But I think an honest assessment is needed. I, myself, am guilty of lackadaisical interest and not contributing enough. I think there are multiple reasons the site has and is struggling. Here are a few of my thoughts.
1) As Wotmania, we always had kind of a collective chip on our shoulder, but that drove a lot of good arguments, debates and even some of the most awesome stuff I've read at times on all kinds of subjects. I mean go back through the archives, there is some pure gold in there in spots from your knowledge of the sci-fi/fantasy genres to Tom's more scholarly responses to some of the just plain funny, sarcastic and/or witty responses. I think the boards were always looser than other websites as far as what could be posted, I mean take a good luck at Dragonmount. That website is still a turd (ooh, there's that chip).
It was infuriating at times but it was also fun, interesting. But, I also think that discourse was too harsh for a lot of newbies and that is part of the problem. We never really drew a lot of fresh blood in. Add on that the WoT portion was really the draw for newbies and that RJ decided to start taking forever to write the dang books along with the advent of social media like MySpace and Facebook and there just wasn't a whole lot of draw for new members.
Would I go back and change the style of discourse that dominated Wotmania to see this site continue on? Nah, Wotmania and the first few years of RAFO were an important part of my life and I don't think I ever would have stuck around if we had just been another WoT forum site.
But, I think it brings us to the underlying problem with the site currently - we never really reinvented ourselves. We tried to carry on Wotmania on the main message board and yeah, some people did reviews and the TV & Movies board was hot for a few years, but what were we really working toward? I never really knew.
2) We all got old. In addition to not bringing in younger, newer blood, we all got old. I'm thirty-eight and a half, and honestly, I'm super fucking tired. Many of us are trying to balance working stressful jobs and families (so many of us, although not me, have had kids) that at the end of the day, I am just damned tired. I have a poor mother I am trying to help through the end of her years which is a huge financial burden to me and I've been trying to help my brother through his divorce for the last three years until he regains his mental health and gets back on his feet.
See, along with the stress of a divorce, bankruptcy and losing the house, his lovely ex-wife and her family (may they rot in Hell after they all get cancer and die) brainwashed two of the three children into hating and shunning their own father as well as me and my mother. My mother and I worked day and night to try and counter them while my brother lay devastated that the one thing he loves more than anything in this world (his kids) were used as a weapon for no other reason than revenge. I can't imagine what others from the site have been going through over the last couple of years.
I would love to post more reviews (I've listened to over a hundred audiobooks in the last year and a half), but frankly, between trying to make ends meet and keep my family together mentally and physically, I'm just too damned tired at the end of the day.
I don't believe, by the way, that that means I am off the hook as to helping keep this site going forward. I do need to post more (and want to). I'm just saying that so many of us started out at the site fairly young and progressed over the years into adulthood along with all of its myriad of time-consuming challenges.
3) Fuck Mike. There I said it. I don't want to cry over spilt milk, but Mike really kind of fucked us. He could have been nice enough to sell Ben the name or give it to him. The name was part of the legacy that had been established for years and was all over the Internet. I mean, Christ! somebody just a month or so ago came on the board and said they had forgotten how to get here or some shit like that. Oh, and where did that name go (after that shit gave it to Dragonmount after he said he wasn't going to give it to anybody)? Type in wotmania.com and see where it goes. WHAT THE FUCK??? We can debate the value of the domain name, but I really do believe it hurt RAFO in a big way.
Anyway, I guess enough of my rambling. It really is Ben's decision ultimately whether he wants to shut the site down or not. I suspect he is watching. But, if people are interested, I think some discussion should be had as to how to reinvent the site. It may be too late, but maybe combining the boards would be a good idea. Maybe cutting ties with WoT altogether and refocusing on a different direction might be better, maybe some kind of linking integration to goodreads and facebook, etc. I know people had asked for a writer's board at one time, but what if we try to reach out to aspiring writers in some way and give them a home to display their work when they are struggling to get exposure elsewhere? What if we had a self-published board where we could find authors that self-publish on Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, etc. and need exposure? Many of them would probably love to do an interview or offer a sample of their work or have a review of their work done, etc. There is a whole world of audiobooks (love them or hate them as you please) is blowing up big time. There is the ereading community (of which I am a member) that is expanding faster than ever.
I'm just throwing out ideas here, but my point is that I think the site still has the potential to go somewhere, to have a future, and not to die this painful death that it is currently undergoing.
Anyway, my two cents.
-Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings