Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Sad News. The Word is Out. AllOutdoors is folding!

Folks:<P>I am quite saddened by this turn of affairs. I began my foray into the world of online outdoors forums at the old AllOutdoors Coffee shop. Back then, it was the only game in town.<P>I met a slew of people there, including JJ and Big Sky. It really was a great place with a great crowd for a long time.<P>I expect that we will be welcoming a few folks from AllOutdoors in the next few days. Let's make sure they get a good log, eh?<P>In that vein, I would like to personally welcome all the newcomers and state, for the record, what everyone around here already know. If you have a problem, email me. I am here for you all.<P>Welcome.<P>Rick Bin

Not exactly off the sinking ship like a rat, but I'm out explorng new sites, as I truly enjoyed A/O. This forum actually looks like it was started by a former A/O fan, and has plenty of hits it would seem. I'm kind of hoping to see more subjects and submitters located in the Mn. Wi. Dakota area. I will still be splitting my time with A/O, but so far, I have enjoyed reading your posts.

Ahhh, the Coffee Shop. I remember it well....but can't quite recall why I left about 2 years ago. Didn't it get pretty well moderated and structured to death? (off-topic comments/posts moved or deleted?) I recall the change in Editor-ship (Linda?) and a change in format contributed....but what else led to the out-going demise. I think a positive lesson can be learned from these such events...but what exactly is it in this case? sincerely, Sparkman375

Hello, I'm another lost AO soul looking for a new home.<P>The word/rumor is that money became the bottom line for the owners of AO. As with many sites it started out as a good idea then greed set in, and we all know what greed leads to.<P>So far I like this site. I'm going to miss the local flavor of the regional forums, but life goes on.<P>Sven

Another AO CoffeeShop transplant here. Glad to see another place to get a little info and crack a few smiles. But I still hope the CoffeeShop manages to hang on somehow. DC

Irving dog, Sven, Dave in Oregon...I know you guys are a little homesick for what seems very familiar to you....I went through the same thing....TWICE!! But this is a great site, and there is plenty of flavor here no matter your taste buds....so pull up a log, test the waters a while, and let me tell the lot of you, WELCOME to the site!<BR>DS

Why is the CS closing? Would it be because they changed their forum format every couple of months and you had to re-register every time. Was it all the spam they sent out to people who NEVER asked to be spammed. When many of us asked for it to stop they, (Linda), told us the hoops we could go through to get off their spam list and then it didn't stop the spam.<P>I found the CS a few years back, it was one of the first forums I visited and it was a good place to hang out. They just drove people out of there with constant forum changes and attitude. <P>------------------<BR><B>~spectr17</B><BR> <A HREF="http://www.jesseshuntingpage.com" TARGET=_blank>http://www.jesseshuntingpage.com</A><BR>

Another hunting home as CS closes. Been there a long time. Be a lot of us I'm sure hunting new place to settle.

I'm another from over at AO looking for a new home.Made some nice friends over there and hope to see them miagrate over this way soon.<P>------------------<BR>Birddog of Indiana

Another Coffee Shop person. Hi.<P>------------------<BR><p>[This message has been edited by John Tyson (edited June 21, 2001).]

Wow! Looks like the A/O coffee shop found its way here! The more I look, the more I like this site.<p>[This message has been edited by irvingdog (edited June 21, 2001).]

I would like to welcome everyone from the alloutdoors site here.

I'm here from AO also...See a lt of familiar handles out there...can I pull up a stump and sit a spell....Later. MTNMAN

MTMAN - welcome welcome welcome! We have plenty of logs for you to choose from so stay a while!!<P>Toons<P>------------------<BR>Don't be ashamed to say what you are not ashamed to think.

I'm another AO refugee, but not exactly a stranger in these parts.

Welcome all, throw a few more sticks in the fire and pull up a log and set a spell.

well I am another refugee from AO and like what I see over here...Looks like a few made it before me....will try to be a good neighbor....

spectr17,<P>Your assumptions are not right. First assumption... that people left because of the reformatts...maybe you and two other guys did...but 10,000 of us stayed. Assumption number two...that when you and those other two guys left, the site crashed...wrong...it thrived. Please understand that there are a lot of folks coming from the old AO site that really enjoyed eachother's company. There were a lot that bashed eachother constantly but still enjoyed eachother's company. Now we are looking for a friendly place to gather. Ao was not a great place for EVERYONE and I suppose it was not for you. But the site did not crash because you got fed up with the constant attempts to improve it. It crashed because the board members squandered away 5 million in venture capital...it just dried up. No one purchased from their store. The advertisers didn't get the results they wanted and the moderators were excessive. And...it was not run by outdoorsmen.<P>Having said that...high five to all the handles I recognise. This seems like the most likely site for me to settle into. I like it here...what do ya'll think?<P>Nate

Spectr17 Que Pasa...See ya still got power...Nate, Now I don't have to worry about sending you my email address...I'm right here...<P>Hey all you locals when the turkey forum fire up...Later, MTNMAN <P>And Rick Thanks for the invite... <p>[This message has been edited by MTNMAN (edited June 22, 2001).]

Hope you've got a lot of stumps, Rick...<BR>I also stuck with AO through all the changes, and sometimes wondered why. They may have had 10,000+ registered users, but they sure were a quiet bunch. It seemed like the turkey and bird dog forums were pretty active, but the ones I frequent (big game, rifles, reloading, & regional) were dead as a nit. Probably 75% of the posts were by the moderators. And it WAS the software changes that drove off a lot of the regular posters. Several buddies of mine that used to be fairly active finally said "to heck with it", when they had to repeatedly re-register & in some cases couldn't get their old user names back.<BR>So they went through 5 mil, huh? Wow! I wondered about that. That's another thing, other than Alison and Linda, the powers that be were pretty much invisible on AO, at least to me. On the other hunting boards, the owners are right in there with everybody else...<BR>Anyway, I hope it doesn't sound like I'm kicking 'em while they're down. It does sadden me to see what's happened, and even in their recent diminished state, I'm still gonna miss 'em.