bizzbo said:
LOL, it's a bit like that, yeah.
You guys are more than worthy. City has given me the greatest happiness I've ever known in my life, and this is my way of paying it back, to bring it to others. I like the idea that on here we can keep the expats around the globe feeling like they have a slice of home whilst on their travels, and can spread the addiction that is City, worldwide. On the flip side of this, we can give the Mancs somewhere to bleat, moan, discuss, inform, debate, argue, woman and praise the latest goings on of their passion without getting an earful from the missus. My passion is to try and facilitate it. I honestly can't tell you how angry and annoyed I get when the General comes marching in to town. I feel like it's me letting the whole global supporters club down and strive to repair it all, sacrificing anything that needs to be sacrificed. I don't get paid for this. This is no disrespect to Ric, as many times he has offered to throw me some cash for helping to fix his site, and I have always turned it down. I don't want cash, I don't want kudos or thanks on the forum, I just want the forum to work how we all want it to work. I definitely have the skills to do the job which annoys me no end. If I wasn't able to do it through some lack of knowledge, I'd hand it over to someone else tomorrow but I know it's in there somewhere with all of the useless shit I've learnt that I post in Off Topic, and I can only fix the errors as they are revealed. It's very much a Catch 22 situation. As most would have seen, up until the 92nd minute today from the time I got back, we were the quickest we'd ever been. It resulted in us having a shitload of errors though when the place blew up which gutted me just as much as the game. I actually sent a PM to Ric yesterday saying that I was as nervous about the server as I was about the game, I got fucked on two different fronts tonight.
One day, we'll get the configuration of the server right, and we'll be able to support the users to the standard that they should be supported. We'll build Bluemoon 4.0 as a new site with all the great additions that we've been talking about, and everyone will forget that error pages or slowness ever existed on this page, when we're bouncing with 10,000 users all posting at once after we win the CL. When the new site is built, and the server is humming along, I'll step down as admin completely. As some users have found out, such as guys like PistonBlue, I'm a largely opinionated guy who has a temper and can blow up at times, even if I'm in the wrong or making a stupid point. These are not good traits for an admin, the other mod guys, and especially Ric, are all patient and cool. I don't want to end up some sad guy on a powertrip, banning people who piss him off or question him, and that stuff happens on forums in my experience, if you leave an unsuitable person such as myself in power.
So, the plan is to everything sorted as soon as. It won't be done quickly and stupidly though. We'll put the hours in to make it a quality site, not just a stitch up job. This is the thing, from day zero (kind of) we could have hacked the site together in a rush job which would have resulted in more (and bigger) problems down the line. From the start, we had a commitment to fixing every single bug, problem and annoyance. This is probably why I woman so much about server configuration, because all I've seen to have done for a year is to fight an unwinnable battle against stupid server programs that I can only configure and not change. Each problem fixed creates two, but thus is the way that software development and server management works. We'll get there eventually, and when we do, I'll call in those drinks that Ric owes me, go to the game, get pissed and have a giggle. Until then though, my job is to keep us going whilst we work through the problems. That's why I don't mind the fact that I have a season ticket and been to less than half the games, the ends justify the means, for me personally at least, and I suppose that's all that matters in the end.
Yes, I'm aware that this is just an internet forum at the end of the day, and it's not even my site, but it's become a bit of a personal challenge to get it right. And I will. Mark my words.