Did DC get rid of their message boards to stop criticism?

[superduperman]

For those who remember, DC used to have a message board system much like this one where fans could make their own threads and comment on various topics. Not long after the New52 reboot, however, this thread was gotten rid of. At the time I kind of wondered if this wasn't because they wanted to stop all the complaining about all the continuity problems that were going on at that time. Does anyone know anything about why it went away?

[Michael P]

I think it was more that the boards were an intellectual and emotional cesspool.

[Buried Alien]

I think it was more that the boards were an intellectual and emotional cesspool.

They were also technologically outdated and poorly maintained.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[BrotherMeh]

They were also technologically outdated and poorly maintained.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

This is basically it. I was there back in those days, and it was a huge mess with a lot of insane threads and arguments. It had zero to do with the N52, there were plenty of moderated sites doing it better for free and other media outlets (Twitter and Facebook) that they could use.

[trooper_thorn]

I actually miss it quite a bit sometimes.

While I do think there should have been more policing of spammers (it's a bit much when the same person posts 10+ times in a row) I miss boards where there was genuine criticism and diversity of views, people who loved the new characters interacted with people who loathed them as opposed to just hiding them from sight.

Whether it was done specifically to prevent criticism of the New 52 is not something I can really comment on.

[JackDaw]

I actually miss it quite a bit sometimes.

While I do think there should have been more policing of spammers (it's a bit much when the same person posts 10+ times in a row) I miss boards where there was genuine criticism and diversity of views, people who loved the new characters interacted with people who loathed them as opposed to just hiding them from sight.

Whether it was done specifically to prevent criticism of the New 52 is not something I can really comment on.

I also miss them.

My guess is that DC chose to shut them down because it seemed bizarre to pump DC money into a site where the company received constant criticism. It would only take one key decision maker to say something like "Why pay to maintain a site that makes us look bad? We need to use the money elsewhere".

DC were probably in a "no win" situation... running the boards in a way that removed that criticism (e.g. banning a fair few posters) would probably have made DC look an intolerant bunch: on surface this board can effectively "police" anti-DC comments (certainly in relation to individual characters) than the old DC site ever did.

[Jabare]

its been gone for a few years now but it was on its way out anyway.

There was little to no moderation, the layout and structure was from the 90s. It was just a very substandard message board that had been neglected.

Only DC really knows why at the end of the day, but with the rise of social media and existence of other much better and more popular message boards like CBR the old dc message boards seemed all but obsolete.

[Den]

It was indeed a cesspool. I believe wanting to curb critics of the Nu52 may have been part of it, but the darn thing had no real moderation or supervision and was neither constructive nor pleasant imo.

[colonyofcells]

I remember the old dc forums where you could say anything altho they did delete posts they did not like but they rarely banned anybody. I got banned once in the old dc forums more than 10 years ago but I returned after the ban was lifted. I realized the old dc forums was sort of unique after I noticed it was easier to get banned in other forums. At first, I thought maybe the old dc forums just had more males that was why most males could say anything there. I remember the old dc forums as a fun place to be in and I was there for about 10 years.

[JasonTodd428]

That forum had little to no moderation at the time I was lurking there toward the end of it's existence and because of that things had gotten out of control IMHO. You could indeed say ANYTHING you wanted to there but some of what I saw there was blatant trolling and/or flaming of various posters that frankly someone in charge needed to put to an end. It was indeed a cesspool and because of that honestly I don't really care if they also wanted to somehow silence detractors of the N52. Something had to be done and if no one had the balls to actually moderate it then it was better to just close it.

[upgrayedd]

I was there too. The one thing I miss about it was the size of the community. Here it is pretty much the same people all the time.

[d.w washburn]

That forum had little to no moderation at the time I was lurking there toward the end of it's existence and because of that things had gotten out of control IMHO. You could indeed say ANYTHING you wanted to there but some of what I saw there was blatant trolling and/or flaming of various posters that frankly someone in charge needed to put to an end. It was indeed a cesspool and because of that honestly I don't really care if they also wanted to somehow silence detractors of the N52. Something had to be done and if no one had the balls to actually moderate it then it was better to just close it.

Saddest thing was that it was some of (if not all of) the Mods that were the worst Trolls on the site. I remember that they all had alt accounts and would let their chosen few get away with anything.