First off: something unexpected came up two weeks ago that had to be resolved before the merging process could continue. It's still in the process of resolving, and it's been a royal pain in the arse. We're still going to shoot for having the merging finalized by the first of May (or perhaps the second, since Saturday might be a better day for getting everything put into place), but things may be pushed farther back than that. Expect to see an announcement at that time stating one or the other.


In the meanwhile, there's one final point of debate that we (Soon, Rex, and I) would like to poll the general public about: the possibility of changing the forum name to Sparkbomb: Evolution Forums. The site itself will remain at sparkbomb.com (for various technical reasons). There isn't much room for suggestions on possible names: Sparkbomb needs to remain unmodified in the name (thus knocking out the X-Sparkbomb possibility) due to the focus that will remain on Sparkbomb (the Store, Werewolf, and S:A). (I'm tentatively hoping to launch S:A two weekends after my Werewolf game concludes: on the chance the merge isn't finished by that time, it will be delayed.) So the options are Sparkbomb Forums (very likely dropping the Werewolf part that no one pays attention to) or Sparkbomb: Evolution Forums.

Sparkbombers: I'd like to remind you that the forum was dead until the X-Evoers moved in. If not for the merge, it would still be dead. Furthermore, while most members were (and are) involved with Werewolf, we've had a significant number over the years that haven't been. The core of our community has been the Store more than Werewolf. (Or, arguably, the Sparkbomb universe.)

X-Evoers: You all owe a debt of gratitude to the Sparkbombers as well for helping you to become active again. The situation at KY and the Backup Forums was very bleak, and had you started a new site, it's very likely that things would not be going anywhere near as well as they are (even with the anti-merge antagonism that has cropped up along the way). The Digimon focus is long gone, and even though all of you once had a common interest in Digimon, only a few of you still actively have that interest. This was even commented on long before the end of X-Evo. While the merged community will have Data Race and a Digimon forum, interest in Werewolf will out mass the interest in Digimon (even if the Data Race players will be more fanatical in their loyalty).


As I said before, the two options are Sparkbomb Forums and Sparkbomb: Evolution Forums. Also, I'm making a slight assumption that no one cares for the Werewolf portion of the current Sparkbomb Werewolf Forums. If anyone's truly staunch about keeping that, go ahead and mention it.

I don't like Sparkbomb: Evolution Forums. I do like Sparkbomb Evolution Forums though.

I vote we just keep it as Sparkbomb. Although we are two different communities and although X-evo members now provide for about half the members on here, I still think this was SB ground when we came and we should respect that. Unless the SparkBombers feels strong about changing the name, I believe we should let it as it is.

Sparkbomb: Evolution Forums sounds like a win to me.

I'll vote for that.

I kinda like Zen's idea, I think the colons not needed.

...are you serious?

You already know my opinion on the merge in general, directing this both at the general public and at Rift.

I've been a nomad of forums since I was thirteen. I hopped between all the large petsites, various avidgames forums, more 'permanent' forums, the *chans, SA, ED, IRC, AIM, MSN, e-mail... you get the picture. I've seen member groups, both small and large, have to move between forums. When I role played Dragonriders of Pern, we often organized ourselves into Weyrs, in the form of avidgamers forums or guilds on neo. Due to inactivity we had to merge into two new werys twice, once evenly numbering the old members, and never did we ask them to change their name.

I plead to the old members to remember Sparkbomb's roots. And how you were all originally a group from elsewhere, who came to here for one reason or another. I'd like to appeal to Rift, and point out how many members you've dragged here from neo, but never subjected them to a different set of rules or offered to change the name to 'comfort' them. Your targeted group for project Exodus was larger than the X-evo migrants.

A few of us went to DBA when SB got sluggish (granted, that group was mostly comprised of members who came from there in the first place), and we had none of this merger business. And if SB had, as a whole, packed up and moved to other forums, I'd never once imagining asking them to change their name for us, as they were the ones who took us in. By choosing to come here, you've chosen to join Sparkbomb, we haven't chosen to join you. The members here had no say in it, simply stated, it was just sprung on all the non-staff. You all had some element of choice in coming to SB, you could've just said 'No, Soon, I'm not going to follow', and there would've been nothing after that. We, however, cannot kick you out even if we wanted to.

tl;dr, you joined us, we didn't join you, and this place has history. My vote is that the name stays, or is perhaps just simplified to Sparkbomb (instead of Sparkbomb Werewolf Forums, considering the commonplace-ness of WW in forums these days, it's not worth specifying).

No matter how much I like the word Evolution, it just doesn't sound right to me. Sparkbomb Evolution forums, its better but its pretty long . Plus, do we really need the Evolution part? Unless you want it to mean sparkbomb has evolved then its a cool name.

I mean it seems like a direct reference to X-evo, which I dont want. However, it does seem perfect for the current situation...so I am conflicted on this issue.

It is a direct reference to X-Evo conveniently having the latter implications.

It is just a name, the name Sparkbomb Evolution just sounds cool.

I like it, and I in no way thinks it changes any of the sites core.

I'm not sure this should be considered a big deal, shouldn't we all just vote yes or no and move on? Without much discussion about the matter I might add.

Seems like other, more pressing, issues exist.

Sparkbomb Evolution...

no that isn't my choice, but it sounds weird on the tongue for me o_O

then again i could just call it SBE..which sounds even more weird D:

Personally I'm for either or.

..sbe..sounds like some creepy company to me..

Sparkvolution
Bomblution
Evobomb
Evospark

...

You're serious about those names, aren't you?

Hmm...

I see where Liz is coming from - after all, it is an existing site that we've moved to. But at the same time, this has always been a merge from the start - which, unlike a migration, requires compromise. Is this compromise a necessary one? I'm not sure. Sparkbomb Evolution sounds cool from the perspective of it being a demonstration of the progression and evolution of Sparkbomb. But if it ties us too much to X-Evo, then it's a bad idea. I also have other views on what's been stated, but I shall reserve them for now...

I'd suggest rereading my first post. Specifically the part where I said: "There isn't much room for suggestions on possible names: Sparkbomb needs to remain unmodified in the name (thus knocking out the X-Sparkbomb possibility) due to the focus that will remain on Sparkbomb (the Store, Werewolf, and S:A)."

Merge also requires consent. Which the old members never gave before it happened, and we only ever got a sort of 'well, now, go deal with it' from the admins. If this had been something we'd voted on and agreed to before hand, perhaps I wouldn't be so aggressive.

Why do we need to change the name? We could just take everything out and call it "Sparkbomb". No "Werewolf Forums" no "Evolution" - just "Sparkbomb".

That way everyone is happy.

I'm not going to voice my opinion on what to do with the site name at this time, as I assume neither Shattered nor Soon will either. I do have to clarify a few things.

It's never just a name. Names are extremely important, and changing a name is an extremely serious event that should not be treated with flippancy.

Airbreaker, you don't know much of anything of what Sparkbomb was like prior to the merge. In fact, you have less experience with the site than most of the other X-Evoers. You are certainly entitled to your opinion about the site name, but please don't think you know what changing the name would mean to Sparkbomb after being registered on the forums for only nine days.

This is a big deal. Discussion is welcome.

To make sure everyone understands, wanting to change the name because you think Sparkbomb: Evolution looks cooler, that's fine. If you want to keep the name the same because you think Sparkbomb looks better, that's also fine. Your motives are your own. Just please don't say that the decision isn't a big deal or deal with it flippantly. That's all I ask.

P.S. @ Rova: Your post was a tad ambiguous. Are you saying that you would like the site's name to be changed to Sparkbomb Evolution?

Uhm.... *facepalms* That thing that may postpone the date past May 1st better be really, really important. As I'm sure everyone's noticed, activity has died down. I feel like everyone's kind of waiting for something to happen.

As for the name, I don't have a strong opinion. It'll definitely be sad to see the name change, but things are changing. Rules, staff, member pool - it seems kinda fitting that some name change be made.

Sparkbomb Evolution sounds good.

To me, this has always been a Werewolf site. Sparkbomb Werewolf Forums is perfect with "sparkbomb" referring to the store/universe and "werewolf" identifying our favorite internet pastime and the purpose of the site's existence. I could adjust to having the name shortened to just Sparkbomb, but replacing Werewolf with Evolution makes no sense other than identifying the X-Evo crowd (which goes against the thought bringing our two communities together anyway).

I think we have to adjust to the fact that, yes, we (the Sparkbombers) were here first, but we are no longer the only ones here. A lot, if not all, the recent activity is thanks to the X-Evoers. I think a name that signifies the two different groups coming together at one place is symbolically good; i.e. Sparkbomb Evolution.

I was afraid of this.

Liz has addressed everything I feel about this situation and more in her post; leave the site name as it is.

A name is a symbolization of someone. without a name we are brought to nothing. However changing a name feels like stripping decentness from something, but I have called myself a sb-evo standard to sparkbomb evolution. and I agree that it is a welcoming you guys gave us, but in this sense it also means it has evolved to symbolize that two things different can come together in one place. I vote Sparkbomb Evolution.

As much as it pains me , I'm also throwing in with Liz here. I don't mind if the Werewolf part goes, but this is the Sparkbomb forum. Besides, "Sparkbomb Evolution" isn't a great name and it has no real meaning.

Remember how mad everyone was when the title of the DBZ movie was revealed to be "Dragonball Evolution?" And remember how much that movie sucked (Saw it tonight). There's no reason to change the name or add "evolution" to the end of it.

Actually Toso(if u dont mind me callin u that), if you looked at my post it states that Evolution does refer to a Sparkbomb evolving into well...something else.
Heh, I do agree that the Dragonball Evolution movie doesn't help this situation either.XD

I think that in the end we will have to leave it as Sparkbomb by itself to please the veterans since its the old folks that are more passionate about keeping the name similar rather than the new folks wanting to give it a new name.

Ya I was saying change it to Sparkbomb Evolution. When I was thinking about it before I was thinking about having a way so that both groups could feel included in the name. Though honestly I don't care about putting anything on the end of the name, I have always referred to this site as Sparkbomb not Sparkbomb Werewolf Forums. I think Sparkbomb would be just fine really.

Well, I still think it's a fairly simple subject, but it's whatever honestly. If adding the word evolution to the word sparkbomb means all hell breaking loose then just leave it at Sparkbomb.

@Red: My reasons were beyond the fact that it looked cool. And in my nine days I've posted quite a bit. =P

I still just think this is a silly thing to get worked up over.

Just to summarize the thread thusfar...

Votes for "Sparkbomb": 7
Leave it as is 'cause it's our/their turf - Lixyl, Liz, Yoshi, Pets, TOSO, CrimsonGallantmon
Various - Peyote,

Votes for "Sparkbomb Evolution": 5
Because it looks cool - Airbreaker
Because it symbolizes something - Chloe, Trajectory, Firon,
I'm unsure on the reasoning/no reasoning given - Zen

Conflicted: 4
Various - Linyah, Photon, FireFly, Rova

Linyah, Photon, and FireFly, I couldn't get a good read on your overall opinions based on your posts, you showed a good amount of... either ambiguity or apathy towards the subject. Rova, you're put in the 'Conflicted' pile 'cause your most recent posts implies a lot of ambiguity, though, I could put you in the "Sparkbomb" pile if you'd like. CrimsonGallantmon, I put you in the "Sparkbomb" category 'cause your latter post seemed to imply a general respect for the old name's reasoning. Zen, you're in the 'unsure' pile 'cause Zen, you just commented on formatting.

So, from the looks of it, keeping 'Sparkbomb' is winning. Also, from the looks of it, only two out of the "Sparkbomb Evolution" votes are from X-evo'ers, and only one of those is for the reasoning of symbolism rather than 'it looks cool' (sorry, Airbreaker, but you've kinda' made your stance on the reasoning of your choice rather clear).

Granted, it's also worth pointing out that 3/4 of the 'on the fence' group are x-evo'ers, though, if you truly don't care about the matter I don't see why a name change is particularly necessary. Seven X-evo'ers have expressed some sort of opinion, and there's an even split 'tween being in favor of the old name and the new name. Nine SB'ers have voted, five for keeping "Sparkbomb", two for the name change, and one in the ambiguous pile.

Just sayin'.

vote: new name

Because its an indication that sparkbomb has changed and grown (in a big enough scale). Werewolf will still be the central theme but I'm guessing more forum things are popping up like data race and stuff...

Times are changing and its nice to see sparkbomb's growth more official (this name change).

Oh, and my vote shouldn't count at all XD I don't really mind either way, and I feel like I shouldn't have a say in this thing. I've only recently come back from a very, very long hiatus, and I was never at Sparkbomb for very long to begin with. I feel like my opinion shouldn't really be taken into account if we're doing an official vote here XD

I don't care if it's called Sparkbomb, or Sparkbomb Evolution Forum. It's just little text on the top of the page. 'Cause ZOMG all hell is going to break loose if god forbid that is changed. Soon and crew are bringing Data Race to Sparkbomb, and active roleplaying. That alone matches our Werewolf and Store side of things. I don't give a crap either way, but I'm tempted to want it changed just to stick the finger at all the people who are having their head explode over such a little, little, LITTLE thing.

Which changes things to this:

Votes for "Sparkbomb": 7
Leave it as is 'cause it's our/their turf - Lixyl, Liz, Yoshi, Pets, TOSO, CrimsonGallantmon
Various - Peyote,

Votes for "Sparkbomb Evolution": 4
Because it looks cool - Airbreaker
Because it symbolizes something - Trajectory, Firon, Loki

Conflicted: 4
Various - Linyah, Photon, FireFly, Rova

There's a small pocket (Yoshi, TOSO, Pets, myself) that'll be somewhat upset by the name change (not sure if Yote fits in there or not). There's only two X-evo'ers who are even in favor of the change, and well, correct me if I'm wrong but, Traj and Loki, would you be upset if the name wasn't changed? The same goes for Airbreaker - if it's "not a big deal" would you be upset by a lack of a change?

Assuming that Pets and TOSO just straight up agree with me, and correct me if I'm wrong, then that seems to imply that just changing the name to "Sparkbomb" will upset the fewest people. When, exactly, will the polls close on this matter anyway? Just curious.

I like the idea of changing the name to welcome our friends from X-Evo, but if the X-Evoers themselves have no problem with having the forum name just be "Sparkbomb" then I have no problem with it either.

Other than the possible symbolism of showing where a decent chunk of members has come from, there is no reason to change the name. Drop Werewolf from it if desired. I doubt that would make a difference, since I've honestly never seen somebody refer to it by that full name. Don't put Evolution at the end of it in an attempt to appease new members though. It pretty much ignores the past. If you go by the reasoning people are using, why didn't we have Sparkbomb: IDB to start with?

@Zen: You're pro. Hands down.

@Liz: Point and case. Also it is symbolic, stop belittling me because I said the name sounds cool, it does, but that wasn't my original intent. In my original post I said it sounded like a win, not that it looked cool.

It is just a name. If we were feeding starving kids in third world countries I might think we should vote on a method and make it a strict topic, but we're not. We're voting whether or not to change the name of a forum.

Change it, leave it, erase it, put a picture of a sparkler bomb going off instead of a name. Any method taken it's still going to be the same forum and have the same domain name. Mark me in doesn't care so you can single me out in a different way, please.

<3

Just tossing my two cents into to pot of gold.

The site's name has nothing to do with fireworks (although fireworks were involved with the Store at one point). Again, I respect your opinion, but don't pretend you know more about the site's history than you do.

Airbreaker, I meant more along the lines of the fact that you don't seem to care much one way or the other, and therefore, I don't count your opinion with much weight since you seem so consider the matter... trivial. The name means a lot to me, and to some other folks too as this thread has shown; just 'cause you don't care doesn't mean we're all going to stop caring.

Exile brings up the point I've been trying to make, that it's not about where the members come from, but, about where they are now.

I'm not. I know the site's name has nothing to do with fireworks (ita pun, bro).

I just can't get into getting worked up about all this.

It doesn't seem logical. Changing a name doesn't exactly change the history. It's just welcoming a new beginning. So either choice, I'm down for.

I'm reserving myself for swing vote status as of now.

I won't be upset whichever way. Like Chloe said what I think probably doesn't matter much... I don't really see myself as an involved member.

But I do believe its a good thing for this merge to happen. I think its proper courtesy to change the name if a merge of two equal groups happen...

Don't be mean, Rex. Airbreaker just turned the word "Sparkbomb" into a visual picture. S/he said nothing about the store, nor did s/he say anything about the site's history. Lighten up.

It's more apathy than ambiguity, really. I'm kinda in two minds over the whole situation - on the one hand, the name of the site is the official title that labels all the goings on in the site - everything from the werewolf games to the store to the discussions comes under this one banner and heading. So in that way, it is kinda a big deal.

The way I see it, it would be like, if X-Evo was still going, and it was WtW closing down, and we were asked if we wanted to be X-the-will or with the evolution. or something. It's a big change, bacause it's something we see and refer to everyday all the time.

But on the other hand, changing a name doesn't change the past - only the future. If the change helps by symbolising the progress and evolution of a site to something (hopefully) bigger, greater, and better - then that should be a good thing, no?

My vote is for Sparkbomb Evolution. Mainly because it shows and symbolises the progression and development of the forums. But also, slightly because we'll probably all just say Sparkbomb anyway - so having a full name like Sparkbomb Evolution shouldn't be too much of an issue, in my opinion.

Because all of us hated IDB at the time and half of us were banned from it. The goal at the time was to create a new site that wasn't IDB. (And, incidentally, most of us were active in Werewolf games.)

A member influx of this sort is unprecedented in Sparkbomb history. And, other than at our very beginning, we'd never before been in such a terrible situation regarding activity. Half of our active member base right now is comprised of the X-Evoers. More importantly, from the beginning of this merge, the goal was to revive both communities. We're achieving that right now, and we have them to thank for it.


Now, to offer an argument on the other side...

What's the story behind the X-Evolution name? Is there anyone that still remembers? I've always assumed that it was simply naming the forum after the movie for one reason or another. Was it named X-Evolution from the beginning, or was it originally Online Digimon Forums? From the standpoint of someone that had been active there for nearly a year before things went under, X-Evo was just a name with a Digimon reference (and that seems to be where a lot of you are coming from as well).

Initially, the name Sparkbomb was a reference to the Spark Bomb (a Spectre weapon in the Store). At that time, the Store was very undeveloped, and two of the three groups existed naturally in Werewolf games. (The Phoenix Syndicate was originally a play on IDB's Dark/Black Rose Syndicate, which is in turn was a play on the Mafia of natural Werewolf.)

Sparkbomb rapidly became a universe as the Store expanded and I included it in the plots of several of the early Werewolf games. With all the merger stuff going on, none of you have seen the Store at its best, nor have you heard more than the rare reference by me to the universe (probably limited to my occasional S:A plug, which will expand on the universe more than 95% of the Sparkbombers have seen).

I hope that helps to clear up for the X-Evoers why It's "more than just a name."

Name change? No name change?

A jedi cares not for these things.

X-Evolution - The boards were created around the time that the Digimon Chronicle stuff started coming out. If you think about layouts from way back when, you'd remember a couple featuring GreymonX in the banner up top. X-Evolution has always been the name of the boards. The name is a staple.

Pluses:
- Having our title incorporated with Sparkbomb title would at least make X-Evoers feel a little closer to home and I think this is something we need right now. I get the vibe that a few may be feeling a bit isolated.
- A merged title represents a unity.
- The name itself "Sparkbomb Evolution" indicates a community that is moving forward.
- It sounds cool.

Downsides:
- There are none.

Oh, oh. What about..

Sparkbomb's Evolution?

Yeah? What? Huh? Yeah.

XD

Good ole' Photon.

Beo: Is pro.

Downsides:
-Offending/Upsetting some of the older members of SB

Keep these opinions coming, guys. They're ... helpful. Some of you have actually surprised me with your stances on this (yeah, I know, it's amazing!) ... just goes to show that I don't know everything. ;P

I won't get involved in the debate for now, though. I've got enough on my plate behind the scenes. >.>

o_O

Who's surprising you?

@Liz: Is it really that offensive of a thing to do?

Elitist and "Idunwant2talkaboutmyselfbecausei'mbusy" as always, eh Soon?

lol

My vote goes for Sparkbomb Evolution. I'd go into why, but... really, everyone has already covered the reasons.

And... yea. The reason for you guys not being given a choice in this merger... I can't answer that, but I do know that we were given the option, something that eluded us in the WtW/X-Evo "merger."

PLZ Don't misunderstand. I'm not saying that "We're right and you're wrong." I'm saying that the reason many of us went with this idea was because we were promised compromise, not just a migration.

Yes.

Compromise? Our rules are already being changed...