Countdown to 2000 members

[A_Non_Ymous]

We're closing in on 2000 members. About 9 months ago, I thought it would happen at the end of July/beginning of August. There was a slow-down in the the occurrence of new members earlier this year (probably only a math nerd like me would notice such things), but things have picked up again of late.

I need to revise that projection. Still, the event appears to be on course to happen sometime in mid-to-late August. It depends on a few factors, of course. I'll make the (probably unjustified) prognostication that the rate of change in the membership remains ~ constant.

We're still some distance from that "Legion" about which Berry wrote last year, but we're getting there.

LSN

[Whiskers]

I think the recent spike is related to Elric Movie searches. If I had log analysis going, we'd have a better idea.

[Kidnero]

I've put us closer to the 2000 mark by joining today. But I wouldn't exactly call me a person that's just jumped on Mike's Elric bandwagon. As I've been reading his books since over 30 years.

Is it possible to see my membership #?

I just saw that there are 1838 registered users and as I was the last one, then my number must be 1838. So, forget my question above. 8)

[L'Etranger]

Kidnero (Imperator Nero as a "kid"?) , hello and welcome!
I hope you'll enjoy this place, a sanctuary of great ideas and peaceful exchange, and many a whole-hearted laugh
L'Etranger

[Kidnero]

Thanks for the welcome.

Well, Kidnero has double meanings and both comes from my real name, Dick Thoren. Spelled backwards it will be Kcid Neroht, or for short Kidnero. But it has also to do with the Emperor. Dik(ta)torn, which I used to call myself when young, means exactly Dictator, which you could call Emperor Nero.

I have a book in my head where the hero is called Kidnero. I started this in my late teens, which wasn't yesterday, more some days before that. When I started to visit forums, mostly sci/fi and fantasy, on the Net I called me Kidnero. Now I use it for most forums.

[L'Etranger]

So, Member 1838 or "Kidnero", welcome again, and you'll discover that there are a number of very fascinating or amusing stories behind many of the aliases at this website. By far not all have been deciphered yet :)

[DeeCrowSeer]

Reminds me of a song called "Teenage Caligula", but that's beside the point. Welcome KidNero!!!

I suspect that when we reach 2000 members, Berry will claim that he's having trouble keeping track of us all, and we'll have to carry ID cards.

Place your fingers on the screen, and empty your mind...

[Whiskers]

Just wait until the first real marketing attempts occur. We could have 2000 members a day.

What will you do then Berry?

This is a serious issue. IF a movie comes along, I suspect Universal will have an interest in possessing this site. 2000 new members daily will require an entirely different hosting situation that will be significantly more expensive.

But I'm not going to spend one minute worrying about that until the server has crashed from the load, I get a cease-and-desist, or I get a phone call from Mike and/or Universal. We'll consider the realities at the time that they emerge.

One fact is, that I have nothing at the site I can sell, except a small number of email addresses. I think Mike and I could sell the answers to your questions, but I can't really sell your questions. The only logical choice would be to edit his answers into a book of statements or some such.

The main names and insignia in the works of Michael Moorcock are trademarks of the author. All quoted work by Michael Moorcock is copyright Linda and Michael Moorcock and is used with permission. All work not by Michael Moorcock and not using his characters is the copyright of individual authors. All visual work is the copyright of the individual artists. This is a non-commercial site run for the benefit of readers and may not be quoted or extracted for commercial uses without formal permission from the Webmaster and Michael Moorcock. آ© 1996 - 2005 All Rights Reserved forever
multiverse.org version 5.7

So, anything you've written here is your copyright. Mike's stuff is his (Universal have the rights to lots of his stuff right now). My stuff is mine, and everything else is used fairly here and would be bad if I tried to sell those things.

I predict that if the Elric Movie goes big, I'll get a cease-and-desist. If that happens, I'll shut the site down (the data will remain intact until they no longer possess the rights and I can resurrect the site) or change it into a Q&A only site. All other possibilities will be considered carefully at the time they are presented. My feeling is that this site is of little value to anyone but you, Mike and I.

[Ant]

... you'll discover that there are a number of very fascinating or amusing stories behind many of the aliases at this website. ...

Mine is just so... jejune.

Mind you, outside of the UK, few people recognise it as a short form of Anthony. Which is a problem when you're working for an international company. Apparently, one of my firm's U.S. clients was overheard saying, "I'm still laughing at that guy's name!"

But, hey, if Richard O'Brien's happy calling me "Ant", who am I to differ?

Ciao,
Ant

PS. Yes: that was blatant name dropping. The Crystal Maze; Season 3, Programme 11; first broadcast June 1992. If I were really vain I'd use this as my avatar...
;-)

[xidrep]

You've got a Crystal!

You jammy beggar!

Richard O'Brien's a scream.

[PsychicWarVeteran]

Okay, I'm painfully curious! Could one of you enlighten us yanks as to what that crystal signifies? I'm too tired and lazy to search the 'net right now...

[David Mosley]

I predict that if the Elric Movie goes big, I'll get a cease-and-desist. If that happens, I'll shut the site down (the data will remain intact until they no longer possess the rights and I can resurrect the site) or change it into a Q&A only site. All other possibilities will be considered carefully at the time they are presented. My feeling is that this site is of little value to anyone but you, Mike and I.

I realise they do things differently on your side of the pond, Berry, but there's a interesting parallel with a fan-run web-site & forum that might interest you.

For a number of years, a certain US-based fan web site had quietly championed a UK 'niche' product that seemed to be of interest to only a small number of people. However, a few months ago, this US web site suddenly went nova when the aforementioned niche product suddenly went 'Mainstream' overnight in the UK. The site is www.gallifreyone.com (aka Outpost Gallifrey) and the product was 'Doctor Who'.

Now, it may help give some sense of the scale of this impact if I tell you that in Feb 2005 the most people in the forums was 320+ but that by June 2005 (after the series finale was broadcast in the UK) there were 1320 forum users online all at once. Unexpectedly, OG become a major source of news and fan opinion for the British media, so much so that rumours and speculations that appeared online one day were being printed up as fact in the UK press the next by journalists 'lurking' on the forums.

The interesting thing is that although the BBC have an official DW website they don't have a message forum so OG was able to fill a gap in the market, where fans could discuss the new series before, during and after it was broadcast. A 'symbiosis' occured between the official BBC web site, which promoted the new series and OG, which provided an arena for fans and viewers to discuss the new series.

The main thing that OG had to be strict about was the issue of copyright material. There was one incident were a lot of photos were uploaded ahead of official publication and the forum mods spent a busy few hours taking them all down. Another taboo subject was the issue of 'file-sharing' and where non-UK fans could download entire episodes; it wasn't possible to stop fans downloading via BitTorrent, but the discussion of where they might be found was prohibited, because OG wanted to maintain good relations with the BBC

One thing that wasn't 'controlled' was dissention about the new series. As it happened the public response to the new DW was very, very positive, but there were always going to be a minority of fans who weren't going to like it and as is the nature of these things they weren't backwards in coming forward to condemn the series in the OG forums. It's known that the DW production office frequently logged on to see what fans were saying about the series, but as long as things didn't degenerate into 'so-and-so must die for this travesty' types of posts, there was no censorship of opinions either by the site admins or insisted upon by the BBC. (Of course, there's probably not a lot the Beeb could do about a US-based site anyway.)

Now, one would hope that in the event that the Elric movie ever gets made, Universal would similarly recognise the advantages and benefits of having a fan-based site like Moorcock's Miscellany, were fans can discuss the film and visitors can find out more about Mike and his other works. The only thing I can think that Universal might have a problem with - and thus would be problematical for this site - is if fan reaction to the film turned out to be largely negative. While this is a possibility (as Mike knows from 'The Final Programme' feature) with the degree of involvement in the film's development that Mike seems to be having at the moment, I don't think that's likely.

Anyway, fingers crossed that everything will turn out okay, and I hope the experience of Outpost Gallifrey might be of some help and comfort that things can (sometimes) work out. :)

Cheers,
David

[Ant]

Okay, I'm painfully curious! Could one of you enlighten us yanks as to what that crystal signifies? I'm too tired and lazy to search the 'net right now...

Very briefly, TV game show, like Fear Factor, only different. See here!

Gr.,
Ant

[Whiskers]

I predict that if the Elric Movie goes big, I'll get a cease-and-desist. If that happens, I'll shut the site down (the data will remain intact until they no longer possess the rights and I can resurrect the site) or change it into a Q&A only site. All other possibilities will be considered carefully at the time they are presented. My feeling is that this site is of little value to anyone but you, Mike and I.

I realise they do things differently on your side of the pond, Berry, but there's a interesting parallel with a fan-run web-site & forum that might interest you.

Cheers,
David

Thanks for that. I hope this would happen. But I haven't got a legion of mods to delete stuff, nor do I have the resources to withstand the amount of traffic that might ensue. So, I'm just warning everyone ahead of time, there could come a time when the site goes dark due to overwhelming interest. But I will do my best to see to it that the site never goes down or survives into the next phase of information dissemination.

[DeeCrowSeer]

If I were really vain I'd use this as my avatar...

He's got the crystal!! Come out!! Come out!!!

Ah, I used to love that show. Of course, as a Rocky Horror fan, it was O'Brien who made it worth the watch... like a strange sitcom set inside an adventure gameshow.

Many times in the past Berry has mentioned that this site might implode at some point, and I think it will be a great shame when it does, but that is the nature of the multiverse... all things must pass. Many fine things have sprung from this gathering, and many more fine things will no doubt blossom before the switch is thrown. This site will live on through its legacy, even after I return to haunting my second favourite site, "Hot or not". :(