Wow, a lot has happened in just a few days.  I read blogs and forum posts from people complaining constantly.  Comments and rants about the changes, some this way, some that.  I am on the fence honestly, though you may not be able to tell that from my involvement throughout this ordeal.

Here is where I have an issue with this site, and the "new" site.

I have no loyalty to Eric Bauman, or his staff, believe it or not.  I have put myself out there for them on tons of occasions.  I have offered to help, and have been the first to stand up in defense of them and this site, but for what?  Why am I loyal?  What do I get out of it?  Nothing.  That's what I get....

First off, I have never seen Eric Bauman personally show an interest in this site or it's users.  Maybe ONE blog every once in a while, just a thank you from the man himself, or maybe just one from a staff member, that doesn't ask for something with no response to the replies.  We only got a message when something DRASTIC happened.  That is not a good way to be seen, only when there is a fire and you need help (we need mods, or come to the new site! are the only two messages I have ever seen from the staff here) So many unanswered PM's and emails to staff members leaves one feeling a bit... used and unimportant.  Now I know that they are busy, blah blah blah... but after a while it gets annoying.  I have offered myself to them for help whenever they need it on many occasions, offered time, and even a domain name that I don't use that could be better used to help further the cause, but what do I get?  A response, saying, "Thanks, but we are all set, but we appreciate the MANY offers"?  No.  Nothing.  being offered a mod position just to have an admin fall for a pathetic photoshopped PM, without so much as zooming in on it to see the photoshopping, and then I get the cold shaft.  Well who gives shit, right?

I am better off not pouring a ton of free help and work into a site whose operators could give a fuck less about.   Have any of you truly asked yourself where the loyalty comes from?   What is it that deserves such hardcore loyalty?  Even of you are a mod, have you ever even gotten atleast a thank you from anyone?  If you aren't Lord Dread or a very few select others, the staff and Eric himself could really give a shit less about you, but I digress...

There are only two reasons I ever came here to begin with.... 1.) to talk shit to people who are retarded.... and 2.) to share in the writing of some of the brilliant minds who write here.  That was it.  You can find these featured vids ANYWHERE ELSE ON THE NET.

The new site has no place do any of this, and I am sure it will come in time, and until then, I will have to keep everything that wants to pour from my head bottled up.  I wouldn't be able to stomach going back to myspace to write blogs like I had done years ago.  I fucking hate myspace.  But I also refuse to put those words onto a site that I believe will not be here in a few months.

The company that owns this site is broke, period.  If they really planned on keeping this site up, the new management would have written something to tell everyone what the plans are, and that ereps are still worth something.  They willl use the recent spammings as an excuse to not follow up on erep claims.  I ordered something with ereps a long time ago, and never got it, and I for sure know now that it will never come.  OK, big deal, I wasn't here for that purpose anyway, but it is still a slap in the face from ZVUE.

I am sure the new site will be up and running in a few months, and I will most likely start writing in those blog sections once they get built, but do I do it for Eric or his staff?  Fuck no!  Do they give a shit whether I do or not?  Fuck no!  Which is why i fall back on my second reason for coming here.  I will end up following suit because of the USERS that are over there, the  minds that I have come to love to read from and write to.  That's it.  I am loyal to good people, and that is the community that I have grown to love here.  I would sure love to able to get out the next part of my Ebaum Bar series, which I already have written, and deals with this whole change from that point of view, but alas, a forum post it will NEVER be...

The best companies in America (I should know, I work for one the fortune 100 list in top 20) are run by those whose leaders care enough to respond.  There is a link on our intranet homepage that I can click on and speak directly to our CEO.  ...and he responds every time.  That makes even the smallest of people feel important and I think it is an important part of doing business.  I agree that Eric shouldn't have to respond to every PM that he gets, or that he should give out his email addy to all, but when thousands of voices are calling for some kind of answer, or are following you out of loyalty, a simple message every once in a while from the top drawers would be nice.  Sure there are three messages on the new site welcoming you, but they seemed more geared toward building the frustrations of the loyal follower, via a sob story (not mentioning the $17M he got for handing over this power to ZVUE in the first place) that make you feel sad and sorry for Eric and his team.  The same team that would never listen to suggestion blogs about improvements to the site.  One blog every few months with great suggestions atleast deserves a staff member respose, even if it is just a comment saying "Thanks, we'll take that into consderation" even if that's a lie, it's still a nice gesture.  I used to be part of the developement team for a company called ARTISTdirect back in the dotcom boom days, and moderated the forums and contests, so I know a little bit about what the common (and especially the loyal) users appreciate.

I can't stand to think that for the next few dying months of the website, that the majority of blogs will be written and commented on by the likes of jfkkorky and NorCali.  That will be the new "norm" around here and that is a HUGE step down.  No modding, and retarded blogs, makes for a shitty place to kill time.  No thank you.  I will just grab my trusty notepad program and blog to myself until something better comes along.  I am just afraid that the new site will focus on Blogs LAST, because they are the least viewed portion of the site, and I am sure they will build every other ad-generating feature first.

That saddens me as well.  So I guess I will be on my own for the next few months unless I find a better place to try and re-join a community of good writers... and good luck to those who will stay and tough it out, though their battle with the new much-lowered standard of writing here will be a bitch.  I also expect a lot of middle finger comments from the loyal ones, and a lot of "Fuck You Fag" comments from the douches, but I have already accepted the new standard here, and I am OK with whatever is thrown at me for this.