The once very popular community at Merlins Portal has certainly been through some ups and downs over the last couple years.  We weren’t along for the end of the ride but it sounds like things got pretty bad.  Now it appears the new owner of Merlins Portal is calling it quits.  Not to say there isn’t any hope since the site was revived once already.  Yet without m3rl1n it seems unlikely the site will ever return to the glory days of past.

In a moment we’ll post the message from SiD, the current owner of Merlins Portal.  Without any opinions of our own.  Since we weren’t around for the apparent implosion of the site it seems fitting to just share the outcome without comment.  Those looking for alternatives can compare several on our NZB sites page.  If you want immediate help finding Usenet content we suggest the Newshosting client with built-in search.

Here is the letter posted on the Merlins-Portal homepage from SiD:

This site is closed indefinitely.

Due to my failure to keep on top of things & monitor more what was going on & the failure of spinout as the working administrator & spinouts actions that forced many members away from the site because of his unprovoked behaviour & attacks since I took over the site back in February , refusal to add content to the members needs, refusal to add content relevant to an English site. Worse of all spinouts actions forcing off the site 2 of Usenet’s most prolific content gathers & the founder of the site robodog & m3rl1n & the fact I sat back an let it happen.

I was stupid, naive & foolish to think I could fill such large shoes as m3rl1ns. I was stupid, naive & foolish to put spinout in charge. I was stupid, naive & foolish to think members were loyal to the site & have found out now it is the person (m3rl1n) they were loyal too. Between myself & spinout in the last few months we have ruined a great Usenet institution & numbers fell from around 800 or more members online at any given point to less than a 50 & fell over 89 percent of our daily traffic for this a blame spinout who looked out for his own needs & not mine, other staff, the members or the site as a whole to the point the site is a shadow of its former self & after a lot of soul searching I see no point keeping a site going for a small handful of die hard members.

I will however thank whttrsh for his dedication as I am sure this must have been hard gathering content in the atmosphere created on the site. I will openly apologize to robodog & m3rl1n & those members spinout attacked & for sitting back & letting spinout carry on as he did & for undoing all the great work everyone had put in making this great institution. Advice to the Usenet community if you have spinout on your site do not allow him any position of power, like me you will regret it.

I had contacted m3rl1n to take the site back a few days ago but his reply is unrepeatable & really who can blame him after what has happened & my own failure to deal with the situation & take that spinouts version as true. One old staff member told me to be wary of my new administrator but once again it was my own failure to see & listen to what him & what was going on.

Ultimately it stops at my feet for it all going wrong & my own lack of time with a family of 4 young children & that said I am sorry whttrsh, robodog, m3rl1n, members & to all who were involved building this great Usenet institution & community & thank the people that made me feel welcome back in February. If anyone wish to take on the site I will give it too them as it was given to me & can contact me & I will respond in due course & I am very hopeful someone will come forward

Sorry

SiD

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