Like Carlos said "it's like watching your home being destroyed". It's a sad day but we have an Asylum to come to, thanks to you Peter and the rest of the team of 11.

It might be a different home but the family is still here.

What a perfect day for this!! Monday could not get any better!!!

I have a post that is just perfect to make on puff (some of you know what I mean :-) )!!

Not posting it is KILLING me!!!!!

Being nice is SOOOOOOOO hard!

I just can't get over that blowfish; it's embarrassing.

That is all I am waiting for before I quit paying attention

Be true to yourself Al, its Monday so let your hair down and have some fun :-)

I suppose you are correct. It's just his "rah rah, this place will be great and just what everyone is going to want out of it" etc, etc. gave me a sense that the fella truly studied up on what we held dear about the old place but apparently he didn't and if he did, didn't care to keep it that way. It is true, it's his site and he can do as he pleases. No moral or ethical codes of conduct have been breached. I was just venting a bit......

Understood.

And it is obvious that Mr. Caputo either
a) did not study up on what CS was -or -
b) did study up but chose to go with what he wanted to anyway

No matter what it was, he had his vision and he's going with it.

:-)

Just goes to show you that while you can buy a website, you cannot buy its members.

Well, that might not be the case. How much you willin to pay for me Moe?

Im sure a few doubles of scotch would do the trick... prices may vary:-):-):-)

In case I forgot to mention it before, it seems appropriate now.


THANKS TEAM OF 11


I for one value what you have created in such a short time period and am looking forward to many long years of brotherhood from everyone envolved.


Inmate #6969

CS as we know it ceased to exist when the eleven started this site. This is a great home!

:-) Well said. My initial impression is that I'm not very pleased.

Why is the flag at half-mast?

I compare what is happening over there to what happens at a military unit when there is a change of command or a presidential inaugration.

You're still a family but it just doesn't feel the same until everyone either get used to it or is transferred to a new unit where you have no expectations.

I will continue to pop in over there for awhile but I've been committed to the Asylum since it opened.

By the way, does anyone really think that Caputo isn't dropping in over here to see what is being said?

OK, missed the other thread.:-)

Doubt it. If he cared what any of us had to say he wouldn't have turned it into that ugly ad ridden mess it is now.

The new layout if fugly with a capital F. I will suggest however, that anyone here that still goes over there download FireFox adblock addon. Does wonders for that site now! Not like it matters much for me now though, today was my first and last visit to puff :-)

fortunately for me, i missed all the drama! unfortunately for me, i read this entire thread and caught up.... :-)

i have only been active here for a week or so and from my experiences, ya'll clearly have your act together!!

So the end has arrived. So long Club Stogie. Welcome Puff.com. No cigar site is perfect. We find them and become addicted to one or another based upon primarily the people that hang out on them not the look and feel or even the intent of the site owners.

Over time, we all learn a little more about the nature of public on line cigar sites if we pay attention. They differ in fundamental ways. From my perspective there are 3 basic types...

1. Sites started and operated by folks in the cigar business. Pretty straightforward. You know that Fuentes, a Magazine etc owns the site and your expectations are set as such.

2. Sites that started out as hobby boards and evolved into a blend of hobby and revenue producing. CS, CL, CR, CP etc fall into this mold. (All the sites bought or attempted to be bought) The desired vibe is the "community" vs the business of the board. The business is in the background seen only by the owner. When you first join one teh "community spirit" disguises the business side. Over time you gain an understanding of the lay of the land. We know the guy that owns it and know that the site is a passion vs a business and appreciate the fact that ads etc help offset the cost of our homes. Interesting that these are the targets for acquisition as they are primed for moving to "the next level". We get rude awakenings when the hobby board owner decides to cash in on "his hobby/our community".

3. Hobby boards. Fall into 2 categories. Ones that started from scratch with no "family" to start them up and migration based boards.. like here. Most of the from scratch ones die off, very few make it. Seems like longer term folks tend to migrate to these types of boards in general as human nature typically gets in the way of brotherhood somewhere along the way on commercially oriented sites. The fist time they put up an ad they become less of a hobby and more of a business to some small degree and begin the evolution or brotherhood to cash cycle.

New hobby boards get started when there is change in existing boards more often than not. Typically in the past, it has been falling outs among st former friends that leads to creating these new boards. This is a new situation ... Kmart comes to the cigar boards kind of thing.

It's another of the many "slippery slopes".. money. One that is hard to gain objective brotherly traction on once a cigar board owner begins to slide.

I'm sure Mr. Caputo will do fine, make lots of money and flip the thing he builds to a "cigar entity" at some point in time. Lot's of new smokers who do searches and they will be right there at the top for them to find "Puffworld". Difference might be that unlike other boards, there might not be longer term knowledgeable folks to provide "ongoing content" that facilitates personal evolution and growth for new members. Could turn into Cigarboardgateway.com where folks quickly move to another board (once they know boards exist at all) that are less commercially tacky.

or.. this is the future and Puff will rule the cigar board universe with "awesome content", "unique visitors", and cool prizes available to everyone who clicks the ads. :-)

We all choose what we like... there are many choices... so it's all good for someone.

JMO
From a purely technical standpoint, I am impressed at the integration. It could not have been easy, as behind schedule as they were. From an aesthetic viewpoint, it is an embarrassing eyesore. Functionally, it seems to work like a vbullitin app. I don't think it is though. I can easily ignore the banners. I hate the fish and I don't want anything to do with a "Puff Lifestyle".
/JMO