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This post has been a long time in the making and I rather say this now rather than later so it takes no one by shock but yes, I'm stepping down as admin and no, this isn't because of the forum getting nuked by Xenforo as this decision has been a long time considered and the forum getting messed up by a forced update certainly was bad timing. I'm going to list my reasons so you fellas can understand my point of view for this decision and it don't sound like I'm abandoning this place in bad faith, I love what I'd grown and started here and all the conversations we've had but I'm simply not the person to lead anymore.
Reasons for stepping down
1. Massive Change in Life Situation since Starting the Site
When I started this site I was a mess, my life was going nowhere and I wanted to make something because why the heck not, didn't have much else going on and starting my own forum seemed like a fun venture. It ended up being a lot costly and arduous venture than expected but it was fun and for awhile I did quite enjoy building up this place to what it eventually was before the 9th of Jan incident. However now that motivation is gone, I mean I've already discussed it here but yeah since starting university I've got way more responsibilities irl now that I struggle to find the time to properly dedicate myself to this place anymore and it can be seen in how I've been maintaining this place: there hasn't been a major forum update since July of last year and that was at most a fresh coat of paint, and nor have I really been advertising this place with anyone new in the last few months only being from partner forums. It's not fair on those who are passionate about this place and want to see it grow more, and if I can't find the time or energy to take this forum in the right direction so it can succeed I should not be in charge at all. Thankfully I have a good friend who said he would take over and maybe he can usher in a new era for the forum, but that person won't be me.
2. With the Direction I took the forum, it really does not offer anything better or different
Don't get me wrong, no forum/board is original or new and most copied from each other: 4chan copied off 2ch and 8chan stole off 4chan, tale as old as time and to be honest I see nothing wrong with this practice, especially when a forum/board becomes shit and loses that culture that made it such as modern 4chan, but difference is each offered something new that others didn't: 4chan widely helped bring the board format to the West being English speaking and all, and 8chan when it was about offered boards such as leftypol which were unique and different. Even Reddit at the time of its creation was a fresh idea, condensing different forums into one site so you didn't have to hop between different sites for your discussions. Mariana Bay? What do we even offer that others don't? People have called this site a Agora Road ripoff and they aren't wrong, almost too much inspiration for this site was taken from it, and what you can find here can be found on Agora and in better keep too, I've also always hated how this place was birthed from drama with that site too (long and stupid story) and I believe that has affected the growth of this place big time, especially in terms of originality. We don't even have a central theme to this site, hopped from Breakcore to DnB, and now just music? My decision making on where to take this forum has been confusing and awfully bipolar, and after I step down serious changes will have to be made by those who takeover on how to set this forum apart because at the moment I feel we offer nothing that can't be found elsewhere and better.
3. I feel the site is fated for doom under UK ownership
Even though the site is hosted outside British shores, I've always been on edge owning this site as a British citizen due to how scummy the British government are. It's no joke that if you're online and identify outside the central political left or right that the government is probably keeping a tab on you, especially if you're producing content or own a site that may identify politically differently from the mainstream. Obviously the Mariana Bay is not left or right and we accept all on here, but same time people have seen how careful I am about making certain comments or allowing certain discussions to go on because it's no exaggeration that if you slip up with a comment or allow certain things to be said on your site on British soil there's a very high-chance you could get a knock on your door, especially if the comment goes viral. Obviously we are a small site and so it's much easier to go under the radar but its still very risky and genuinely not worth getting into trouble over, I do not enjoy using online communities or boards anymore that much due to this as this police state honestly has ruined the online experience here and frankly I rather to not say much online anymore these days as you never know who's watching.
4. Costs & Advertisement Struggles
I'll keep this short but essentially if I want to grow this place anymore I'd have to advertise way more heavily but that costs quite a bit and I'm very unsure about my finances at the moment that spending that money does not feel like a priority at all. I don't really have any communities or groups I can shill this place to for free either so not great and is one of the main reasons why growth here has been so stagnant to be quite frank.
What will change?
The forum is going nowhere and is simply switching hands to the new owner, that being @ignika98 , creator of Tree of Life X . Really funny and chill guy who I reckon has what it takes to really spruce up the place. We have agreed Dwayne the Cat will remain the Bay's mascot and majority of the boards will stay intact but other than that the forum will be in this control and he is free to take the forum in the direction he feels is best, so don't be too surprised at any changes that may take place because believe me, this forum needs changes if it wants to get through 2025. Another benefit of him being in charge is Ignika is a US citizen, so yes from his ownership you'll be able to say a lot more on this forum as he doesn't live in a police state, how exciting!
The change of hands will occur end of this month so currently whatever rules we do have still apply.
Final Words
Despite the above sounding overall negative, I have very much enjoyed running this forum up to this point. Regardless of our small size and struggle for growth, we have had awesome discussions and I'm glad to have met the lot of you on here, without this site I'd never grown a passion of coding and creating software/websites/apps/games for others to enjoy, and I'll remember this place as my first big effort in getting a creative project out there. I also feel honoured this forum helped inspire another too, being @Tabula Rasa 's Elysian Fields , which I wish the best going forwards and thought I'd give a shoutout here so hopefully others can check it out.
Finally, some special thanks: my mod team @V , @ThirdyAughtSix & @AshenMan . I don't know if you'll stick around with my resignation but for the time you were mod you all did great and were a great help to the site. Also shoutout to @Bibr , @playFACE , @BaloneyPony , @jnoj , @MemoryHead 記念頭部 , and @Punished_Senko , you fellas were great regulars and I do hope you stick around after I'm no longer in charge as you bring a lot to the site and I always loved seeing what you had to say in threads. This is may be a weird and out of touch one but also thanks to Illuminati Pirate of the Agora Road, without your forum I'd never got into coding and creating my own content with it, and I hope the best for your site especially it being so near to its 10 year anniversary now which is seriously impressive for a small forum in this day and age.
That'll be all from me in this post, sorry it was a long one lol. Don't worry I'll still be around despite stepping down, just less frequent and here and there in appearances, now and then helping Ignika with what I can as he learns the forum software and kinks of this place. Thanks to those who read all this and to those who have used the forum up to this point, its been fun.
Reasons for stepping down
1. Massive Change in Life Situation since Starting the Site
When I started this site I was a mess, my life was going nowhere and I wanted to make something because why the heck not, didn't have much else going on and starting my own forum seemed like a fun venture. It ended up being a lot costly and arduous venture than expected but it was fun and for awhile I did quite enjoy building up this place to what it eventually was before the 9th of Jan incident. However now that motivation is gone, I mean I've already discussed it here but yeah since starting university I've got way more responsibilities irl now that I struggle to find the time to properly dedicate myself to this place anymore and it can be seen in how I've been maintaining this place: there hasn't been a major forum update since July of last year and that was at most a fresh coat of paint, and nor have I really been advertising this place with anyone new in the last few months only being from partner forums. It's not fair on those who are passionate about this place and want to see it grow more, and if I can't find the time or energy to take this forum in the right direction so it can succeed I should not be in charge at all. Thankfully I have a good friend who said he would take over and maybe he can usher in a new era for the forum, but that person won't be me.
2. With the Direction I took the forum, it really does not offer anything better or different
Don't get me wrong, no forum/board is original or new and most copied from each other: 4chan copied off 2ch and 8chan stole off 4chan, tale as old as time and to be honest I see nothing wrong with this practice, especially when a forum/board becomes shit and loses that culture that made it such as modern 4chan, but difference is each offered something new that others didn't: 4chan widely helped bring the board format to the West being English speaking and all, and 8chan when it was about offered boards such as leftypol which were unique and different. Even Reddit at the time of its creation was a fresh idea, condensing different forums into one site so you didn't have to hop between different sites for your discussions. Mariana Bay? What do we even offer that others don't? People have called this site a Agora Road ripoff and they aren't wrong, almost too much inspiration for this site was taken from it, and what you can find here can be found on Agora and in better keep too, I've also always hated how this place was birthed from drama with that site too (long and stupid story) and I believe that has affected the growth of this place big time, especially in terms of originality. We don't even have a central theme to this site, hopped from Breakcore to DnB, and now just music? My decision making on where to take this forum has been confusing and awfully bipolar, and after I step down serious changes will have to be made by those who takeover on how to set this forum apart because at the moment I feel we offer nothing that can't be found elsewhere and better.
3. I feel the site is fated for doom under UK ownership
Even though the site is hosted outside British shores, I've always been on edge owning this site as a British citizen due to how scummy the British government are. It's no joke that if you're online and identify outside the central political left or right that the government is probably keeping a tab on you, especially if you're producing content or own a site that may identify politically differently from the mainstream. Obviously the Mariana Bay is not left or right and we accept all on here, but same time people have seen how careful I am about making certain comments or allowing certain discussions to go on because it's no exaggeration that if you slip up with a comment or allow certain things to be said on your site on British soil there's a very high-chance you could get a knock on your door, especially if the comment goes viral. Obviously we are a small site and so it's much easier to go under the radar but its still very risky and genuinely not worth getting into trouble over, I do not enjoy using online communities or boards anymore that much due to this as this police state honestly has ruined the online experience here and frankly I rather to not say much online anymore these days as you never know who's watching.
4. Costs & Advertisement Struggles
I'll keep this short but essentially if I want to grow this place anymore I'd have to advertise way more heavily but that costs quite a bit and I'm very unsure about my finances at the moment that spending that money does not feel like a priority at all. I don't really have any communities or groups I can shill this place to for free either so not great and is one of the main reasons why growth here has been so stagnant to be quite frank.
What will change?
The forum is going nowhere and is simply switching hands to the new owner, that being @ignika98 , creator of Tree of Life X . Really funny and chill guy who I reckon has what it takes to really spruce up the place. We have agreed Dwayne the Cat will remain the Bay's mascot and majority of the boards will stay intact but other than that the forum will be in this control and he is free to take the forum in the direction he feels is best, so don't be too surprised at any changes that may take place because believe me, this forum needs changes if it wants to get through 2025. Another benefit of him being in charge is Ignika is a US citizen, so yes from his ownership you'll be able to say a lot more on this forum as he doesn't live in a police state, how exciting!
The change of hands will occur end of this month so currently whatever rules we do have still apply.
Final Words
Despite the above sounding overall negative, I have very much enjoyed running this forum up to this point. Regardless of our small size and struggle for growth, we have had awesome discussions and I'm glad to have met the lot of you on here, without this site I'd never grown a passion of coding and creating software/websites/apps/games for others to enjoy, and I'll remember this place as my first big effort in getting a creative project out there. I also feel honoured this forum helped inspire another too, being @Tabula Rasa 's Elysian Fields , which I wish the best going forwards and thought I'd give a shoutout here so hopefully others can check it out.
Finally, some special thanks: my mod team @V , @ThirdyAughtSix & @AshenMan . I don't know if you'll stick around with my resignation but for the time you were mod you all did great and were a great help to the site. Also shoutout to @Bibr , @playFACE , @BaloneyPony , @jnoj , @MemoryHead 記念頭部 , and @Punished_Senko , you fellas were great regulars and I do hope you stick around after I'm no longer in charge as you bring a lot to the site and I always loved seeing what you had to say in threads. This is may be a weird and out of touch one but also thanks to Illuminati Pirate of the Agora Road, without your forum I'd never got into coding and creating my own content with it, and I hope the best for your site especially it being so near to its 10 year anniversary now which is seriously impressive for a small forum in this day and age.
That'll be all from me in this post, sorry it was a long one lol. Don't worry I'll still be around despite stepping down, just less frequent and here and there in appearances, now and then helping Ignika with what I can as he learns the forum software and kinks of this place. Thanks to those who read all this and to those who have used the forum up to this point, its been fun.
