Some news just coming in to us here at Hailing Frequency.  It seems that Ziff Media, the parent company of Filefront and in turn, owners of Elite Force Files, Armada Files, SFC Files, Legacy Files and Bridge Commander Files websites, will be shutting down in 5 days on March 30th!

Details are sketchy at the moment, but it seems the decision to close FileFront was only made in the past 24 hours and in turn, the administrators of the individual websites have been locked out from their admin sections, FTP access to the sites has been disabled and more.

Between the websites, there is over 100gb of hosted mods, patches and files, so at this time, we are asking anyone with free disk space and a broadband connection to attempt to backup as many files as possible.

Bridge Commander is currently being handled by the guys over at BC Central but they are asking urgently for people to join their effort to backup files - volunteer to help at http://bc-central.com/forums/index.php?topic=5444.msg104820#new

Update March 26th 10am GMT


Here is a letter we have recieved from the former manager of the FileFront Network:

Greetings all,

Well, as some of you already know and some that think it's still a joke, FileFront will be closing its doors for good on March 30th. All of the paid staff has been laid off (including myself) and all volunteers have been let go. Unfortunately, it seems to have been decided that the forums and network should be the first to go and before I was even able to create some announcement to inform my beloved community and volunteer staff of this event, they were taken offline or 'locked' so no further changes could be made to them. To call this unfortunate or frustrating is quite a bit of an understatement, not only to me, but especially to those I am currently unable to reach to inform them as to what's going on. I cannot imagine the confusion they must have about this and probably think its all some April Fool's joke. If only it were.

We found out yesterday that due to current economic conditions, Ziff Davis has made the call to suspend operations of the site at the end of March 30th. There isn't anyone at FileFront that knew this would happen. It was quite a shock to anyone that worked there. While we expected bad news (in this economy is there any other kind?) we certainly didn't expect that the site would be shut down for good. I certainly didn't expect the forums or network sites to be offline and unmanageable.

To the Network Staff:

I understand everyone's confusion and frustration. Hell, I share in these emotions with you. I do wish to say that it's been an honor working with every one of the volunteers, even you Skyrider. While there were days I just wanted to beat my head into the wall repeatedly from what I had to deal with, I'd do it all over again because I loved what I did. Remember that you guys are the real people that made the Network what it was and how successful it became. Keep that in mind and take pride in what you did.

To the Forum Staff:

Ah, my forum staff. I do not consider you simply volunteers of Ziff Davis that worked on the forums as those that just shut the site down do, no, I consider you guys and gals friends and family. I never had to worry about the forums, ever. I looked out for you and tried to treat you as though you were family as much as I could. I've tried requesting to get the forums database sent to me so I can continue on the community, however it seems that will not be the case. All of those posts will probably never see the light of day again. Just like the Network Staff, it's been my honor to work with each and every one of you on making one of the most popular game forums out there. Take pride that you were a part of it and helped mold it into what it was. At least we'll never have to worry about the white screen of death again though, right?

To the Admins Network/Forums:

You guys devoted more time on your respective areas then I ever did. I never lost sight of that and always had a level of respect that made me feel lucky to have you guys around. I don't think I could have ever accomplished things on my part without the strong devotion you shared in making File Front's community areas the best they could be. You did a damned fine job keeping the places up and running smoothly. I take pride in knowing that I was working with the best and always knew I could rely on you for advice and help whenever I asked for it. There's nothing I can say that really describes the thanks I wish to extend to you for all of your years of time and service, so I'll just say the words and hope you understand; Thank you.   

To the Community:

I'm not sure I can write the proper words to show how much I cared for this community and what happened to it. 8 years of my life were devoted towards you all and I would never have had it any other way. You all made me happy to do the job I was doing. While I did have a work shift, when it came to the forums community, I always loved browsing it at all hours of the day. It was my job during the day, but at night, it was all about just being a member participating with everyone else. When I posted on the forums, my red username, title and status meant nothing to me at that point. I simply saw myself as a member of the community who wished to chat with other members of the community.

Last night I was being approached by many. There were some to offer condolences and some to find out what happened and some to offer places to re-ignite the community in a new place. I feel the same way they do, I want to get the community back up and running and, if Danny and Ronnie are reading this, please drop me a line and let's see if we can work something out. I'm sure we all have different goals in mind, but at the same time share in the feeling that we want our community back!

While writing this, I'm sure some of you will think it's a bit 'sappy'. I honestly don't care. I cared and respect the community and volunteers enough to write something from the heart. You all deserve it, not some cold statement written by lawyers who only wish to make it so they can't be sued for what is said. I wanted to show my gratitude for allowing me to be a part of the community and showing me the kind of dedication I've come to expect from those at FileFront.

Whenever/ if ever we are able to do a fresh start with the community, I would love to see each and every person that used it before to return.

To those that will be unable to come back, I'll miss you.

Thanks for everything!

Jeff 'n0e' Mills
jeff.mills@gmail.com
Former Community Manager, FileFront.com

P.S. Please, send this to the Forum Staff who I'm unable to get contact information for. (any of them that did not work on a network site that you know of)