Is it true? NamePros Sold?

[Ben42]

Namepros has been sold?

http://domaingang.com/domain-news/breaking-bodis-buys-namepros-domain-forum/

 

[Ben42]

The High Priced Domains I believe was one of the better sections, I'm looking forward to perusing it again. I'm sure it's tricky to say what gets in and whats not, but I was 99% happy with the names that did make it in. Looking forward to the future here.

 

[matt_bodis]

Just trying to think why this forum was more active a few years ago, and I also realized I was much more active as well.

I think High Priced Domains was definitely one of those reasons. I've done at least 5 great transactions there.

But obviously, needs to be administrated so that only the good domains get in. And yes it is tricky and of course it is based on personal judgement of a domain's value.

---------- Post added at 04:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:13 PM ----------

I also welcome everyone's feedback & suggestions on ways to improve the forum. I have 5 developers, if something needs to be done, then we'll do it!

 

[Archangel]

We have weekly meetings. A lotta good things have come up. Once I get a bit more time, I'll PM you with some thoughts for ya. I'm like, the resident muse here lol Not all of my ideas are good but I always have a lotta ideas

I also welcome everyone's feedback & suggestions on ways to improve the forum. I have 5 developers, if something needs to be done, then we'll do it!

---------- Post added at 04:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:24 PM ----------

As a Section Leader, lemme tell ya: Accounts that are banned are All rightfully banned. We make no mistakes. ppl break he rules and whine about how they feel the rules shouldn't exist or how we should have made an exception for them. You can look into it, by all means. But accounts are closed for scammers/spammers/rule-breakers. Those accounts were justly removed

Since DomainGang leaked the news, I've gotten like 20 emails from banned users that say they didn't deserve to be banned. And probably even more comments/posts on the blog. I'll definitely be looking into that as it seems a lot of members are banned so that's certainly not a good thing. I don't know much about it so I can't say much until I review it once I have management control.

 

[Ben42]

Spam is one thing, but rule breaking/fighting is another. People should fight...at least some. Sparing keeps things interesting, people posting and coming back for more. I just wonder if the pussification of the overall posting after too many bannings could have led to a dry, sterile forum. The post filter police have sifted everything entertaining out of the forum IMO. I don't want to see personal attacks, but why has most of the debate died?

Don't get me wrong, I love NP, but it's really not the same as it was a few years ago.

 

[Acroplex]

I just wanted to say YAY! they finally approved my comment over there, only took them 6 hours: http://domaingang.com/domain-news/b...os-domain-forum/comment-page-1/#comment-11945

At any rate, I tried to be professional about it and not poke to hard. It just got under my skin a bit that Adam took that jab the way he did. I'm sure he's a Great guy, but someone had to say something.

Eric Lyon

hi Eric - your comment made it into the Spam folder but I always check under the hood All opinions are welcome as long as they are not attacks.

 

[mis_chiff]

Sometimes there were more reports than there are posters in a thread, demanding
we remove the posts and ban the user or......
We try, but it is a two way street. :tu:

 

[Eric Lyon]

hi Eric - your comment made it into the Spam folder but I always check under the hood All opinions are welcome as long as they are not attacks.

Thanks for the approval, I used an old 2005 email, that was used in a few campaigns back then, I should have thought to use a better email, so that's probably my fault it got auto dropped in the spam bin.

Thanks again for clearing the post.

Eric Lyon

 

[Acroplex]

@ Acro: You dig at the dirt and get upset when some flings up at you? Sometimes you should just let the news unfold in its own time...kinda low, and if you can't deal with the harsh comment, especially in this situation that RJ is in, then stop digging.

I'm a reporter so I don't know what you expect, yesterday's news? A couple of comments were a misunderstanding. I've stood up for RJ since before you were born LOL

 

[Archangel]

Arguments are perfectly fine IMO. But have ha some major belligerence, name-calling -- even threats of violence. And when a home address can be found with a whois look-up, well, this isn't pretty. Disagreements are one thing; threatening to harm another is another.

Spam is one thing, but rule breaking/fighting is another. People should fight...at least some. Sparing keeps things interesting, people posting and coming back for more. I just wonder if the pussification of the overall posting after too many bannings could have led to a dry, sterile forum. The post filter police have sifted everything entertaining out of the forum IMO. I don't want to see personal attacks, but why has most of the debate died?

Don't get me wrong, I love NP, but it's really not the same as it was a few years ago.

 

[Corey]

what will stay the same? eg User information?

Cheers
Corey

 

[DN BROKER]

Unbanning anyone is a bad idea. The staff does not ban anyone because their a nice person, it's because they violate rules, scam, and on and on. Your focus should be on improving the trade that takes place here and Provide the security and verification we lack. Unbanning should be out of your agenda period.

 

[DU]

Unbanning anyone is a bad idea. The staff does not ban anyone because their a nice person

I got banned once. I was reinstated. I think that wasn't a bad decision.

Just saying.

---------- Post added at 06:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:09 PM ----------

hi Eric - your comment made it into the Spam folder but I always check under the hood All opinions are welcome as long as they are not attacks.

Please define attacks. I've read all the comments on there and I can tell you that at least one of them has been deleted.
Perhaps you can explain what journalistic integrity you have in approving a comment and then deleting it?
I don't remember who posted it but I can remember the post and it's definitely not there.
Perhaps all the people bitching about mods deleting posts at NP out there would like me to put a post out there asking the same question? Any other posts that you may have "modded"?



Hmm.. Then again, it could have been another blog.... but probably not, I'm sure you can help me out here... but you know they all look the same after a while. I don't think domaingang would "moderate" over aggressively would they?

 

[firefly]

I'm a reporter so I don't know what you expect, yesterday's news? A couple of comments were a misunderstanding. I've stood up for RJ since before you were born LOL

You would have to be ancient dude if you were doing it before I was born - just sayin'. I ain't no pup.
And if you mean forum join date - who gives a shit!

 

[matt_bodis]

I agree that most users get banned for the right reasons.

I'm not saying I'll unban everyone. As a matter of fact, I can tell you right now - all those users that have been scamming, cheating, and so forth will not even get a consideration.

But I'll look through all the other banned users and see what the rules are/were and review it.

Corey: Not sure I'm understand. Everything should stay the same but there will be added features and certain issues fixed.

 

[Eric Lyon]

Unbanning anyone is a bad idea. The staff does not ban anyone because their a nice person, it's because they violate rules, scam, and on and on. Your focus should be on improving the trade that takes place here and Provide the security and verification we lack. Unbanning should be out of your agenda period.

I'm 50 / 50 on this one and I'll explain why.

First off, I do believe in second chances and that people change / mature over time. With that said, I'll proceed.

Side 1

On one side of the coin you have the members in which you reference that have scammed other members out of hundreds / thousands of dollars. There have been times (3 to 5 years later) we reviewed their account after they contacted us explaining how they were just young and dumb back then and have changed their ways as they matured. Some we gave a second chance, as people are not perfect and do make mistakes. 80% of these type 2nd chancers were back at their old ways again within 90 days. So, in these cases I would agree with more that 2nd chances may not be an option due to the high relapse rate and severity of their ban.

Don't get me wrong, we don't let everyone come back that's been banned for scamming, they have to be pretty darn convincing and their past logs have to show at least a little hope. Again, most these types have been gone 3 to 5 years before requesting their accounts back.

Side 2

On the other side of the coin we have some bans that are Duplicate accounts. While lots of times dup accounts are used for shill bidding and getting around previously banned accounts, there are legitimate reasons for some members to have the same IP's as others. For instance: 1.) Mom / Dad / Son all want to domain but live in the same home, naturally each wants their own account, 2.) College dorms sometimes have a limited IP range and multiple students end up with the same IP's, it's common for college students to be interested in the domain world, 3.) Free wifi spots, people travel and use wireless devices from free wifi hotspots all the time, theres going to be a chance someone else used the same hotspot at some point int in time (weeks, months, years from now) and it pops up as a dup account red flag.

I think these types deserve more leniency and more investigative research (Which we do try to do now days for the most part). Just as a side note, IP's are not the only factor in play, there's many other elements other than IP's that are calculated and automatically flag accounts.

The Middle

Now, we have the center of the coin, the meaty bits, these are the spammers and consistent rule breakers that exceeded their 20 point infraction limit by acquiring multiple infractions for repeat offenses. Each infraction does have an expiration date & once exceeded no longer counts towards the total.

At any rate, these types of auto point bans also fall in the second change area. Once some infractions expire and their point level drops below 20, they can ask for an account review to have the account reinstated (many do, but lots don't bother that have no intention of following the rules in the future anyways).

In conclusion

I can't speak for everyone, only myself, however I would like to think that we all have an understanding between right and wrong, as well as the due diligence to show compassion and forgiveness. I'm not saying everyone deserves a second chance, but that a large majority at least deserve the courtesy of an account review to determine whether or not they can have their account reinstated so they can try to be productive part of the community.

Just some insight from me, take it at face value or sweep it under the rug. We all have our own opinions

Eric Lyon
Member Services

 

[firefly]

Scorp - you and I know, along with other members of the current staff, that there are some banned members that should never come back since they are nothing but a cancer to the forum. Maybe Matt should do this part in consultation with the staff - past and present.

 

[Vito]

RJ,

My prayers go out to your family and your grandmother. I think that was very cool of you to entice her to get better by offering to take her to Vegas for some fun...seems like that has helped.

As for selling this place...I think that sucks.

I know you have other thngs in your life that are way more important to you and your family and I dont blame you at all. I hope you made some serious money with this sale because I know this place has to been more of a labor of love than a goldmine. Hopefully this sale will make your life a little better. Hopefully this sale will free your time to devote a little more time to your family and some of the more fun things in real life.

I have alays re-invested each and every dollar I have ever made from domain sales right back into other domains, until last month. I made a couple of very large sales and I took about $10k of it and completely pissed it away on a trip to Italy over the Holidays with just me and my 2 teenage kids. Let me tell you, that was the best money I ever spent in my entire life. The memories we made out there were priceless. I would have spent double that amount to have what we had this Christmas. With what you have created here...the countless hours, and tons of stress that this place has ever caused you, I seriously hope that this sale will enable yourself and your family to have 10-100x the fun that I was just able to have with my kids.

I owe a lot of my success to you personally. NP has given me an education that has been second to none. Your creation here has lead to me learning more than I could have ever paid anyone for.

For that reason alone, that is why I became a Business Member here. I seriously wanted to thank you and NP in some way. I wanted to make sure I gave back to you and your Community which has given so much to me. I know you havent been making a ton of money here, but I wanted to help add a few dollars to help you out because of what NP has meant to me. Basically I have been donating $10 a month only to show how much I appreciate everything you have created here. With that being said, I will now be cancelling my Business Membership after this last month is up for me. That was only a special thanks to you and now that you are gone, I will wait and see how this place changes.

As for the new owners and their new plans here, I truly wish them the best and really hope that nothing changes for the worse. I am a bit worried though.

Congrats on the sale and I wish the best to you and your family RJ.

Thanks for everything,
Vito

 

[DU]

I have 5 developers, if something needs to be done, then we'll do it!

DDOS attack on DNF... that will shut Adam up for a bit...lol!

I'm KIDDING!

 

[Dave_Z]

Congrats to all direct parties on this. And I wish everyone the best.

(Better get ready to pack up my stuff...sniff sniff...heh...)

 

[Domainace]

Congrats to RJ and Matt on the sale. RJ, good luck with the family. Money doesn't mean a thing if you can't be with family at times like this. I lost a business while I spent time with my brother when he was sick. Never had even a flicker of regret about that.

I got started on Namepros, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the new blood brings in.

 

[Jawed]

The forum has a lot of potential to grow, and I see a few easy things that can help put it on track and make this a better place than it already is!

Nice to see you Matt in the thread! I hope under your management, we will have more lively discussion and a bit more tolerance.

I understand you will consult the existing staff and mods before looking in to the issue of banning/unbanning.

I think the priority should be given to adding new features and improving the marketplace. Some sections in the marketplace area have become ghost towns. You post a thread and you will be lucky if you receive a response in a week's time.

 

[DU]

Perhaps Tippy would like to come in here seeing how he got "Banned" from DNF for saying that Adam Dick-ers name was amusing.

That's prevented a lot of scamming and protected all his users right there! I can see why people hate NP mods more.

Just posting for amusements sake.

http://www.DNF/f72/namepros-com-sold-bodis-3-thread-474201.html#post2067024

 

[Tippy]

He had that coming for a long time, I figured it was time to let the cat out of the bag...

Mike

 

[Corey]

How does one become privy to this stuff?

Cheers
Corey

 

[MicroGuy]

I think the priority should be given to adding new features and improving the marketplace.

In my view, the best thing would be to "widen" the discussion. In other words make NamePros a hybrid forum. IMO

The home page would become NamePros with two big buttons below the main logo. The left button would be labeled "Domain Names" and the right button would be labeled "Baby Names". There is a LOT of interest in baby names especially among expected parents.

I see traffic doubling within 14 weeks with new parents investing in domain names and maybe even a few domainers having babies. ((:blink)