The latter is doable, but the former impossible to justify when my wifes visa will cost thousands; if we need a lawyer and count moving and travel expenses for her and my daughter it will likely be closer to $10,000. Granted, $20/month would not put a dent in that, but I will not exactly have any "spare" cash each month. I really should not do it ONCE, but would be willing for one last try; after all, without wotmania I would have neither wife nor daughter in the first place.

One thing I feel obliged to add: Facebook did not kill wotmania (though it surely did not help,) because there are still many lively MBs out there thriving online. The difference is that virtually all of them fall into one of two categories: They either

1) Serve a narrow but deep niche largely UNserved by ANYTHING else online or

2) Serve a shallow but broad niche with plenty of leftover members willing and able to maintain yet another active website.

As an example of the second, I frequent one of at least THREE MBs, not just for the NFL, but the Broncos alone, and, while the owner began running ads a few years ago to cover costs, it is in no danger of dying off from inactivity, and even has whole subfora for non-football topics ranging from politics and religion (separate fora) to pinup photos, along with their own CMB analogue. There is nothing especially unique about the sites theme; again, there are MULTIPLE similar sites just for that SINGLE TEAM. But there are also HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of people keenly interested in regular ongoing discussions of it, as well as unrelated topics brought up by other members of their community.

An example of the first: Scandinavia and the World is a (relatively) obscure webcomic, and the list of internationally themed web comics with a Nordic focus is basically two entries long—yet the comics ALONE draw enough comments, with enough frequency and duration, that those comments spawned a MB just to accommodate them, and it is also fairly active on a sustained basis. I was somewhat amused when, about a year ago, the site admin decided to augment the sites original linear page format with the option of nested threads: EVERYBODY hated it as much as everyone LOVES it here, even though it can easily be toggled, so I felt obliged to share my wotmaniac perspective (i.e. people tend to prefer WHATEVER format they have always used, but nesting has several significant advantages, even though I personally feel its disadvantages outweigh them.) Point being: This is not fanbase in the millions in Europe; it is not even a fanbase in the hundreds of thousands globally, yet it maintains a rich and vibrant MB community with sub-fora, simply because everyone who DOES like it likes it a LOT, and where else can they go to satisfy that desire...?

RAFO died for the same reason Mike recognized wotmania was already dying: No newbs. It really is that simple. Everyone from wotmanias glory days has fond memories of how some of the most active and popular posters were college and HS kids, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that as long as there is a periodic, if not steady, inflow of newbs. But if not... well, eventually those HS and college kids are going to grow up, get careers, move out of their parents place and start living adult lives with adult responsibilities and kids of their own, at which point there are not enough hours in their days to spend several of them engaging in threadjack and paeans to Australian marsupials. If no one fills the void that leaves, it just remains a void, one that inexorably widens as more and more of the sites lifeblood is lost to reality. That problem only feeds on itself, because the more people who go that route, the less reason there is for the remaining regulars OR any precious newbs to comb through the tumbleweeds vainly seeking a justification for spending their fleeting time here.

So IF RAFO is to continue even briefly in hopes of resuscitation, it needs what the marketing folks refer to as "a hook," and a good one. It can be big and broad; Political Wire is but one of countless indy political sites, and little more than a news aggregator rather than actual commentator, but has a lively traffic nonetheless. Or it can be small but passionate, like a site for people who love the '59 Cadillac—not "classic cars," not the '57 Chevy and not the '60 Caddy: The '59 Caddy, first, foremost and only. If RAFO goes narrow but deep, it must go VERY deep and get the word out to all of the few likeminded people lacking an online home; if it goes shallow but broad it must promote the Hell out of itself generally.

Yes, it will also need a strong core of regular contributors actually CONTRIBUTING rather than just sniping at each other (another phenomenon of a site with no newbs and declining regulars, and one rampant both in wotmanias final days as well as throughout RAFOS: Familiarity breeds contempt, especially in people already in a foul mood over their communitys imminent demise and reminded of that fact every time they look at it.) I am certainly willing to do my part, the reasons I stopped posting were 1) I had a wife and newborn who deserved more of my time than even the best people I spoke with online and 2) there was a broad consensus that I was a major "contributor" in the nasty politicization of the CMB that further deterred new members from joining, much less interacting and STAYING. Alas, holding my tongue does not seem to have done any good; I can try to do better, but it must be a group effort, if only because old habits die hard, and not at all if regularly encouraged to linger.

Anyway, and once again, I am game if $20/yr is enough, but $250/yr is probably a shameful extravagance now, and likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. Best wishes either way; it was a Hell of a ride, however and whenever it ends, and I will try to at least pop back in for old times sake the rest of the week. After all, I am still only a few dozen posts from becoming the RAFO CMBs first (and only) 10K Club member. I have been there for several years, in fact, yet STILL no one else is even close; all five of you should be deeply ashamed....