Filefront Acquired by Break Media

[Lord_Trekie]

Sounds interesting, I'd be hard pressed to imagine they could make things worse, but as for improving things, only time will tell eh?

 

[Majestic]

Thank you Freyr and the Starfleet Kid, for clearing things up. Obviously being staff you know more than we do and rightly so.

I hope break makes filefront better and does what we all hope.

 

[Syf]

I would like to just say I hope nothing bad happens to A2files. MSFC is not A2files, and we all know that. While if the day comes that A2files closes it's doors would be traumatic for the community, I can say it will not be the end of the community or the game. I however do hope all stays well on A2files, it's a good site and does not deserve to be discarded.

Most any and all are welcome here on MSFC. We consider ourselves as part of the Armada gaming community. If someone is not comfortable with any "more male oriented" content on this new Break network, perhaps they might find MSFC more to their liking. We are here for all the community, both male and female. So, I'd like to think of here as another community site within the A2 community... So instead of losing interest just because one site re-orients itself, please remind people that there are other sites that cater to the community as well.

 

[Freyr]

Thank you Freyr and the Starfleet Kid, for clearing things up. Obviously being staff you know more than we do and rightly so.

No problem, i'm always delighted to ease people's worries. We're happy to say that A2files will be around for a long time yet, and with the improvements that Break are bringing to the site we should be better off than ever before.


As promised, I did send an email to our management requesting clarification on a number of points and I have now received the following email from Jeff. I'll quote my email, and his reply for clarity.

As you can see from Jeff's reply Break aren't going to be harming the network, (and thereby A2files by extension) they will just be supercharging the network so we have a better experience for our members.

-----Original Message-----
From: Freyr [mailto:freyr@a2upgrades.net]
Sent: Sunday, February 14, 2010 2:31 PM
To: "Jeff Mills", FileFront Community Manager
Subject: Break

Jeff,

A number of people in our community are concerned about the following
points. I was wondering if you could give me a definitive answer that I can
quote to settle concerns on the following points:-

1) There is strong concern that FileFront is going to get less "family
friendly" because Break's existing sites are strongly "male-oriented"
and Break may not appreciate that the different demographic needs a
different approach to management.

2) People are concerned that Break might choose to close some of the network
sites down.

3) Could you confirm that Break won't require a paid membership to download
files.

Regards,

Freyr

-----Original Message-----
Date : Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:16:43 +0000 (GMT Standard Time)
From : "Jeff Mills", FileFront Community Manager
To : "'Freyr'" <freyr@a2upgrades.net>
Subject : Break


Hey Freyr,

I can answer each of these questions and you will be delighted at the
answers.

1) While there are sites on Break Medias network that are more 'male
oriented', we have emphasized that we must maintain a level of content that
is suitable for children 13 and older. They have no problems with this and
agree with our stance that when we begin doing additional content that the
age appropriateness of what is shown remains what you would expect to see on
FileFront.

2) They have expressed no interest in shutting down any of the current
network sites, including the ones that are no longer being updated. I have
maintained that point to them that even those sites no longer having staff
are still driving traffic. _If_ this is changed and they do want to close
down certain sites, it will only be towards those sites who no longer have
staff or an active community. We have shown that our sites have very strong
and loyal communities and doing anything to upset them would hurt us in the
long run.

3) There have been talks of a paid membership, but what is being discussed
would not remove the free download option nor restrict bandwidth of
downloading files but be focused on other options we can now provide.
Possibility of ad-free content, upgraded file sizes to upload, etc..
absolutely none of the options are confirmed though and everything is still
far from being completed, however the above mentioned free downloads and
unrestricted bandwidth will not be touched. I cannot promise completely this
will change but we're all in agreement as of writing this that to maintain
what FileFront is to the gaming community we cannot remove any current
option we provide, only add to them.

I hope this helps clarify some questions about what's going on and calms
ruffled feathers about a new company taking us over. They've been bending
over backwards to make sure that what will happen with FileFront is
something that the current management will be a part of 100%. Think of it
this way, they see us as a car they just bought and now they're going to go
add new rims, interior design, overpower the engine and give us a new paint
job. They're not taking away any part of the car, just either adding to it
or upgrading it.

Thanks,
Jeff

I'd just like to note that the limit for uploading to the network is 600MB simply because the server melts when much more than this is uploaded. Average Armada II total conversions are usually in the range of 50-100MB, and the largest file A2files hosts at the time I'm writing this is 288.8 MB, comfortably under half the current upload limit.

Regardless, as you can see things won't be changing appreciably.

 

[Majestic]

Thanks for updating us Freyr, it's great to see. I know many here have been worried about the breaking purchase.

 

[Syf]

That is excellent news indeed. As long as things stay that way, then I'd say this matter is resolved by the FF staff. I give them 2 thumbs up for showing their commitment to their members. Indeed, they deserve a round of applause.

 

[Icewolf]

Well, if it will bring new and better things for the site and for the community, then let it be. It is a bit of a gamble in some areas, but it seems that it's all for the better.

And cheers to the staff, you all do a good job of keep an eye out and keeping things in line .

 

[Elrond]

Definitely a logical choice @ the staff of Filefront! Can't wait to see how it shall improve!