Well, it was really only a matter of time. Once Kevin Lawver left AOL, I knew that Ficlets wouldn’t be able to carry on without his influence and support. If the fantastic and creative community that cropped up around the fiction site could be considered the lifeblood of Ficlets, then Kevin was really its heart: the driving force that kept Ficlets passionate and inventive.

I got on at the beginning, wrote a handful of stories, and then couldn’t really keep up with the constant flow that the community was pouring out. They created challenges and unique writing opportunities, similar to the various creative writing efforts we generate over at Colony of Gamers. At some point, I discovered that my OpenID login no longer functioned on Ficlets. That’s when I got my first inkling that the site was eventually going to be allowed to either deteriorate to the point of utter uselessness, or closed up completely. I moved over to Protagonize, wrote a story there, and then just got too busy with other projects to continue. I still admire and support the concept of online collaborative fiction. I just wish AOL had given Ficlets the opportunity to succeed.

I appreciate what Kevin Lawver has done, as well. Here’s his comment on the AOL blog post:

I knew this was coming, I just didn’t know the day. I tried, with the help of some great people, to get AOL to donate ficlets to a non-profit, with no luck. I asked them just to give it to me outright since I invented it and built it with the help of some spectacular developers and designers. All of this has gone nowhere.

I’ve already written an exporter and have all the stories (the ones not marked “mature” anyway). I have pretty much all of the author bios too. Since I was smart enough to insist that AOL license all the content under Creative Commons, I’ll be launching a “ficlets graveyard” on 1/16 so at least the stories that people worked so hard one will live on.

I have mixed feelings about ficlets’ demise. On the one hand, I’m proud of the work we did on it. I’m thankful that AOL allowed me to build it with a truly amazing group of talented folks. I’m humbled by the community that ficlets attracted and the awards that ficlets won.

On the other hand, I’m sad that I wasn’t allowed to keep working on ficlets. I’m disappointed that AOL’s turned its back on the community, although I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

So, to all the ficleteers out there – your stories will live on, and there may be a couple more surprises in the works before 1/15 if I have my way. Be on the lookout… I’ll post any news to my blog: http://lawver.net.

Now that’s just classy. I look forward to seeing what he’s accomplished. As for AOL: Ficlets is the last time I get behind anything they create or manage. They’re far too quick to blow a project away that is perceived to be a failure, as opposed to finding ways to breathe new life into them. From now on, I’m going to be extra wary of the AOL symbol on any site I sign up for. It’s a sure sign of a quick and painful death.