Blumiere · @BlumiereSSB
3rd Feb 2017 from TwitLonger
About Smashcords
I've spent the last year working on Smashcords. I've enjoyed this experience for the most part despite the odd bit of drama here and there.
Despite my initial plans for 2017 I don't think I can continue as I have been. Smashcords is a significant drain on my personal time in its current form and I feel like I am prevented from dealing with real life events and other projects adequately. I will be keeping the website open but I will be minimizing my presence on Discord by cancelling my expansion plans, closing the Central and Leadership servers, and ending affiliation with the Crew and Factory servers.
Addressing the elephant in the room: I also feel greatly discouraged by a significant number of the Discord admins in this community. I have been trying for nearly the entire lifetime of Smashcords to get the various admins to organize in the same server so that newer admins can learn from senior ones by watching. This has never materialized because of a smug, standoffish "what's in it for me?" attitude that pervades the oldest admin group. I am tired of trying to get people to help each other when they are simply not interested.
These changes will coincide with a new version of Smashcords. The new site functions like discord.me (but with an approval process and without premium listings). It will actually allow new servers to be added significantly faster since I can click buttons instead of downloading icons and writing code to update the website (which mean others can finally do it too). It's also searchable. That's kind of neat, right?
I hope that this change will allow me to still support the smash Discord community while reducing my role somewhat. By the way: if any of my Patreon supporters dislike the new website when it launches I will be happy to send you a refund. I greatly appreciate your generosity and I don't want you to think that I am pulling the rug out from under you.