The official launch of devstrike.net

[I_cant_Swim_]

A devastating strike. Whatever the intentions, whatever the causes. That’s how it was. We never saw it coming. What do you do in three days. First, the community is shaken. Disbelief. Shock. Anger comes on the second day. Anger that translates into frantic thinking – we cannot let this happen. So much will be lost. The community is trembling. You can feel it. Those who cared, their posts sound like mine. We are on borrowed time. People are already leaving, the forum doors stand ajar with no traffic. The community, suddenly lost, begins to scatter. The forums feel like ancient, abandoned halls. The promise of ruin is everywhere. To those who made it productive, to those who built this place with their content and kept it thriving, this is crushing. There is nothing to bargain with. But with our anger, and the knowledge of what we are about to lose, we begin to seek a way forward. Not a way out. Time is running short, with just over a day left, our first call: would you support a new, independent forum. There is a flurry of responses, mostly shouts of hell, yes (if you can do it)! But they are so few, for most folks have already left. We try to work out a plan, but it looks so flimsy. Yet there are no other straws to grasp. We realize, too late, that we did not compile a contact list of all interested members. We only have a handful. We only have a few words of hope. I post my last line on the forum “Still here, folks. But I can hear the thunder roll.” Then all is still, and the community is no more. Correction. The site is no more. The community is scattered, but it is not lost. If we are fast enough, if we act now. We act.

And thus our site, devstrike.net, came to be. Sublimis ab unda. Raised from the depths where our community mothership sunk. Devstrike, in remembrance of our genesis. Yet, admittedly, we were unsure – were we too late? Would anybody find their way back to us? Would anybody want to? Our site was launched, in testing, within two weeks of day zero (July 28, 2023). Then folks started to arrive. Their tales were heartening, steeled our resolve. Devstrike was needed! We had a purpose.

And now, we are here! With all hands on deck, we are 300 members at the time we set as the official launch date, August 18, 2023. We are the 300! I need to control myself to not babble some inaccurate historical analogies. I sigh. The future may not be certain, but it is ours.

Ahh, the seas do beckon. The sun glints upon the waters, salty spray spatters our faces as the capricious breeze tousles our hair. Someone shouts. The Enemy has been spotted on the horizon! We laugh, as we head out from our mothership, the Devstrike, to engage. This is our home, this is Legend.

 

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Here we are, folks. Our community is claiming its place. We have a purpose – to rebuild our WoWs community, to make it better and more resilient. To this end we have a growing team of dedicated, volunteer moderators and site contributors. We have taken great strides forward, with littleWhiteMouse and Chobbitsu joing the team. The LittleWhiteMouse Collection will house all her great works, a repository of information for current and future WoWs enthusiasts, only at devstrike.net. We believe in the importance of our forums, and the value of our members, and we have many plans for growth and improvement as we go forward.

We envisage the time ahead of us in phases.

Phase I, building our site on a solid foundation and getting the basics functioning in record time, now lies behind us, in large* complete. An important cornerstone here is the use of professional hosting services for the forum and domain name, to ensure member and site security and accessibility. The basics include, but are not limited to: member registration functions, functional forums covering news, reviews, general discussions, guides, technical issues, and feedback options. Setting up a good moderator team is key, and we are pleased, nay, tickled pink, that the one we have is gold.

Phase II will cover enhancements in functionality, powering up our Document Submission Section where members can easily add original works of historical or gameplay interest, growing our Reference library which, as mentioned, is home to the littleWhiteMouse repository, and stabilizing our finances. These improvements, we foresee, will be accompanied by significant growth in our WoWs enthusiast member base, from ASIA, NA and EU server demographics. Clan forums will be introduced, and with them a range of functionality pertaining to the management of clans. Completion of Phase II will bring enhanced enjoyment of the game, revitalizing the community in a manner that will rival the forums of yore, if not exceed them.

Phase III will complete our offer to the community, with events and other inclusive interaction opportunities. These will be announced at a later date.

Soon, devstrike.net will accept donations. *With current running costs of about 1,800 USD, of which site hosting costs account for about 1,200 USD, we had hoped to have had the donations option established by now. The complexities of ensuring a transparent and not-for-profit system have unfortunately caused some delays. The professional hosting platform offers electronic verification of all transfers, but it also requires dedicated staff and resources that we have not been able to muster in such a short time from a volunteer base. To ensure that those who wish to donate may still do so in the interim, we have set up simpler Patreon and PayPal donation options, that however cannot provide the same level of automated accountability as the inhouse donation function would. You can read more about the hosting costs we would like to cover, and how the two temporary payment systems will be regulated, here.

In conclusion, we envisage a community-driven discussion forum that grows with and for its members, bubbling with activity, glowing with positivity, solid in purpose and scope. Our goal: to provide a safe, pleasant, and informative haven for WoWs enthusiasts worldwide.

 

Join us on this journey. Join us on Devstrike!

 

 

I_cant_Swim_

First Steward of devstrike.net

On behalf of the Devstrike Team.