We almost made it to seven years. From a small Games Workshop rumours website on free webspace to a dual Xeon 2.4 GHz monster dedicated server with 100,000+ visitors a month, Portent has grown from a fun idea in my head to something far greater than I could ever have anticipated. Sadly, all good things must come to an end.
The end result of the recent server troubles is that we no longer have the Portent data, aside from a year-old backup. Unfortunate as this is, it's almost as if fate has forced our hand. I can no longer provide the time or finances that Portent requires - not by a long shot. For Nick and myself, Portent has practically been a second job. You can only take so many abortive glimmers of hope before you realise it's time to move on.
There are far too many people to thank before the curtain closes here. Most important of all, Nick has been a complete legend - there are very few people who would do so much for nothing but the odd beer. Portent would have vanished many moons ago without his technical expertise, and I'm sure the rest of Portent has just as much to thank him for as I do.
A mere step below Nick in the grand scheme of things are the Inquisitors. I have, and I can say this having administered forums professionally, the best mod team I could ever ask for. Despite countless challenges, they've been instrumental in tirelessly turning the Portent forums into a great place to discuss wargaming and more. Every single one of you regular members who have posted (and not been banned, at least) deserves my thanks too, particularly those who helped support Portent by becoming Guilders. Seeing the end of such an amazing community is unquestionably the hardest part of this. Without you guys, I probably would have closed the site long ago - having such a great community made it that much harder.
The chaps at the studio have all proved themselves to be total gents whenever we've spoken. Andy, it was always a pleasure to catch up with you at Games Days - I hope things are going well at Mongoose. Gav, many thanks for attending the tourney and posting on the forums. Paul, cheers for putting aside a foolish rumour from long ago and posting on the forums - I appreciate it. Robin, that studio tour was extremely cool and a much-appreciated gesture; I hope to catch up again sometime. And finally, I'll never forget Rick Priestly - immortal grand chief games designer supreme - catching me at the last minute before I left that studio tour to essentially say, "Hi, and good work on Portent."
And last of all, the web stores that occasionally advertised with Portent. The Warstore was our longest-running advertiser, albeit on and off. It's also one of the best places around to order miniatures, and Neal is just a damn nice guy to do business with. Also, check out Chelgames (UK), Whites of Their Eyes (Warmachine), Battle Pack, and Wargames Dungeon - they've all supported Portent over the years.
Well, the letter I never wanted to write has already got far longer than I expected. We'll be turning the server off for good on March 20th and then selling it to recoup costs which, sadly, run well beyond what the server sale will recover, but c'est la vie. We had hoped to keep Portent running for the last week of its existence, but sadly, the database loss means we can't do that.
It has been an incredible journey, but it really is over. Thank you, one and all, for helping make Portent something special - I hope you'll all remember it for as long as I will.
Best of luck to you all, and not just with the dice rolls.
Pete Closs
Portent Webmaster
April 1998 - March 2005