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Post by lestrout on Sept 27, 2021 12:06:08 GMT -5
smokersforums.co.uk/activity.php is closing after a 30 year run. I first got back into pipes in '08, and SF was by far the premier online forum. FaceBook was only getting started then, and SF was full of knowledgeable pipers. SF had 2 system crashes, and the archive of valuable information was lost. Much of that is not written down anywhere else. By then Knox and Gray Fox were winding down for various reasons. It also had an active Chat, but when it was discovered that it was not private, the regulars abandoned it. At one time, there were many dozen on the Chat at one time. Pipesmagazine picked up the pieces, and quite a few subforums spawned out of their restrictive policies. The end of an era - sad to see. hp les
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Post by Gypo on Sept 27, 2021 12:14:10 GMT -5
Sad to hear but good to see you on the forum
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Post by daveinlax on Sept 27, 2021 12:24:07 GMT -5
Sad News! I was on there from the beginning and logged hundreds of hour hours in the chat room. For years was the go to pipe board. The speciality boards were fun and you cold geek out and not piss off the masses. A lot of good information disappeared when it crashed the first time. I spent a lot of time putting information back on in the Dunhill and Castello speciality groups just to have it disappear again. RIP  |
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Post by sparks on Sept 27, 2021 12:59:38 GMT -5
Always sad to see a forum go. Puts some pressure on us to keep the tradition alive.
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Post by trailboss on Sept 27, 2021 14:16:40 GMT -5
Always sad to see a forum go. Puts some pressure on us to keep the tradition alive. Amen. |
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Post by pepesdad1 on Sept 27, 2021 14:27:17 GMT -5
Always sad to see a forum go. Puts some pressure on us to keep the tradition alive. Amen. ...and a magnificent job you've done! Thanks, Justin. |
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Post by Legend Lover on Sept 27, 2021 14:56:12 GMT -5
I'm glad the fire is still nicely burning here. Sorry to hear of other places closing down, though.
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Post by sparks on Sept 27, 2021 15:06:36 GMT -5
I have been through a few forums shuttering their doors. It was generally related to mismanagement in some way. Whether it was the people in charge just losing interest and not keeping up on important things (like renewing a domain name) or not maintaining some standard on how the forum should be run.
This is our 5th year, and though I go through times where I'm not as active as I would like, I have never felt it was a burden to keep the lights on. That combined with a lot of generous support from our members, it's never felt like a job.
I'm grateful that we have such a good bunch here that has not made me want to run for the hills... most of the time! lol
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2021 11:55:54 GMT -5
It is very sad to see this happen. I am a member of it. We are not a big community by all means and Smokers Forums is a really good forum with great members (just like the Patch). But I've seen the decline happening over the last year and a half to two years.
One other reason that could also explain it would be that more and more people are less interactive in their interactions on public platforms.
The other sad thing is there are more reactions here about these news that on SFUK....
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Zach
Pro Member
If you can't send money, send tobacco.
Posts: 4,365
First Name: Zach
Favorite Pipe: Too many currently, bound to change
Favorite Tobacco: Haunted Bookshop, Big 'N' Burley, Pegasus, Habana Daydream, OJK, Rum Twist, FVF, Escudo, Orlik Golden Sliced, Kendal Flake, Ennerdale
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Post by Zach on Oct 2, 2021 12:01:48 GMT -5
It is sad and over the past 10 years I've also seen a good few forums go. Even one forum I've been an admin at for some years had many members argue and then coincidentally most of the UK members left back for Smokersforum a couple months back.
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Post by trailboss on Oct 2, 2021 12:14:30 GMT -5
It is really sad considering that it is a UK based forum… from a country so closely associated with the hobby in regards to sheer numbers of pipe smokers, mentioned in literature, pipe making, tobacco factories.
In all regards pipes and tobacco have shrunken to minuscule proportions of what once was the case.
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