Hello all,
Point #1: Stop slagging each other in this thread or I'll close it.
Aside #1: Gee I used to type that a lot in the 'golden old days'. Ah memories. Perhaps things have not changed as much as many think. But only how things are handled. Much much more quietly then the early days when I'd walk the halls here clonking every post I saw that was troublesome in public.
Point #2: I'm sorry to see any member leave the forum. I find it sad that anyone feels unwelcome here. And sadder that it's over the fact that the TMF has 'changed'.
Why?
Because the changes the TMF has seen in it's eight years have been changes that have realized the vision that I and others laid out back in '00.
Yes, we've moved TOWARDS what everyone back then seemed to want.
Go and poke about in the threads posted in those sun dappled golden years.
The first thing that will strike you is the energy of the discussions, and the involvement of so many people. Well a core of about forty people. Why? It was all new. Never before had a place existed where people who enjoyed tickling could just talk about it, and have control over the threads they spoke in. People ran with it. Discovered others like them, and friendships grew and formed.
And it's those friendships that I think many people like the OP in this thread are remembering and wishing for when they talk about the forums 'changes'.
The next thing you'll note about those glittering days is that most threads swung on a handful of topics "Am I that different?" "Where can I find WOMAN!" and "Can I have free clips?" Most things can be traced back to then.
Well eight years have given us more clips then most want to look at. The web changed so much that there is so much tickling porn out there that no one can even keep track. Once I prided myself on being able to ID the producer and even name of any clip. Now, fat chance. So you guys got your media. And heck thats not even talking about the image, art, and story forums which are stuffed full of tent popping goodness.
Most users found out they were not so different, nor were they alone. 70,000 more people sure take the edge off that one. And as these vets found they were not alone they made connections, founded gatherings, and stepped up as community members. They made the TMF more then a one-stop spluge inducing destination. They added humanity to GenDis, amused each other in Silly Stuff, and annoyed us all in P&R.
Folk found they were not alone. In fact they got to find out that so many other people liked ticking, that "Hey! I don't like some of these people and their outlooks!" became an option, rather then clinging to the five others you once only knew and excused all because they LIKED TICKLING.
And the women... Ah the ladies.
Folks always wanted to know where to find these rare birds who liked to be tickled. It was a constant. Frustration, and tears at the lack. And when brave pioneers of the softer gender wandered in, they quickly learned to be tough and able to handle themselves. QB, Mimi, Lite, Narin, Josie, NJJen were all in this wave. All took no shit. I remember all of them banging on folks at different times. Most only did it as a last resort, and often seemed very hesitant to do so, as if they were breaking some social rule. Most were quite about the small annoyances and saved their attacks for the real big stuff.
Today we have more women then I can count. But just off the top of my head I can name many: Classy, Hotel, Crystallight, Annie, Euphoric, Brighteyes, Purrbast, Siera and on and on. (No slight intended for not naming you ladies, I'm typing fast here!)
And these women speak up for themselves and take no shit like the ones before them. But they also have the attitude that the new generation that grew up with the web as a basic part of their life has, that those that proceeded them had to learn. This new generation of ladies came pre-equipped to fight with the guys online when they felt slighted. They do not ignore the small stuff. They call the men (and each other) on things quickly.
This is a social change. That goes well beyond the TMF, and is also, I realize, a huge digression. But it matters. It changes the atmosphere of male-female relations here. And it may not be to Vet's taste.
On point, you guys got the ladies. But they are not the quiet tickle toys that you dreamed of. They are complex folks that like any relationship take work and energy to get to know and build any thing of value with. The wishworld people DO answer, but they always put the spin on it, eh?
I get that Vet's miss the feeling of connection and friendship they felt here.
Where did it go?
Well the new folks did not eat it. They came and made their own connections and friends and in their own ways (which seem to involve LOL talk, and lots of polls, and a willingness to be real frank about sex)
The old Vet's got busy with life. They got satisfied with their fetish. Let's use Lite and Kwildoctor as examples. Both were active here all the time 'back then'. Now? Not so much. What happened? They MET AND GOT MARRIED. most of the tickling in their life is now handled in the bedroom they share. Did they forget their friends here? No. But with work and shit, it's harder to carve out time to come here, when the reason you once came her for is so filled at home.
Other Vet's quietly vanished. Into busy lives, or into personal problems, or perhaps simply into satisfaction, who knows? It's what goes on in social systems. The old slowly dwindles, and new appears. As the new is active, it's the new's outlook and attitudes that come to define the place.
You feel on the outs now?
Wait ANOTHER eight years. We'll have a new generation active here then, and I bet they will drive THIS gen of users nuts. New social rules will come to the fore, and todays will seem quaint. And so the wheel turns.
Social systems are constantly evolving. If they don't, they die. Find a hobby where the average person is 50+ in age, and see what it gets like when tomorrow is always exactly like last week. It's safe and comfortable for those there, but it's also a slowly dying ballon that will pass away without notice. (Gee talk to any old time radio show collectors of late?)
Living communities such as the TMF will always be changing because our members are changing. The 'new blood' that is age 18-26 now has brought things that we founders never dreamed of. We who built this place can either accept the strengths that come with this energy, or fight the battle of inertia. Trying to keep things the same forever. We chose growth.
Is it comfortable? Is it safe?
No. No.
But is it rich? Is it full of possibility?
Richer then ever, and for those willing to try a true golden age of getting the brass ring. (Ask Goth and Siera)
Krokus, I'm sorry that you feel you are without the friends that made this place special. And that you don't want to meet the new folks (which involves meeting them on THEIR terms, not yours) But thats what happens when you get older. The world changes around us. I feel it every day. I went from being 35 to almost 43 in my time as Tzar and there are days I feel every day of it.
But I can't keep the year 2000 happening here on the TMF as if it's a part of the archipeligo of lost years. The TMF lives by the clock, and it moves ahead a day at a time just like we all do. The past is great. But so is now. You simply need to move your gaze from then to now, and see the great things within the grasp of anyone who invests the energy to try. Is it all going to be to your liking? No. But then it wasn't all wine and roses in '00 either, I remember I was there.
I hope you choose to stay.
Be well,
Myriads
