I only did so because I remember how poorly gotfrag was originally accepted by the DoD community, and thought it would be fun to do something nostalgic for the few of us old-school players who were still frequenting gotfrag enough to know that there was once a much better home for this community.
I've had strong apprehensions about putting my time in for this community again, as the last time I volunteered myself to the beast (2006), things didn't turn out so well. As really the only active CAL admin, I attempted to sail this sinking ship during the post-CPL bubble that drove us into ground, as our numbers plummeted over 60% in just one season (Season 13). At the time, all the top level players were leaving the game in droves, there was stagnation at the mid-level (because there was really no incentive to make it to invite), and the few new players entering the community were universally alienated by the established cliques.
I was happy to see the community revive itself in some capacity in the aftermath, but none the less have been left with a bad taste in my mouth since it all went up in flames with me at the helm so many years ago.
And so, I thought, if anything, as the community utters out it's last breath, that re-booting 1911 might as well serve as a final resting place, or at least somewhere for people to keep in touch in the event that gotfrag finally kick the bucket. My intentions and expectations were limited to just that. Nostalgia for nostalgia's sake.
However.... Something strange has happened here. You guys keep showing up.
When I first threw up some forums, there were really just a few of us posting oddities. But, as word of mouth grew, our numbers jumped to about 50 unique visitors a day (50 different people). When that traffic continued, with added spikes as more people discovered the forums, I thought what the hell, might as well hack the whole site back together.
Since then, something pretty wacko has happened.
In the last two months traffic has grown steadily, to the point now where we are getting about 150 unique visitors and 300 visits a day to 1911. You guys are actually using this as a hub for the community, which is surprisingly much more active than I ever anticipated.
Gotfrag has more or less been deserted. It all feels very 2002 like once again.
It will never be 04/05 again. We will never have 4,000+ active players and LANs to aspire to compete in again. Our brightest day as a community has most certainly come and gone. But, It's nice to know that all the time I spent dorking out hacking this thing back together wasn't a total waste.
So, thanks for that, fgts. Keep on keeping on.
If I've got the time I'll keep trying to improve this place the best I can. It would be nice to see weekly FOTW's, interviews, predictions, and news posts, but I certainly don't have the time or interest to take all of that on myself. So, let me know if you want to help out in any way.
I know the best years have gone, but there is no reason for the group of dod is dead haters to come around. We all get it, the game isnt what it use to be, but I can assure you its not dead. So if any of you would be interested in doing writeups of any kind dont worry about a 16 year old nerd sitting behind the computer telling you how gay you are for putting effort into the community, bc in the end if you enjoy something there is no reason to stop. Sears you've done more then anyone can ask for and I for one thank you for that. May dod live on forever!!! Btw maybe if some of these teams in tpg split up the rosters we might actually have a decent size community. I dont get why some rosters have 20+ players on them just seems silly when its 6v6 