IMDB Shutdown

I visited the BSG board almost every single day, since I first watched this excellent and breathtaking show.
I have read lots of thoughtful and interesting posts and discussions here.
Guess I will really miss it.

There's always reddit. A cool thing there, obviously, is that you can up or down-vote posts. So, someone just trolling would get a lot of negative karma and someone who says something really good gets lots of positive votes or- 'gasp!'- the gold star. My user name is even the same there.

What I find upsetting is not so much losing the BSG board but simply losing all the boards. I would usually use the boards to find out if a series or film was worth seeing. This was a good resource. It was also a great place to come to find out what something actually meant in a film or series when you couldn't work it out yourself.

Personally, I thought the BSG board lost a lot once they limited the number of pages it had and when they deleted the massive thread (that I never participated in actually).

But... Having said all that.

There are so many trolls on IMDb it is disheartening at times to visit the boards for films. People just want to take a crap on what other people enjoy and then vent on them afterwards when they get replies. For perhaps a year now, I have made comments on film boards and very often I don't bother reading replies because there is such a high probability of name-calling or people wanting to flame you for liking a film. I say what I want to say and just leave and not come back.

BSG is about the only board I return to on a regular basis.

Maybe it is the right decision in the end.

I know a lot of big sites are finding that their discussion boards aren't worth the trouble. Add this one to the list, I guess.

This is really disheartening. The IMDB boards were never the greatest and the trolls could be very annoying and the fact that older posts just fall over the cliff caused too much good info to just go away.
But it was always a good place to check and give feedback on new shows.

The big question now is where to go to discuss BSG? I'm really looking for a place where you can still discuss all and everything around the show.

The only other board I'm on right now Is Across the Salt dot com. But new registrations are difficult at best.

I would like to add this:

Battlestar Galactica is my favorite story. My favorite thing.

It gripped me like nothing else ever has.

After my second watch through of the show, I began coming here to IMDb to find out what others thought about the show and to leave my own comments. I never really stopped watching the show at that point. And the discussion on this board was one of the reasons why.

The understanding of the show by experienced posters like Jake Conhale made me want to know and understand more about the show myself. So, inevitably, after finishing one watch, I would immediately watch the miniseries and begin again.

I have to be honest. I have always admired Jake for his practically encyclopedic knowledge of the show and he knows all this with just a few viewings. I think to some extent I wanted to emulate his position and knowledge on this board.

But what struck me most profoundly over a period of time was his unfailing politeness and civility. This made an impression on me and caused me to alter my own behavior on IMDb to some extent in a positive manner. I will be the first to admit that I can still be a big butt-hole. But I know I was worse back when I posted as the Prodigal Prophylactic. So, thanks for that, Jake.

I think you have been a great credit to this board and to the show.

This board has given me many hours of intriguing conversation. Many, many hours. It has given me much food for thought. I have posted many thousands of words here and even had a few people read many of them. So, I am thankful for that. And thankful to all the posters I have talked with over the the past few years. Except for that Sandman *"!-frakker that one time.

The way I watched the show- binge-ed on dvds (is there a right way to spell binge-ed?)- meant that I missed all the hey-day of the board while the show was airing but I still enjoyed a strong period of discussion here. I would often watch an episode and come straight here to discuss the latest thing that occurred to me and find many posters who were willing to talk or argue about it.

In many ways, this board is as much a part of the experience of the show and what it means to me as the show itself. They are, in some ways, inseparable in my mind and heart.

I will miss it and part of the show will die with these boards for me. Because while Starbuck and Apollo are much enjoyed characters, they are fiction, but the posters on the board are real people and how they relate to the show and what the show means to them is important in my mind. It is always easy to say, 'I don't care what others think'. But it is entirely human to take pleasure in the fact that others validate your own views by enjoying something that you also hold dear.

What I can take away from this board is the certain knowledge that while some people really disliked the show and others really disliked the ending, there are many, many fans who enjoyed the show from start to finish, just as I, myself, did and that we need not feel like the minority in that regard.

I hope there are some good threads in the next couple of weeks- lists and so forth- favorite whatevers etc. And if you're one of the lurkers who never post but read: now is the time if you wanted to say something ;-)

...

What I would like to conclude with is to draw a parallel between the plight of the Colonists in the show and our plight here, as our 'world' ends.

Many detractors of the show's message say that the choices of the Colonists didn't matter in the end. That it all ended up the same way, no matter what.

But is this really true?

If it is, this is to say that, for example, the civility of Jake Conhale on this board did not matter because all our words will be deleted soon. All his words, in effect, will be gone. As will mine and yours and those of all the others who posted here.

Does that mean it didn't matter?

When I wake up every morning, I have to make a choice. And then another and another. My choices aren't always up to me, but the way I decide among my limited options definitely is. I can try to grow. I can be cynical. I can blame whatever on others. I can be an ass. But it's just a day that will be forgot by all eventually.

We don't live in posterity. It's nice to think about. But we live this day. This moment. What we do, we do because it is important to us right here and now. It is important to how we see the world and how we see ourselves in it.

What we do today matters. Not because it will amount to something 150,000 years from now. But simply because it matters today and tomorrow and every night between now and our doom when we might lie awake thinking about what we did and regretting what we did not do though we had the chance.

So has it ever been for people- regardless of the 'bigger picture'. We care about the here and now and our choices have meaning to us because they are ours and we care about how we choose.

The Colonists had to sleep at night, just as we do and live with their choices. That is all the imperative they needed to try to do what they thought was right.

...

Jake, on a personal note, I wish we had gotten on better. I think that was mostly my fault. I was always a bit more sensitive to your comments than any other poster. It's because you are a 'big deal' here and I never wanted to be found lacking in comparison. Well, it's not because of that- it's because of me having a problem with that and me being an ass. I hope you understand what I mean.

It's too late now, anyway. But, you are the man. Getting pulled up by you is like getting pulled up by the teacher. Live long and prosper, dude.

See the CEO's latest comments about the shutdown:
➡ www.imdb.com/board/bd0000042/thread/265706940?d=265758475#265758475

For several months now, my medical condition makes it almost impossible for me to work. This is likely to be permanent and uncurable, and my life expectancy is becoming much shorter than I would like.
More and more I come to the conclusion that I do not want to spend much time on things that don't make me a happier person. Less following the news, politics or Twitter. No more whining about Belgian politics, Trump or IS.
Only do things that make me happier. This includes watching BSG again. And again. And read all about BSG there is to read.

I deeply regret that this board disappears now, but I think it is understandable in the current context of boorish behavior and large scale trolling on social media.

Maybe it sounds silly from a 48 year old man, but BSG has influenced the last decade of my life. Not a day goes by without thinking of this series. It really touched me emotionally and intellectually. It grabbed me by the throat, and never let go. Hard to put into words.

If someone would write an essay about BSG - hint hint, Metatron_Fallen - I would be very happy with a copy. At a reasonable and fair fee, of course.

I too am sorry to see the message boards go. My main usage was to check people's comments on shows or films I was contemplating watching. The rating system is ok but I found the comments in the message boards much more helpful. I also really enjoyed the obligatory "shows/films like ....." threads that would inevitably pop up on the message boards for films or tv shows I enjoyed. I know I got some great recommendations from those threads here.
I also want to say that I may not have posted here very often but this forum was my favourite. There was a general air of civility extended to most of the people posting about BSG here. I will miss the insightful analysis and the connection with people who enjoyed this show as much as me.
I will miss you all.

...and in conclusion that is why squirrels should always wear pants.

https://news.boxofficebuz.com/article/why-imdb-s-message-board-shut-down-is-misguided