Goodbye HiFi Wigwam

[Stratmangler]

Wigwam forum was known for arguments (in the last few years any way), and look around now, only few hours after James pull the plug (and even then still not certain it's close for good), there are three threads in 3 different forums, arguing about Wigwam forum.

I wouldn't so much describe what's going on here as arguement, more like discussion.

[Marco]

Yup, Chris, but I suspect that there's a bit of a language barrier thing going on. Thaiman, what's your first name, mate?

Marco.

[rednose66]

It is James decision as forum owner if he wants to pull the plug. What may well upset some people is that he did it with very little warning. A few days would have ensured that people - like myself - who can't always check in through the day would have had enough warning to save important PM details - especially where equipment / software was in the process of changing hands.

[Stratmangler]

Yup, Chris, but I suspect that there's a bit of a language barrier thing going on. Thaiman, what's your first name, mate?

Marco.

Point taken

[montesquieu]

Well I think it's sad that the Wam has gone, but entirely understandable given how things have played out ... the Wam was always a multi-faceted place, with generally good manners (barring the tedious cable wars) on the main hifi forums, contrasted by often outrageous behavior on the non-hifi sections, which TBH I mainly steered clear of.

I heard it described once as a raucous pub with a hifi forum attached, that is certainly what it had become by the time I joined in 2008 or so. The 'anti' nature of the place never bothered me as it was more than made up for by the generosity of the positive contributors (who were often the same people, in fact, posting differently in different sub-forums).

I made some great friends there and attended my share of bakeoffs/Scalford events that manged to be both fun and highly educational at the same time.

If James and the mods are reading I'd very much like to than them for creating and sustaining that environment. Whatever feelings are going on for them right now, and whatever nonsense they've been subjected to, the vast majority of wammers I'm sure feel nothing but sympathy and gratitude.

I've been more than an occasional visitor here on AoS of late - the laid-back feel is quite to my taste in contrast to some other places - and it's nice to see some familiar usernames too - and it looks like my visits will be even more regular from now on.

[thaiman]

Yup, Chris, but I suspect that there's a bit of a language barrier thing going on. Thaiman, what's your first name, mate?

Marco.

We met at the show I do believe, I am the one that keep poping in and admire your retro speakers, peeps know me as OB1 as my real name is few foot long

[Alex_UK]

We met at the show I do believe, I am the one that keep poping in and admire your retro speakers, peeps know me as OB1 as my real name is few foot long

There was no language barrier coming from your room at Scalford this year - a few bleeding ears, maybe! Unless I got the wrong guy! It was a busy day!

[loosend]

Most of them have gone to Pink Fish. Let's hope all the measurement trolls headed that way and all those with ears head this way

Quality!

[Marco]

Ok guys, having read through this thread, and the concurrent one on pfm, I have an inkling now as to the likely real situation that exists.

It appears that James has been under threat recently from litigation by certain parties, due to issues of potential libel, to the extent that Wigwam may have been closed down, and so that alone would've been causing some concern.

However, as if that wasn't enough, it was compounded by a contentious and (apparently) highly volatile thread about Google and the possible introduction of a swear filter, which aggravated certain people, and the whole thing got out of hand.

That's my (rather limited) précis of the situation, and I will make no further comment, as it's got nothing to do with AoS or me. But my gut feeling is that James will only have pulled the plug temporarily in order to get some breathing space and collate his thoughts about what to do in the long term, and so I fully believe that Wigwam will be back sooner rather than later.

He may also be using the opportunity to send a message to certain people to 'wake up and smell the coffee' and using the shock treatment of temporarily removing their 'playground', with the threat of it being permanent, in order to 'refocus' a few minds..... I remember that last year James did a similar thing when he mentioned that he was going to sell Wigwam, because it was all becoming too much, and look what happened then.

So no, I'm almost certain that Wigwam will be back, but there will likely be some significant changes, and James may indeed distance himself more from the day to day running of the forum, which in terms of the impact it was making on his personal life, may not be a bad thing. I wish him the best in whatever he decides.

The Scalford Hall show was mentioned, and I will state now that in the unlikely event of the plug being pulled on Wigwam permanently, and/or James not wanting to take on the responsibility of running the event in future, I would be happy to take it on, and run the show the way that Wammers (since it was mainly their event) wanted. It would certainly be organised sympathetically to the requirements of their members and not lose the fun factor and camaraderie which made it special.

Therefore, if or when James decides to pull out of the scene, then I will ensure that the Scalford show will NOT die - you have my promise on that. However, let's not jump the gun, and simply allow the dust to settle on recent events on Wigwam and see how things develop in due course, and ascertain the best way of moving things forward in everyone's interests.

Basically, AoS and me are here to help if necessary!

Marco.

[chelsea]

Ok guys, having read through this thread, and the concurrent one on pfm, I have an inkling now as to the likely real situation that exists.

It appears that James has been under threat recently from litigation by certain parties, due to issues of potential libel, to the extent that Wigwam may have been closed down, and so that alone would've been causing some concern.

However, as if that wasn't enough, it was compounded by a contentious and (apparently) highly volatile thread about Google and the possible introduction of a swear filter, which aggravated certain people, and the whole thing got out of hand.

That's my (rather limited) précis of the situation, and I will make no further comment, as it's got nothing to do with AoS or me. But my gut feeling is that James will only have pulled the plug temporarily in order to get some breathing space and collate his thoughts about what to do in the long term, and so I fully believe that Wigwam will be back sooner rather than later.

He may also be using the opportunity to send a message to certain people to 'wake up and smell the coffee' and using the shock treatment of temporarily removing their 'playground', with the threat of it being permanent, in order to 'refocus' a few minds..... I remember that last year James did a similar thing when he mentioned that he was going to sell Wigwam, because it was all becoming too much, and look what happened then.

So no, I'm almost certain that Wigwam will be back, but there will likely be some significant changes, and James may indeed distance himself more from the day to day running of the forum, which in terms of the impact it was making on his personal life, may not be a bad thing. I wish him the best in whatever he decides.

The Scalford Hall show was mentioned, and I will state now that in the unlikely event of the plug being pulled on Wigwam permanently, and/or James not wanting to take on the responsibility of running the event in future, I would be happy to take it on, and run the show the way that Wammers (since it was mainly their event) wanted. It would certainly be organised sympathetically to the requirements of their members and not lose the fun factor and camaraderie which made it special.

Therefore, if or when James decides to pull out of the scene, then I will makes sure that the Scalford show will NOT die - you have my promise on that. However, let's not jump the gun, and simply allow the dust to settle on recent events on Wigwam and see how things develop in due course, and ascertain the best way of moving things forward in everyone's interests.

Basically, AoS and me are here to help if necessary!

Marco.

Good post.
I think the dust needs to settle a bit.