04-21-2022, 11:16 AM
Seems like that's the question that everyone has been asking here lately -- "What the heck happened to the old forums? Why did everything disappear on us?"
I've been a little busy setting up the new forums and migrating the wiki over for us, bot now that those things are more or less complete, I wanted to take time to do into details and try and explain what's happened over the last week or so, so everyone can understand how we got to be where we currently are.
Things first started to change back in QB64 World back sometime in January. Fellippe suddenly made an announcement to the community that someone new was popping up in the community and taking over as CEO for the project. An unexpected move -- why the heck did a hobbyist language need a CEO to manage things, anyway?? -- but one which ultimately changed almost nothing at the time. RC Cola was introduced to the project, he barely spoke to anyone or got involved with anything, and life moved on with him just more or less existing in the background.
***********************
Time flows, as time will, and suddenly we find ourselves at around a week ago. Fellippe suddenly decides to just pack up and walk away from the project. He goes from being a member of the forums to just becoming a "guest". The Inform channels in the Discord are closed. He makes no real announcement about anything, and just walks. People who reach out to him via personal messages and such, get told that he's "Left the project for good and won't be back, for his mental health." Fellippe did a lot of different things, and he put up with a lot, and it seemed like he'd more or less hit his breaking point and just said waltzed off into the sunset like any good Old Western hero would.
This left RC Cola as suddenly holding the reigns to the project. At that point, much like at the point where we're at now, people became a little nervous about the state of the project. RC Cola was asked, "What's the future of QB64? What do you think QB64 is??" His response to anything like that was more elusive than a politician two days before election day -- "I'm not going to get into that. I'm not going to say..."
He's not going to answer any questions about the plans for the project? Not even going to try and say what he thinks the project is about??
And then, someone brought up the rules of conduct which we were all operating under -- and if you guys are like me, you didn't have a single clue about them!!
![[Image: Rules.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/Vg0qzyt/Rules.jpg)
post image
Now, if you guys notice there's a line in there right above the page break that REALLY bothered me. "Any media uploaded to QB64 sites, are the property of the QB64 Project."
For me, that meant that if I kept working on my little QB64 Bible, and sharing it for the members of the forums to make use, comment, and help point out things that might need editing, that once it was finished, I wouldn't be able to sell a hard copy of it anywhere!! After all, the QB64 Team would OWN my work!! If I did publish it, they could sue me for stealing THEIR property!!
And *this* glaring problem was brought up to RC Cola. His response was just as lackluster as when asked about his plans for QB64. His response was, "It's better for us to have too much control over stuff posted, than not having enough."
He didn't think that type of rule was over the top at all!!
So, at this point, people *really* started to complain and act up in the Discord channel. You could almost taste the displeasure in the air, the feeling was so palpable. Folks were getting quite upset at everything that was going down and was being said.
Rather than try and diffuse the situation, RC Cola decided to drop the mighty Hammer of Justice on people. Folks were getting silenced for almost nothing in the Discord channel. People were being banned from Discord. At this point, one could almost take bets on who was going to be the next person to get kicked from the Discord channels.
It was at this point that RC decided he was basically the one true ruler of QB64 World:
![[Image: Dictator.png]](https://i.ibb.co/QXfMCnj/Dictator.png)
It was also around this same time when I found myself in RC Cola's crosshairs.
He... didn't?? Did he?? Just called me a Neo-Nazi supporter and threatened to ban me?? Needless to say, I wasn't very happy... And the conversation we had after that made me even less happy.
If the man is going to be an asshole and kick me from what I've always considered to be part of my home, then to hell with him! If I'm not welcome, then I don't feel like any of my code should be welcomed either. I'll damn leave, start over somewhere else, and he can do whatever the shit he wants without anything from me being involved with whatever his project was becoming. It certainly wasn't the QB64 project which I'd grown up and loved working with a being a part of the community with, for all these many years!!
His response??
![[Image: Kicked.png]](https://i.ibb.co/rydphgF/Kicked.png)
Yep! I get kicked from the QB64 Team, and silenced from the Discord.
Which leads me to getting irked and going to bed not long after that... Needless to say, I said more than a few BLEEPING BLEEPS before I drifted off to sleep that night..
When I woke up, I logged into Discord completely uncertain what the heck to do next, and I find this little gem in my personal message box:
![[Image: Transfer.png]](https://i.ibb.co/71xDvGn/Transfer.png)
Yep! Apparently things had continued on during the night while I was sleeping, and in the end, our other developer -- flukiluke -- had decided that he'd had enough of all the drama. He'd transferred the Discord which he'd owned over to me, and then walked away. Honestly, it was kind of fitting in a way: The last post that was ever posted over at QB64.rip was luke's Goodbye post.
RC Cola, is apparently a very spiteful man. Once he realized that he could no longer control the Discord, since Luke had passed ownership of the channel over to me, he....
...simply went nuts, is about the only way I know to describe things.
![[Image: Tantrum.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/Db4n1JT/Tantrum.jpg)
First he kicks out all the editors of the wiki -- even people who don't even have Discord accounts, and who weren't caught up in the internal bruhaha at all!
Then the next thing you know, the forums are down. The wiki is completely down. Youtube videos are gone. The password for the Twitter account is changed. Everything is taken down and destroyed, with the exception of one thing in particular: QB64 Team is creating QB64 at QB64.org | Patreon
Yep!! That's right! He kept the Patreon up so he could keep collecting money from all the people donating to the QB64 team!
After all, that's all that RC Cola was after, when all is said and done. He wanted money. Money! $$$$$$!!
![[Image: Money.png]](https://i.ibb.co/KFbJw65/Money.png)
According to him, the team only pulled in $400 a year or so, and they were going to have to raise Patreon teirs soon to start bringing in more money!!
And yet, even though I'm not the best person in the world with math, I can click on the link above and go to the QB64 Patreon site even now -- even after all that's happened, he's never taken the Patreon down!! There's *still* 24 subscribers, at the moment of this writing, and each is donating $2 per month. That's about $50 per month total, and in 12 months, that's over $600 which people are donating into the project. (Not counting individual, one-time donations, which people give, nor is it counting the sales which the QB64 team has with whatever merchandise they offered like the coffee cups.)
To give an illustration of costs, here's what it cost for me to set up the forums and the wiki here, and to register the domain name which I've chosen:
![[Image: Costs.png]](https://i.ibb.co/xLTrhxS/Costs.png)
Less than $100 for a year, and the server here has "unlimited bandwidth" and "unlimited storage".
And yet, he needed to pilfer more money from the user base here, so he could keep things running??
RC Cola might not be able to say what he thinks QB64 is, but I'll happily tell you guys what I think it is:
QB64 is a community of like minded individuals who enjoy writing and coding in BASIC. Many of us grew up using the language in our youth, and most of us are stubborn, nostalgic "old skoolers". We know the rest of the world has moved on and embraced other various languages and coding styles over the years, but we like where we're at! QB64 -- and BASIC, in general -- is a community that is our home. We've got roots here. We've lived here. We've laughed here. More than once, several of us have butted heads and fought here.
BUT... At the end of the day, QB64 is the spirit of companionship which we all hold with each other!! Our forums are secondary. Discord is a baby come lately. The majority of folks around here either have memories of IRC, or else they wish they did!
RC Cola might get rid of a few videos. We might lose a few posts. The forums might go down. The wiki might end up losing a few months of updates...
At the end of the day, WHO GIVES A SHIT?!!
We're still here. We're still a community. If one home burns down, we'll simply form another. We're family...
...and that's what RC Cola couldn't understand. He simply couldn't look past the $$$ to truly understand who we are, or what we stand for. The moment he started relentlessly kicking people and destroying the community, was the moment when he truly lost control of QB64.
**************************************************
**************************************************
And, with all of that said and done, let me finish up by saying:
WELCOME HOME, ONE AND ALL!!!
I've been a little busy setting up the new forums and migrating the wiki over for us, bot now that those things are more or less complete, I wanted to take time to do into details and try and explain what's happened over the last week or so, so everyone can understand how we got to be where we currently are.
Things first started to change back in QB64 World back sometime in January. Fellippe suddenly made an announcement to the community that someone new was popping up in the community and taking over as CEO for the project. An unexpected move -- why the heck did a hobbyist language need a CEO to manage things, anyway?? -- but one which ultimately changed almost nothing at the time. RC Cola was introduced to the project, he barely spoke to anyone or got involved with anything, and life moved on with him just more or less existing in the background.
***********************
Time flows, as time will, and suddenly we find ourselves at around a week ago. Fellippe suddenly decides to just pack up and walk away from the project. He goes from being a member of the forums to just becoming a "guest". The Inform channels in the Discord are closed. He makes no real announcement about anything, and just walks. People who reach out to him via personal messages and such, get told that he's "Left the project for good and won't be back, for his mental health." Fellippe did a lot of different things, and he put up with a lot, and it seemed like he'd more or less hit his breaking point and just said waltzed off into the sunset like any good Old Western hero would.
This left RC Cola as suddenly holding the reigns to the project. At that point, much like at the point where we're at now, people became a little nervous about the state of the project. RC Cola was asked, "What's the future of QB64? What do you think QB64 is??" His response to anything like that was more elusive than a politician two days before election day -- "I'm not going to get into that. I'm not going to say..."
He's not going to answer any questions about the plans for the project? Not even going to try and say what he thinks the project is about??
And then, someone brought up the rules of conduct which we were all operating under -- and if you guys are like me, you didn't have a single clue about them!!
post image
Now, if you guys notice there's a line in there right above the page break that REALLY bothered me. "Any media uploaded to QB64 sites, are the property of the QB64 Project."
For me, that meant that if I kept working on my little QB64 Bible, and sharing it for the members of the forums to make use, comment, and help point out things that might need editing, that once it was finished, I wouldn't be able to sell a hard copy of it anywhere!! After all, the QB64 Team would OWN my work!! If I did publish it, they could sue me for stealing THEIR property!!
And *this* glaring problem was brought up to RC Cola. His response was just as lackluster as when asked about his plans for QB64. His response was, "It's better for us to have too much control over stuff posted, than not having enough."
He didn't think that type of rule was over the top at all!!
So, at this point, people *really* started to complain and act up in the Discord channel. You could almost taste the displeasure in the air, the feeling was so palpable. Folks were getting quite upset at everything that was going down and was being said.
Rather than try and diffuse the situation, RC Cola decided to drop the mighty Hammer of Justice on people. Folks were getting silenced for almost nothing in the Discord channel. People were being banned from Discord. At this point, one could almost take bets on who was going to be the next person to get kicked from the Discord channels.
It was at this point that RC decided he was basically the one true ruler of QB64 World:
It was also around this same time when I found myself in RC Cola's crosshairs.
Quote:RCcola1987 — 04/15/2022
@SMcNeill you have done a lot for the project and this is the only reason i didnt just ban you right now. Neo Nazi content is not allowed ANYWAEAR on this discords nor is it allowed on discord as a whole. I fyou remove the posts and stop this i will not ban. most of my family died fighting againt Hitler in ww2 and i will not stand for that. most things i will let slide in teh off topic but this is just astounding and not expected from someone like you.
He... didn't?? Did he?? Just called me a Neo-Nazi supporter and threatened to ban me?? Needless to say, I wasn't very happy... And the conversation we had after that made me even less happy.
Quote:
- RC... You know what... I've tried being a nice guy and ignore all the crap that's been going on, but I just can't do it anymore. At no point have I shared any neo-nazi content, nor do I stand for anything Nazi related. I'm certain I can hop in the car and head to the cemetery and point to just as many graves from my family who fought against the war, as you ever could. From our last genealogical study (my father was an amateur genealogist), we can count 106 members who died in WWI and WWI from both my mother's and father's side. All I posted was links to a lyrics.com collection of SONG LYRICS... in a topic which was tagged "off-topic" and flagged NSFW. There's nothing objectionable about what I posted, but what [b]IS[/b] objectionable is you thinking you're some sort of second rate dictator for the project just because Fellippe left.\
So here's my little asshole dictator demand: Take ALL my work out of the repo. I no longer feel that the project as it exists supports the spirit of BASIC with which I wrote my code and inserted itself into the project, and I refuse to give any rights to keep my code active and inside the source any longer. Failure to remove all my contributions from the language will result in my pursuing legal recourses against copyright infringement.
If the man is going to be an asshole and kick me from what I've always considered to be part of my home, then to hell with him! If I'm not welcome, then I don't feel like any of my code should be welcomed either. I'll damn leave, start over somewhere else, and he can do whatever the shit he wants without anything from me being involved with whatever his project was becoming. It certainly wasn't the QB64 project which I'd grown up and loved working with a being a part of the community with, for all these many years!!
His response??
Yep! I get kicked from the QB64 Team, and silenced from the Discord.
Which leads me to getting irked and going to bed not long after that... Needless to say, I said more than a few BLEEPING BLEEPS before I drifted off to sleep that night..
When I woke up, I logged into Discord completely uncertain what the heck to do next, and I find this little gem in my personal message box:
Yep! Apparently things had continued on during the night while I was sleeping, and in the end, our other developer -- flukiluke -- had decided that he'd had enough of all the drama. He'd transferred the Discord which he'd owned over to me, and then walked away. Honestly, it was kind of fitting in a way: The last post that was ever posted over at QB64.rip was luke's Goodbye post.
RC Cola, is apparently a very spiteful man. Once he realized that he could no longer control the Discord, since Luke had passed ownership of the channel over to me, he....
...simply went nuts, is about the only way I know to describe things.
First he kicks out all the editors of the wiki -- even people who don't even have Discord accounts, and who weren't caught up in the internal bruhaha at all!
Then the next thing you know, the forums are down. The wiki is completely down. Youtube videos are gone. The password for the Twitter account is changed. Everything is taken down and destroyed, with the exception of one thing in particular: QB64 Team is creating QB64 at QB64.org | Patreon
Yep!! That's right! He kept the Patreon up so he could keep collecting money from all the people donating to the QB64 team!
After all, that's all that RC Cola was after, when all is said and done. He wanted money. Money! $$$$$$!!
According to him, the team only pulled in $400 a year or so, and they were going to have to raise Patreon teirs soon to start bringing in more money!!
And yet, even though I'm not the best person in the world with math, I can click on the link above and go to the QB64 Patreon site even now -- even after all that's happened, he's never taken the Patreon down!! There's *still* 24 subscribers, at the moment of this writing, and each is donating $2 per month. That's about $50 per month total, and in 12 months, that's over $600 which people are donating into the project. (Not counting individual, one-time donations, which people give, nor is it counting the sales which the QB64 team has with whatever merchandise they offered like the coffee cups.)
To give an illustration of costs, here's what it cost for me to set up the forums and the wiki here, and to register the domain name which I've chosen:
Less than $100 for a year, and the server here has "unlimited bandwidth" and "unlimited storage".
And yet, he needed to pilfer more money from the user base here, so he could keep things running??
RC Cola might not be able to say what he thinks QB64 is, but I'll happily tell you guys what I think it is:
QB64 is a community of like minded individuals who enjoy writing and coding in BASIC. Many of us grew up using the language in our youth, and most of us are stubborn, nostalgic "old skoolers". We know the rest of the world has moved on and embraced other various languages and coding styles over the years, but we like where we're at! QB64 -- and BASIC, in general -- is a community that is our home. We've got roots here. We've lived here. We've laughed here. More than once, several of us have butted heads and fought here.
BUT... At the end of the day, QB64 is the spirit of companionship which we all hold with each other!! Our forums are secondary. Discord is a baby come lately. The majority of folks around here either have memories of IRC, or else they wish they did!
RC Cola might get rid of a few videos. We might lose a few posts. The forums might go down. The wiki might end up losing a few months of updates...
At the end of the day, WHO GIVES A SHIT?!!
We're still here. We're still a community. If one home burns down, we'll simply form another. We're family...
...and that's what RC Cola couldn't understand. He simply couldn't look past the $$$ to truly understand who we are, or what we stand for. The moment he started relentlessly kicking people and destroying the community, was the moment when he truly lost control of QB64.
**************************************************
**************************************************
And, with all of that said and done, let me finish up by saying:
WELCOME HOME, ONE AND ALL!!!