October 27, 1996

Scott Hardie | October 27, 2011
Fifteen years is a long time, but for a website, it's an eternity. As of today, that's how long this site has been around in one form or another. First it was just "Scott's Home Page," a dinky little Geocities-grade site where I posted photos of my friends and silly written pieces about my interests. One by one, the games and features that I introduced began to take over, like Celebrity Goo Game, Thorough Movies Reviews, and Tragic Comedy. Upgrading the site's codebase in 2002 made it truly interactive, and things really took off from there. These days, the site doesn't evolve as quickly as it used to or as I would like, but it does still continue to evolve and improve, and that is key to its success.

I'm grateful for all of the friends that I've made through this site, and for all of the fun that I've had and continue to have participating in it. We've had our ups and downs over the years, but I see a big, bright future for Funeratic in the years to come. Here's looking forward to the journey. Thank you for being a part of it.

As I do every anniversary, I've added ten more icons to The History of Funeratic, highlighted in red.

Erik Bates | October 27, 2011
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Steve Dunn | October 27, 2011
Wow. This prompted me to review my own history on the site. Apparently I came along in January 2004, so in a few months it will be 8 years of Goo (I'm still making a slow transition to the "Funeratic" concept).

One quirky thing I've always liked about this site is that personal conflict is right on the surface. For example, in the old "relationship chart" of users, there was a category for "former friends." Or in the Rock Block tournament, you can opt out of playing against people you don't like. This has always struck me as weird (in part because I was never personally involved in any controversy... (at least not that I was aware of!)) but also reflective of certain truths in life too often swept aside. For better or for worse (I like it, anyway) I think it's a big part of making the site what it is.

I say all this because I see there is a chapter in the new history about the departure of Amy Austin. I knew she was gone but I didn't know the reasons - either it hadn't been discussed or I missed it. How perfectly Goo-like to have a chapter in the site history devoted to a user who got pissed off and left.

Well, Scott, thanks for hosting us all in your orbit. This is a unique corner of the internet for sure.

Now when the hell do we get to play the pirate game?

Erik Bates | October 27, 2011
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Steve Dunn | October 27, 2011
I should clarify. By my own absence of (known) personal conflict, that does not count Aaron Shurtleff.

Or Ryan Dunn.

Screw both of those guys.

Scott Hardie | October 27, 2011
I had a feeling that the Amy item was going to stir up comments. In the interest of privacy, I didn't say much (or anything?) when it happened, but I think it's been long enough now to gain some perspective and open up about it. As Steve picked up on, the History is warts-and-all by design, and when I thought back to major transitions that happened over the last year, Amy's exit was one that I decided was significant enough to mention even though it's downbeat. I was tempted also to mention the trend of dwindling participation, but I hope the book isn't closed on that subject yet; let's see if things can change.

I hope that what I wrote in the History didn't portray Amy in a negative light, because I tried to stick to the facts -- shit happened, and that's that. I didn't have hard feelings at the time and still don't. I hope she doesn't either. Life's too short.

I'm grateful for the culture of the site, too. I hope that it's welcoming to newcomers (more barriers to signup will hopefully come down within the next year). The site has always lost existing members at a slow but steady clip as people moved on; that's normal. What it hasn't done for a long time is attract many new members, thanks to my wrongheaded efforts to avoid search engines and focus on pleasing existing players. Having good conversation in TC about a variety of subjects is, I think, the best way to keep the site lively, but I can't ask other people to talk more (though I appreciate Steve West's efforts) and I just don't have the time or the will to do it myself. Anna was terrific for getting us talking every day, and I believe that her being driven away was what initiated our decline, as much as certain people may have wanted it in the short term.

Steve, it's interesting that you mention your trouble at getting used to the name Funeratic. I was surprised by how many people at GooCon started to call the site "goo.tc" before correcting themselves. Yeah, that was its name once, but it was "celebritygoogame.com" for years before that, and "Scott's Home Page" for years before that, all awkward names that I hoped to end by settling on a better new one. I went through 6-9 months of considering "Funeratic" before I made the change official, so maybe I've just had more time to get used to it. Attracting new users who have never known it by any other name will probably ease the transition further.

Pirate Paradise is coming soon! I can't wait. It's the only major project on my calendar for the next two months, as I'm putting off everything else (like redesigns of TMR and TC) until it's done.

Steve West | October 27, 2011
I've been hanging around here almost daily since 2003 and my only regret is that I missed the entire first half of the site's existence. You're an amazing guy, Scott. This site isn't just a diversion for me. It keeps me connected to how real people feel about real happenings. As long as there's a site, I'll be there.

Chris Lemler | October 27, 2011
I agree with Steve West about you being an amazing guy!!!!! And i also will be here as long as this sites up and running. Really enjoy everything you do to this site :) Keep up the good work

Erik Bates | October 27, 2011
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Scott Hardie | October 27, 2011
Thanks everybody. :-)

Justin Woods | October 27, 2011
Sorry I am so late to the comments page.

First: I would like to say thanks for making me an Icon ;-) Scott.

Second: as you found out at GooCon aka "BakulaCon" I am not as competitive in person I was more there for socializing and meeting new friends, although I might want to beef up on my cuisine category and colonial times category.

I would like to say as part of the 5+ year class that I have been coming to the site daily and that will probably not change any time soon. It is now an added bonus being able to meet all you guys at some point and putting our competitiveness to the challenge wink wink (Steve West). next time I am sure!

Thanks again for the for all that you do Scott look forward to the next 15years!

Erik Bates | October 27, 2011
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Scott Hardie | October 30, 2011
At the first two GooCons, I played up the friendly socializing aspect of the gathering. I sensed that some players were really digging the competition, so I intended to emphasize that angle in the third year (I even put "champions" in the name"), but it wound up with a very different vibe, because of the small group and the more personal interactions.

This past fourth year? Flat-out competition. Trophies for everything. Even TC became a contest. I had a fantastic time doing it that way, but I could say the same of every year. I do feel like I bonded with other individual guests slightly less at Villa Ridge than in the past, but that was probably due to there being so many people and such a packed schedule, without many opportunities to converse at length, especially one on one. I have no idea what future years will look like, but a proper blend of the two sides of Funeratic would probably be ideal.

Just curious: During *very* early planning of GooCon (like 2004 in Chicago) that never came to pass, I had once planned a "one on one" meal event, where each guest would be paired with someone from the site who they didn't know well, and the pairs would go off separately for lunch or dinner somewhere. My hope was that people would make personal connections in ways that aren't really possible in a big group, but the risk of course is being stuck for an hour with someone you don't really know at all and can't make conversation with, so it just gets really awkward (not to mention the physical risk of leaving with a stranger etc). Would this hold appeal for you at future GooCons? What if it was trios instead of pairs? What if you could pick your meal partner through some kind of silent ballot?

And Justin, you are welcome. You have definitely made 2010-2011 your year. :-)

Erik Bates | October 30, 2011
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Scott Hardie | October 31, 2012
Since I was out having dinner with Chris, Erik, LaVonne, Kelly, and Russ on Funeratic's actual anniversary, the yearly update to The History of Funeratic had to wait, but now it's done. The additions this time come from 2005, 2008, 2010, and this year.

Steve Dunn | October 31, 2012
Wait, wait, wait.

My induction into the goo hall of fame was "controversial?"

Erik Bates | October 31, 2012
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Steve Dunn | October 31, 2012
Had to have been Shurtleff.

Steve West | October 31, 2012
I personally had no controversial reaction to mine. Had to have been Shurtleff.

Steve Dunn | October 31, 2012
Oh wait, I do see that someone commented "Justin Woods got robbed" at the time. See here: http://funeratic.com/tragic_comedy/discussion/winter-2012-goo-tournament-commentary

I guess that was the controversy? Or is my long-held suspicion true that there's some back-channel chat room where all the site's dramas occur unbeknownst to me?

Erik Bates | October 31, 2012
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Lori Lancaster | November 1, 2012
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Scott Hardie | November 2, 2012
To clarify two things about the controversies:

- I was referring both to TC comments and private messages. Not all of it was public knowledge at the time.

- To my recollection, the controversy was never that "you shouldn't have inducted player X." Every inductee to date has been considered deserving. The controversy was instead that "player Y is also deserving, so what do you have against player Y by not inducting them?" We have more excellent players than room available for them in the Hall of Fame. I have nothing against any player, especially the accomplished ones.

In the spirit of the History feature being "warts and all," I wanted to talk about the unfortunate irony that the Hall of Fame, which is meant to make some players feel honored for their achievements, has the opposite effect on some other players. It's really too bad.

And to be clear, the page that I added to the History feature is, to me, about the ongoing semi-annual pattern of this same controversy. It's not solely about the Steve/Justin instance of it this past winter; that just provided a date to hang it on.

I can't even bring up the controversy without it being controversial. :-)

Aaron Shurtleff | November 5, 2012
To the best of my knowledge, I was not the "controversy", but I do try to put a lot of things that involve Steve Dunn out of my mind as soon as I possibly can.

Steve Dunn | November 5, 2012
Not that there is much risk of this, but if Aaron Shurtleff ever makes it into the Hall of Fame, I guarantee there will be controversy.

Aaron Shurtleff | November 5, 2012
Steve, if I hear Scott even suggest it, I'll be the one starting the controversy!

Scott Hardie | November 5, 2012
The only way I would induct Aaron is if there was a much more popular candidate who everyone assumed was going to get the recognition that year.