Township Forum closing down

Hi Everyone,

As you can see in the official announcement here, the Township forum will be closed this coming Friday (April 24th). As it was the case with the other forums, we won't be able to create new threads or post in any of its sub-forums, but everything will still be available for reading, so the information is not all lost.

If you have any questions/thoughts, feel free to post here.

Edit:
Some of our forum members created a new, unofficial community, in order to continue discussing and sharing information about the game. You can find it here, if you'd like to join: Unofficial Township Forum

Dear Dreadnought,
Thank you very much for the hard work you did in the good years we had here.
I know, Bess and Nevada will give us a warm welcome on their FB group.

It is really really sad to read the curtain will fall definitely for this wonderful Platform for players with or without Facebook.
The closure of the Lounge was just one sign on the wall for that matter.

My question, and I am really hard fighting my emotions on this news, is:

Are we as Forum members allowed to start a Forum of our own, unofficially but related to the Township game?
And even more important: Can you please do you allow us to advertise for that here?

There is a whole community here that resists to share their personal information with Facebook and that would mean they will be left behind with only what once was a great platform.

I had the time of my life here...

Sincerely
Rocky_Ruud

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rocky_Ruud

Are we as Forum members allowed to start a Forum of our own, unofficially but related to the Township game?
And even more important: Can you please do you allow us to advertise for that here?

There is a whole community here that resists to share their personal information with Facebook and that would mean they will be left behind with only what once was a great platform.

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If anyone will set up another forum that will focus on the game, i will be happy to post a link to it in the announcement (and perhaps Anna will post it in the official announcement as well), so those who want, will have another alternative besides facebook :)

With a few Forum members we are working hard to set up such a new Forum so we will gratefully use this offer!

Great idea Ruud :)

Hi dread. Thanks for offering to post a link to the Unofficial forum.

This is the address below. It is clearly titled Unofficial on the page, and I have also included in the welcome message that it isn't connected to Playrix :)

Everyone who wants to join us please follow the link below. And keep an eye out for dreads announcement :)

https://township.forumotion.com

dread I really hope to see you there. Any help or support will always be welcome. And if you fancy joining more as a member that would be awesome too :D

Guys please try to join before the forum here shuts. so you can contact Me, _DD_ and Ruud if you have any trouble joining.

So sad to see this place closed down. I really loved it here and the players, Mods and Admin I have had the pleasure to meet :(

Great job dread, by adding the link to our new place in you announcement.
Where a door closes, new doors will open!

Farewell Forum, so sad to see you go. Yes it will be read only but who known for how long. If maintaining it as an active forum cost too much, maintaining it as a dead forum doesn't make much more sense.

I am encouraged by folks wanting to start an "unofficial" forum and I will gladly participate in that. Hopefully we can capture some of the more informative posts from the old forum and give them a home in the new one.

Now a few discouraging (or disparaging) words.

Anna said:

Quote:

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But Township Family, our official Fan Group on Facebook is a perfect sub for it. The largest number of Township players from around the globe to interact, share ideas or design solutions, meet new friends, and celebrate achievements—all in one go!

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I'd like to ask Anna (or those who make the decisions) if they've actually tried FB Groups, other than their official page where they post their announcements.

I don't know if any of you have visited or joined that group but it is a mess. While our own Bess and Nevada are mods / admins for it and they try to maintain some sembelence of order, it's like trying to hold back the ocean by digging a trench in the sand. There are over 100,000 people on that group and most just don't read.

FB is the kind of medium that encourages people to just post whatever is in their mind. And since the FB App (or browser interface) will give you a notification if anyone answers, likes, or mentions your name, you never have to go back and read anything else. The mods have set up a group of "fixed" or "pinned" posts with the Rules, common items like Recruiting, Odd things you find, Event scores, etc but nobody reads them. Instead they jump onto FB and post "Hey, I just got to level 20" and they include a screenshot of the "reward screen".

You have to scroll through hundreds of innane posts like

• "Do you like my town?" (with screenshot or 5)
• "Here's my score in Mine Time" (with screenshot)
• "I need friends" (screenshot of their friend code)
• "Join my co-op" (with screenshot)
• Simple statements or questions but are on some gigantic background (flowers, hearts, etc) that FB seems to favor.

The list goes on (and on and on). Again, no fault of the mods / admins, they try hard to direct people to the right place, post replies saying, in essense, that there are dedicated posts for this kind of thing and includes a link to it. But the next person who wants to advertise their co-op isn't going to read anything, not the rules, certainly not someone else's post which may include a link to the right place. Nope, they'll just write a new post and wait to be informed about replies. And so it goes. It must be frustrating to post the same reply over and over again, hoping to bring some order to the FB chaos.

Sure, you can scroll past a lot of it but there is a lot of it, so much to scroll by that you will inevitabily scroll past something interesting, lost in the chaff of "stream of consciousness" postings.

And, being the internet, the mods are subjected to verbal abuse for daring to actually "moderate", like removing inappropriate posts. And, being the internet, people (women) are just asking for and accepting friend requests only to be harrassed by Messenger chats, lewd pictures, men looking for girlfriends, yup, all that internet stuff you warn your children about.

A few frustrated people have gone off and created their own FB group, try to limit the participation to adults who know how to act like adults, and is ruled with a somewhat firm grip who will delete posts and remove people who break the simple rules. Maybe that will succeed or succumb if the membership gets too large to manage.

Anyway, I am disappointed that Playrix thinks Facebook is the appropriate mechanism to "interact, share ideas or design solutions, meet new friends, and celebrate achievements".

Time will tell if it settles down or if someone comes up with a good way to "mark, link, reference" useful posts. As it is now, people ask the same questions over and over. Others offer the same answers over and over. At some point, people will get tired of answering the same thing and just stop. I know I have.

Well, I'll stop now. I'll miss this forum, I hope the new one will have the same level of information and player participation. I hope I've not turned off too many people who might truly love FB but I know I share the same feelings as many of my game friends.

Charlie

Like Cdosr, I doubt Facebook can replace a forum like we have here. A well maintained forum is a We/Us collective. Facebook is a Me/Myself/I thing.

Good bye to everyone I met here. I am sad to see this community disappear.

Very sad to see this forum ending. Facebook chaos us no substitute for an organized forum.

I guess since their help desk has also stopped replying to inquiries with anything but bot responses, they don't care how many new player questions and problems were solved here.

Just want to say thanks to everyone for the help over the last 6 months, you changed my life, srsly. So glad we have a place to go, thanks for that, too! Onward! :D

http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/bi...y-emoticon.gif

So, Playrix has found "a perfect sub for" this forum on FB - <stifling further comments> http://www.sherv.net/cm/emo/laughing/rolling-lol.gif !

Thanks, Charlie, for that great summary!
I won't go to FB, but to the new Unofficial TS Forum, and hope, you all (who will miss THIS forum) will come there, too! It has a similar structure as this one - no wonder, it IS about Township :)

And hey, we can use every help we can get, as we didn't find out yet, how to make the free SHERV-net-emojis work there!


Thank you very much, dread, for this thread and the opportunity to post in it http://www.sherv.net/cm/emo/hug/hugs.gif and even about the Unofficial TS forum. I do hope we'll also see you there! ❤️

and all the veteran players from here, and the nice newbies/youngsters...;)
(GL, pls don't disappear... :) )

well, it was nice while it lasted. Thanks for good times http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/pe...y-emoticon.gif

Sad to see this forum closing, but we all knew with the closing of the lounge it would happen.
This forum is hosted on a free server except for a minimum charge for removing ads. so cost is not a factor. I know because I have run one.
So it seems Playrix are no longer interested in their players, and that has been shown by their lack of presence here.
Playrix did not expect this game to take off as well as it did, and as with a lot of businesses it has become ruled by it’s profits with no thought of those that maintain those profits for them.

Thank you Dread for keeping this forum going as best you could.
Thank you Nevada, Bess and all other mods for also helping that happen.

It’s a shame they couldn’t just hand over the reins to someone in order that all this valuable info wouldn’t be lost.
But I guess that’s not Playrix style.

Facebook is not an ideal place to hold anything to match a forum, I have tried and it doesn’t work.
There is no way in FB groups to organise threads or posts.
Also the majority of players do not use FB and many of those that do don’t bother with the Playrix page/group.

Thank you Downton, DD and Ruud for creating an alternative to here for members.
To that end all is not lost.

Given that the brilliant help and advice given here, for example just yesterday for Mac users with blacked out mines, often beats in-game help system hands down, both in speed and quality, it would be more logical and cost-effective to transform the forum into CS. But mine is not to reason why.....was lovely while it lasted.

I am also very disappointed and sad that Playrix sees the need to end the forum. It's been over a year sense I joined this forum and the sense of community I find here is not something I see on Facebook. Just joining the group all I see is questions and a spam video. I don't see anything about best tips, introducing yourself, or anything except the basic Add Me: CODE HERE or Join my coop, create a separate barn for building materials, etc.

When it come between here and Facebook, I choose the forum hands down.

Thanks to all the moderators and users who have helped make this forum!

I'm glad the forum community gets to keep going! Thank you Downton and to all the others who are helping with that. (I hope all Ruud's posting can find a new home over there too!)

One last SHERV smiley for the road...
http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/by...y-emoticon.gif

Thanks Ethan. I agree, very sad and disappointed Playrix have made this decision :(

Don't worry, we may not be able to use sherv on the Unofficial Township Forum but Admin can add more emojis for everyone to use there :)

Also please everyone the Unofficial forum is very new, so please remember to save the site to your bookmarks/favourites :)

Too late. I went and register and did not remember to bookmark it. Lol. Fortunately, I could still follow the link here.

I think developers undervalue what a forum community adds to a game. I guess they probably think we underestimate what it costs them.. either way

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I literally just found and joined this forum a couple of days ago. Its got a huge wealth of info that I've already put to good use. I'm sorry that its shutting down.

Thanks to everyone involved in keeping this forum going this long. I have learned so much from you all and have really enjoyed getting to know other players. I hope to see you guys on the new forum!

I'll miss this forum. I've been a member for more than 2 years, and I lurked for a year or so before that (it took me that long to join because, believe me, for those of us who are technically challenged, it's not that easy!) I've learned loads and I've met some nice and interesting people along the way. I don't post as much as some others, and quite a few of my posts get deleted - rightly or wrongly, no-one will have to decide after today :D

I "do" Facebook, and I'm a member of Playrix's official group. I'm also a member of other very good Township groups on fb. I go to them for information, and Township Family for entertainment if I'm really bored.

So my favourite most recent post from Township Family's Facebook page, for those of you who aren't members, is this:

Attachment 54444

Hopefully see you all on the other side :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JJay

..............So my favourite most recent post from Township Family's Facebook page, for those of you who aren't members, is this:

Attachment 54444

Hopefully see you all on the other side :)

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Lol JJay thanks for sharing, that is so Bessville, such a funny post, but to the point http://www.sherv.net/cm/emo/laughing/smiley.gif

Sad sad news there. I'm going to miss this place.

Thank you to all of the players who shared their knowledge of the game for so many years, with so many players. This Forum has been a gift.
Facebook can’t provide the same quality of support...for all of the reasons listed by players in earlier posts.
Thank you players for setting up a new forum for us. It’s incredibly reassuring to know that the customer support provided by players will continue.
Goodbye is sad.
Hello will be refreshing and a lovely new beginning.

Long post, and last post... in the spirit of this space which has embraced discussion, thought, and what have you...

Sad news. I’ve been playing for a bit over three years and have utilized the forum since the very beginning. What is important to remember is that this space was a forum in the truest sense where ideas and opinions were put into the public digital space and opened for discussion. And it was done civilly. This “space” on the Internet was an actual “place” where folk from around our great world could come to gather, question, complain or praise... to banter and joke; to wish, wonder or worry; to seek hard information, or to just seek solace from real life.

The main Township Facebook page, and of all online app games I’ve seen, is, well, and I hope the mods keep this up in the spirit of “the forum”... nothing but a crap show. I agree with all the posts above concerning it. I do not use FB and never will due to many factors.

The move could possibly have a weensy bit to do with GDPR. Forcing people to use FB takes the responsibility of protecting and maintaining all the personal information of users under GDPR off its plate of responsibility and places it on FB’s. I realize GDPR was a few years ago but Playrix may have held on until the burden of maintaining this outweighed the perceived benefit of keeping it operational. Some other games I played back when GDPR was implemented closed their forums down and this was a reason given... whether or not it was true or if they were using GDPR as a scapegoat I don’t know. Just relating some info; do with it what you will if anything at all.

I suspect Playrix knows how disastrous FB is and they clearly understand the differences between there and “here” but they don’t care. Playrix employees are simply the mouthpiece for their corporate masters... saying FB is great because it’s their job to do so. It really isn’t honestly in Playrix’s best interest (or any game’s, really) to even have this sort of “official” place like our forum here where people post strategies and tips which can allow others to maximize their games without outlaying any or as much cash to progress. They are trying to get players to spend; we work on trying to get players to save, plan, strategize. A conflict of interests.

About this place: This place was by the players, for the players, at the expense of Playrix. A truly wonderful and beautiful gift. Official forums like this seem to be a dying breed in the gaming world. Personally, I believe forums such as this foster a sense of community, and that in turn builds loyalty to a game, and brand. It makes a connection from game to heart. The forum becomes part of the game.

Facebook is neither by the players or for the players. It may seem like it’s there for the players but it is there for the company to advertise. And for FB to profit off your information. That’s it. It does not encourage discussion, engagement, civility or anything for that matter (speaking of the official game page only; private groups are a totally different ballgame). The main page is a nothing but an extension of “the self” and selfish mentality with which this world has been overcome... while here, in this precious tiny little corner, players could come together, stay awhile, and engage versus posting and leaving.

It takes time to read the threads here. The threads are engaging, informative, full of life... we can get a sense of the person behind the post... as I said earlier this is an actual “place.” Facebook is quick and out. Get your eyeballs there, read the news at the top, post your crap and leave. Much of the world isn’t “into” engaging anymore; it’s just “about me” and “likes,” “my” posts, my selfies, “my” “life.”

Thinking, writing, out loud... Perhaps we are of a dying breed ourselves, here: cut from some cloth that values good old fashioned chit chat, that values reading in general... the art of the word, intelligently-written posts, the “goings-back-and-forth” of a conversation in a thread... of valuing the posts and thoughts of others even if we disagree. FB?... none of that. Society, sadly, is losing that.

Enough wandering, I suppose...

The percentage of players using this forum versus of those using FB is all we need to understand; where the eyeballs are looking. Whether or not “engagement” happens is irrelevant to Playrix. It’s about the eyeballs. Like everything, it comes to that at this juncture in “civilization.” It’s all about the image, hitting those eyeballs and FB toots that out. Playrix is just keeping up with the gaming Joneses. Sad, unfortunate, not surprising. But reality.

*****
Thanks to everyone here who has posted anything throughout the duration of this forum’s existence. It all has meaning. It all is important. It all has helped in its own small way. You all have importance. Your words, your thoughts. Your praise. Your criticisms. Your comedy, your intellect. Your opinions. Your game knowledge, your knowledge of anything else that life has given you.

All. Important.

Your words have actually built something. Created something. That has inspired others, helped others, made people laugh, made people think.

Made a difference.

It is so sad when these special places are taken away; for me, a huge part of the game is being taken away and I’m irritated that gaming companies no longer value places such as this. But I am in the minority of the player base, and it’s all about numbers, who do not see value in FB. This is a “me” issue. Not Playrix’s. I’ll be joining the new forum as well.

In closing, this place was built on words. Nothing more, nothing less. We know that the pen is mightier than the sword, and here in this place, the words from thousands of players across the world... from various cultures, colors, religions, professions and more... have done the mighty indeed, with words: brought a tiny portion of the world together.

Under Township.

Fitting. And beautiful.

Thank you so much again for what you all, through your posts and efforts here, have done to make this game so special.

With deepest gratitude,

Eagle.One

Eagle One, what a brilliant post:)

I was completely absorbed and a lot of your thoughts and feelings really resonated with me. It is a very sad thing that this has and is happening with so many games forums. Though your possible/probable reasons why unfortunately make sense to me :(

I guess it is just hard to comprehend as we put so much value in the community built here, as you say by the players for the players. A dying breed indeed.

I look forward however to seeing you on the New forum :)

@AnnaPetrova - why??? I don't know if you are management or just a mouthpiece. But why don't you (or your bosses) listen to your customers? Why does your customer support not listen to your customers?? This forum is closing down. Is the game also going to close?? Anna Petrova where are you???

Eagle One..your post says it all.
Thank you.

JJay, I think your pleas will fall on deaf ears. In a few hrs this place will be deserted and Playrix, Anna and any other staff will not have to walk these corridors again. The question of Why..will never be answered, and as the cobwebs settle in the corners, and the dust settles on the furniture, the day will come when the ruins that are left will be just another memory, and one day this place will be removed completely.

Downton and Cuddz, thank you for the kind words.

Sandy, I love your wording at the end of your post: “Goodbye is sad but hello will be refreshing and a lovely new beginning.” I look forward to the new forum as well.

Cuddz, I agree: at some point this forum will be wiped clean. Playrix won’t pay a third source to host the space, in this case v-bulletin. That was the case when the other game forums shut down allegedly due to GDPR as I mentioned in my post, and they also used v-bulletin to host their forums. But, as a side note, those games were also in the process of sunsetting as well...

Hello everyone,

I understand how upsetting the news might be; it was not an easy decision to make. Our community means the world to us, and the Forum has always been and always will be special to us. I agree that using Facebook might cause some inconveniences like a lot of different info and posts to handle. But our mods work hard on making it a welcoming environment with useful learning tips and tricks for the players (now, that was a small spoiler 😉). So some quality improvements are on the way.

Good job in setting up an unofficial forum, I've added the link to it in our announcement. I would also like to inform you that we've made some corrections—our Forum will be fully running till Jun 26th 💚

Regards,
Anna

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cuddz

JJay, I think your pleas will fall on deaf ears. In a few hrs this place will be deserted and Playrix, Anna and any other staff will not have to walk these corridors again. The question of Why..will never be answered, and as the cobwebs settle in the corners, and the dust settles on the furniture, the day will come when the ruins that are left will be just another memory, and one day this place will be removed completely.

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I'm 100% certain that whatever I try to say to Playrix here will fall on deaf ears. They've proved over and over again that they don't care what their customers say.

@AnnaPetrova is the closing of this forum a preview of the whole game disappearing? @AnnaPetrova ????? Please could you answer.....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JJay

@AnnaPetrova is the closing of this forum a preview of the whole game disappearing? @AnnaPetrova ????? Please could you answer.....

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Absolutely not, JJay. No need to worry 🐮

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Anna Petrova

Hello everyone,

I understand how upsetting the news might be; it was not an easy decision to make. Our community means the world to us, and the Forum has always been and always will be special to us. I agree that using Facebook might cause some inconveniences like a lot of different info and posts to handle. But our mods work hard on making it a welcoming environment with useful learning tips and tricks for the players (now, that was a small spoiler ������). So some quality improvements are on the way.

Good job in setting up an unofficial forum, I've added the link to it in our announcement. I would also like to inform you that we've made some corrections—our Forum will be fully running till Jun 26th ������

Regards,
Anna

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Thank you Anna for kindly putting a link to our Unofficial Forum in your Announcement. I will miss this forum dearly, but am thankful it will keep its doors open a little longer.

I hope we will speak again before this, but would like to wish you all the best for your future endeavours. Although FB is not for me, I wish you and all your team on The Facebook Township Family Group success also :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Anna Petrova

Hello everyone,

I understand how upsetting the news might be; it was not an easy decision to make. Our community means the world to us, and the Forum has always been and always will be special to us. I agree that using Facebook might cause some inconveniences like a lot of different info and posts to handle. But our mods work hard on making it a welcoming environment with useful learning tips and tricks for the players (now, that was a small spoiler 😉). So some quality improvements are on the way.

Good job in setting up an unofficial forum, I've added the link to it in our announcement. I would also like to inform you that we've made some corrections—our Forum will be fully running till Jun 26th 💚

Regards,
Anna

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Thanks Eagle1 for expressing what most forum users are feeling so eloquently. The majority don't post, but DO read.

Thanks Anna, for 'stay of execution' and for including link to the new unofficial forum.
Any plans to create a website to share tips and info re game features and updates?? No matter how good the FB admins are, and they are, it is not a great platform, especially for those who don't use it, for finding answers to questions you didn't know you didn't know, if that makes sense - have had innumerable 'lightbulb' moments here just from reading admins and experienced players answers to questions I'd never even thought about.

Wow! Thanks so much to everyone who's helped me in this game. There's tons of things I could have done, and caused myself all sorts of game grief, where it not for the advice of people here. I always hate it when game forums shut down, even if I'm not super active in them. I've been active in several over the years, and I miss those conversations. Sad to see it go.

I for one will be very sorry to see this forum just be 'read only' and be forced to use Facebook if I want to discuss anything. I am not a fan of Facebook and think it is a very sad decision.
Faros

Unfortunately, FB seems to be the way forward for many mobile games. Developers want to squeeze every dollar, so when the licence runs out for the web forum tools, they just shut them down and expect the player base to migrate to FB. Personally, I dislike FB for game discussions. For one, helpful topics and productive discussions just go on a timeline, rather than searchable, nested threads. The other thing is it always feels like the game devs are asking you to give up far more privacy and personal information than you might otherwise be willing to. If I play their game and maybe spend a few bucks on it every now and again, then all they need to know is my account holder details. Anything else, and they should be offering me compensation, given how valuable that information is for developing sales and marketing strategies.

This is not the first game I've played that decided FB was a better place for its community than its forums. Other games I've seen this happen in tended to give reasons like more active users on FB, licence for the web tools that the forum is built on has expired and FB has more players with linked accounts, FB allows more detailed snapshots of player infographics to be collected which then can be used to improve player experience. Reading between the lines all that really translates to is money, resources and inflated perception of player engagement. It's all a win for the dev/publisher rather than the balance tipped toward the player in any form. I don't hold high expectations that the move to FB will be any different to those other games. Things like asking questions or seeking advice on the game just don't work as well on a platform that tends to push everything down its timeline. At least on a forum, you can sort it into subforums with search functionality. FB just seems to encourage begging type posts more than anything else when it comes to games.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Redwing

Unfortunately, FB seems to be the way forward for many mobile games. Developers want to squeeze every dollar, so when the licence runs out for the web forum tools, they just shut them down and expect the player base to migrate to FB. Personally, I dislike FB for game discussions. For one, helpful topics and productive discussions just go on a timeline, rather than searchable, nested threads.

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I agree. Facebook is entirely ill suited for forum discussions. Everything is just a chaotic jumble of anything and everything anyone wanted to post. Because nothing is organized, nobody bother to read anything anyone else has posted.

I think the grasp FB seems to have over mobile gaming is yet another aspect Congress needs to look at when they get back to their FB AntiTrust investigating.

I‘m very sad and disappointed in the decision of the developers to shut down this great platform and trying to push us to facebook and I don‘t understand it, since the forum members were always active, and a lot of players found and still find help here. This was my first forum I subscribed since I‘m not active in social networks at all. But here I found so much helpful information, always friendly, polite and accomodating users, that I wanted to become a member in this great family. And it was a warm welcome. I met a lot of people here I could imagine to become friends with also in real life. Although I was not a very active user I visited the forum nearly daily, I read a lot and I laughed a lot, thank you all folks! Thank you Dreadnought and Nevada for still remainig here, giving us the latest informations and helping us with troubles. And a huge thank you to Ruud, Downton and DD for building a new forum for us!
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