What happened to Snipershide?

[Leaveammoforme]

Reason I ask on this forum is I figure I'll get a straighter answer.

I received an email from Snipershide saying they had merged with another company and the now old forum is archived. I don't recall ever joining Snipershide but I had lurked some. I then tried to pull up forum and it read like a magazine website. Checked my account and it shows I have a 'Total Access Pass' until November. I assume they will want money to continue come November.

Long question short:
Did SH sell out all its members? Appears they got sold to a sports site.


ETA- Screw it.... Don't send me spam if you dont want it posted. Phone numbers, links, new company name omitted by me. Roll me in with fantasy football? No thanks.



I am extremely excited to announce that Sniper’s Hide has joined ******Media, the leading sports and men’s lifestyle destination.

The move will be big as we are inserted into the ******* Network, which includes over 300 sites – plus TV series and print magazines – dedicated to outdoors, sports, fantasy, military and more. ********* recently launched an online store featuring awesome gear at great prices for members, like you. The plans is open Sniper’s Hide up even bigger.

This expansion is something Sniper’s Hide could not have done on our own. With the *******Team behind us, we hope to grow the site, and grow the sport by taking it mainstream. The ***Network is the perfect launch point for this growth.

There is a lot to ****, in addition to literally hundreds of sports sites that comprehensively cover each and every market like no one else, they have a network of hunting and fishing content – including the renowned ****and ***** – it is absolutely unparalleled. The best part? That’s all part of your membership. Change for the better, for all of us.

As part of the move, we will be recruiting several new moderators as well as “Scouts” to help add content to the site. We will be expanding the home page of Sniper’s Hide and we are looking to include the Sniper’s Hide members to add to this. So if you are interested in being a Scout for Sniper’s Hide and getting inside access so we can provide a better experience for all, let me know.

Again, we’re excited about this, and we hope you are, too. And again, while there will be many changes in the next month or so when we move into the network, all of it will be for the better. A full support staff, a sales team for commercial accounts, and you to help us rebuild content.

For the commercial sales accounts, we will be honor all commitments as well the current SH Site will remain online but in a read only state so we can access the information. This means all the current ads will continue to view. Over the next few weeks we will also be moving the ads to the **Network.

In 2015 the commercial sales account will be handled through the *** Network, we have an 800# that will be used to sign up with . Also the ads will be served through *, Sniper’s Hide has been assigned a Sales Person to help with the transition. With this move we will be opening up our network to a much larger audience. *******is dedicated to this move and has committed to promoting Sniper’s Hide among this 25 Million subscribers, as well as outside their network. Advertising of content is in place which will push our stories and topics to greater group of enthusiast.

If you have any questions please call me @ *****

More About ******
****** is a multi-channel, men-focused media network owned by *****, ****investment fund. *****'s proprietary content is produced by over 1,000 contributing experts and distributed over 300+ unique Web destinations, 40 print publications and three broadcast television shows. ***** content focuses on men’s passion points: the NFL, fantasy sports, college football and basketball, high school recruiting, hunting, fishing, outdoors, military and history. *** has a growing consumer base of over 21MM, and our members’ passions make * a place where brands can speak to men in a brand-enhancing, premium environment. ******.com - College and High School Football, Basketball, Recruiting, NFL, and MLB Front Page

[jpmuscle]

Reason I ask on this forum is I figure I'll get a straighter answer.

I received an email from Snipershide saying they had merged with another company and the now old forum is archived. I don't recall ever joining Snipershide but I had lurked some. I then tried to pull up forum and it read like a magazine website. Checked my account and it shows I have a 'Total Access Pass' until November. I assume they will want money to continue come November.

Long question short:
Did SH sell out all its members? Appears they got sold to a sports site.

I got the same email and thats how I read it. They were going to archive the old forum so "they" would have access.

That's unfortunate if that is in fact the case. You would think that they would throw all the current active memberships a bone.

[SomeOtherGuy]

Sniper's Hide was more than just a simple discussion forum. It had very active forums, but it also had a paid-subscription set of content, and some commercial style reviews (vs. random people posting in the forums). For whatever reason (I'm thinking $$$) its owner decided to sell to / merge with that sports network. He gave notice of the plan to all the members a while ago, and repeatedly in the last month, and the switch of the forums and website happened a day or two ago. There is massive complaining and confusion, made much worse because all existing accounts had to be re-started at the new site, with most people (oddly, not all) losing their usernames and having to choose new ones, etc. Like internet things tend to do there's lots of wild speculation and rumors.

It is not 100% clear but it appears that anyone who just used the discussion forums can continue to do so without charge, indefinitely. There is a new paid-subscription model but it appears to be for the same sorts of things as before, online training etc. I'm being vague because some of these issues aren't totally clear, and I'm concerned there might be one plan initially and then it later changes. I also have little use for the spectator-sports network that they merged with. I'm taking a wait and see attitude though.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

the leading sports and men’s lifestyle destination.

That's not encouraging.

I had been on recently, but hadn't seen any of the notices. I must have it linked to an old email account or something.

I guess I'll just have to bug Hoser whenever I have a question.

[TehLlama]

Sniper's Hide was more than just a simple discussion forum. It had very active forums, but it also had a paid-subscription set of content, and some commercial style reviews (vs. random people posting in the forums). For whatever reason (I'm thinking $$$) its owner decided to sell to / merge with that sports network. He gave notice of the plan to all the members a while ago, and repeatedly in the last month, and the switch of the forums and website happened a day or two ago. There is massive complaining and confusion, made much worse because all existing accounts had to be re-started at the new site, with most people (oddly, not all) losing their usernames and having to choose new ones, etc. Like internet things tend to do there's lots of wild speculation and rumors.

It is not 100% clear but it appears that anyone who just used the discussion forums can continue to do so without charge, indefinitely. There is a new paid-subscription model but it appears to be for the same sorts of things as before, online training etc. I'm being vague because some of these issues aren't totally clear, and I'm concerned there might be one plan initially and then it later changes. I also have little use for the spectator-sports network that they merged with. I'm taking a wait and see attitude though.

I got the emails, and figured it would be something with long term upside for all parties involved: what should have been a sellout with moderate inconvenience and eventual upsides through monetization (for somebody at least) seems to be a total boondoggle so far, with the new content curators having no idea what they've received. It could have been done well with a good transition, but the fact that the old links are no longer accessible for now is already a huge fail flag in my book - half the value of that place to me is some of the older very high information SME threads, and I can't find *&^% for those anymore.

[rero360]

I agree, and with that, coupled with the fact that my screen name no longer exists with them, I shall sadly not return there.

[TehLlama]

I am extremely excited to announce that Sniper’s Hide has joined Scout Media, the leading sports and men’s lifestyle destination.

The move will be big as we are inserted into the Scout Network, which includes over 300 sites – plus TV series and print magazines – dedicated to outdoors, sports, fantasy, military and more. Scout recently launched an online store featuring awesome gear at great prices for members, like you. The plans is open Sniper’s Hide up even bigger.

This expansion is something Sniper’s Hide could not have done on our own. With the Scout Team behind us, we hope to grow the site, and grow the sport by taking it mainstream. The Scout Network is the perfect launch point for this growth.

There is a lot to Scout, in addition to literally hundreds of sports sites that comprehensively cover each and every market like no one else, they have a network of hunting and fishing content – including the renowned North American Hunter and North American Fisherman – it is absolutely unparalleled. The best part? That’s all part of your membership. Change for the better, for all of us.

As part of the move, we will be recruiting several new moderators as well as “Scouts” to help add content to the site. We will be expanding the home page of Sniper’s Hide and we are looking to include the Sniper’s Hide members to add to this. So if you are interested in being a Scout for Sniper’s Hide and getting inside access so we can provide a better experience for all, let me know.

Again, we’re excited about this, and we hope you are, too. And again, while there will be many changes in the next month or so when we move into the network, all of it will be for the better. A full support staff, a sales team for commercial accounts, and you to help us rebuild content.

For the commercial sales accounts, we will be honor all commitments as well the current SH Site will remain online but in a read only state so we can access the information. This means all the current ads will continue to view. Over the next few weeks we will also be moving the ads to the Scout Network.

In 2015 the commercial sales account will be handled through the Scout Network, we have an 800# that will be used to sign up with . Also the ads will be served through Scout, Sniper’s Hide has been assigned a Sales Person to help with the transition. With this move we will be opening up our network to a much larger audience. Scout is dedicated to this move and has committed to promoting Sniper’s Hide among this 25 Million subscribers, as well as outside their network. Advertising of content is in place which will push our stories and topics to greater group of enthusiast.

If you have any questions please call me @ 203-530-3301

More About Scout
Scout is a multi-channel, men-focused media network owned by Pilot Group, Bob Pittman’s investment fund. Scout’s proprietary content is produced by over 1,000 contributing experts and distributed over 300+ unique Web destinations, 40 print publications and three broadcast television shows. Scout content focuses on men’s passion points: the NFL, fantasy sports, college football and basketball, high school recruiting, hunting, fishing, outdoors, military and history. Scout has a growing consumer base of over 21MM, and our members’ passions make Scout a place where brands can speak to men in a brand-enhancing, premium environment. Scout.com - College and High School Football, Basketball, Recruiting, NFL, and MLB Front Page

The heads up email in question, for reference.

[Alex V]

Got the same email and saw the FB post. Real shame Frank sold it off. Can't blame him if there is a financial advantage for him.

I was whiteness to two car forums I was a member of being sold to a large media company. It sucked.

:-(

[The_War_Wagon]

Shoot - I can't even sign in there now. The sign-in page won't display! :confused:


Well... http://cdn.gifbay.com/2013/08/nope_nope_nope-77924.gif

[.46caliber]

Got the same email and saw the FB post. Real shame Frank sold it off. Can't blame him if there is a financial advantage for him.

I was whiteness to two car forums I was a member of being sold to a large media company. It sucked.

:-(

My company quit participating in forums with our customers because of the massive corporate forum networks in the automotive world.

The beauty of forums is that they're relatively easy to launch. I would hope that a few folks get together and re-boot the site if it things go TU with SH.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

[SomeOtherGuy]

but the fact that the old links are no longer accessible for now is already a huge fail flag in my book - half the value of that place to me is some of the older very high information SME threads, and I can't find *&^% for those anymore.

Yes, that is a major problem, but one they've said will be quickly fixed. Supposedly the old site is still online in read-only format, but whenever I try to go there I am auto-redirected to the new site. We'll see.

I suspect that various promises were made to Frank (Lowlight) by Scout Media, and I won't be terribly surprised if things don't end up the way he was hoping it would. Just common in this sort of business sale/transition. I believe he's stated in threads that he has a buy-back right, so maybe in a year or whatever he will take it back to an independent site like it was. Wait and see, wait and see.

[Double3]

Here is a link to the old site.

http://forum.snipershide.info/index.php

[Jer]

Got the same email and saw the FB post. Real shame Frank sold it off. Can't blame him if there is a financial advantage for him.

I was whiteness to two car forums I was a member of being sold to a large media company. It sucked.

:-(

I was a staff member of Gixxer.com when vertical scope bought it. I tried to keep things as much like they were but my hands were tied, there was a power struggle among some of the other staff members and I was gone never to return again. Sad since I was one of the first few dozen members in 1999 and was there for a decade. I think I had like 70k posts and built some real good real-life friends from that forum and had endless memories and a big chunk of my life that was devoted to that online community. It's a shame but it is what it is and the owner made a cool million or so for his limited efforts other than right place, right time for the most part.

I've been a member on SH for a while now as well and even know Frank personally and didn't even realize what was going on fully. This is disheartening to say the least. I used that forum a TON when I did competitive long-range precision stuff but not much else other than the equipment exchange was unmatched on the internet. I would post/sell shit literally within minutes and even some items were sold within seconds. The sheer volume of buying members there is absurd and I will miss this aspect most. It seems like another chapter in my online forums has closed. Too bad.

[Jer]

My company quit participating in forums with our customers because of the massive corporate forum networks in the automotive world.

The beauty of forums is that they're relatively easy to launch. I would hope that a few folks get together and re-boot the site if it things go TU with SH.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

Easy to set up but not easy to start. The people make the forums and we found out it's not as easy as you might think. There will be a mad rush to start similar forums by various members trying to capitalize and they will never consolidate. This serves to fragment the community and eventually they lose steam due to lack of community that existed before since half the people out of the gate won't realize there is a new forum(s) and then the other half will be split up between half a dozen or more forums that will never quite feel the same and will fade over time. I've seen it too many times unfortunately.

[krm375]

looks like there are two modes there now, the BETA, and regular, make sure you get to the regular forum. I have been there for a while now and not sure how the Sstorm over there will settle out. The regular site still looks like the old site but the BETA sucks, the stickys are going to be carried over individually by Frank, and the new staff. The Sales section is slowly repopulating,
Might be an opening for M4C to open up a whole new section for precision rifle.

[1slow01Z71]

The interface isnt intuitive at all and not being able to reference threads easily are a bad recipe. I didnt post too much over there because with a simple search I could usually find what I needed. Unfortunate to say the least.

[austinN4]

Here is a link to the old site.

http://forum.snipershide.info/index.php

I just used this link and was able to sign in with my exisitng name and password, no problems.