Good Day Everyone,
I'm sorry to say that CoS Forums is going to shut down in the Summer, sometime around July. This isn't an early April Fools joke either.
The Forums have become quite expensive to run and manage. There's a lot (LOT) less traffic coming to the site these days as Harry Potter becomes less of a topical debate for people.
I held on for a while after the last film, wondering whether JK would announce anything surprising, but I find that even if she did it wouldn't serve to help the diminishing numbers on the site or my bank balance!
Myself, I've been absent a lot more in the past year as personal issues have taken over and I've had to work longer hours, to earn more money to keep the forums going as well as pay for things like rent, utilities and god knows what else.
Some of you will be sad and I'm sure others will be happy. I'm not doing this lightly and I could have closed the site last year but held off. I know this may upset some of you who've come to see this place as a haven with friends and I'm very sorry it has to go but I've kept this place going with money out of my own pocket for 10 years now and it's no longer financially viable to do so. Please understand that this is not an easy decision!
Some of you may wish to offer to help, to donate or even take on the site. Whilst I would listen to any suggestions, I will not accept donations as this would be unsustainable in the long-term. If you wanted to take on CoS, be aware that you would need to find $200 per month and to be honest with you all I'm not sure I'm prepared to let the site be taken over by anyone.
I've created a thread for comments. The other staff know only as much as the above. There is no Plan B as far as they are concerned, so do not pester them for answers to questions. If they do not know, they are being totally honest.
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Many thanks to everyone who for the last 10+ years have worked in one way or another on the site. All the staff, past and present who gave their time and energy to making the community work. Every single person gave their time for free and were never paid for their efforts. It was a labor of love for all.
Many thanks to the members, those who came & went and dared to stay. Every single one of you who contributed to the site, to the discussions and events. You were the ones who made the site what it became, from the all the book releases to the heated, sometimes famous debates about all sorts of topics. You made CoS what it was. So thank you.
Matt aka Morgoth
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July 8th, 2011, 11:13 am
