October 17, 2010 by sharky
After dozens of emails asking us, "What happened to ThePirateSociety?" - we’ve just now received the official word from the proud new owner. Sorry folks, there’s not a lot of juicy gossip in this one, but what’s very clear is that TPS has indeed returned true to form - minus a few staff members. Since being offline for nearly two full weeks now, what exactly transpired between October 5th and October 16th? For starters - a new domain, new server, new (and old) staff. But what’s really important is the site, its contents, the user database - these have all been rescued from what would have been a total loss if it weren’t for quick action on the part of TPS’s new proprietor. FSF spoke with the new owner - bubbl3 - who shed some interesting light as to how & why these events unfolded. Plus we have the exclusive info regarding TPS’s official announcement.
In a few hours, all members of TPS should receive an email which explains - more or less - some of what we examine below.
Unpaid Server Bills…
The reason why ThePirateSociety went offline in the first place, was simply because nobody was keeping up with payments to the hosting provider, Server.lu. In arrears for 4 full months, the last payment made to Server.lu was on July 10th, 2010. It’s anyone’s guess as to why TPS didn’t go offline before they did; apparently Server.lu is very forgiving. They sent multiple messages in request for payment, all of which were unanswered and left unpaid.
It’s still unclear (and up for debate) about who’s fault it was for failing to pay the server bills. Some say it’s soopy, others say it’s ninecat’s fault. (The general public believes that it was soopy who was in charge of the finances for the server, not ninecat - but there’s still no solid proof of this). In any event, it would be safe to say that both of them failed the community, and they won’t be returning to the new TPS with their old positions even if they decide to come back - that much is clear. Except for whoever was in charge of maintaining the finances - nobody else had any prior indication that TPS was in trouble with server.lu. Non-payment was kept a secret, for reasons still unknown.
In a final attempt to sabotage TPS, whoever it was in charge of the TPS’s server tried to "close the account" - and if successful it would have put an end to TPS forever. On October 12th a support ticket was opened at Server.lu (presumably by either soopy or ninecat) which read, "Please close this account. Thank you." Server.lu declined to honor this request since there was an outstanding balance. They replied to the ticket, "Please pay your open invoices first. After that, please use the cancel button to cancel the server. Best regards". The irony here is that the same person responsible for nonpayment is also the person who tried to bring the site down, once and for all. If not for that financial irresponsibility, then TPS would be just a memory.
Luckily, bubbl3 just so happened to be on Server.lu’s TPS contact list, and in s.lu’s final attempt to garner a response to resolve the debt, the fate of TPS was left in his hands.
"I asked to negotiate with server.lu, and after agreeing to pay the old bills I got access to the TPS server. I had to pay 240 euros in bills…" - bubbl3
Bubbl3 came up with a grand plan; to try to save TPS from total demolition which was obviously soon to come. He contacted Server.lu and negotiated to settle up the outstanding backpayments in order to save the TPS site database & contents. He and pissshivers ponied up the €240 (Euro) ransom (€60 x 4 months) and presto, just like that they now possessed ThePirateSociety. And it was then subsequently moved to a new server (still on server.lu), and pissshivers paid out of pocket for a new vBulletin license.
New Domain Name…
ThePirateSociety.ORG is now known as http://thepiratesociety.info.
Unlike hosting, domain names are harder to transfer, especially when you can’t even find the owner of the domain - and that’s N3v3R. N3v3R, the original owner/sysop of TPS is the holder of .org (and possibly .net & .com) seems to have dropped off everyone’s radar. Thus, it wasn’t possible to continue using the old domain, and .info was settled on.
It should be mentioned that if N3v3R does resurface, he’s more than welcome to take his position back at TPS, should he desire to do so.
New Staff… and the Future
Bubbl3 and pissshivers are the new sysops of TPS, with skindoggi and bottom also coming back as staff. Whoever was staff at the time when TPS went offline will also return with their prior staff status.
Current members of ThePirateSociety should soon be able to login using their old user/pass credentials at ThePirateSociety.info.
Further details pertaining to the status of TPS will be published in an official announcement (see below). Stay tuned; we’ll update this article as soon as new information rolls in. We wish TPS the best of luck in the future - we’re not alone in saying we sincerely hope you guys can return the forum back to it’s former glory.
ThePirateSociety - New Announcement
Friends
Welcome back!
As you’ve no doubt guessed by now, there have been some drastic changes here at TPS.
We are under new management. This was NOT planned, and it was NOT some sort of hostile takeover. Everything that has been done was done as a last resort to save TPS.
When TPS went down on October 5th, we discovered that the server bills had not been paid in several months. Rather than pay the bills, the go-ahead was given by the previous staff to shut the site down without possibility of return. Working with the hosting company, bubbl3 and pisshivers paid the outstanding balance and took over administration of the servers.
Some Proof:
- Server.lu asking to fix the negative balance: link here.
- Server.lu ticket opened to ask for the server contract to be closed: link here.
- Server.lu balance with 4 unpaid invoices and our payment to fix the situation: link here.
As many of you are aware, TPS has experienced plenty of internal turmoil in recent months; many good staff and members alike have been either banned or chased off by a few power-hungry individuals. Whether through neglect, tacit agreement, or outright support, these individuals were not reigned in and essentially ruled with an iron fist banning or alienating all who opposed them. If you questioned their practices, you were "against" them. This obviously goes against everything we’ve stood for in the past: disagree all you want, voice it without repercussions. You may not get your way, but no one will be punished for their views.
The money was another big issue. Where do we stand on donations? Are we still partnered with so-and-so? How much is coming in? How much are the server bills? Does TPS need more help? Do we have a surplus? Who’s handling the money? From now on, TPS is going to be completely transparent about the money. We plan on updating the community about donations, payments, balances, etc.
For these and other reasons, TPS will be running with a small staff, a skeleton crew, for a bit while we figure out where to go from here. Before the downtime, things had become quite bloated and out of control at TPS, and we are working to get back to the TPS that we all knew and loved. A few changes that are readily noticeable are:
- Transparency.
- Staff changes. Some of the familiar staff may return, some won’t.
- The Pirate Academy is shut down and the information contained within it will be turned in a Beginner’s Guide.
- Rather than interviews, we will be using a web submission form.
- The reputation system will be revamped. Currently, we are leaning toward removing reps for invite and possibly going to a Request-Only system; no Giveaways.
- The NML/LML will be revisited and likely revamped.
- The Rules will be revised. This is not kindergarten; we don’t need or want to babysit.
As far as the .info domain goes, it was the only way to get TPS up and running again. The owners of .com, .org, and .net were either unreachable or uncooperative. As far as we’re concerned, TPS was abandoned. This is not some clone of TPS trying to steal members; this is TPS moved to .info. Make no mistake, there are some hard feelings with some of the old staff. Whether those will be mended in the future is difficult to say at this point. We will not drag anyone through the mud, however, and you can see that all names have been left out of this post.
"Back in the day" all ideas, suggestions, critiques, and complaints were welcomed at TPS. We assure you all that those days have returned. Feel free to POLITELY discuss anything and everything.
Again, WELCOME BACK!
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