Hi, my name is Brock Beauchamp, and I'd like to talk to all of you!

[Lefty Specialist]

I belong to a very esoteric collectors organization. They have a website and had a forum that had grown moribund after a few years. I'm also a member of a forum run by an outside group who was a little more 'out there' than the organization. Over time, the organization realized the worth of them and brought them into the tent. The forum link from the main organization's page linked to the outsider forum as they got far more traffic/engagement. It was a win-win for both. The organization didn't have to run the forum, and the outside group benefited from more eyeballs.

The outsider group retained their name and you can access them totally separate from the organization. Now I can pretty much guess the answer here, but is that a possibility in this circumstance? Name changing would probably be neccessary, but does this kind of hybrid solution work?

[Cowtipper]

IF growth can be slow and steady rather than exponential, and IF this website can be allowed to maintain something of its current flair and IF we can avoid it becoming a carbon-copy baseball forum or a watered down click-bait buzzword farm that exists solely to draw superficial eyes and superficial ad revenue, then there is some potential for success.

However altruism is often a thin veneer when money is a true driving force.

3,000-4,000 members is doable, because at any given time only a few hundred at most are 'active,' and of those 'active' members a strong core will be actively posting in any quantity. I used to post on Baseball Fever, a site with nearly 30,000 members, but at any given moment only a few hundred at most were active...so it still had an actual culture.*

*But much like this website, the METS subforum on the site had maybe 5-10 solid contributors

But what would be a total bummer is if this site became a Reddit, where the goal isn't to post anything meaningful, but to post what will get them the most upvotes and Reddit gold, or a Quora, where people can write entire essays that say absolutely nothing because all they are are empty buzzwords that get them clicks and ad revenue (I have never seen people more capable of turning a four-word answer into a six-paragraph screed of meaningless fluff like the members of Quora).

A big issue is you're not bringing a forum that has 300 solid members and bumping it up to maybe 3,000. Those 300 would offer a solid base that could carry with them the culture of old. We have like 10 people here that post regularly and 10 people will easily be swamped by even a modest, sudden influx.

And I will say to those that think ditching CPF is a good idea due to attrition or whatever...please take note that one of the guys being most vocal about not losing it (me) is the one who's been here just about the least amount of time (~3 years), so there's clearly still a lot of value to be had, even in this website as it currently exists, for newcomers.

[kcmets]

Why swoop in and take this one over and not just start a Mets forum and site of your own?

 

Amen.

[kcmets]

As a co-founder and oft-times curator of this fine establishment

I find the notion of turning it over to a third party stranger is the

dumbest idea in the history of Mets baseball interweb.

Edited February 23 by kcmets

[Edgy MD]

Sorry to see you feel that way.

I think this fine establishment is very much a sinking ship that could be so much more.

[kcmets]

Sorry to see you feel that way.

I think this fine establishment is very much a sinking ship that could be so much more.

 

So the Brockdude is gonna save it. Right.

[Cowtipper]

Of course he will, this guy who had never even heard of this place until 4 days ago really really super duper cares.

[Bob Alpacadaca]

I don't see a reason to be suspicious.

[Cowtipper]

I don't see a reason to be suspicious.

 

Wait a minute, have you been Brock this whole time?

I knew there was a conspiracy.

Brock didn't arrive here organically. He was invited here by a higher up.

He posed as a new guy just stumbling on this website to make it seem less of a business deal in the works behind closed doors and more of a feeler.

Bob Alpacadaca was Brock when he was trying to ingratiate himself as an actual Mets fan and slowly morph this site, incrementally, to his liking.

Batmagadanleadoff was in on it too, his role was to drive off as many people as possible so there would be fewer obstacles for when the main event was meant to take place.

And George Soros paid for it all.

I knew it.

[Edgy MD]

Sorry to see you feel that way.

I think this fine establishment is very much a sinking ship that could be so much more.

 

So the Brockdude is gonna save it. Right.

 

I really think sarcasm is not going to get us forward. A little help would be preferable.

And AI garbage is less than useless, cowtipper.

[kcmets]

I offered help. I'll pay for March, you ignored me.

[kcmets]

Others have pledged financial assistance.

[Cowtipper]

I think the powers that be are just looking for an excuse to get rid of CPF and this is it.

Multiple alternate positions and ideas have been thrown out there but are being discarded just as quickly.

Quite a strange pivot to trash a quarter-century of work just because this site is at a low point.

Also that's not AI, I painted it myself.

Also note how my assumption that Brock was actually invited wasn't denied.

[Edgy MD]

I offered help. I'll pay for March, you ignored me.

 

I did not ignore you. I answered quite clearly.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I can confirm that he wasn't invited. He reached out to me through the UMDB before I gave it up.

I don't see the risk here. We can lock the forums here and try the other place. If wr hate it there's nothing stopping us from returning here.

[Edgy MD]

I think the powers that be are just looking for an excuse to get rid of CPF and this is it.

 

Then you are not reading and don't care about anything but attention grabbing.

 

Multiple alternate positions and ideas have been thrown out there but are being discarded just as quickly.

 

This is false. You suggested the forum get a new moderator and I replied that I am fine with that.

 

Quite a strange pivot to trash a quarter-century of work ...

 

This is simply a false representation.

 

... just because this site is at a low point.

 

"Just because"? If the forum failing isn't a reason to change then nothing is.

 

Also that's not AI, I painted it myself.

 

Gosh.

 

Also note how my assumption that Brock was actually invited wasn't denied.

 

I have no idea what this means or what you are accusing me of.

If anybody wants to offer anything that isn't sarcastic and obnoxious (thanks, Ben), that would be lovely. I'm going to be down with the flu for a couple of days, so I won't be able to respond for a bit.

Brock has unsurprisingly bailed out of the conversation also.

[Benjamin Grimm]

And I don't want to speak for Edgy, but it may not be just about the money. After a while you get tired of putting in the effort and realizing that it's for fewer and fewer people. That's why I pulled the plug on Schaefer and the TCD. If someone had stepped forward and offered me $20 per month to keep doing it, it wouldn't have mattered.

[kcmets]

Brock has unsurprisingly bailed out of the conversation also.

 

That's what snake-oil salesmen do when they realize

their three-card monte isn't working on everyone.

[Cowtipper]

That's kind of why the schtick was so transparent. He tried coming off as some magoo Mr. Nice Guy who just wanted to help out some random down-on-its-luck forum that he just happened to stumble upon. Disregard the fact that he has a whole web of these things and is clearly trying to build a whole conglomerate of them.

That smarmy, overly ingratiating "trust me, I'm you're friend" language is exactly how snake oil salesmen speak.

But if we, the members who oppose any sort of move, want to keep this board afloat, then we gotta do what WE can to draw eyeballs and new members. I have a small Mets-centric YouTube channel (made possible by the miracle of AI, sorry not sorry) and my shorts get up to 1,500 views. It's not a lot, but it's eyeballs. Stuff like that.

Edited February 23 by Cowtipper

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

I get that you guys don't want to take him up on his offer. I do not get why you need to insult him.

[Cowtipper]

It's because he's not our friend, he's a businessman trying to pull one over on us. Edited February 23 by Cowtipper

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

It's because he's not our friend, he's a businessman trying to pull one over on us.

 

He's a businessman making an offer, which we are free to accept or reject.

I get approached by vendors looking to do business with me every day. I manage to treat them respectfully even when I'm not interested in their service or product. It's not difficult.

[Cowtipper]

But what makes this site unique is it's not a business and we really shouldn't try to gear it toward acting like it is one. It is a community and that is part of its draw.

And it's not low-risk to give this idea a shot. Do you really think if we were to shut this site, give the new idea a try, no one likes it and re-open this site everyone would return? Of course not. That would just lose even more of the base that makes this site what it is, which could actually truly put this website in an actual death spiral.

The tumult of this place these past few months has already put it on shaky foundations. Servers issues making it hard to visit, then giving up UMDB to new people, then shifting the CPF to a new host, now this. Then a potential reversion of the move if the experiment doesn't work. Stalwarts have already started to dwindle because of it all. Do you think even more moves and machinations will keep people around? Those stalwarts aren't necessarily gone for good, but they want to see the stability of the past. How is even more moving and shuffling of the deck going to create stability?

By shedding even more stalwarts all you're doing is giving Brock a blank slate to work with in terms of membership (to forge it however he desires, which is the concern) while taking all the work those stalwarts left behind and using it for his own devices so he doesn't have to do the work himself and build from scratch. He's trying to leech off this place's years of effort to benefit his own (not this community's) gain.

I might suggest being all democratical and putting it up to a non-binding anonymous vote to get an actual gauge of how the community feels about the move; the vocal people in this thread aren't all the people that come to this site and I'm sure the silent observers would be more willing to express their opinion through a poll rather than a diatribe.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I think the salient point here is that Edgy may decide he doesn't want to do this anymore. The Schaefer thing didn't require much effort on my part, but with so few participants, I decided even that little effort was more than I cared to expend. If Edgy feels he's doing to much work for the entertainment of too few, then it's entirely his right to decide to shed the responsibility. This is not something that should be subject to a vote. Nobody should be obligated to continue a hobby that is no longer fulfilling.

And Marshmallow is right; the open antagonism toward Brock by some is juvenile, although he didn't use that word. Yes, this feels a bit like The Music Man (for those who get that reference) but unlike Harold Hill, Brock isn't asking for any money from us. He's proposing something that may be mutually beneficial. Or may not. That can certainly be debated. But if I was the primary admin and moderator here, and I didn't want to do it anymore, I'd gladly turn it over to Brock. The worst thing that can happen is what happened to the UMDB. I don't like it, but it's not a calamity. Life goes on. Nothing lasts forever. It's okay to let go of things. It's life. To everything a season.

[Cowtipper]

I don't disagree that this is Edgy's call and the final decision rests on his shoulders. And he's under no obligation to do as we say or abide by how we feel. But a poll really would be a more honest gauge about how the community feels about it. It's not a deciding poll, it's a feeler to see how people actually, uh, feel. And it was only in this thread that I learned that Benjamin Grimm didn't actually own this forum. My mind was blown and the entire foundations of my existence were shaken. Edited February 23 by Cowtipper

[Benjamin Grimm]

The forum lived at ultimatemets.com for seven years, from late 2018 until early 2026. It had been at other domains before that and is now at another one after that. The UMDB didn't "own" the forum, it was just acting as a landlord, if you want to call it that.

[whippoorwill]

I’m more leery of his requests for email addresses than his possible want of money at this point.

Listen in this day and age everyone has to be careful.

Brock may be the nicest guy on earth for sure but how do we know that? There’s nothing wrong with having questions and doubts.

It all looks very nice but scrolling through my thumbs connect with ads that I don’t want and I don’t like that.

Btw feel better Edgy

[Cowtipper]

Whatever happens, outside of a concerted effort to revitalize what we currently have, will basically send the same message to the current members: Sorry folks, doors are closed, gotta find a new home. Whether this board is left to die slowly from attrition, or whether Edgy just shuts it down tomorrow with no warning, or whether Brock takes over, that will be the message.

And of course life goes on and we'll all recover. In the long run, this is not a life-altering thing. But what we have is something good and unique and it would be a shame to risk losing it.

[whippoorwill]

Yes it’s a fine little getaway. That’s why it was started…to escape the chaos of the MOFO, which was also fun, but could be overwhelming.

As far as the features that have fallen by the wayside because of lack of participation, that’s sad but that is what starts new features.

Hubby and I had a New Year’s party once many many years ago. We had both invited friends from work and neither of those friends showed up.

I was up in my bathroom moping when I suddenly realized I owed the guests that actually did show up a party.

Learned a lesson about myself and my friends that night.

Be loyal.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I’m more leery of his requests for email addresses than his possible want of money at this point.

 

I'll pop in to respond to this because yeah, I get why that's unnerving.

It's for our email newsletter. Having email addresses from past users allows us to contact them and try to get them back on the forums and contributing.

We don't sell information to anyone, and peoples' email addresses are never used for anything beyond the newsletter.