Please note that neither Wizards of the Coast, nor the WizO staff, are not affiliated with the new website. It is an act of courtesy that they have provided this free advertising and transition period to assist the transition of a community and help ISRP regulars locate a new home.
While I wish there was something we could do to change this outcome (and maybe there is some hope in the long term for a role-playing type chat area of Wizards), I really do not believe further hostility is representative of ISRP, nor is it how we should desire to be remembered. It does everyone a great disservice and is rather thankless not only to Wizards, but also to the WizO's, who have long served the community and even now have agreed to stay on to provide you a final month together and an opportunity to wrap up your storylines.
Is there anything we can do to make WotC change its mind?
In the long term, it may be possible to rebuild something of a role-playing related community on Wizards. When, I do not know. What, I do not know. But if there is a true need, and it can fulfill the requirements of a successful area I am sure Wizards will consider it. I have no doubts that we as a community could build something that would satisfy the needs of Wizards while satisfying the needs of the community. We always had the potential, just never much of the drive. Perhaps, we can find that in the wake of this decision and someday create something better for everyone.
Why make us go through the discussions on the settings only to shut the area down?
The decision to close ISRP was recently made in the days after the new chat software open house and announced to the ISRP team (myself included) within the last week. I can assure you we would never have willfully and knowingly engaged in such discussions had we known, nor do I believe it was Wizards intent to let us waste effort.
Will the ISRP boards be shut down?
Yes, after the chat area closes the related ISRP boards will be shut down and then deleted. Once Upon a Time and the other creative boards will be relocated under the RPG Boards team and will continue on. I have requested that Melanie archive the ISRP boards for a short period of a week or two, after the chat and board closing, before a final delete, to provide everyone an opportunity to back up any important threads in their final form. I will keep everyone appraised of Melanie's decision.
Did the patron count thread have anything to do with this?
No, it did not. It was a simple question of my own after auditing the setting votes. I was curious just how many people were actually following the boards, much less were actually in chat. I was hoping to see how many patrons we actually had in ISRP. It was not used to make the decision. On a personal level, I would still like to see how many lives ISRP has touched in it's time here, and for that I'd still like the thread to continue. Please encourage your friends to post on it. But be honest. It's not about jacking up numbers but showing an accurate portrayal.
If you have any questions or would like to speak to me directly I am available at
adele@wizo.wizards.com.