10 more years

[665b17953acc7Kolya]

Work on SBF (Strangebedfellows.de) began in December 2004 and it was opened to the public in February 2005.

It's been almost ten years since I created a subdomain named "strangebedfellows" on my personal website and installed a forum software on it. Previously I had been collecting mods and information about them on my harddrive whenever I came by it on TTLG. It had been only two years since I joined there and TTLG had been a revelation to me. By chance I had found a place on the web where people shared my weird interests, people who were tremendously funny, smart, inventive, giddy and friendly. I had found a place I wanted to belong to. And I wanted to give something back to them.

This site didn't pick up quickly. I put awful amounts of work into it, for a few years running it nearly alone, collecting mods, uploading, updating, writing tools, guides, developing the forum and giving support. My studies in media science took a few years longer than necessary but I learned so much in that time, it was well worth it. I had always meant for this place to be an archive, but what I didn't realise was that even an archive needs life, needs a community that creates, discusses and develops. But eventually this community settled in. Slowly as sediment and just as indelible.
 
Times changed a lot, social networks became popular, many forums died and kids who could barely read or write flooded youtube. I often wondered if a forum wasn't an anachronism, if we shouldn't become more "social". But I couldn't figure it out. The people who meet here don't they know each other from school or work, but because they share an interest. Otherwise they are complete strangers. But the social life that develops in the cracks of this functional relationship is often more interesting than talking to people you know well. It also requires more courage and sometimes a thick skin.

Today I'm extremely happy and grateful that we have a stable community, small as it may be. It's less than 100 people actually who can really count themselves among the regulars. But these few people (and many who went amiss) have made this an important and influential place. Lately I read a post on rpgcodex.net and suddenly it mentioned "the prestigious community at systemshock.org". I lolled. But maybe there's something to it, from an external point of view, I thought. But it doesn't matter. What matters is that we keep up the fun and curiosity, the silliness and the professionalism, the inventiveness and friendliness, so that this may be a place for each of us that we want to belong to, now and in the years to come.

// °sma

[665b17953af30Join2]

Congratulations, Kolya. And thank you for making this a mostly constructive, progress-driven place, unlike that RPGCodex.
This place is one of my favorite corners of the net, there's freedom and governance co-existing; you run this place exceptionally well and maintain the balance. Though members mostly make things easy for you as we're sensible enough.
In addition to this, you personally coded the SS2tool, allowing us all to play this magnificent game on modern hard/software.

So, yes, here's to ten more years of SS.org. Hopefully new classic Immersive Sims will be released in that time, such as Underworld Ascension, but this place will always remain. Who knows, maybe even expand with subforums covering said game/s *hint hint*.

[665b17953b108icemann]

This forum has become the defacto go-to place for System Shock fans. The TTLG end of the scale has died for the most part in recent years.

Glad we have a place like this to keep the System Shock flag flying high.

[665b17953b25bSystem Shocked]

There's a real comfort level here, generated in part by the comradery shown between forum members, fueled by our desires to improve the SS universe as best we can.

Congrats Kolya, you've come a long way baby !

[665b17953b650RocketMan]

Some forums are not too bad to belong to but as far as the world-wide web is concerned, this is one of the most hospitable and welcoming places I've ever had the pleasure of frequenting.  I think that's a credit to the management and the personality of this place.  The game itself may also have something to do with it but then look at TTLG.  It felt a bit more sterile IMO, not that I didn't enjoy my time there.  This site embodies the more developed and time-tested spirit of Freylia perhaps.

[665b17953b9bfMarvin]

Hats off to Kolya for building the place to go for any fellow Shock fans.

Concerning the community: It's functional, but not exactly friendly. Most of the time it doesn't really need to be, but I have wondered more than once if newcomers are turned away by the "get it done or get out" attitude that pervades this secluded, oldschool modding scene.

[665b17953bcdeJoin2]

Concerning the community: It's functional, but not exactly friendly.

It's friendly enough. Of course there's that one rotten apple but he is tolerable and oftentimes insightful. Overall since I have been a member I have seen no notable petty, wasteful, idiotic drama here, and that is an achievement. What's the longest a serious argument has ever lasted, a page if that? I remember digging around the history of the site some and it did seem more toxic in the first half of it's life though.

As for newcomers, indeed the boogeyman surely scared many of them off, but at least it filtered a great amount of shit that would have been produced (and prevented some good). You do have to be truly dedicated and passionate. If one member scared you off, there's a good chance you weren't dedicated enough. But I'm ultimately making excuses; the more friendly and cooperative, the more constructive this place can be.

[665b17953c00avoodoo47]

Concerning the community: It's functional, but not exactly friendly.

I beg to differ.

[665b17953c2b5Marvin]

I beg to differ.

First of all, that's a very bizarre case and second, you seem to have a superhuman amount of patience and are therefore an exception by default. :p

@JoinUsss: Well, that's just the thing, determining the value of a member by how much dedication and passion he puts into his work is something a cororation might do. Or a modding forum that is solely and exclusively interested in what you can offer to make System Shock better. Those are marks of a gated community, not an open forum that welcomes everyone. Maybe I'm mistaken and no one really wants that for SMA. Who knows.

[665b17953c60fOlfred]

In the past I have been revisiting this forum every now and then to check for something new, but never actively followed it all the time. Also I wasn't very active with posting much.

Once when I wanted to check this place out again I was stunned with total fear. Like usual I checked strangebedfellows and I didn't got transfered to here... But after looking around on the web I realised the domain just changed.
Since I am now involved in creating content I hopefully will stay active and not disappear again.

So all in all, I am very pleased this site is still up and running after almost 10 years and I am very grateful with all the work and time you have put into this.

[665b17953c7aaChandlermaki]

Your dedication has certainly paid off! I've been here since late 2007, and have been a regular ever since. I've been lurking a lot in recent years, but I'm very happy to see how much progress not only SBF has made, but the mods herein as well!

[665b17953caabKolya]

Once when I wanted to check this place out again I was stunned with total fear. Like usual I checked strangebedfellows and I didn't got transfered to here... But after looking around on the web I realised the domain just changed.

Actually http://strangebedfellows.de still works as a forward. I guess you tried the even older subdomain on schwarzsilber.de.

[665b17953cd3ficemann]

Concerning the community: It's functional, but not exactly friendly.

I completely disagree with this. Compared to TTLG which has some straight out hostility towards newcomers on occasion I've not seen that happen here.

[665b17953ce69OmegaDEATH]

No offence meant.
But in 50 years I might still be lurking.
You guys are really not very welcoming. 

[665b17953d065Briareos H]

That's genuinely surprising to me. I mean, there are no hardcore trolls, no jaded and aggressive gamers from 4chan/SA/YouTube, no social extremists of any kind (or at least they aren't open about it) and the occasional weirdo's worst offence is talking about anime.

I don't remember seeing many new members turned down or dismissed because they wanted to talk about System Shock. I do remember excessive attention to form being enforced by certain members but that's pretty far from the "get it done or get out" attitude that was mentioned here. I do also remember a few ethically questionable projects being controversial (from a stolen wrench to poorly re-encoded cutscenes). Is this just about unrealistic mod ideas being shot down without much ceremony?

[665b17953d19fvoodoo47]

anyone doing something stupid or being annoying intentionally is/will be treated accordingly. and yes, there are forum members here that are more than capable of telling such individuals to go f*ck themselves in a way that will make them cry, then climb up their mothers' birthing tubes and abort themselves. nothing wrong with that.

[665b17953d283Briareos H]

Okay I retract my statement.

[665b17953d549Chandlermaki]

No offence meant.
But in 50 years I might still be lurking.
You guys are really not very welcoming. 

Certain... members... aren't easy to get along with, no, but the majority of us are just swell. 

[665b17953d6deAl_B]

It's a fantastic achievement what you've done with the forum and congratulations are well deserved for the 10 years.  It's a testament to the amount of care, attention and effort you have (and continue to) put into it.

[665b17953d9c8Olfred]

Actually http://strangebedfellows.de still works as a forward. I guess you tried the even older subdomain on schwarzsilber.de.

Well, I used my bookmark, so maybe something changed there... I don't know, it's too long ago.

[665b17953dd40JDoran]

This site (and forums and people) is great, thanks for all of the hard work, Kolya. It's not only THE place for System Shock 1 and 2 related anything, but also a good forum for general and non-SS topics, with generally intelligent and friendly threads (though the average intelligence would probably be much higher if I stopped posting!).

I beg to differ.

Why? I can't recall any really nasty or obnoxious posts, and if they do exist then they probably are the very rare exception to the rules. In my eighteen or so years of using the internet, I've stopped going to only two forums (that I can recall) because they were so horrible - both were fan sites for Nintendo consoles, and I say that both as someone who's favourite console is from Nintendo (the N64), and someone who posts on Gamefaqs (which would be a very great site, if the mods would do something about the rampant trolling and brain-dead fanboy-ish abuse).