[Admin] Where did all the people go? And the Dragons Inn successor sites.

[The Scythe]

#1 most active: http://www.dragonsmark.com/
#2, about 2 active stories: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/dragoninn/info
#3 us, 1 active story: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.dragons-inn
#4 Inactive, this is what they created when they left here: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/altdragonsinn/info

When Google took over UseNet and decided to host it, the interface here was what really killed the site. We've tried to bring it back several times. But even with an active storyline this past year, it hasn't attracted anyone else. When people described how they really didn't like the interface and that it didn't have a lot of features, I hadn't ever done much online chat, so I didn't know what they meant. But now that I've discovered http://www.dragonsmark.com/ I know what they meant. Dragonsmark has SOOOOO many people and is SO active, and it has Live Chat. It's alive in the way alt.dragons-inn USED to be. You can actualy create characters there and show what they look like.

For so many years I've wanted to build this place back up, but now that I've found other places and people who do this kind of Free-Form Role Playing, I just want to participate in an active community.
A few years ago people here said they were going to Yahoo. I found a couple of those here:

This is one they created:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/altdragonsinn/info
It peaked in 2015, and then subsided.
This one is active, slightly more than us, with a couple active stories.
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/dragoninn/info

Dragonsmark is from AOL, and then the owner created their own site at some point. They are super active, with MANY admins.


Full History:
When Usenet was created, someone started alt.callahans, and based it on this book.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callahan%27s_Crosstime_Saloon

This talks about it.
https://books.google.com/books?id=Vs_bQiT4EWgC&pg=PA213&lpg=PA213&dq=www.alt.dragons-inn.org+callahans&source=bl&ots=4m4xibzlcE&sig=o6srO7Hopv_5JDDZHFdv5GO1fes&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjBno3W5ovZAhWhllQKHQNSCZMQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=www.alt.dragons-inn.org%20callahans&f=false

I've talked to Dave Womack about how alt.dragons-inn got started. People wanted to focus just on fantasy, so someone created one for it.
Then at some point, AOL created their protected internet garden and copied over the UseNet newsgroups, and the Dragons Inn. And to be honest, it's been the most active and vibrant place, way more so than ours. The owner of the site was able to create a place for them to continue the awesomeness. Now that AOL cancelled Instant Messenger Dragonsmark is switching to Discord for their chat, which is cool for me since I already use it.



So the upshot is that I've found a lot of other people who like to write roleplaying stories the way we do.

I'll check out the Yahoo group and let you know what they're like.

Robert

[Lord Anthraxx]

I'm from the very old days.....tried to get things going again, but life is such a pain in the arse. I want to thank you for your informative information here. I miss the old days when life was simple, and I miss a few select friends I made over the years. I can post here and there, but not the way I used to.

Hello to Kathy Mosley, whom I respect highly. Not sure who of the old crowd is even around anymore.

sincerly,

Pelnar

[Troshen]

Hey Pelnar!

Good to hear from you!

I've started a couple minor Open threads with no commitment.

Would you be interested in just a conversation meet and greet? I've got a couple characters that are available just to talk.

Vintner especially is my Bard. I created him specifically to keep the lights on at the Inn.

Troshen

[ShadoJohn]

Lord Anthraxx, I remember you. There are a few of us who keep trying to breathe life back into the inn. Robert just finished a thread that took us a year to complete. Now days we are slow and steady like a tortoise. There are a couple threads going on now. I was considering starting one again, but not now with summer just around the corner. Hope you have the time to join at least a little.