Does anyone remember Willow and Gray (and the others) from the original Poser Forum?
Anyone know what became of them?  Are they here among us?

Just taking a stroll down memory lane....   :biggrin:

I remember them. Willow started a website mainly as a repository for freestuff. That website evolved into Renderosity. Willow and Grey then formed another website known as the Poser Forum, and that is probably all that should be said about both those topics. As to what happened to them, don't really know.

Yes I know there were some bad stuff going on during the transition, but I figured enough time has passed for it to be okay just to mention their names around here.

I did an Internet search for them and I only found a couple of dead links to non-existent websites.
But I know there's still a few people around here from back in the old days. I thought they might know what happened to them.

I remember Willow and Gray. I joined the old Poser Forum Online back in  April 1998. It was the very first Poser forum. As tainted-heart said** ** the PFO  started mainly as a repository for freestuff, but then grew into quite an active forum. Renderosity  didn't come about until a year or two after the PFO.  Willow left this site (the old PFO) and restarted the PFO in another place, and this place became Renderosity. Willow had a site called Tempestuous Arts, but it's not around anymore. The last I heard they had moved to Texas, but I haven't been in touch for probably 5 or 6 years.

Coldrake

I missed all this, only getting here late in '01. However, you can use the Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) to see if they're site is still available to be looked at

it's not OT.  we remember her.  none of these poser sites would be here without willow
being the first to set the example.  i had an argument with her over one of nitrane's
characters, but back then I didn't realise why there had to be a distinction between
regular poser sites and porno sites.

Yep, I liked Willow.  But she could be a fiery redhead if you got her upset.
She ran a tight ship, but it was a great place to learn and chat with people.

I also checked on the Wayback machine, there's not much left except the main page of the PFO with lots of missing pictures.  It's too bad we couldn't revisit those original forums.

PFO was an interesting place, for sure. The fora were run with an iron grip, and posts were deleted with an abandon that would shock even Rosity standards. I went there a few times (This was long after the PFO/Rosity wars were over), but the tenor of the place was so... well, for lack of a better word: angry... that I gave up on it.

Quote - I remember Willow and Gray. I joined the old Poser Forum Online back in  April 1998.

That was way before my time. In fact in 1998 I had heard the term "internet" but had no idea what it "looked like." I got my first computer in 2000 and that was the first time I actually "saw" or had anything to do with the internet.  Talk about a babe in diapers!  LOL   I catch on to technology years after the fact!

Quote -
   I catch on to technology years after the fact!

That's okay, my brother is 57 and he still doesn't have a computer.
He's waiting for a computer to have direct voice interface, with no keyboard or mouse (ala Star Trek).

Check out the original EB avatar, people. But what's really shocking is that I was using Internet Explorer back then. And a branded version, no less. Such naïveté. :D

Hey EB,
Is that a screenshot that you saved from a long time ago, or were you able to find the forum using the WayBack Machine (or by some other method)?

Uhmmm ... the site still exists, just not in the same way. Simply click on www.poserforum.net and see where it takes you :ohmy:

I saved it at the time I made the post. I, too, have tried the Wayback Machine, but none of the internal forum pages seemed to have been saved. :( 

It was very confusing, when the future Renderosity split off from the PFO.  I had no idea what happened.  One night the Free Stuff was being spammed somehow, and I tried to contact the PFO admins about it, unaware that there had been whatever controversy arose, followed by the Great Schism.

Interesting times, those.  Hmm.

Quote - Uhmmm ... the site still exists, just not in the same way. Simply click on www.poserforum.net and see where it takes you :ohmy:

That's interesting.....

Last I'd heard, Willow and Gray lived up here in Washington state ... I know that Curious Labs hosted the forum for a while, then DAZ did too.  Then ... it just sort of disapeared around 2003 sometime.  I was a gallery administrator at the time and Willow never answered my e-mails.  Not sure what happened then. 

I'd actually thought of starting a forum that was totally non-commercial, the way Willow had originally intended. (the crux of the schism).  But I've never had the time to pursue that. 

I was a member since ... early 1989.  It was a lot of fun.  I like the new forums ... but they are all commercially run to sell products.  Willow's wasn't.  It was more of a club of likeminded folks sharing art and free stuff. 

Ah, those were the days ....  

Yeah I was a moderator too for awhile in Willow's forum.  But when things got ugly, I bailed.  I can't remember what the specifics were but I just remember that it was WAY too emotionally draining for just an Internet forum.

I don't know if they still live in Washington State (I still live here).  She used to live on Bainbridge Island and I know we talked about visiting each other, but it never happened.

I would like to see more 3D forums that were non-commercial in nature.  But as you said, it takes a lot of work and patience.

I think I came in just as the last bodies were being hauled out and the blood washed down. I remember getting freebies from PFO as well as Thralldom, Lannie, Happyworldland and Greylight - the latter two still alive in some form miraculously enough. I didn't use the forum so I was only vaguely aware of the "issues." I come here much less than in times past and hardly ever at the other forums. I do see old names from here at other places though, a sad commentary on how many folks have left due to various "issues." As Cyndi Lauper said, "Money changes everything." And usually not for the better.

The oldest posts I could find in this forum were from August 17, 1999.  Were these inherited from the forum before the big split, or do they follow the split, or what?  When did all of that happen?  There's no kind of post, that I could see, announcing a new opening or anything.  Hmm.

Willow has a product for sale at Daz www.daz3d.com/i/3d-models/0/magic-tiles and who knew all of this Poser stuff was written up in the New York Times back in 2001?  query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html

Ah, the good old drama.  Some people must have a lot of time to waste to get involved in all this stuff.

...and, ten years later,  a belated thank-you to Willow & Ian for all of this  -- wherever you're hiding!