2+2 abandoning long-used vBulletin software on March 30, and switching to "Vanilla" forum software which everyone hates

Here's the thread where it's being announced: https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/5...anges-1765461/

Chuck Weinstock, their system administrator, is claiming that this is necessary because their version vBulletin is no longer supported (true), and they will not be issuing security updates (also true).

However, this makes no sense. vBulletin version 4 (what they use, and also what PFA uses) is stable and doesn't have any known major security flaws. Why switch now? And if they really must switch, why not go to vBulletin 5, which IS supported?

Here's the awful software they'll be using: https://twoplustwo.vanillacommunities.com/

Everyone hates it. This is very bizarre.

that stuff is brutal and is a clear downgrade in user experience

https://i.imgflip.com/3u7nhq.jpg

Also, laughably the migration will take 4 days, so anything posted between now and March 30 on the current site will be lost.

:fail2

hold on i got this JUST LIKE TINES BELT LINE A ZING POW KABLAM BABY

GET IT CUZ ANYTHING POSTED BETWEEN NOW AND THE 30TH WILL BE LOST MUCH LIKE THE HUMANITY SLASH FOOD THAT GOES IN HIS BELLY

Hopefully this move will bankrupt 2+2, Then mason can put that awful 2+2 shirt he wears 7 days a week in the trash can

That vanilla shit is trash but honestly can't fathom that people still post about poker in 2020

My guess is whoever's been keeping 2p2 up and running doesn't want to do it anymore, and instead of just closing down they found a cheap way to keep the forum up that required minimal effort.

The quality of the new software is pretty irrelevant imo, the community is mostly people that have been around for years. Any major change be shit all over.

Within 6 months 2p2 traffic will be similar to PFAs. Mason will re-ban Druff within 2. Another letter from Masons lawyer seems likely also.

2 plus 2 has been lame for a while not a big surprise plus all the advertising.

You guys wanna laugh?

https://vanillaforums.com/en/plans/

"Flexible pricing from $689 to $10,000 per month"

It's cloud-hosted, you see. So Vanilla hosts it for you, taking away both your control of your own data and your reasonable cost.

Vanilla is perhaps the right solution for huge companies such as EA which don't feel like getting into the forum business. They just want to pay a company to run it for them, and that's that, even if it's overpriced.

They're a horrible solution for a company which is best known for BEING a forum.

Pretty shocked that Mason signed off on this.

Mat Sklansky said that this is saving them money, despite the high cost of Vanilla's services.

I think they were overpaying for a VPS before, and don't realize that their traffic has declined enough to where a $300/mo solution should be more than enough.

I think they are going to be paying Vanilla over $1k/month. Wow.

If you want a good laugh, go look at page 5, where once again I've gotten under Mason's skin and he gives me his usual bitter, curmudgeonly answers.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

If you want a good laugh, go look at page 5, where once again I've gotten under Mason's skin and he gives me his usual bitter, curmudgeonly answers.

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Lol he literally gave you the most straight to the point answers he possibly could. You come across as just trying to tilt him into an argument with you.

Lol here are the "bitter" responses druff is referencing...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mason Malmuth

Our understanding is that vBulletin 5, with all the customization that we require, will make it difficult for vBulletin to work with us.

Mason

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mason Malmuth

You have no understanding of what our current expenses are and there's no way your opinion can have any meaning without that understanding.

For example, we use Rackspace for many things that you're not aware of.


MM

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The first answer was fine.

The second answer starting with "You have no understanding of..." is classic bitter/condescending Mason, which comes out whenever anyone (especially me) questions him.

Notice he ignored everyone in the thread but responded to me twice.

That speaks for itself.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

The first answer was fine. The second answer starting with "You have no understanding of..." is classic bitter/condescending Mason, which comes out whenever anyone (especially me) questions him. Notice he ignored everyone in the thread but responded to me twice. That speaks for itself.

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Yeah, that's pretty condescending reply to someone who knows & understands everything.

This horrible news along with the unknowable future of Druff's hosting site as it filed for bankruptcy days ago, along with the general malaise feeling everyone is experiencing with Covid-19...

Mason gave the oddest response to me that I've ever seen from him, remarking that maybe he needs someone like me, and asked if I'm "available to be hired". At first I was sure that was sarcastic and some sort of weird snipe at me, but Mason is almost never sarcastic, so who the fuck knows?

I was too confused to respond.

I still don't understand "why now"? They can sit with this version on the same VPS they're using. Why not just do that, and not piss everyone off? I do have one theory, that perhaps Mason is downgrading his VPS because the one he's on now is too expensive. That would make sense, as the site has far less traffic than it once did, and there's no reason to pay for something he no longer needs. Then, perhaps, when they attempted to migrate it, they found that vBulletin 4 doesn't work on the new PHP. Then they checked into vBulletin 5, and saw it was difficult to customize. Then they searched for an alternative, and found this Vanilla crap.

Even this would've been a better option then that shit Masons putting up

https://www.websitetoolbox.com/forum...145cb79f960d66