Frau Hupfner

Hello yolkema! I was just about to make a post about this, hope you don't mind me using your ask :-)

I'm aware of the GOS/S2A situation and I've been lurking. I wanted to see how it all turned out before making a post about it. @teaaddictyt shared an update where she explained that GOS/S2A aren't dead just yet, people are working on getting it up again. I've also reached out to @liquidsims if this is something they would perhaps be able to "mirror" like the old ts2 sites they have done before (if all else fails).

In the meantime, @simnostalgia scraped GOS back in 2023 and you can find it here. I also found this sfs link on reddit. There's also the mediafryer archive. For links, you can plop them into wayback, a lot of links has been saved but not all ofc. I've already stumbled upon some links not archived. To answer your question, yes, feel free to share the links you find!

I've seen people post some links etc already, and I will probably reblog those, and until GOS/S2A are up and running again, I will reply to asks looking for GOS/S2A content. But pleeeease include links* if you have them! Even if wayback hasn't archived it. And if the creator is still active, reach out to them first.

*It makes it so much easier for me, it's already hard enough as it is with Google's fucking (sorry) AI shit. If anyone has any recommendations for working image-search and search engines, please enlighten me.

Like many of us, I grew up with Garden of Shadows. To me, it was more than just a forum. It was a place I could ask for help, learn new skills and, best of all, find amazing content in any style I could possibly want. I loved the board names, the people, the themes; everything, really.

And I admit I was more than a little heartbroken to find it gone.

After mulling it over, I decided that I wanted to preserve what I possibly could. I spent a few hours yesterday running through strategies and ideas about how to best go about it, and the best I could come up with was, well, exactly the same.

So, here it is: the Garden of Shadows mirror forum.

I've only just started, but I hope to add a little bit to it every day. The primary focus will be on preserving all the knowledge and custom content. I'm tackling it myself, but if you feel so inclined, you're more than welcome to join in.

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As a web developer who works on the daily with this kind of stuff (and php!) it makes me sad how little preservation was actually tried. I understand that a php upgrade isn't possible anymore at some point, especially if the base is old, but if you know what to do, you can edit databases, remove all personal data like mails and usernames, leave the threads as is and upload it to an archive.

I think there are several people in this community who could have helped, or still can.

It just makes me sad to see so little care put towards this huge piece of history.

I JUST FUCKING SAW, BITCH.

Okay okay, wait let me collect myself.

First, let me say that I'm actually so sad to see it go. It's been a huge part of my time in the sims community. It's a shame that was so sudden. I really loved the community and I think it's a shame that it happened like it did.

With that out of the way.

BITCH, I TOLD YOU. I TOLD ALL OF YOU. I told ALL you motherfuckers exactly what would happen and everyone bitched like "Oh!! Well, WHY would you do this? Especially when it's not like GOS is closing down anytime soon???"

I got hate mail for months. Bitches poured out of the woodwork like "Mmmm I've always hated Billie, just another thing he's done to add him to my shit list" Then HL bitched at me and acted like the scrape cost him a huge amount of case in data usage when that shit was fucking cents on the dollar. I even offered to pay HL back the like 2 dollars that it *may* have costed him to scape.

Well GUESS who fucking took their ball and went home with very little warning?

AI generated CC previews, early access CC for Paralives (an indie game IN early access), and low/questionable quality CC for sale in the Sims marketplace.

What the fuck happened where folks think any of this is okay or normal?