A little bit o' info about our previous forums -- By John J.:

Before reading this, please note that I pull no punches. Everything I say is exactly what is in my thoughts and if you're offended by that, then by all means take your business elsewhere (Read: Fuck off.)...

Update: It has come to my attention that StarkvilleForums, particularly one moderator I had the unfortunate chance to publically argue via Twitter with regarding the following message. If anyone from StarkvilleForums.com would like to speak with me privately regarding this matter, you can e-mail me at my personal e-mail. Please note this page is not in any way meant to bash/point fingers at anyone mentioned below, nor is it by any means designed to slander the website. I am personally, immensely frustrated with how the entire ordeal went down from start to finish... even moreso the fact that the forums were shut down without any type of warning. In addition, I feel I have a responsibility to the fans and staff of [adult swim] central as well as The Swimcast to explain what went down and exactly WHY we no longer have forums.

Originally, we had our own forums that I had thrown up (mainly as an experiment) on the Swimcast website. We were able to screw around with random stuff... I think I had (or planned to) even set up an arcade of sorts, similar to the one on BabyDeathTrap.com.

Around late 2008/early 2009, I'd recieved a message from one Mr. Derek Russell (formerly of Skynext, 10th Wonder, and Starkville's House of El podcasts.. among others.) I honestly wish I had saved my convos with him as proof (since he has since denied ever saying so.) however, in our convo Mr. Russell extended an offer for The Swimcast to become "an affiliate" with their at the time NEW StarkvilleForums.com. Additionally, Mr. Russell boasted that he had hundreds of visitors who would be capable of boosting the listenership/popularity of The Swimcast.

Without hesistation... I accepted the offer, took the SMF forums on this website down (with a redirect to StarkvilleForums,) and stayed in contact with Mr. Russell and his associates in order to set up the initial forums on their website. The change was met (for the most part) with indifference. Most of the internal [as]central staff who were previously signed up on the SMF forums opted not to sign up on Starkville, while others were met with hostility. In particular, Swimcast co-host Trish, who is known for her rather raunchy humor and conversations was attacked immediately after... due to Starkville leaving out the fact that they were trying to maintain a PG forum environment. Eventually, the issue was resolved, however the damage had already been done and Trish refused to post on Starkville anymore.

In mid-2009, the powers-that-be at StarkvilleForums decided to revamp, and for one reason or another, the "Affiliate Podcasts" were banished to a sub-forum that were barely seen by anyone. I recall one or two instances in posting in one of the main forums when I mentioned The Swimcast... People had no clue that an [adult swim] podcast existed, let alone shared forums with Starkville. On top of this, my own moderator privledges were removed which hindered any control over The Swimcast forums. Rather frustrated, I sent a long and mostly unneccsary e-mail to Mr. Russell letting him know that I was not pleased with the direction Starkville was going in... from the Trish incident to these new changes that were implemented without our knowledge. Mr. Russell was rather apologetic, and was able to have my moderator privledges reinstated. To this day, I'm not sure how that sat with the rest of the "team" at Starkville, nor do I care.

From there, problems only got worse... many of our fellow "Affiliates" essentially dropped off the radar, which led to their own forums slowly decaying. The cancellation of The Sarah Connor Chronicles also signaled the end of the Skynext podcast, removing more visitors from StarkvilleForums.com. The Swimcast forums effectively became a place where a couple of the former/current [as]central and Swimcast crew decided to mock the forums as a whole, due to the way the forum had effectively (and in our opinion) treated us like their own red-headed stepchild.

In the spring of 2010, NBC announced the end of Heroes, effectively ending 10th Wonder, the second of the three Starkville podcasts. Unknowingly, and mostly off-handed (due to the fact that Mr. Russell had been ignoring me the whole time, and I was not aware he could read my Twitter -- My personal Twitter is secured and only followers can read my posts.) I replied to a post of his about him "knowing shows" or something to that effect. Mr. Russell, without hesitation nor attempting to contact me to speak amicably regarding the issue, decided to unfollow me on Twitter. I promptly replied on his Facebook citing that "the marriage was over." Mr. Russell procceded to lure me into a pissing contest... one of which he could not win. Additionally, he disavowed any knowledge of our initial conversation regarding the Affiliate Podcasts... which, again I wish I could prove since I changed computers over a year ago. Shortly after our argument, Mr. Russell decided that he would "resign" from his podcasting duties, removing his Facebook account, and purging his Twitter to only 3 followers. I don't pretend to know what's going on in his personal/professional life (nor is it my business) but despite our argument, I'm sure he has his own reasons/issues for effectively bailing on his (in my honest and professional opinion) very well done podcasting work.

Sometime in the past week or so (Early August 2010) I attempted to log onto StarkvilleForums, only to be met with the following message:

Hey Guys

As you may or may not have seen the forums have been inactive now for a while - especially now TSCC and Heroes have been cancelled. For the time being, I have closed the forums until I can speak to Graham to decide what we will do with it.

I want to take this opportunity to thank everybody who visited the forums and discussed all manner of things with us - to all of the moderators here especially Kim, Marti, and Beth. And of course to Steve, Derek, Joe and Graham for all of their podcasty-goodness!

We may return one day, but until then thanks for everything guys!

Stuart

And thus, the final nail in the coffin as it pertains to the "marriage" between Starkville and The Swimcast. Believe me when I say, I hold no ill will towards Mr. Russell, Graham Hancock, Stuart, or any of their associates (except for maybe that Jen bitch... get a life, It's called teasing.) Despite not having listened to either 10th Wonder or SHoE (since I have no interest in Heroes nor Smallville) I was an avid listener of Skynext, Tangent (even though IMHO, his interview with Dana Snyder wasn't nearly as good as The Swimcast's), Round 3, and their Human Target podcast. It's a shame Mr. Russell bailed on his creations... but again, he obviously has his reasons/issues in doing so. Perhaps one day he will return.

Having said that, I would like to personally thank Hunter and Ryan from 2Geeks1Podcast (Hunter: Thanks for covering for Trish that one time... you guys are more than welcome on a Swimcast anytime,) Aaron and Will from Axed (sorry that Axed-Swimcast crossover for Frisky Dingo never worked out,) moderators Martina and Stuart, and anyone else who interacted with myself and the rest of the [as]central/Swimcast crew and fans in a positive manner on the StarkvilleForums website.

Lastly, just to cover my own ass... because somehow I have no doubt Derek Russell will stumble upon this page and ask me to remove it because he's having trouble finding work in his industry (something I still find laughable... you don't not get jobs this way.) I'm sure originally, I offered an invite on... but if you're adamant about me removing this, I shall... on the condition that you come on The Swimcast and explain exactly how the "Affiliate Podcasts" were supposed to work, since you were my original contact... not Graham, not Stuart, not anyone else. I don't full-heartedly expect an apology... especially since the downfall of StarkvilleForums wasn't probably mostly your fault... although, in retrospect... your bailing out kind of coincides with the "temporary" closing of said forums. Regardless, if you expect something from me (which I've learned is usually when people start talking to me, if not because of disputes.) I expect a little something in return. No one from [as]central/The Swimcast holds any bitterness or ill will towards you... but I think our (meaning my) fans deserve a clear answer. This was clearly what I believe we in the industry call a "bad business desicion." This is what is called a failed attempt at a joke (at least for the most part.)

P.S.: I currently have no intentions of starting a new forum for the Swimcast... as my associate, Nikki_D from BabarsHouse.com has put it... forums are kind of a dead art. Plus, after the move to Starkville I ended up using the former Swimcast forums to experiment with SMF. But if you, the Swimcast fans, feel that we should have forums... please let us know by e-mailing in.

Peace, Love, and Go Team Swimcast!!!!

John J.