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

Personally I've just recently tasted coffee shops brew and before I could settle in my easy chair it's being pulled out from under me! Fine I'll take my business elsewhere... I'm actually from huntingnet.com Its a pretty good site also. Well I'll pull up a chair and listen in, O.K.?

AO was located in my home town. I knew a few people that worked there and their location was just a few blocks from where I work. <P>I was a regular there for years, I mostly just read, posted a few times under JBMI. I left for awhile when Alison and/or her bosses decided to shut down the old chat site. I started to visit again but all the constant software changes drove met nuts. I sent Linda a few e-mails with my concerns, but she kept telling me how fantastic the new stuff was. (NOT) I even was sent some surveys about how I liked the newest changes, I guess they didn't like my responce because nothing changed.<BR>For awhile that site was cooking, advertising in national magazines, even saw mention of it on some of those TNN Sunday night outdoor shows. To bad that poor management by non-outdoors people could ruin such a great site. I hope other outdoor sites learn from AO's mistakes.<BR>This is a good site, I've enjoyed it even though I don't post that much.

Welcome y'all!!!! I have been here since the "The Great Shooters Exodus" and have made this my home. Rick is good people, a hunter and a gentlemen (funny how they almost always go hand in hand, huh?). This site is self-policing if I may use such a term. I think you will like it here. badger.<P>------------------<BR>Gun control is good bullet placement.....

So Nate, you claiming the spamming from AO didn't drive anybody off there. I remember several threads about it on more than 1 hunting forum and the posters vowing never to return. Must have been my imagination I guess, sorry.<P>If you will take the time to read my post you'll see I never said the site crashed, the fact that some regulars drifted away from there is common knowledge. Some got tired of re registering and the moderation. Thanks though for leading the charge of the totally clueless.<P>Sorry Nate, I don't remember you from the good old days when I enjoyed visiting there. It was the best forum while it lasted.<P>------------------<BR><B>~spectr17</B><P> <A HREF="http://www.jesseshuntingpage.com" TARGET=_blank>http://www.jesseshuntingpage.com</A>

The spamming lasted a couple months...it went away. Many of us complained. Bottom line...it did not help the revenue stream so they stopped it. The managemenbt had a lot of neat ideas, unfortunately, few of them worked. They had their cart before the horse in a sense.<P>Nate

According to what I heard, they spent 2 million developing the Store. The problem was they hired a Wal Mart employee to stock it. It didn't have gear that was desirable, at least of the fishing part. Rods mis matched to reels available, pure junk, and prices equivalent to my local tackle shop. No real reason to shop there. <P>As far as the software changes, It was definitely needed. There was too much traffic for the original version to handle, the problem was they didn't do their due dilligence in researching which package to go with. We, Users and Moderators alike, became pawns in testing software. That went over like a lead balloon. The last version they had was pretty good, and worked real well, evidently it was just too late, and too many ditched the place before it got going.<P>Skipper

Hi Folks...'Nuther AO refugee check'n in. Just to add an odd-ball take on the demise of AO; I was initially attracted to their site by virtue of the pleasant art work they started out with. It was quality stuff and sort of set the tone for their early efforts ... woodsy and well-done. It seems to me that the overall quality of the site began to suffer about the same time they ditched the original art work and went with sketchier stuff. Any-who, sorry to seem em go.

Hi Folks...'Nuther AO refugee check'n in. Just to add an odd-ball take on the demise of AO; I was initially attracted to their site by virtue of the pleasant art work they started out with. It was quality stuff and sort of set the tone for their early efforts ... woodsy and well-done. It seems to me that the overall quality of the site began to suffer about the same time they ditched the original art work and went with sketchier stuff. Any-who, sorry to seem em go.

Another AO refugee checking in. Been over at AO for about 3 yrs or more. What made me stay was the wealth of knowledge. Sorry to see it go.

Well I guess i'm one of the last to go looking I was with AO almost from the start.going to a new place every morning to start my day is not going to feel right. But I've been told if we don't change we die and I'm not that old yet :rolleyes [img]images/icons/frown.gif" border="0[/img] I hope)

I do not think coffee shop going under is bad news. I just hit a different key on my terminal and am some where else. Different name, same stuff.

For those who'd like to touch bases with some of the CS gang, some of the refugees have started a new site.<BR> <A HREF="http://www.modernsportsman.com/" TARGET=_blank>http://www.modernsportsman.com/</A> <P>You might want to drop by and see how it feels. [img]images/icons/wink.gif" border="0[/img]

I used to use the Coffee shop a few years back, and seem to remeber Alison as being a great kid. Dont know why I left. I moved to NY and never went back to AO. Spent time at Gunandknife. com and then followed the savage fans over here. This place is head and shoulders above the other two.

IMO,Alison rates somewhere in that tiny little space between Hitler and Satan.
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<br>Good riddence to bad garbage.This place is much nicer.No packs of flamers like CS.

I thought Josef Stalin was in that tiny space between Hitler and Satan. Well goes to show you that you never can tell when they are going to readjust the rankings. Stalin needs to get a new PR guy I suppose.

I never went there so don't know the new folks, I too was a shooters refuge!
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<br>Welcome one and all...
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<br>Mike

I used to post on AO, along with the Field and Stream forum. AO started getting monitored so much by the forum leaders, it was ridiculous. If you said anything they didn't agree with, it was erased. Their store was a big rip off, and they acted like they were jsut in it for the money. Yes it's sad to see them go, but there are much better places like 24hour to go to.
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<br>Hudge

Sorry to say I never heard of the place.
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<br>Just curious! A few questions for the transients who have now come here.
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<br>* How long was it "around" ?
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<br>* How fast did it grow ?
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<br>* What was it's membeship at termination?
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<br>* What were the most aggravating, unsatisfactory or disliked features ?
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<br>* What was your opinion of the "moderators" ?
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<br>* Were moderators actually of any benefit ?
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<br>* Would the site have been better off without moderators?
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<br>* Was there much bickering, argueing, insulting ?
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<br>* What level of " beneficial, informative and useful information was available.
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<br>* Now that it is gone, it is too late, but if you were asked to make constructive comments or criticism about the site what would you have to say?
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<br>* From it's inception, did the site evolve? That is to say did it change it's character over time? If so how?
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<br>Thanks very much for your input:
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<br>Bill Tibbe
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I would like to welcome all the refugees here. I, like so many others, came over from shooters.com when it became overbearing. Even though I used to be real active on here, I am more of an occasional lurker now. However, it is not because of this site being bad in any way. Rick's our 'moderator' (if you can even call him that) and he's a real nice guy who shares our interests in hunting and fishing. The only time he deletes any threads or posts is when many other members specifically ask him too. I've only seen him close a thread twice that I can remember, but things were getting way out of hand in there anyways. Sorry for rambling, but yeah, welcome here, and enjoy your stay. Rick, a thumbs up for running this site well, being open to suggestions, and being a great all around guy.

Hate to hear the sad news, but maybe you should check out a new site some friends of mine and I have started. The url is http://www.mygearguide.com We have a message board we have just started, and we have our community of users that do product reviews on outdoor products.
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<br>As I mentioned, we are new, so we are always looking for suggestions. Stop by and tell us what you think.