Not a topic on fanfic itself per se, but for anyone else who writes and/or cares about them:

By complete (lucky!) chance, I happened to see an announcement at BTTF.com that, in order to cut down server space, the FanFic forum will be going away on May 15th.

From this point on, this forum will likely grow in activity and threads, but if you've got sentimental threads, or other info you'd just like to save, this is the best heads-up I could do.

I personally think it's a huge disservice to the fans, on Stephen's part, to delete an entire forum where people have poured alot of work into composing their thoughts. Not only will we lose informative discussions of certain stories and 3 years with of helpful tips on writing itself, etc, but where the heck will most visitors to that site have any idea where to post stories or discuss them from now on?

Other alternatives would be far more logical to me - cutting all posts made before 2004 or something along those lines. Even getting rid of all of Booklover's posts would clear alot of space up! :lol:

Then again, getting Stephen to change his mind isn't always an easy task!!

Might as well repost my fanfic topic on here then.
Stephen might've thought it was a useless forum to have in the first place, but later changed his mind.
Besides, how long has that fanfic forum been around? 20 years?
As some people sometimes post useless topics/posts, maybe that's why Stephen wants to get rid ot it for good.
Question is, will it ever come back?
It could've been worse, he might'vbe decided to delete all of the forums instead of one of them. I wish he could delete the BTTF 4 forum as it'll never get made.

I was saddened to see the announcement as well. Prehaps the forum isn't as active as it once was, but there are several forums there that have that problem (the forum concerning the animated series comes to mind). Why did Stephen choose this particular topic?

Is it selfish of me, as a fanfic writer, to view this as a personal insult? 'Cause it sure as heck feels like one.

Not a bit, Tracie - that was my feeling too. ;)

Anytime, I think, it involves a sizable chunk of the BTTF community, it's a mistake to do away with it.

Even the "BTTF on the Road" forum -- since all that's outdated anyway and doesn't matter for future events -- wouldn't have been bad to delete all past posts in. Maybe combine the "Cast" and "Crew" sections?

It strikes me that Stephen's "heart" isn't in it as much anymore, so he's more inclined to do what's "easiest" as opposed to what would work best in the long run?

Wow. I'm not a fanfic writer or reader, but it doesn't take a genius to see that the fanfic community for BTTF is pretty big. This does kind of seem like a selfish move on Stephen's part, unless, I suppose, it isn't possible to purchase more space for the board.

My guess is that he decided to cut the forum because it was big and because it's the most unrelated to BTTF of all the other forums. I know, I know, that sounds really weird, but in a strange way, it's true. People invent stories about BTTF, so even though it wouldn't exist without the movies, it doesn't really have much to do with the movies story-wise. It uses the movies as a basis for other stories. I suppose Stephen figured he could cut the forum and justify it in that way.

I'm not trying to bash fanfic in any way, so I hope what I've said doesn't make it seem that way. That's just the reason why I think Stephen is getting rid of it.

I pretty much said goodbye to bttf.com along time ago.
Did someone say upgrade?

I'll post there time and again, but it's a dieing animal that place.

It used to be so cool, but so many bad changes have killed it.

This is just another nail in the bttf.com coffin.

I am really upset I won't be able to post any future stories I write, and that intern will probably stop me from writting anymore.

At least I can still do my comics . . . . but for how long? I think that internet forum will be the next to be pulled out into the street and shot.

^Then Stephen would someday charge us money for the accounts to keep it going.

Then the announcement is that the BTTF.com message board has been erased from existence.
No way in hell it's ever coming back after that announcement.

Not surprised with this news, but I am disappointed.

-Kristen

Sucks!

Boooo! Hsssss! *Throws a cup at Ron Artest*

Would it be plagiarism to copy and paste all the fanfic topics from bttf.com to this site? It would really suck to lose them. :(

Hey Kristen, welcome - glad to see you around. :)

You bring up a good point which I never thought of. I suppose if there are legalities in concern, I can see why he'd make that decision -- sometimes it's better to be safe than sorry.

At least he gave a warning, but still I disagree with this action (which, based on the fact that I've stood by him in past instances where people didn't like what he did with the board, etc. make me -- and others, for that matter -- feel a little betrayed).

Hey Aaron, I'm sure that won't be a problem.

I'm off to work shortly, but I frequently stay up late, so I'd be happy to get to work on that when I get home, in fact. :)

It would be more of a personal request then legal. Since I for one have made no money off any of my entries.
From what Kristin has said, it seems possible that people like Bob Gale aren't too thrilled with other "amateur" writters penning fanfics on the official board.
Needless to say, this makes me mad.

Sounds great, mate :)

I think a reason it does bother me that this forum is being terminated is that, in my POV, it's almost like a slap in the face. As in, "Hey, we don't consider or want fanfic in this fandom, so just slip out the back door, thankuverymuch, because we no longer want to remotely sanction or acknowledge that this goes on."

(Blame a long hiatus on my part by just having to work full time and being hyperfocued on writing my third book. Once I get a first draft done, hopefully this summer, I'll finish up HVC4, I swear!)

-Kristen

Alright, I've officially begun cut & pasting the threads over here (dating, formatting, and all else). :)

Just to make it easier and save our space, I'm going to just some of the more "main" ones and/or anything with a long written post, etc.

In all, I might do 50-70% of the topics. I've got 6 days from today, so as they say, I better get crackin'. ;)

Just wanted to say that you're doing a good job so far, Spotty. I (and other fanfiction writers/readers, I'm sure) appreciate you putting in the time to transfer the topics from bttf.com over here so they won't be lost. :88:

^ Thanks, a lot, Aaron - my pleasure. :)

I suppose I'd look at what I'm doing as sort of a "Greatest Hits" album of fanfic.

Wow Spotty, you must have alot of spare time on your hands. You've copied so many topics over here.

The absence of dates and times still bother me though. It's just not the same as it is on the message board. At least you included their names.

Seriously though mate, have a break, I think we can do without some of them ;)

^Hear, hear.

I've discontinued the Death of Marty fanfic months ago.

I've finally taken the plunge and registered with this board, mostly as a place to discuss fanfiction etc and also to "see" everyone again. Believe it or not, I've missed not having posts from Blind Spot, LonePineKath, Shandy and numerous others on bttf.com. :) Anyways, let's get back on topic.....

Good to see quite a few of my topics have been saved! Of course I would discover you'd saved them after making my own copies of certain threads..... ;)

Whilst I can understand why Stephen is closing the Fan Fiction forum, it is still rather sad. I always checked that forum everytime I visited to see the latest developments in the genre, and I've found some very good stories through that forum. If some posts have to be deleted to save webspace, I agree with numerous people when I say that the BTTF4 forum should be closed instead, or perhaps all the numerous "2nd DeLorean in 1885" posts - clearing those alone would probably save a lot of webspace! :)

I'm of the opinion there are better ways to save the space, but I don't think it is a decision Stephen made lightly. I doubt he just woke up one morning and said, "Oh, I know, I'll close the fanfiction forum today!". :docs2:

Anyway, glad to finally be here, and looking forward to fanfiction discussions in the future.

Hey Gareth - a big welcome! Glad to see you around. :)

If it's not purely to save webspace, I will probably tend to agree with Kristen, that if, say the Bobs were to read the board, he might not want them stumbling across fanfics. Maybe they go hand-in-hand?

BTW, don't worry too much about delving off-topic here! I won't close/edit any posts unless it's spam-ish or 100% O/T, and I know you wouldn't do that!! :)

PS: I saved more topics in Word since I know it'll go down today (in fact, I thought it would terminate at Midnight tonight), so I'll get those formatted in the next day or two. I didn't think I had enough time last night, and I needed a short rest, LOL.

Thanks for the welcome!

I do suspect though that the main reason is webspace - it's the "official" reason quoted by Stephen, and the 91% figure I can believe. But everyone else on this topic has bought up some good points about why the fanfiction forum was chosen to be closed, and I do suspect they may be more right than they think they are.....

Although, if the Bobs were to visit the board (and how good would that be? :marty:), they could always just not read the fanfiction forum if it were still there.....

Well, it's late morning here (on the west coast), and the fanfic forum on BTTF.COM is still there. And the announcement that it's going to close is missing, too, I noticed. Huh. Either the message expired after a certain time by itself and Stephen is terminating it at the end of the day, not the start (like I assumed and BS assumed), or maybe he decided to go back on his decision. Hmmmmm....

EDIT: Nevermind. It's gone now. Feh. :angry:

-Kristen

^ It's a sad sight isn't it. The best forum erased :blink: :(

It's just not fair. Why didn't he hold a vote between the bttf4 forum and the fanfics?
Because he wasn't as truthful as he could have been most likely.

And welcome Dr. Frasier Crane. I'm so happy you have come over to the dark side. lol. I merged over to this lane pretty recently too.

I PMed a letter to Stephen expressing not only my own thoughts, but the collective opinion of the whole. He repiled, citing his reasons and also implying that the Part 4 forum may be the next to get axed.

^good riddance to bad rubbish! :P

lol, what was I on in that previous page?

I've cooled down now. I'm still sad the fanfic forum is gone. But I don't want to be too hard on Stephen or the board. Afterall I met the love of my life over there, it's hard to be negative about a place with so many wonderful memories.