The story of Cellar.org?
 

I am new as a member, though I have been visiting (lurking?) for a while. Most of the other community sites I've visited don't seem to work... they end up being a couple of posters and dozens of members who post three times then never come back. Or else everyone has the same opinion and it's a big circle jerk.

The only other community I find successful is very rigidly structured and policed and god help you if you didn't read the stickies, rules, and search to see if your question has already been asked and answered. It works in that case. The Cellar seems to be able to thrive with a looser approach.

I don't mean to sound like like a friggin sociologist. I'm not writing a term paper (though that is a hobby of mine). But I am curious: How/when/why did the Cellar start? Is UT alone the founder? Did some of you guys know each other (in person) or did you just start yapping online? Why so many members from PA? Why does this work, really? Does the cellar flood during rainy season? Has it been tested for Radon? Is that Willard on the rafters?

I don't mean to start a LoveFest either... I think it's cool and seek understanding. I also wanted to use the term "circle jerk" in one of my first dozen posts. I can now cross that off my to-do list.

Read this. ;)

Thanks, xoxoxoBruce. That answers the founding question.

The sociology questions fascinate you like they fascinate me, Harlan.

There's no need to police a strong community - the people set their own agenda and police it themselves through mores. We've had approximately one non-spam-related banning per year. The community has mixed feelings even when a necessary banning takes place.

If it was harshly policed it wouldn't survive, either. We want to be free to talk about anything that occurs to us. Would you go to a tavern that had a sign on the wall "No Talking About Cats"?

There remain precious few online communities that will talk about *anything* - most have a specific purpose and a community may develop as a result, if there is critical mass. This one has been relentlessly about nothing since the beginning.

It doesn't really care about its growth either. There is no business plan. Whatever happens, happens. As long as it has grown it has been able to support itself, roughly, so let's allow it to drift and see what paths it cuts for itself. I could never see how any community would put up with a business plan. People don't want to think that their local forum could suffer or go away because somebody got fired or a business had a bad year.

Oh god, yes. In fact, let's make that the new official motto.

Say, speaking of cats, my Siamese did the cutest thing yesterday... :lol:

To me the cellar is like visiting a great interactive public library. You can discuss really profound questions, look at some amazing pictures, get advise for the love lorn, talk about what you had for lunch, and have no holds barred political arguments with the guy who runs the place, and its all cool. Every other board I visit has tons of rules. This place has 3.

Isn't this one of the oldest continuously running discussion forums on the 'Net, UT? Which reminds me. I have a little spare cash this month. I think I'll go hit the tip jar. ;)

Let's not talk about cats - it'll only end up talking about toast.

The Cellar works to my mind because of its diversity of subject matter and personalities. For some reason there's an inbuilt respect for the way this forum has self-structured and we interact accordingly without having to be told to do so - and that certainly encourages those who are here to stay here.

It's also something that would be difficult to change as too many of us like the way it is.

We have a critical mass (and I don't mean a communion that's running late or that the bulk of the members are past saving... hmm, second thoughts...) and once established this phenomenon is hard to break.

i like a good cat jam on my toast

the people make the difference. you cant stay here unless someone like me can call you a @#$%ing idiot without you getting offended. because you all know i have no real grounds for calling you all @#$%ing idiots so it doesnt bother you. and you could all call me a @#$%ing idiot without me getting upset.

my point is....youre all @#$%ing idiots!

but my real point is that the people here let you say what you need to say without "flaming". theres no competition for attention or who has the best "What the Fuck" picture etc.

The Cellar: Its how Communism should be.

That's it! The Cellar is the Seinfeld of forums. :smack:

"What is it with spam anyway?"

Its made out of cats. :neutral:

I just reread the Cellar history. I remember the BBQ and the move to Trooper, which means I have been using the Cellar since about 1992. Wow.

I am here partly just because this forum has adults, or at least mature minds, which can and will deal with situations and people in ways that bring resolutions rather than open warfare. Unfortunately, I get to see the other side of that coin every day and it is very annoying and stressful. I have to monitor a forum where the rules are very strict and failure to adhere to them or challenging the people who enforce them leads to banning. But the participants at my "other forum" are extremely immature and many of them are perfect little shitheads who obviously want to claim "rights" they have read about in canned speaches but which they do not deserve. Because an entertainer pays for that forum, I do what SHE wants, not what some brat with an attitude wants to turn the forum into. It's impossible to raise somebody else's kids online, especially considering how many countries and cultures they are coming from, and I don't want that job anyway. Instead, I have to take all the gunfire and hate because it's easier for them to blame me and the other moderators than to admit that their idol might actually not WANT all their half-baked opinions, egos, and acting out. I can come to The Cellar and watch serious life in action. People who can make things happen, people who can express themselves, people who have different attitudes but who (mostly) do not want to kill me for mine. It's a breath of fresh air, even when somebody farts ;)

Maybe in time my friend. Give us another year, then maybe. :)

@#$%ing noobie questions
 

Noobie questions: is this the required spelling for "@#$%ing idiots"? Are there alternative acceptable spellings? How does Kagen404 spell it so consistently? Is there a special Cellar keystroke for "@#$%ing idiots,"? And why Kagen404? What happened to Kagen403? If I demand to know the whereabouts of Kagens 399 to 402 inclusive, will I acheive @#$%ing idiot status?

shift+2,3,4,5,/shift,i,n,g

i cant tell you where 403 is and i cant find 404. especially since im 4o4.

@#$%ing idiot status is just a metaphor....think about it

Look at your keyboard, @#$% is 2345, right in order. Easy to repeat every time. But it's okay to say "fuck" here, if that's your preference. "Cock" is a perennial favorite. And I believe "asshat" once even won a popularity poll, though I couldn't tell you where that thread ran off to.

He's shaping up nicely! :)

:lol: :cool:

fashizzel

Fashizzel???

What you up to, man?

I was always taught that the cellar sprung, fully formed, from the sea.

That's salted, then...

On the 8th day, no less!

as Brianna gazed into the mirror...
http://www.diskussionsforen.ch/Orien...elli_venus.jpg
oh no, that was me!

Damn straight :lol:

or at least mature minds


is this where I insert the fart jokes?

Back to the original 2345ing topic
 

Back to the original 2345ing topic, I mean @#$%ing topic, how deep is your allegiance to Undertoad and your loyalty to the Cellar? Would you take up arms to defend it if attacked by another forum, say the imperialist FARKers at Fark? Would you follow UT into battle if he called for a preemptive strike on, say, the Adult Friend Finders group in Reading, or seize the Wordpress Forum to search for Blogs of Mass destruction? How many of you are willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice for this, your Forum?

Off hand, I'd have to say it sounds like way too much effort for any of us, though of course I won't venture to speak for anybody else.

Having said that, I thought the google-bombing of whale penis went well.

Do we get to wear a cool uniform?

oh hey, if there's a uniform involved you can count me in...

{IS there an official uniform o' the Cellar?}

Straightjackets and ball gags.

But only for the frequent whiney posters.

Hey, me and my trusty band of Navajo Code Talkers are always up for a good skirmish! Errr.. does FARK have WMD's? :eyebrow:

I'll fight if UT wants me to, but I'm not going to jail for you or anybody!

Real life warfare with "arms" is quite different in my mind from cyber-forum wars.

But the question....our loyalty to UT? I can say with honesty that if I saw someone getting an ass-whopping in real life that is a member here, regardless of how I feel about their posts, I'd back them up.

Likewise if there was a genuine tragedy for anyone here, I'd help out as I could, just for being one of the members.

As for alegience for Toad, for the most parts he's just a member, no offense UT. Not heavy handed and always interfering with the forum, adding new rules, busting my rocks, etc etc.

He's a leader in a way but mostly not. This place evolves on it's own. If you dont like the new people that have come in, deal with it or move on. There have been more than a few regulars that have left. That's their deal though.

I am routinely wrong, and require the collective wisdom of everyone to point it out when I am.

And humble for such a smart guy. It's just as rare as this forum, the Cellar.

Can I wear my leather harness and a strap on :whip: :spank:

Not in cold weather. :sick2:

Does this mean you've found the guys who trashed the Cellar - 3 times?http://www.cellar.org/images/smilies/pissed.gif

You had to ask?

Brianna?

Careful. You might start another 'Love in'. Too many of those and some might say The Cellar is where whores hang out.

The Cellar: Where Whores hang out

Whores need love to.

to what?

I meant TO say TWO (2). :censored:

Well, at least you spelled 'to' write...er...I mean right.http://www.cellar.org/images/smilies/lol.gif

URM ......you spelled leased rong

how about a decoder ring?

No decoder ring unless you bring enough for the whole class.:eyebrow:

Oh....wait...there's no class around here......nevermind.

How often do people post here? I need constant stimulation.

Um...I think you've confused The Cellar with AIM... :)

@Elspode: I like my message boards - what is that word? active.

I think I can make this place work.

I may have to get my hands dirty.

ADHD?:rolleyes:

Ben-wa balls?

Trust me, The Cellar works. It started out as a BBS rather a long time ago (in online time, anyway), or so it says in the history.

You'll get used to the pace here, really. Attempts to overdrive the place will explode in your face like a Briggs and Stratton on nitrous. There's a lot of us old bastards here, and we read kinda slow between bites of our strained peas.

You can eat strained peas, Patrick? I'm jealous! All I can manage is the occasional can of Ensure, and the damn nursing staff keep pushing my wheel chair away from the computer. It takes me an hour to get back using my walker.

Yeah, don't try to break the Cellar, boys. It'll break you! Heh! :p

I never overdrive anything. In time, it will all make sense.

You must then be truly from another galaxy, because *nothing* in this one makes much sense...