It is very sad :(

The whole GW online community is all the poorer for its loss, it
truely was the best of them all, still theres a bit of hope from the
mention of some of the mod's looking at putting together a new
community, I realy hope that works out :)

In the meantime where has everyone else gone? I've browsed a few
forums but am yet to find anything that feels like home :(

--- In praetorian-IG@..., "Kent" <bigdigs@t...> wrote:
>
> Sad to see it go, love it or hate it, it truly was an iconic image
> of the fanbase over the years.
>
> Resposted here is Pete Closs' sendoff (long load times to access,
> and a great slam against GCM), without further ado:
>
> Kent
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> We almost made it to seven years. From a small Games Workshop
> rumours website on free webspace to a dual Xeon 2.4 GHz monster
> dedicated server with 100,000+ visitors a month, Portent has grown
> from a fun idea in my head to something far greater than I could
> ever have anticipated. Sadly, all good things must come to an end.
>
> The end result of the recent server troubles is that we no longer
> have the Portent data, aside from a year old backup. Unfortunate
as
> this is it's almost as if fate has forced our hand. I can no
longer
> provide the time or finances that Portent requires, not by a long
> shot. For Nick and myself Portent has practically been a second
job.
> You can only take so many abortive glimmers of hope before you
> realise it's time to move on.
>
> There are far too many people to thank before the curtain closes
> here. Most important of all, Nick has been a complete legend –
there
> are very few people who would do so much for nothing but the odd
> beer. Portent would have vanished many moons ago without his
> technical expertise and I'm sure the rest of Portent has just as
> much to thank him for as I do.
>
> A mere step below Nick in the grand scheme of things are the
> Inquisitors. I have, and I can say this having administered forums
> professionally, the best mod team I could ever ask for. Despite
> countless challenges they've been instrumental in tirelessly
turning
> the Portent Forums into a great place to discuss wargaming and
more
> besides. Every single one of you regular members who've posted
(and
> not been banned, at least) deserves my thanks too, in particular
> those who helped support Portent by becoming Guilders. Seeing the
> end to such an amazing community is unquestionably the worst thing
> about this. Without you guys I probably would have closed the site
> long ago, having such a great community made it that much harder.
>
> The chaps at the studio have all proved themselves to be total
gents
> whenever we've spoken. Andy, it was always a pleasure to catch up
> with you at Games Days, I hope things are going well at Mongoose.
> Gav, many thanks for attending the tourney and posting on the
> forums. Paul, cheers for putting aside a foolish rumour from long
> ago and posting on the forums, I appreciate it. Robin, that studio
> tour was extremely cool and a much appreciated gesture, I hope to
> catch up again some time. And finally, I'll never forget Rick
> Priestly, immortal grand chief games designer supreme, catching me
> at the last minute before I left that studio tour to essentially
> say "Hi, and good work on Portent".
>
> And last of all, the web stores who occasionally advertised with
> Portent. The Warstore was our longest running advertiser, albeit
on
> and off. It's also one of the best places around to order
miniatures
> and Neal is just a damn nice guy to do business with. Also check
out
> Chelgames (UK), Whites of their Eyes (Warmachine), Battle Pack and
> Wargames Dungeon, they've all supported Portent over the years.
>
> After thanking so many people it almost feels wrong to turn
> critical, but some people really do deserve it. Great Canadian
> Miniatures were invariably rude whenever we talked via email – if
> none of you guys ever did business with them again I wouldn't be
too
> upset. And whoever it was at GW US that ultimately decided online
GW
> retailers in the US were "riding on the coat tails of brick and
> mortar stores" was laughably short sighted indeed, particularly
> given the real reason for the decision.
>
> Well, the letter I never wanted to write has already got far
longer
> than I expected. We'll be turning the server off for good on March
> 20th and then selling it to recoup costs which, sadly, run well
> beyond what the server sale will recoup, but c'est la vie. We had
> hoped to keep Portent running for the last week of its existence
but
> sadly the database loss means we can't do that. Instead, please
join
> #portent on Efnet IRC, I'll be hanging around there and I'm sure
> many others will once they read this.
>
> If any Guilders would like a refund on the remainder of your fee
> past site closure, drop me an email and I promise to sort that,
> we're not here to rip anyone off. Please email me at
> portent.webmaster@g... with any such requests.
>
> Lavfluris is looking to continue his tournaments and I'll be
helping
> him with that however I can. Some of the mods are also looking
into
> starting a new community, though it will be a separate effort from
> myself and Nick beyond what initial help we can offer – email
> portent.oracle@g... if you'd like to help. Keep an eye on this
> page for news of both things.
>
> It has been an incredible journey, but it really is over. Thank
you
> one and all for helping make Portent something special, I hope
> you'll all remember it for as long as I will.
>
> Best of luck to you all, and not just with the dice rolls.
>
> Pete Closs
> Portent Webmaster
> April 1998 – March 2005