Why did the Official ourWorld Forums close down?

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• The forums shutdown April 2019.
• The official forums posed a security risk to ourWorld.
• It’s unknown whether or not the forums will reopen.
• Donny Pie is still dead.

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[wpsm_dropcap]O[/wpsm_dropcap]h hi! It’s the ghost of Donny Pie. Get it? Because my entire channel, blog, and years of hard-work are actually (in factually) dead. BUT I’m not here to talk about my stories of internet-past. I’ll save those hauntings for another time. Instead, let’s talk about why the official ourWorld forums closed down… erm, permanently.

We’re in the end game now.  ourWorld, the once popular game that was a worldwide phenomenon is struggling to survive with the closure of the forums.  There was no notice.  No big announcement.  As you visited your favorite message-board link; all that appeared was a 404 message: NOT FOUND.  So what happened?

According to one of the beloved members of our Discord server, the forums closed down due to security issues.  This comes as no surprise as a growing number of sites are facing threats of cyber-security.  One such site, Have I been Pwned, has an entire list of the biggest security breaches known.  Sites like LinkedIn, WhitePages, Club Penguin ReWritten and many others have had their accounts compromised.  ourWorld knows that your online privacy is important.

Here’s a story about the forums.  Once upon a time, I had written a script for ourWorld that used the forums database to fetch an entire list of usernames so you can see the last time someone logged in.  Today, the script no longer works because the forums no longer work.  Makes sense, right?  Wrong. Technically, my script still works if you have the userID.  Only problem is, I have no clue how you’d get the userID without getting the username.  Whereas my script was being used for something relatively harmless, a more invasive person could’ve used this information for malcontent.  Either way, the official ourWorld forums posed a security risk which is why it shutdown.

So now, I’m sure you have a lot of questions. What else does the closure of the forums mean?  How will forumers keep in touch with all their favorite internet peeps?  Where will we list our growing numbers of items for trade?!  All good questions. And I’m sure we can answer them by joining our Discord server.  We can keep the conversation alive.

Unfortunately, the forum closure means less people will find ourWorld in google search results.  This is something ourWorld relied on in order to gain new players.  Currently, it’s unknown whether or not ourWorld will reopen a forum in the future.  This is a very sad time.

Some other things I didn’t mention that aren’t in relation to this story:

• ourWorld has been locking players out of their accounts.  Many players have quit due to lock-outs.
• ourWorldBuzz has officially closed down their blog due to financial trouble.
• vegasWorld is continually growing.
• FlowPlay is nominated one of the best small businesses to work for.

And for those wondering where the hell I went — I joined the United States Navy.  I’ll write more later.  Thanks.

What are your thoughts on the closure of the forums?
Leave a comment below!