Forum Shutdown Announcement

[acornheart465]

I haven't really posted on this forum much (mostly I've been a lurker), but I've learned so much about toys and sexuality here, and if this forum hadn't been here when I discovered the site, I know I would have remained just as clueless as ever. I read so many reviews of toys and got a good idea of what I might be able to manage or what would be most comfortable for me, and I'm glad I got that information before it was made unavailable. I wish I had been more active in this forum now, as I can see that there are so many friends I could have made that I wont get a chance to.
I've been a BD fan for a bit more than a year now, and I just made my first purchase, but I feel that it will be my only purchase if things like this keep going. There's been a lot of talk lately on other sites about the things going wrong here, and especially about this. Honestly this feels like a move to keep secondhand sellers to a minimum so everyone will have to buy their toys directly from BD, and to keep new buyers in the dark about what's best for them so that they have to find out by trial and error, thereby giving more money to the company, and I think that's just sad.
If anybody here wants to add me or talk on Skype or Tumblr, just PM me and I'll give you my details. I'd love to meet many of you and I will definitely be using the new forum offered on http://www.bad-dragon-chat.com/

It's been a good run you guys. I'll be watching to see what happens next. But for now..

[Boargoth]

Im not an employee of Bad Dragon I volunteered my time to help out on the forums, you might want to get your facts correct before slinging your words.

If you're not an employee, why do you still feel threatened?

Actually, if the real employees had put some effort in getting more people like YOU on the forum.. Maybe the forums could stay..

Why do I feel threatened? Well I live in a massive antigay/bi redneck area and the only people I can relate to or get along with live 100 miles away or are on the forums. I will say this though I am not happy about this decision because it makes me feel like im abandoning the people I am supposed to help or feel welcome here, I only found out about this decision a few hours ago while I was at my daughters open house.

Dude, I didn't ask for a reflection of your personal life.. If you actually took the time to read my post, I praised you by telling you we could use more of people like you..

[Kith]

I've never seen this at all ( it might have been before my time) but by and large this place is surprisingly troll free considering the subject matter.

Before your time for the most part, thank goodness.

[RenascentBeing]

Saultion's response is the only Mod response that rings honest to me right now.

[Saultion]

[/quote]

If you're not an employee, why do you still feel threatened?

Actually, if the real employees had put some effort in getting more people like YOU on the forum.. Maybe the forums could stay..[/quote]

Why do I feel threatened? Well I live in a massive antigay/bi redneck area and the only people I can relate to or get along with live 100 miles away or are on the forums. I will say this though I am not happy about this decision because it makes me feel like im abandoning the people I am supposed to help or feel welcome here, I only found out about this decision a few hours ago while I was at my daughters open house.[/quote]

Dude, I didn't ask for a reflection of your personal life.. If you actually took the time to read my post, I praised you by telling you we could use more of people like you..[/quote]

Sorry between reading everyones posts about how the forums has helped them through the good an bad times they have had it makes me happy that they feel this way but upset due to the decision that was made so I interpreted your post incorrectly, I apologize.

[Pechallai]

I think what's pissing me off the most about this is that I'm getting a very "lol, they're just the vocal minority now, why do we need the forums when we have the sales figures to determine the company's direction and upcoming toy lines?" feeling from all of this. It's a very holier-than-thou corporate feeling, and I get enough of that shit at work now after big business took over my small town grocery store, I don't need it taking over my favorite sex toy company, too.

[Grimmyr]

Pretty much how I feel. Even though Saultion doesn't come on that awesome, I genuinely feel like he's the only mod that seriously knows how the community feels. Like... We're expressing about how we're sad the community is coming to a close, and he sympathizes. Amongst the million dead mods that we have that don't say squat, the other ones just keep telling us that tickets will solve all our problems.

Puh-lease.

[Ginasa]

But it's common sites and common interests that keep that bond strong. It's being able to find a place where things are accepted and not frowned upon. Before I found this forum I couldn't imagine other people who would buy from this site. I thought it was just a weird sex shop. It was questionable to me. I only bought from this place once I found the forum, read up on reviews. Talked to people. I love this community and being able to meet and greet new people all the time. I love how we could all be so open with our kinks and love for the toys. Share photos, life stories, cry a little and get support. Offer support or advice, help people who are not so sure about something. So they can BUY something from you guys. New people will not be able to build those bonds and tumblr of all places is open to the WORLD. The forum are also tons easier to traversed than tumblr. Tumblrs form of communication is limited and can easily be lost if you're not watching for it. At least with Can you believe the amount of harassment and discord can run rampant there but then that's not BD's problem anymore. When mods were still around the forums we still had that form of community and communication. We could voice are worries and get a more personal response than that bland professional tone that we are getting now. On tumblr or twitter it's fair game and no longer BD's problem or liability.

I feel like this is a mistake but the decision has already been made. This is no longer for the community but for business.

Some people can not step up and keep in touch as well as you could hope. Some people will wait for someone to come to them, to a point where no one will reach out there hands to each other for fear of thinking that they weren't important enough to talk to them anymore. Especially on an open site like twitter or tumblr. I know that fear well enough and have been on both sides...

[finir]

Right i'm going to throw in my two pennies here just from the little experience I have working on social media. before reading ahead remember this is literally all just educated guess work, i could be completely wrong and im literaly just going off what I have experienced at work.

I'm a graphic designer by trade and I'm outsourced to several different companies working on social media including twitter, facebook, pinterest and so on so fourth. HOWEVER.... I by no means claim any actual skill in this...I just go along with the flow and pick things up XD

The one thing I have learned in social media is its all about getting the new users. i've seen a company triple its profits with a good facebook campaign and interaction, just by hiring one person to sit on the company facebook interacting with people all day and organising competitions, the new users went through the roof through likes and shares.

My guess to this move towards more interaction through twitter and the like is the ability to make it slightly more mainstream? (as mainstream as big latex willys can be XD) and the ability to drive in new users through sharing rather than keeping it all self contained in an in house forum which from an SEO (Search engine optimization) point of view won't bring in as many new users from finding things on google in comparison to a direct recommended tweet, share or competition. (I could be wrong mind you! this is just my opinion and experience)

As I mentioned, forums are very self contained and they don't bring in as much website traffic as mainstream social media. However, I think it's a damn shame to close them down entirely, Maybe a step to evolve them instead? tie them in with new widget functions on a better system that let people like and share threads, tieing in the forum with social media can work very well if embraced fully! you can get some VERY nifty features like "like this forum thread? share it on facebook" etc etc.

well...thats my two pennies :) again, i'm just throwing my random stuff out there don't take it as gospel as i don't know what im doing that much at my job XD (winging it for the win!) but i think its a shame to loose such an awesome community for a product which is appealing to a LOT of people who have no where else to turn :(

[Galaslaeg]

However, I think it's a damn shame to close them down entirely, Maybe a step to evolve them instead? tie them in with new widget functions on a better system that let people like and share threads, tieing in the forum with social media can work very well if embraced fully! you can get some VERY nifty features like "like this forum thread? share it on facebook" etc etc.

See, now that's something I would have been completely fine with. Bring the two together and use them in tandem with each other! But now it just feels like BD wants to become more and more closed off from the public -- it's one thing to write up a tweet on twitter, but it's another thing entirely to be given the space and freedom that a forum post has. :/

[Pechallai]

However, I think it's a damn shame to close them down entirely, Maybe a step to evolve them instead? tie them in with new widget functions on a better system that let people like and share threads, tieing in the forum with social media can work very well if embraced fully! you can get some VERY nifty features like "like this forum thread? share it on facebook" etc etc.

See, now that's something I would have been completely fine with. Bring the two together and use them in tandem with each other! But now it just feels like BD wants to become more and more closed off from the public -- it's one thing to write up a tweet on twitter, but it's another thing entirely to be given the space and freedom that a forum post has. :/

I seem to remember a newspost a while back talking about streamlining the forums. I guess that went out the fucking window along with the rest of it.

[Saultion]

If I had a way to run this forum myself as a separate from the main site I would in a heartbeat just to keep all of you here because I know how hard it is to find like minded people. I for one would rather keep the forum going.

[MurphyAlter]

My guess to this move towards more interaction through twitter and the like is the ability to make it slightly more mainstream?

I really hope not. If they think they can "mainstream" shoving a dragon cock up your ass, they're insane. This is a site for dildoes and dildo accessories, not some big company with an office in a new york skyscraper.

[Lore]

I just want to let you all know that I am reading all of your comments, and am listening. Wherever we can, we'll try and make the transition easier - if you have a concern or a suggestion please voice it. I will read them all. (You can also PM me directly if you'd prefer it remain private).

More importantly than anything, remember that it's personal relationships that bind us together - not some 'site' or 'forum', but a feeling of belonging. Find the people you belong with, and hold onto them tight!

Places many come and go, but people stay - make sure you keep those relationships that mean a lot to you!

Is it just me or is the post rather condescending? You say you're reading and listening to our comments, and yet despite almost every person in this thread speaking out against it, you don't even seem a BIT apologetic and willing to maybe not destroy the forums and work out a better solution WITH US instead of "making the transition easier." Like taking away one of very few safe places for people like us can be made "easier."

And then you tell us to hold on to the people you belong with? With some platitude about relationships WHILE YOU'RE TAKING AWAY OUR ABILITY TO MAINTAIN THESE RELATIONSHIPS? Because going from a thriving, welcoming, SAFE community to a very small circle of people you only interact with in occasional emails is going to keep these relationships alive. This community is going to live with or without you, as someone is already making a new one. If you wish to wash your hands of use, fine. You don't need us, we don't need you. There's other fantasy sites for us to buy from who still have places for their users to come together as a community, I'm sure they'll appreciate the customers you're giving them.

[CutiePique]

Being pragmatic about this announcement for a second though, I sure hope there's an update planned in the near future for the main site re:reviews.

An overhaul and relaunch of Reviews is currently in the works, with the intention of replicating a lot of the 'review thread' style feedback but with an actual purpose-made search and filter system.

I look forward to that; the sharing experiences forum was my favorite first-stop in my lurking adventures and it really went downhill with the insane implementation of subforums. I definitely believe that a traditional forum set-up is not the way to go with reviews, at least not anymore. (A set up like ol' fanfiction.net's listing of fics on the other hand... Imagine it, all reviews could be listed all together and there can be nice dropdowns of models, sizes, firmness, overall rating, date... [/fantastical dreams])

...Srsly tho, not sure how will survive without big comparison thread. I think I might really dedicate some time in the coming days to sit down and just save every single image from that thread. Hell, maybe even every single page. Plus favorite reviews. So much to preserve...

There's so many pretties, and we're going to be making sure they don't go to waste. Once our new Gallery is set up and working (it's most of the way there), we'll be going through (and inviting others to go through) the old pic comparison threads and working to make the best toy comparison tool out there.

See, unlike Reviews, this is something that is right at home with forums: users asking other users for homebrew comparisons (and not always comparisons between/featuring-only Bad Dragon toys). I know I saw several comparison shots in that thread of large mokos with various toys I have, but it was only one posted by [avoids namedropping*] that convinced me "YES, this is the toy, this is the size, I AM OFFICIALLY CONVINCED". ...I dunno, it just seems like that's something that works best in a thread environment... I just don't have any type of argument to make for it, I just think it. Dx

*Cause that's bad right? I forget. I'm not fond of talking, so I forget pleasantries and ettiquette, both on the net and in person. xD;

Anytime I hear "we have something in the works" I immediately assume that it's going to take 10 years for it to get released and done because it's always been that way... That or there's been a lot of empty promises.

Yeah, same.
The way I see it is that Reviews are more of a help than a hinderance for BD as a company and therefore the longer they take to roll out, the more they hurt themselves. ...Not that I'm saying "We should all implicitly believe this promise because it doesn't make sense to not do it asap!", just that I expect them to be shooting themselves in the foot more and more the longer both the forums are gone and there are no reviews. The length of time it takes will definitely show the value they put on their community's/customer's reviews; if they go long enough without them that it actually negatively impacts sales, they have no one to blame but themselves.


I'm going to miss the open, accepting attitude I've always felt when I'd lurk the forums.
...Nothing else to add there, just wanted to make sure I said it sometime. Even if it was random. :,<

fml, I reply so slow... TTwTT

EDIT:

Oh my god, I will actually miss the kitchen spam. :<
Just the idea of thinking that a Sex Toy forum would be a good place to sell kitchens still boggles my mind. XD

Hah! They must've caught on to all the massive pots everyone uses to boil their stuff.

...That makes sense. Why must it be now, at the end of the forums, that the kitchen spam suddenly makes perfect sense to me?

[Saultion]

I just want to let you all know that I am reading all of your comments, and am listening. Wherever we can, we'll try and make the transition easier - if you have a concern or a suggestion please voice it. I will read them all. (You can also PM me directly if you'd prefer it remain private).

More importantly than anything, remember that it's personal relationships that bind us together - not some 'site' or 'forum', but a feeling of belonging. Find the people you belong with, and hold onto them tight!

Places many come and go, but people stay - make sure you keep those relationships that mean a lot to you!

And then you tell us to hold on to the people you belong with? With some platitude about relationships WHILE YOU'RE TAKING AWAY OUR ABILITY TO MAINTAIN THESE RELATIONSHIPS? Because going from a thriving, welcoming, SAFE community to a very small circle of people you only interact with in occasional emails is going to keep these relationships alive.

I am 100% behind you on this Lore

[Tarukaja]

I think the thing here is, unlike, say, a video game company shutting down a forum and setting up a facebook/twitter/whatever, lots of people DON'T WANT TO ASSOCIATE their personal accounts/social media/RL names with this kinda stuff, y'know, because society as a whole sucks when dealing with stuff like dragon sex toys. Having side accounts is also annoying, I mean I hate facebook and there's no way I'd make another just to follow BD (I already have a separate tumblr for nsfw stuff though so that's not relevant XD)

The info I found when I first got to the forums a couple years ago when I joined was so very helpful, I mean not just about toys but sexuality in general; I thought this place would be full of creeps but it really wasn't XD Kinda sad to see it go I guess, I feel like this "evolution to social media" companies are doing lately is really bullshit :/

[Faffy the FauxFox]

is the toypics site going away? was that part of bad dragon?

is there still design contests?

I guess we cannot have unoffical fourms, and that way we can advertise our selling of stuff?

what site will I be obcessed with now? it feels weird to go back to being obcessed with wajas or chickensmoothie.
I guess I will post more at purezc, even if this site is more active and if you wanted to, talk of adult things.
I feel like my being here just killed it. I've been on a few that died. it is a curse

[Ceo Nadar]

More importantly than anything, remember that it's personal relationships that bind us together - not some 'site' or 'forum', but a feeling of belonging. Find the people you belong with, and hold onto them tight!

Places many come and go, but people stay - make sure you keep those relationships that mean a lot to you!

But it's common sites and common interests that keep that bond strong. It's being able to find a place where things are accepted and not frowned upon.

Some people can not step up and keep in touch as well as you could hope. Some people will wait for someone to come to them, to a point where no one will reach out there hands to each other for fear of thinking that they weren't important enough to talk to them anymore. Especially on an open site like twitter or tumblr. I know that fear well enough and have been on both sides...

I have a hard time making contact with people. I have a hard time talking to people one-on-one. So an open forum like this is a massive boon for someone like me.

not some big company with an office in a new york skyscraper.

*cough* If they moved to NY, I might have to work for them. *dreams of making silicawk*

[Foxfire]

I used to be around a lot but haven't really been active for a long time, after issues involving a toy design, not liking the atmosphere brought about by previous mods, and "life" but have lurked on/off since. At first certain moderators and posters made participating here a rather cliquey, uncomfortable experience, but eventually they were removed or left and things chilled out over the years. There's much less activity in the Ideas forum with the labs finally up, but elsewhere seemed to be running just fine and there hardly ever appeared to be any drama or fighting like you might expect.

The BD forums seemed like a good place for those with alternative interests, sexualities, or just those into interesting sex toys. Information, help, and suggestions are easy to come by, there are numerous FAQs written by members, and if there's something you need clarifying then there's always someone who will reply to you no matter how stupid you felt asking. This in itself is quite valuable in a sex-related community, I think-the ability to openly communicate, ask questions and get answers, and not fear judgement or ridicule like you may find elsewhere.

On a less personal level, the reviews are extremely useful and you only need to look at the view count of the review threads to see there are a lot of people out there-far more than just members-reading them. I know I, as well as many others, use these review threads in order to try and make an informed purchase, very important considering the size ranges and price of BD toys. And again, if there's something you want to know about a toy, you're easily able to ask-even specific things like "how does X toy compare to Y in size", someone usually turns out to have both and posts a photo comparison. It also helps for colour selection, something you want to be sure of when you're spending an extra $5-15+ on it.

Random thoughts, coming from a non-furry lurker :)

Question: Will we be able to request deletion of our profiles/threads before the forum goes into read only mode?