AR - a brand beyond repair?

So DFL re-opended - and you've got no need to come and spend time with your old pal Vinny, ey? Not jumping on the bandwagon (although it might seem so) but if we're going to start bashing the rings (something I previously said I would not do) then lets look at the core of the problem.

AbandonwareRing.com - a few years back was getting 6000+ uniques a day. I've updated there three times in total (one of those times I ran it for Swizzle). Various people in the scene have always had it's issues with it , but after so long - it becomes hard to defend (or support) something that is in an absolute state. I'm not expecting much from the scene nowadays in terms of productivity or earth-shattering events; because quite frankly those days are long gone. What I do have a problem with though is a ring as big as AR (Oh here he goes -first TUOL now AR - when is this guy gonna learn?) carrying on as it does.

Every update I see (and it must be noted, that I admire Bakkelun at the AR for his consistent dedication - he quite reminds me of Jante before he jumped ship to AP) is a fucking plug for their site - this is first page text-book no-no for every ring-news-update - I mean, seriously guys? Can I get a job at AR aswell and plug this piece of shit site, so it increases my hits - because the other 123 websites that aren't your sites, don't seem to get that much attention.

Secondly this "just had a wank and a hot coco.. feeling tired.. check sites yourself..." culture that we are getting into is a fucking joke, literally. I mean, why bother posting anything, next time?

Thirdly to run a ring as we all know, can cost a lot right? I mean we're probably talking $100's a month? Wrong. Love the pay-per-click banner, hate the colour scheme of it though. I quite admire the google links though, they blend into the design. Hey guys, any chance of getting some porn-banners up aswell? Better yet, lets get some embedded roulette tables up there, that'll keep the punters coming.

You've got 28 suspended sites (!!) and around about on average 10 dead sites on the listing (keeping figures conservative here!) that's 38 sites altogether Incorporated into the 126 sites - take that away and your left with 88 sites - that's a massive 30.2% drop in members! I had a look at the 'Suspended List' and there are sites which are suspended since 2005 - four years ago! I miss those sites too guys - but come on, it's time to let go, isn't it?

Lets delve deeper into the problem though. I had a talk with Swizzle back in mid-2008, of which I offered my help as the ring back then was going to pot - I was told he doesn't have anything to do with the ring anymore and he gave it to LoneLee (fair enough - but how comes your still updating mate?) I contacted LoneLee twice and waited three weeks - I got nothing back.

A few last points - I tried to update this site via AR the other day, but my attempts failed miserably - so I came up with the solution of putting a number in each field (E.g. - apps, games, etc) and it updated successfully. What is quite disappointing was that this was not questioned and the listing shows that I have 9 games on this site.

I have to commend Swizzle by giving the updating procedures to young-turks, who have no history of flame wars in the scene (unlike previous updaters - myself included) but this arrangement just hasn't worked out. I refuse to take a ring that accepts other rings and sites like 'Free Abandonware' 100% seriously.

My stance on the matter is not an ultimatum, but I'll be considering my position at AR. I joined rings not for the visitors (because quite frankly I don't get much input here from newbies - big shock there) but because I want to support these rings. Rings don't hold the importance of what they once did anymore, so I think it's more of a nostalgia thing for me. But if the AR is offended by my post, please remove me if at least 95% of what is stated here; is not true. I'm a AR veteran and will always hold esteem for it, but I can't see my post making any sort of significant impact, unfortunately

On a side note: I support Abandon-Places (AP) although I must say I'm disappointed because it's the better out of the two.