BBMB brief orientation...

[Augie]

I type on my phone and have an English degree.

Buffalo English, or the one that sounds funny?

 

 

Oh, and whatever DC Tom said, it may be true.

[DC Tom]

Buffalo English, or the one that sounds funny?

 

 

Oh, and whatever DC Tom said, it may be true.

 

Is true. Not "may be." Is.

[bufbillsball]

I am happy to have found this message board. I now have someplace to complain.

[Rockpile233]

Most of you native movers and shakers seem just fine.

[JoeF]

First day on board...a Sabres win! Good sign.....

[Heavy Kevi]

In a way this is a great thing because it'll increase the Bills talk in here.

Yes. And I can't speak for others, but that board was at a point where I wanted to leave it but the people you get to know on there is why you can't stop. Now some of those people are here.

 

Kind of a "methadone" to our BBMB addiction ending so abruptly.

[34-78-83]

After perusing all of the Bills forums and message boards out there quite a few years ago now, i found that TBD had a significantly lower percentage of !@#$tards as compared to the other sites. It is the internet after all, however, and the best one can hope for out there is about a 20% !@#$tard rate, which TBD maintains pretty steadily. Unfortunately I do also have to be honest and admit that the BBMB appeared to have one of the higher !@#$tard rates of all the available sources at the time of my searches. This conclusion came after a couple months (off and on) of study at the time. By no means is this necessarily a reflection on any of those who may have migrated from there recently, as I am sure there are also many quality posters that will add insight here. This is just more of a plea to keep our !@#$tard rate at it's nice and steady low(ish) rate and to think twice/type once.

[Augie]

Only one has jumped out so far. I'm sure mostly great Bills fans, like we have now.

[LABILLBACKER]

Thanks Scott for including us refugees. Alot of us are still in shock. Let's make this board 10x better than our Old one..... more quality posters and more information is never a bad thing...

[TheElectricCompany]

Scott - thanks for the great summary of the site.

I do hope I can add good quality football discussion to the board!

 

T.E.C.

Edited March 3, 2017 by TheElectricCompany

[JohnBonhamRocks]

Joined here a few months ago and had been at BBMB since 2004. Really excited to see how the two communities mesh. There's @$$#0<3$ anywhere you might go and especially on the internet, but both boards have a majority of members who contribute thoughtful discussion that advances our understanding of the most bizarrely masochistic fanships in sports. Cheers and Go Bills!

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

Very cool history here

 

OP read and understood, put together very well.

 

I have a real sense of respect for this site and hope that the migration of former bbmb members will be a nice smooth transition and we as bills fans can continue to express our views/opinions of the team/organisation going forward.

 

 

thank you Scott and GO BILLS!!

Edited March 3, 2017 by DaBillsFanSince1973

[blargo]

Thanks Scott!!!!!! I read daily and post monthly. Been here for awhile, plan to stay!!!!

[Dablitzkrieg]

Thanks SDS

[jimmy10]

2. A place where smart adults would be willing to hang. This doesn't mean everyone needed/needs to be an egghead, just that the average level of discourse needed to be high enough not to chase valuable contributors away. I often contrasted us to the old usenet communities that were unmoderated filth that no educated person would ever associate with for any length of time.

 

Amen.

 

3. That the way I would build this community was neither right nor wrong. Just my way. One of many equally valid ways.

 

Preach it.

 

5. Cater to adults over kids. No graphics in signatures and other busy layout schemes. In fact, the text based sigs may be going away to make the even design cleaner.

 

Mm-hmm.

 

6. Lightly moderated because the quality of poster we attract wouldn't need to be heavily moderated. In general, if you have a hard time with us - you really have no desire to be a real member of this community. 99% of the members here have never received a warning. Then there are the 1% who have a dozen.

 

7. A place where females could feel comfortable (for the most part).

 

8. A place that you can load/read at work without being fired for something grossly inappropriate being displayed on your monitor.

 

...and then all the rest of this too.

 

I ran from the BBMB to here for pretty much all the reasons covered above. If anyone can maintain some sense of quality and decorum, SDS, it's you.

[Iron Maiden]

Thanks for doing this SDS......I didn't have my passport and you still allowed me to come in...

[Bongo]

Thanks for doing this SDS......I didn't have my passport and you still allowed me to come in...

But you better register in the registry thread or you're getting chucked back over the forum wall.

[Dan]

There are many valuable posters here who are known. Respect them, we value them. John Wawrow gave us insight 2 days before it broke that McDermott was our head coach, for example.

But, one important thing to remember. There are at least 3 former Bills here. Only 2 I know of active still. And thereare nnumerous professional football folks who work with various teams across the country.

There are also sources who get inside info. This can make things fun. But if you're going off of an misread instagram post do not post it as rumor or a source. Its not.

Most importantly. If someone actually makes you mad then do not look at them. Look at yourself. You're taking this way too seriously. And surely, you don't need to be that serious all the time. You'll be picked with from time to time or mocked if you're being ridiculous.

By all means if you have anything with a political spin do not post it on the main board. Even something like Make America Great Again or Russia hacked our game film can trigger a full retard in some folks. Take that to PPP. But if you do, go there and engage in a real conversation and with factual information

And, of course, Can Newton is a lousy, terrible quarterback.

That made me laugh. I'm not sure what that guy did to you, but I can appreciate your passion!

 

Oh, you don't have to explain that me - I know exactly what you mean x10. I feel every bit as attached to the posters here, both former and current, as all of you feel about your old digs. What the Bills did was extremely insensitive and it really shows a lack of understanding of what these long form communities can mean to people.

Its weird how you can get attached to a message board. I don't know if it's nostalgia for an internet era bye gone or something more meaningful. But, there really is something about a community like this. I could never thank you enough for keeping this site and all the good Bills' conversation going for so many years through so much bad football. All I know is that there's only one website I check everyday. The Bills and this message board, in particular, have gottten me through some very difficult times in my life. And if this site ever just vanished without warning... Well, I'd be lost! Thank you for all you do.

[hondo in seattle]

Thanks Scott for creating a home & forum for our Bills Band of Brothers. I enjoy this site enough to visit every day.

 

And welcome to all the BBMB refugees!

Edited March 3, 2017 by hondo in seattle

[KHAN]

Thank you Scott. I think us refugees need T-Shirts.

 

[Footballsdeep]

I honestly feel like this when the two groups in lost finally met eachother an realized they had the same goal the whole time.

Which is to ...... with tyrod Taylor

[DC Tom]

And another "Scott, if I may..."

 

FYI, for all you BBMB boat-people, there's a customer service board here. If you have any questions about how this board works (including moderation policy), it's better to post them there than on the main board. Mostly because if one of you has a question, someone else probably does too, and it'll be easier everyone to find the answer if questions are all co-located on the customer service board rather than randomly interspersed in football posts on the main board.

[LeGOATski]

Cool post, OP.

 

Being banned from the BBMB was a blessing because I've liked this place more. Hopefully, it keeps its good qualities and doesn't gain too many bad ones.

[mileena]

So, welcome everyone

 

Yes, players, coaches and administrators are praised and criticized as each individual poster sees fit. We ask that this is done in good taste. For example, many posters identified Ralph Wilson as being a major part of the organization's dysfunction. That's fine. Discuss it all day. However, openly wishing he would just die was not appreciated and those types of posts were quickly addressed. So, discuss what you wish but try to do it in good taste.

 

Curse words get filtered and I ask that you don't try to change spellings to get around the filter. Everyone can infer the emotion of the !@#$ word you wrote. You don't need to be explicit to make your point.

 

The issue we probably have the most trouble with is "crusading". The bottom line here is that there isn't a single poster on this board that has the power to make any change with the team. And because of that, there is no reason to try and make every single person agree with you by bludgeoning everyone with the same opinion endlessly. Make your point once. Make it twice. Make it when appropriate. Just don't make the same point in every thread, every day, day after day. It just pisses people off.

 

Please don't post racy avatars. This is a work friendly community. In general, if you have to write "NSFW" you should probably not post it.

 

Please leave any BBMB baggage at the door. This is a fresh start for anyone coming here. This would also be GREATLY appreciated.

 

 

Thank you! Glad to be here.

 

1. Language filter test of false positives:

 

Malik Hooker

vague

 

[EDIT: it passed!! You could not write "vague" or "Hooker" on the old site.]

 

2. Some people on the old BBMB criticized former coach Aaron Kromer for assaulting kids. Those posts were pulled on the order of Bills management and it became a hush-hush topic. I hope that does not happen here. Do not let the Bills organization bully you into pulling posts.

 

3. On the old BBMB, you could not create a thread during game time. All threads would be merged to the gameday thread, even if they had nothing to do with the game. I hope that doesn't happen here.

 

4. The old board used to crash regularly right after the Bills selected in the draft, and right when free agency started, and when there was a huge play in a Bills game. It also crashed during the Beast Quake, when Marshawn Lynch single-handedly beat New Orleans in the playoffs with the greatest touchdown run ever in 2011, causing the earth to literally shake (ok, I'm exaggerating). I hope you have the server capacity to handle what is going to happen. Given that you think 100 new registrations is a lot, I am a little worried, but will help this site grow if needed! I like your positive ttitude.

 

5. I agree crusading is bad. I hope monopolizing a message board by repeatedly posting lots of news articles each morning and posting posts that are superfluous just to announce "I am here" is frowned upon here . Two new BBMB posters did that the past few months. At least one was suspended.

 

6. Regarding not carrying old BBMB baggage, thank you. I know many posters on the old site who were banned for life for minor and usually unjustified reasons, like bypassing the language filter, injecting politics/religion/sexual orientation into a thread, making a call-out thread, or having two user names. The moderators there were out of control and it was like walking on eggshells.

Edited March 3, 2017 by mileena

[Dopey]

I type on my phone and have an English degree.

Welcum an wachout fer da gramm grammure polize, thay wil git yuu.

[wppete]

 

Thank you! Glad to be here.

 

1. Language filter test of false positives:

 

Malik Hooker

vague

 

[EDIT: it passed!! You could not write "vague" or "Hooker" on the old site.]

 

2. Some people on the old BBMB criticized former coach Aaron Kromer for assaulting kids. Those posts were pulled on the order of Bills management and it became a hush-hush topic. I hope that does not happen here. Do not let the Bills organization bully you into pulling posts.

 

3. On the old BBMB, you could not create a thread during game time. All threads would be merged to the gameday thread, even if they had nothing to do with the game. I hope that doesn't happen here.

 

4. The old board used to crash regularly right after the Bills selected in the draft, and right when free agency started, and when there was a huge play in a Bills game. It also crashed during the Beast Quake, when Marshawn Lynch single-handedly beat New Orleans in the playoffs with the greatest touchdown run ever in 2011, causing the earth to literally shake (ok, I'm exaggerating). I hope you have the server capacity to handle what is going to happen. Given that you think 100 new registrations is a lot, I am a little worried, but will help this site grow if needed! I like your positive ttitude.

 

5. I agree crusading is bad. I hope monopolizing a message board by repeatedly posting lots of news articles each morning and posting posts that are superfluous just to announce "I am here" is frowned upon here . Two new BBMB posters did that the past few months. At least one was suspended.

 

6. Regarding not carrying old BBMB baggage, thank you. I know many posters on the old site who were banned for life for minor and usually unjustified reasons, like bypassing the language filter, injecting politics/religion/sexual orientation into a thread, making a call-out thread, or having two user names. The moderators there were out of control and it was like walking on eggshells.

Hooker?????

[mead107]

Tbd has become a second home for myself. Over the years my wife and I have made many close friends all over the country because of this site. As I said in another post, we may not always agree on everything but in the end we are all Bills fans.

Just remember to be good to others even if they don't see things your way.

Everyone has their idea what is right for the team but, in the long run we have zero input to what goes on.

 

During the season after the TBD opening tailgate party we post a TBD parking at Hammer's Lot thread. We do this for anyone that may becoming to a game that may not know anyone in the area and would like to tailgate with some of the TBD people. Gives you a friendly place to be together with others that you get to know through TBD.

 

We also do a 518 area code lunch get together in the capital District several times a year (Clifton Park - Saratoga area.) for members of TBD that like to talk Bills Football. Any of you new people in the area are more than welcome to join in.

 

We welcome all you newbies to a very special place that Scott has given us to talk Bills football.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

So, welcome everyone - I think. I'm going to be honest, I'm fairly nervous about this. We have had over 100 registrations in the last 24 hours and I'm not really sure how this will play out, but I'm willing to give it a shot with your cooperation.

 

Brief site history lesson:

 

My name is Scott and I started this website in September 1996. It was hosted on Geocities and its primary purpose was to advertise for my newly formed Bills Backers Club in Maryland. Being a Mac user, I knew nothing about computers, but I am also an engineer so I just rolled up my sleeves and got to work. I quickly realized that I would need to provide regular updates to the site if I wanted people to visit and help me get the word out. That then changed the focus of the site from a club recruitment tool to an outlet for Bills fans. We were in business for years before the NFL ever thought of starting to get involved with the internet.

 

In Feb. of 1998, The Rochester D&C had a message board called HyperBills and they shut it down for a month or so, as it had spiraled out of control. Many posters there emailed me asking if I could add a MB feature to TBD. I think I had it up by the afternoon... Those who came - stayed and that's when we really took off. (So, we have been at this for over 20 years and the Stadium Wall just turned 19).

 

Millions and millions of posts later and deja vu.

 

Board Culture:

 

Although today is probably different from yesteryear, I founded the community with the following goals in mind:

 

1. A place that I enjoy being around.

 

2. A place where smart adults would be willing to hang. This doesn't mean everyone needed/needs to be an egghead, just that the average level of discourse needed to be high enough not to chase valuable contributors away. I often contrasted us to the old usenet communities that were unmoderated filth that no educated person would ever associate with for any length of time.

 

3. That the way I would build this community was neither right nor wrong. Just my way. One of many equally valid ways.

 

4. That this community could not serve the needs of every fan. Some may want less moderation, some more moderation. We can only choose one path and we know that it could never make everyone happy.

 

5. Cater to adults over kids. No graphics in signatures and other busy layout schemes. In fact, the text based sigs may be going away to make the even design cleaner.

 

6. Lightly moderated because the quality of poster we attract wouldn't need to be heavily moderated. In general, if you have a hard time with us - you really have no desire to be a real member of this community. 99% of the members here have never received a warning. Then there are the 1% who have a dozen.

 

7. A place where females could feel comfortable (for the most part).

 

8. A place that you can load/read at work without being fired for something grossly inappropriate being displayed on your monitor.

 

 

Yes, players, coaches and administrators are praised and criticized as each individual poster sees fit. We ask that this is done in good taste. For example, many posters identified Ralph Wilson as being a major part of the organization's dysfunction. That's fine. Discuss it all day. However, openly wishing he would just die was not appreciated and those types of posts were quickly addressed. So, discuss what you wish but try to do it in good taste.

 

Curse words get filtered and I ask that you don't try to change spellings to get around the filter. Everyone can infer the emotion of the !@#$ word you wrote. You don't need to be explicit to make your point.

 

The issue we probably have the most trouble with is "crusading". The bottom line here is that there isn't a single poster on this board that has the power to make any change with the team. And because of that, there is no reason to try and make every single person agree with you by bludgeoning everyone with the same opinion endlessly. Make your point once. Make it twice. Make it when appropriate. Just don't make the same point in every thread, every day, day after day. It just pisses people off.

 

Please don't post racy avatars. This is a work friendly community. In general, if you have to write "NSFW" you should probably not post it.

 

Note that I hand approve all registrations and sometimes that is slow.

 

Please do your best to ease yourself into the community. Read more than you post to start. It would be appreciated.

 

Please leave any BBMB baggage at the door. This is a fresh start for anyone coming here. This would also be GREATLY appreciated.

 

That's all for now. Thanks.

 

I really like the sig feature as I get to put my mock there and enjoy putting all the work to come up with it.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

 

its strange...having an empty space on my favorites bar right where the old BBMB was. Do we need a support group?

 

you found it

 

Oh, you don't have to explain that me - I know exactly what you mean x10. I feel every bit as attached to the posters here, both former and current, as all of you feel about your old digs. What the Bills did was extremely insensitive and it really shows a lack of understanding of what these long form communities can mean to people.

 

yeah that is messed up and reeks of elitism. They should have at least gave a warning of two weeks to say the board was going down. Also some might not want to go on facebook and reveal who they really are.

All I can say is I have been looking on here for almost a full day and have seen no mention of EJ, so this place is already a step up IMO lol

 

you spoke too soon lol

I honestly feel like this when the two groups in lost finally met eachother an realized they had the same goal the whole time.

Which is to ...... with tyrod Taylor

 

not interested in mediocrity

[GunnerBill]

Scott has done a great job with this place. It is and has been (with all due respect) the best place to discuss the Bills. You'll find the posters to be reasonable, passionate and knowledgeable. Enjoy and look forward to talking football with you guys.

Welcome to all our newbies. I think I have been here 4 years now and can't remember my daily routine before it.

[eball]

Good job, Scott. I often take this place for granted, and although I joked yesterday that I'd just find something else to do (like work) if it went away there would certainly be a feeling of loss.

 

To all the new folks -- it has been said over and over, but there is no better place to discuss Bills football than here. Some of us get into some spirited debates, but for the most part there is respect. And humor. Treat it like a friend's house.

 

Welcome.

Edited March 3, 2017 by eball

[Blokestradamus]

It's good to see a few familiar faces. Sad as it sounds, I missed you guys (well, some of you) when the darkness fell.

 

It should say a lot that, as a consistent victim of the banhammer at BBMB, I've been here nearly 2 years and not received so much as a polite ticking off. Just don't push your luck because you're no longer under a strict regime, that's all I'll ask. The novelties of being able to say vague and whatever will wear off pretty quickly, trust me

 

Feel free to PM me for a catch-up or if you have any questions.

[NewEra]

Let's all stand up and give Scott a big round of applause. I've been reading TSW since 2001 or 2002 (been so long I forgot now), usually 10-200 times a day. I've learned more about football, the Bills, the community and our fans in general on this site than by watching every Bills game since my existence. The debates get spirited and at times a little out of control. The moderators here do a wonderful job of keeping things in line and will check your butt when you cross boundries that shouldn't be crossed. I've been reading BBMB over the last several of years as well, while not really contributing to the threads. The discussions and the knowledge of the posters of this board is on another level compared to BBMB. It's a close nit community and a wonderful place to meet new friends. Please, keep the tradition. Don't turn TSW into BBMB. Keep it classy and have respect for others. And remember, you don't know everything. Don't act as if your word is that of god. You're a bills fan, one of millions. Keep it classy and respect each other. If you don't, you probably won't be here long. Others will put you in your place.

 

Thanks again Scott. You've created an amazing meeting grounds for the Bills family. I truly appreciate everything you've done. Being a bills fan wouldn't be the same without this wonderful place. BBMB transfers, please be respectful of that. It's not just a message board. It's so much more

[row_33]

Thanks SDS.

 

I will try to make it a more worthy place to be a part of.

 

 

[BigBuff423]

Scott has done a great job with this place. It is and has been (with all due respect) the best place to discuss the Bills. You'll find the posters to be reasonable, passionate and knowledgeable. Enjoy and look forward to talking football with you guys.

+1

[jimmy10]

3. On the old BBMB, you could not create a thread during game time. All threads would be merged to the gameday thread, even if they had nothing to do with the game. I hope that doesn't happen here.

 

Lol. You just named one of the best features about this place. I had no idea BBMB had any such policy, that place was in such disarray in so many ways.

[Roundybout]

Lol. You just named one of the best features about this place. I had no idea BBMB had any such policy, that place was in such disarray in so many ways.

Mods also had a tendency to delete game day threads during the game, so we had to create backups (before those were merged/deleted).

Edited March 3, 2017 by GhostsofBillsPast

[SDS]

 

Thank you! Glad to be here.

 

1. Language filter test of false positives:

 

Malik Hooker

vague

 

[EDIT: it passed!! You could not write "vague" or "Hooker" on the old site.]

 

2. Some people on the old BBMB criticized former coach Aaron Kromer for assaulting kids. Those posts were pulled on the order of Bills management and it became a hush-hush topic. I hope that does not happen here. Do not let the Bills organization bully you into pulling posts.

 

3. On the old BBMB, you could not create a thread during game time. All threads would be merged to the gameday thread, even if they had nothing to do with the game. I hope that doesn't happen here.

 

4. The old board used to crash regularly right after the Bills selected in the draft, and right when free agency started, and when there was a huge play in a Bills game. It also crashed during the Beast Quake, when Marshawn Lynch single-handedly beat New Orleans in the playoffs with the greatest touchdown run ever in 2011, causing the earth to literally shake (ok, I'm exaggerating). I hope you have the server capacity to handle what is going to happen. Given that you think 100 new registrations is a lot, I am a little worried, but will help this site grow if needed! I like your positive ttitude.

 

5. I agree crusading is bad. I hope monopolizing a message board by repeatedly posting lots of news articles each morning and posting posts that are superfluous just to announce "I am here" is frowned upon here . Two new BBMB posters did that the past few months. At least one was suspended.

 

6. Regarding not carrying old BBMB baggage, thank you. I know many posters on the old site who were banned for life for minor and usually unjustified reasons, like bypassing the language filter, injecting politics/religion/sexual orientation into a thread, making a call-out thread, or having two user names. The moderators there were out of control and it was like walking on eggshells.

We have a great rig, we would stay afloat with more traffic than BBMB. Load used to be a problem in the past but not in recent years.

 

My comment about 100 new posters was regarding smooth assimilation, not server load.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

Well there goes the neighborhood. XD I urge you all to visit PPP. We could use some fresh meat...er I mean new perspectives.

Edited March 3, 2017 by joesixpack

[BuffAlone]

Well written.I'm sure it seems a little overwhelming right now. It's this kind of passion that had me hooked to anything Bills' related.I appreciate the sanctuary, will do my best to respect others' opinions, and the rules of the board. I will try to read more than I post,but with the combine/draft coming up,there will be lots to discuss. That said,thank you for having us.This looks like a great spot to get my daily Bills' fix.Greetings Scott,and fellow members. GO BILLS!