In case anyone noticed... the mzocentral.net domain expired a few days back and the site was offline. And just like the government steps in to bailout troubled banks, I stepped in and paid another year for a forum that's basically, well, dead.

So, my question is: is anyone here even remotely interested in reviving the site? I do not plan on renewing the domain again next year if it's in the same state it is now. I also feel that although I'm technically the admin, this being a community should depend on one person to keep it going. But nobody has stepped in.

Sad in a way, because the less people post, the less reason others will have in posting as well and you end up in a vicious cycle of inactivity that ends up killing a site. I know a lot of us have moved on from life and are not passionately talking or playing Civ anymore but it would still be great at least for people to keep being in touch.

Plus, there's ample stuff to talk about... we're in a friggin' global crisis, what more fun can that be?

Refugee Day is halfway through in that part of the world and...

... nobody seemed to remember.

Given that we are just days from the 5th anniversary of this site, I suggest we try and reanimate it because it's been pretty lame as of late other than the few postings by the usual suspects. Granted, some of us do not have all the time in the world to post as we once did, but it's a shame to see this site slowly wither. Nothing really exciting happens these days when once we were crawling with great ideas, and some of the most well loved posters have disappeared.

I'm not exactly filled to the brim with ideas but here are some:

1) A personal reminder to many of the long-lost posters to come back and at least celebrate the V Anniversary.

2) Replace the validation system with something else so that new people can sign up without hassle.

3) Any other ideas that might come around...

So, for the sake of MZO, help me out here people!

For those that do not know, it's official: I'm leaving for London this Sunday, September 30th.

That means we are kind of in a hurry to transfer this site to BigDork's possession. I have begun backing up the data as I write this and I expect the process to finish sometime tonight or tomorrow. Me and BigD have as yet not set a precise date for the transfer but in all likelihood it will be before Friday insofar as he has a few hours to spare for this endeavor.

There are some things all of you should know:

1) I will likely remain as admin for a while, just to help out any technical problems BigD might have. I won't disappear for a year, I mean, I will need the internet for school after all.

2) This is a great possibility to consider upgrading the site to a newer version of IPB. I would like to see a discussion of this and whether you want this done legally or illegally.

3) Despite the ups and downs, it was an honor to own this site, and I'm perfectly sure BigD will do an even better job at it.

Ummm, that's it...

The last week or so some people have started spamming a bit too much. There's always been a bit of spam going on here at MZO but it has mostly been kept to a minimum. It needs to stay that way.

If you feel the need for spamming please keep it in The Barn, it was created just for that purpose. One or two people have started to make comments about being sick of it so that's it, it needs to stop.