most on the line and while I feel immensely bad that I couldn't continue paying tens of thousands a month in salaries, I ultimately suffered the most financially.

You have a right to be bitchy and upset if you want. I don't feel like banning you or anyone else over that but don't pretend to know everything or the decisions that I had to make. I respect Tass a great deal but kept most of what I was going through from him. I have been through hell you can't imagine.

There is still more to all of this but I wanted to speak honestly and openly so that I can just tackle things head on. Yeah, it sucks and I have a bazillion bruises but FFR is back purely for the community. I am done with my aspirations of the little guy sticking it to the big gaming companies.

Cheers,
Synthlight

Staying classy as always Synth ^_^ I can see you had a lot to deal with. Personally i would agree with any decision you would have made. obviously im happier that FFR is back than not, but if you decided to scrap the thing, i would understand why after reading this. I can see why some people are super crazy happy, and why some are super crazy mad. but in the end, FFR is back, and right now, that's all that matters to me personally. Good job Synth.

[Synthlight]

Originally Posted by MrRubix

So I have to ask, Synth, what is your current business plan/method of monetizing the new re-launch?

When I spoke with Tass around the start of summer, the plan was to push away the "business" model , get back to our roots and let the residual ad income benefit past employees and debt. I am still willing to proceed with this. I thought it would be wise that I not make a single dime out of the tiny revenue that may stream in. I just don't want anything to do with FFR and making money any longer. I am in a unique position to host FFR on one of the remaining working leased servers while keeping my net / bandwidth costs at about 1/10th of what they were.

I have no problem publicly posting any revenue FFR makes. Hell, I wouldn't mind posting a revenue thread each month. I promise you won't be impressed but maybe it would help people understand things. I am expecting FFR to make about $250 over the next 30 days. Our operating expenses not including debt, taxes and money owed comes out to about $1400 a month. Technically FFR as a corporation no longer exists.

Questions? Just ask.

Cheers,
Synthlight

[devonin]

Just please don't continue in the V/Justaguy school of flaming, insulting, and being a jerk. That's why they got banned, and that's why I closed the thread. Synth obviously would rather confront everybody and be completely open and that's great, but please don't take his willingness to take abuse from the userbase as carte blanche to horribly abuse him.

[MrRubix]

So, basically, FFR is being run on some residual space at lower cost. What about the current lack of music permissions? Fixing what is currently broken with the site?

[Vendetta21]

Originally Posted by Synthlight

When I spoke with Tass around the start of summer, the plan was to push away the "business" model , get back to our roots and let the residual ad income benefit past employees and debt. I am still willing to proceed with this. I thought it would be wise that I not make a single dime out of the tiny revenue that may stream in. I just don't want anything to do with FFR and making money any longer. I am in a unique position to host FFR on one of the remaining working leased servers while keeping my net / bandwidth costs at about 1/10th of what they were.

I have no problem publicly posting any revenue FFR makes. Hell, I wouldn't mind posting a revenue thread each month. I promise you won't be impressed but maybe it would help people understand things. I am expecting FFR to make about $250 over the next 30 days. Our operating expenses not including debt, taxes and money owed comes out to about $1400 a month. Technically FFR as a corporation no longer exists.

Questions? Just ask.

Cheers,
Synthlight

This is commendable and ethical and I redact my douchebaggery. Sorry for being incendiary.

[Synthlight]

Originally Posted by Vendetta21

This is commendable and ethical and I redact my douchebaggery. Sorry for being incendiary.

I didn't blame you for feeling the way you do or did. I just want to lay it out and see how we can get back to being FFR, having fun and acting like we don't have a care in the world. No need to apologize. I more than anyone need to be the person apologizing.

Cheers,
Synthlight

[Synthlight]

Originally Posted by MrRubix

So, basically, FFR is being run on some residual space at lower cost. What about the current lack of music permissions? Fixing what is currently broken with the site?

Yes, instead of paying $4K a month for bandwidth like we did when the Rithum project was running alongside FFR, we are paying $300 a month.

If you are talking about our existing permissions for existing songs, they are fine. We were probably the one site on the internet that would actually seek permission. If you are talking about new artists, this isn't my priority at the moment.

Fixing what is currently broken sadly is going to fall on my shoulders for the time being. I was up until 6am last night trying to get something as simple as profiles to work. I ended up passing out and sleeping until 9am. I am building a prioritized list of things that need fixing.

Cheers,
Synthlight

[Patricoo]

How can us in the FFR community get in contact to help with the rebuilding? There are some old vets/mods lingering back to the site but I'm sure there are new volunteers that might want to fill in and rebuild the holes. Fresh blood, right?

[Hurleyisgod]

Originally Posted by Patricoo

How can us in the FFR community get in contact to help with the rebuilding? There are some old vets/mods lingering back to the site but I'm sure there are new volunteers that might want to fill in and rebuild the holes. Fresh blood, right?

Not that i can think of a way that I could help, but i agree. It seems like most of the community would be willing to help out. And i would imagine some of them actually have some experience with this kinda stuff. We are a very versatile community after all ^_^

[TwilightPrincess]

Originally Posted by Patricoo

How can us in the FFR community get in contact to help with the rebuilding? There are some old vets/mods lingering back to the site but I'm sure there are new volunteers that might want to fill in and rebuild the holes. Fresh blood, right?

Seconding this. There are some talented people lurking in FFR that should be given an opportunity to contribute if Synthlight really needs some extra hands working on FFR. I for one have had the very unpleasant task of practically rebuilding a whole site because of a host switch and it's not fun, and rather time consuming if you ask me.

Mind you, as more and more people start to come back, some of the veteran staff will come back armed with the knowledge that Synthlight wants (IMO) in his assistants.

[Synthlight]

Originally Posted by Patricoo

How can us in the FFR community get in contact to help with the rebuilding? There are some old vets/mods lingering back to the site but I'm sure there are new volunteers that might want to fill in and rebuild the holes. Fresh blood, right?

If anyone has a specific skill that would like to contribute to the rebuilding, you can contact ffrcontact at gmail dot com. I would ask that you list the exact skill you would like to provide and what portion of the site needs that type of work. What I have ahead of me is nothing short of a monumental task and if I accept help from the community, I need to know that specific tasks are taken care of. There will be no money involved. I will be going through ffrcontact emails daily between 4:30pm-5:30pm during my train train commute. You will be answered.

I certainly appreciate the numerous offers to help. Both in this thread and through PM's / Email so far. I know it sounds corny but I am humbled by your offers considering what you have been through with FFR.

Cheers,
Synthlight

[Snapps]

Hey guys i realy wana b a mod please notice me

[DumpThroat]

ill design ur graphics


~Throaty out

[bob bob]

Originally Posted by CooterSlave

Cooterslave wants to be a mod

so freakin bad

synthlight ill help u

we can put our pasts behind us

cause i wana be a mod to help out community lock topics take charge against poo poos!!! *.*

YOU UNDERSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND?

[~Zeta~]

You guys are missing the point of his post about helping him. That post is about rebuilding, not maintaining. So, don't spam that e-mail about asking/begging to be a mod. We have the mods here and are returning everyday.