From My Heart, and I Hope From All Of Ours...
 

A warm welcome to each and every one of you who have taken the time out of your busy lives to join us today. This open dialog exists today in part because of many of you, who expressed sadness at Colonial Fleets’ closing, and hopeful wishes of the return of this unique gathering place. The other part is due to the kind hearts of the owner and admins (Muffit’s comment ;)), without whom CF would never have been envisioned.

Those of you who know me, know my penchant for analogous musings, and I thought today if you didn’t mind I would share a brief one with you that is much the mirror of where we gaze back on ourselves today.

Many a musing found my older brother much the dreaded troublemaker, but I would be remiss if I did not tell you his other side, the truly big hearted young man he became. For you see, by High School’s deeper pool of burgeoning emotions, he had become the Will Rogers of secondary school: he never met anyone he didn’t like. He tried ever so hard to make friends with everyone; with a silly smile, half shy, half hoping, and the importunity to persist till friendship had been won.

But one boy did not bend to this fond earnestness, in fact the silly smile he found offensive. He wanted nothing of my brother, and made it very clear. But innocent hearts do not see the danger, and each new try brought anger’s mercury up another line. Till one day after school, when cold hands strive to catch an oblong ball in armor of white, his final gleeful shoulder pat on this boy was just too much. The boy ran madly at him from behind, and clipped my brother’s legs beneath him. And those of you who know your “super” game, know well how dangerous such a tackle is. The hospital found a new tenant that day.

Some days later, an inquiry was launched and boy and brother were brought before the powers that be. To his assailant’s chagrin, my brother denied the boy’s intent, and said instead it was just an accident at play. And would you know, that after that day, they became as fast of friends as any ever were.

Today we meet again to try and heal open wounds. And reconcile the love we have for BSG, toward those who make up its heart. Be frank and kind, and willing to bend, just like my brother’s legs so long ago.

Affectionately,
Muffit and the Admins of Colonial Fleets

When Colonial Fleets is “down” we all lose an important part of Galactica fandom. I want to be clear although I’m not as sweet nor write as well as Muffit I want Colonial Fleets to be available to Battlestar Galactica fans. Because of the state the franchise is in Colonial Fleets can’t just be a friendly geekzone where we discuss the color of a knob on top of the blaster pistol in episode 13.

Things at the Cylon Alliance have been heated at times and that’s fine the “girly men” are forewarned before entering. How is it at CA where the gloves are off people seem to get a long famously? At “Fleets” where the govt. imposes “Happy-Thoughts” why do people get their panties in a bind?

If that question can’t be answered I fear “Fleets” will continue it’s cycle of bi-annual closure.

I believe the truth is there are people who like both incarnations of Battlestar Galactica…no one likes Galactica 1980. :) There are people who only like one version or another. We don’t have the luxury of being one happy family but we should be able to coexist with respect.
:cylon: :cylon: :cylon: :cylon: :cylon: :cylon: :cylon: :cylon: :cylon:

Welcome back everyone. :)

We still aren't sure we want to open up, but we were VERY impressed by all the email and wonderful posting we saw across the net. :)

We are still not sure we want to jump back into Foruming, but we were convinced by the outpouring we saw and some dear friends, most notably Muffit, that we should at least try to consider solutions. :)

Jon, In a word, SANDY. Sandy is remarkably skilled at handling that forum. Also if anyone is an arse, Sandy will pound the hell out of them. We just ask folks to be nice to each other. But we don't pound folks, we put up with alot of crap. That's one of our problems. Also, CA's registration isn't open to the public which helps.

The differences between CF and CA would fill a book. There are positives and negatives about both approaches. But both forums do go through their share of problems.

Being a newbie, I can only hope you reconsider and reopen CF. Below is a collage of posts I made at other forums:

If you bring CF back, the only suggestions I have is that if a moderator is engaged in a debate, only another moderator(s) not involved in the thread can close the thread or edit posts within that thread. That would prevent any appearance of conflict-of-interest. Also, just merge the anti and pro mini forums if deleting the posts in one forum is causing so much controversy. Newbies are smart enough to skip threads they don't want to read and (from the time I joined CF) I didn't see any newbies posting flame bait in the TOS or Continuation sections. In fact, many newbies enjoy both versions and would like to see a continuation movie made too. Just review your posting policies and apply them evenly. Many forums post their policies (sticky) at the top of each forum section, so there is no excuse for not reading or noticing them.

:cool: :salute: :warrior:

Let me know if there is anything i can do to help!

'm not one who makes a lot of posts, nor do I always logon, but I do visit to read what others have on their minds, especially concerning both versions of Battlestar Galactica. I admit that I'm not a mini or "new" BSG supporter but that shouldn't matter to anyone but me. I don't go off on rants about what one should or shouldn't like because that's a matter of personal preference to each individual. If you like TOS, that's fine. If you like the mini, that's fine. But people are going to express themselves on their likes, which is what a BSG forum should be. Personal attacks are not, or should not be, part of any Battlestar Galactica forum. Unlike the Skiffy board, the moderators on the rest of the internet boards attend to posts after they've appeared. If something offensive is noted, it's removed. That's the way a board should be run. We need the kinds of open, nearly conversational forums that boards like Colonial Fleets and others provide. When we lose one of these forums, it's a loss to everyone who has an opinion of either version of BSG.
My comment to the mods/admins of CF.....keep it open and let the discussion begin.............

Same here.
 

I am truely happy to see a dialogue open up about Cf closing down. Those of us, like myself, who were not privy to the information of the behind-the-scenes "drama" were shocked at the shutting down af such a fine site.

My experiences here posting(which were limited due to work load) were always pleasant. I thought the mods and admins did everything in the power to make fleets inclusive to all sections of BSG fandom.

I have to admit, I was kinda miffed at the "anti-mini" thread being closed down, but also realized the direction the owner of CF was going. As my money wasn't paying for the bandwidth, my choice was to take a wait and see stance and see how it went. I still think CF needs someplace where people can intelligently debate the flaws that will arise in RDM's BSG. Just as flaws exist in BSG TOS. Plus, who doesn't like a good beaver joke and reading what the status is w/ a continuation or movie :)

I don't give out personal info about myself on the net. I felt comfortable enough with CF and the way it was run to join the site. The look,style, and caliber of its posters made it one of the best BSG BB and one of the reasons its membership wants it back.

If Fleets decides to come back, I have no problem donating money to help defrey the costs involved in running the site. My email is available if you need anything else. If Fleets decide not to come back, thanks to everyone who made CF was it was- A major part of this BSG fans diet.

Lurkerz ("I miss lurking here")rule

At one time i stoped posting here, just lurking. I felt CF was also reimagined and i didn't like it.
Titon, i liked to read your post, i agree with most of it and i hope for a continuation of TOS CF. :)

I don't have anything else to add except that I would really like to see CF come back. I don't know how to resolve the bitter infighting that seems to occur in online fandoms, but I think it is a real shame that a few "squeaky wheels" seem to get all the grease and ruin it for the rest of us. I know it's a cliche', but can't we all just get along? Are we not all fans of Battlestar Galactica, no matter what shape that may take?

Hi everyone,
It's good to talk to all of you again. I loved this place even when it caused me stress--the non-stressing people-- the majority--were worth it.

I hope a way can be found for it to continue. I think that allowing the mini fans a place to both praise and evaluate their show (and grumble about SciFi's usual ambivalent decision making) is a good thing. Not an easy thing as this property has a unique history: what being resigned to the occasional syndicated airing, relegated to comics and hard to find novels will do to a fanbase after 25 years. Especially when that fanbase just kept telling TPTB that they were here and hungry for product and the product produced was so...very...different.

I didn't join here until I'd lurked and read and finally asked a question about some geek detail in one of Richard's books. And joined in on one of OWD's postathons. But this rapidly became a home of sorts and I hope it is one I get to visit again. Thank you to everyone who ran parts of it at various points in time and thank you Don for believing in it even when it overshot your original purpose. ;)

Don, should you decide to remain closed, can you do us addicts one favor? Give us 48hrs to say our goodbyes? I just can't deal with the *bang* it's gone thing....too many friends here. Too many good memories. Do what you need to do with openning or closing. In spite of all the muck there was a good spirit, a community, created here, but all groups have their cycles of life and times where changes are necessary. I don't know where this one's future lies: I can only see that it still could have a value to those involved.

Jewels

Well at least Fleets is back on line. Yeah, I was able to go to a lot of other web-sites that I have been meaning to check out or check back on, but after about a week of no Fleets...Fleets is Back. It is a good day.

I'm very happy to see Fleets is back....it just wasn't the same without it.

I would like to say something though, I would like to thank Don, Tom & the Mods for all their hard work to run this place - I've no idea what it really takes to do it every day. From what you guys have let out into public discussion recently, if anyone has anything to say in a critical tone, they need to pull the same duty and see if they can do better.

I've heard some say that Fleets imposes "warm and fuzzy" on it's members, but I've never really felt that way at all. I've been able to say what I want here, I just keep the four letter words out when trying to express myself. If I really need to express myself more directly, I use PM or email and keep it off the forum.

I hope that Fleets is around to stay.....!

Bryan
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Latina Webcam

It's great you're reconsidering! I miss coming here and reading stuff, and there were actually quite a few threads I really miss...specially the DVD set trivia one....also IMO this was the only place which had an actual living pro-mini forum running on which I felt safe posting on. When you left I couldn't for the life of me think of any other place to go for that. I know things out here can be stressful, but if you ever need any help with anything, I can make some time available to help.

Go CF go!

Over the years I have seen many fandoms come to these types of impasses. Where the words are viscous and the behavior is childish. I have seen some fandoms survive this and other die a horrible death. Two examples would be Star-Trek, that eventually survived its test of fire, and Beauty and the Beast, which did not, and imploded in on itself. Through out this I have always know that Battlestar Galactica could survive this test of fire, but when CA closed it’s boards, and became a members only board, it was the first death nil to this fandom. But there was still hope for this fandom, and it was CF. It has always been here and always stood true. It has weather the storms of hatred and to me it looked like they had survived. Now I see CF is instead in danger of sinking. You cannot know what you mean to the survival of this fandom. This fandom will die with out you. You will be the final nail in that coffin. Boards all over fandom are dieing, they are imploding in on themselves or simply shutting down. Please don’t go. We need you.

You have weathered the bizarre behaviors, the hatred and slander, the all out war, and you have survived. I can always come to this board and know the moderators will do their best to keep the discussion civil. Are they gods? Have they made no mistakes? Of course not, they are human and if I ever meet a perfect human I’ll know the Cylons have arrived, because no human is perfect.

But, you have done the best you could in an impossible situation and have earned my respect in doing so. No one could have been prepared for this, but you have done well.

I am an unknown fan, even though I have been in this fandom since before the Internet. I have seen this fandom go from newsletters and fan clubs to nothing more than that fire we all kept in our hearts. Then the Internet came and it grew and blossomed into something I never thought it could. Yet, there are hundreds of fans like me out there. Ones that are not apart of any particular click and thus unknown but still there, still fighting to keep this fandom from imploding. I know this fandom can survive and I know we need CF to do it. For the fires of hate run on all sides and the war is against ourselves. Without a place to talk our differences out, a please to talk through the hate, then how can we survive? I want this fandom to survive; I want CF to survive as it was. Please, don’t go and don’t close your board and become a members only place. Don’t give into the fear and don’t let those who have tried so hard to destroy this fandom win.

If you need anything from me, just ask.

Good to see you all. This site is an appropriate direction for fandom. I do not like feeling uncomfortable at the thought of speaking to fans. If this site continues with the mandate put forth here my confort level would be such that I may return.
If this ever happens I must warn people about what question would go ignored.
Questions regarding schedule, story lines of the future, future scripts, production specifics and the like.
Questions pertaining to me the person, Tyrol and how I see him, the sharing of thoughts, the debate over good vs. bad and things of this nature are what I would happily discuss.
Things that are not for me to comment on I will not so don't even ask. If something were to be taken and twisted or attributed unfairly to me I would be forced to leave. That is not something I would like to do again but I cannot have what just happened happen again.
I hope you all understand and I will hopefully be speaking with you soon.
Just so you know I will not be back before an official announcement either way by Sci-fi.

Am checking all the posts this morning and am happy to see all of you. All are good words and most welcome, to this daggit's mind. Viper4 your words are especially touching, and I feel, true. With the world (especially the BSG world) gradually becoming smaller and smaller and havens for being oneself slowly vanishing, this site is such a vital artery to the hearts which need its flow.

What CF means to me, I need to say, is an open marketplace of old. An expansive and varied square where you might meet any kind of view, like produce, and whether you like them all or not at least the choice is there. Rude or kind, extreme or mild, warm and fuzzy or spiteful and firm, a cacophony of voices all of which have in times past, been granted the chance to breathe and beat and dream aloud, by an owner who is rare to find these days.

CF has meant more to me than any of you know, even if it was never meant to be so. The friends I've made here complete my life, and make the day worth waking to. And for its future, in Uhura's words to Kirk in Star Trek III, when hijacking the Enterprise in a desperate act to save a friend, and said better than I ever could:

"And admiral... all my hopes".

Affectionately,
:muffit:

Aaron, I'm glad to hear that you haven't been driven away completely. I would hope that everyone could respect your wishes, even though I'm sure we would ALL love to hear about future stories, etc. :cry:
You possibly coming back to a bboard is one more reason why I hope SciFi announces things officially SOON, so that we can all have wonderful discussions again (or at least agree to disagere).

Aaron -

Thanks for poking your head in here. I can appreciate the nature of what you said and your criteria as to what is "discussable" is very fair to everyone. We wouldn't want you to endanger your job because something was taken out of context and spread across the intenet. I suppose that's the real trick isn't it? I hope is that you are well and things are looking good at your end. We look forward to you returning when SciFi makes their official announcement.

Best regards,
Bryan
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Weed vaporizers

Muffit .......... Thank you for reopening the Colonial Fleets.
I am very happy that this wonderful, wonderful place with
all of it's wonderful people are back on line.

From the bottom of my heart and from the top of the heights .........
I Thank you. :salute:

Hi Shiningstar! Many thanks! But I must say, the person to truly thank is Don. This wonderful place is here because of him. And though I would give anything from my life to save this cornerstone of my heart, the "desperate charcoal" I hold and write with, would be nothing without a wall to write on; and it is his pain and patience which buttresses that masonry.

So glad to see and talk with you again :).
Affectionately,
Muffit

My two-cents. I’ve been following Battlestar Galactica discussions going back to the early 90’s when bulletin boards began carrying discussion groups. I’ve observed many changes, in both attitude and understanding. For many years a hardcore group existed that positively hated Battlestar Galactica and would attack any one expressing support for it. To day, in some ways those people still exist, they will always be with us. But now we have a new version, different, not what I would want, but it’s there. We must deal with it.

From the beginning Battlestar Galactica has evolved, it’s fandom has evolved. Both will continue to do so, sometimes gently and other times with great pain. The question we must ask are selves is - is the pain worth the rewards we find in Battlestar Galactica. Or is the pain too great a price to pay. For myself, the pain of today is tolerable, from past experience I know it will fade. The good folks at CF are more than worth it, I would really hate to see things end here.

I would recommend you bring back the board as it was (is). Then begin a series of evolutionary changes. Give every one time to adjust, gradual is better than all at once. I’ve offered in the past and I will offer again, whatever assistance you need, just ask. I’ll even handle the trash.

May the Lords of Kobol be with you all.

Actually, I rather liked G80. But, I also saw it in syndication on the SFC. Where they aired it all together as if it was one complete show. That's how I was introduced to it.

BTW, glad Colonial Fleets is back. Hope it stays. :D

With Respect,

Dragon Lord Tibbetts :salute:

SteveW: you have another G80 ally! :D
(Dragon, the last time I said anything about G80, Steve chased me down with smilies. ;)

I hope Fleets comes back the fact that they support all Galactica fans as a group not as enemies does give me a little hope for the future of both and a reason to promote Galactica Events

DG Promotions
http://dg-promotions.5u.com/galactica.htm
:)

Muffit you are one of the strongest assets that CF has or had if the bb doesn't come back. The biggest question is where do we go from here? All are passionate about a show called Galactica. Some are more passionate than others. We have feelings for something worth giving a darn about. We saw what happened with the show when sci fi took it upon themselves to reimagine it. People were hurt to have waited so long to see a dream dashed. However dreams come and go and there IS STILL ONE left to hope for. If we don't come together now we ALL lose in the end because the only thing that will remain is US in the END no matter what end comes to fruition.

Hi Tibbetts! I too believe that, if as I hope all fans of BSG are welcome here someday, G80 will be afforded the same chance as well. I have encountered several folks who really liked it; and was disappointed in my friends for flaming them away (at Skiffy). There are many things I do not like myself, some of which I think are just plain stupid (skydiving, rock face climbing), in view of how fragile and precious each new day of life is. But my heart's eyes would be myopic indeed if I did not wish them the continued freedom to do so. There is good in everything; some things simply hide it well.

:muffit:

Thank you for the kind words Kingfish. :) And you are absolutely right, if we let different sets of eyes prevent us from seeing the big picture, and let our infighting make the fleet sail without us, we will sip from a jigger of regret our whole life through.

We are not defeated when we lose; we are only lost when we admit defeat.

:muffit:

"I never believed in the no win senerio." James T Kirk.

Hello my day would not be complete without a peep into the Musings of my, Muffit, a Cuddly Furry Creature. Somehow this Daggit holds my interest despite the conundrum of some of her stuff going right over my head, “Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes” swoosh, what as that?

Muffit .......... there's only ONE problem .............NO BEAVER JOKES .........
when are you going to come up with some new ones? ;)