Goober Zone Ends Its Run
Written by Awportals.com
In a sentimental forum post Goober King has announced the Goober Zone will be drawing to an end (inc full text).


[rimg]/media/imglib_general/goober_zone.jpg[/rimg]The Goober Zone, which has been a staple of the Activeworlds experience for many years has traditionally been based around the Alphaworld GZ area attracting large crowds of up to 40 people on occasion.

Goober King gave limited reasoning for the cancellation of the show, but did express that he thought there was no longer enough activity in Activeworlds to justify the effort required to produce a show each week.

In continuing Goober King stated that his main reason for the end of the show was that he had developed an extensive social life outside of Activeworlds and indeed that he was due to be married to his long time girlfriend whom had appeared on the show herself.

Mobile Goobering

In more recent times the Goober Zone has instead visited other worlds and locations - often during building competitions or other events and frequently adding a significant boost to community involvement in them.

Many world owners would find themselves stunned while their worlds, many of which had often laid quiet for many months suddenly, suddenly found themselves atop the worlds list.

The Conversation

The Goober Zone, titled "Music for the Discerning Geek" was an effective combination of music streaming and group voice chat via Skype with the music occasionally cutting to the conversation for discussions and commentary on the events of Activeworlds.

[wlimg=One of the many stunts attributed to the show was an avatar tower in Alphaworld GZ]/media/imglib_general/goober_birdstack.jpg[/wlimg]Of course, the Goober Zone eventually became so popular that new and inventive ways had to be found to increase the number of simultaneous members of the voice chat and in a time before 'Skype Conferences' the conversation element often included multiple users relaying messages with Goober King to provide a larger network.

With the advent of Skype Conferences new users that had no experience of the Activeworlds platform began their involvement in the show, indeed the Goober Zone itself had become a form of public service broadcast.

Special Guests & Events

Such was the influence of the Goober Zone that it had an extensive following including staff members of Activeworlds, Inc and some of which elected to appear on the show a number of times including Stacee and more recently Martin.

The Goober Zone has also been scheduled to occur alongside many major events such as the previous two CY Awards ceremonies and often providing a chaotic back story.

Controversy

The show itself has developed a reputation for being a place where open discussion (and frequently extensive flaming) took place.

Perhaps the largest controversy was when Technology Celebration host Brant requested the show be hosted from the Activeworlds Technology Celebration event in early 2008.

During the course of the celebration the forthright views expressed by the Skype chat members soon reduced Brant (whom was a member of the Skype chat himself) to alternatively whimpering and shouting that the Goober Zone should be banned from any official events.

Goober King eventually responded in kind upon the forums by saying that Brant should have known what the show contained and mocked his claim that he thought the show would be G rated.

Full Text

Goober King announced the decision by making a posting on the official forums - taking the opportunity to thank the shows regular contributors.

The full text of the announcement is given below.

So, it's come to this. I don't even have to say it anymore, you already know what's coming.

To be perfectly honest with y'all, there just isn't enough going on in AW to justify doing a Goober Zone every week. I realize that people still tune in, and I'm grateful for that, but I just don't have the time to commit to come up with new material every week. And while I do enjoy the Skypecast sessions with the regulars, you don't need a radio show to do that.

But the main reason I'm canceling the show is, to be frank, I have a life now. I'm getting married in a couple months to a beautiful woman and there's a whole world out there that I'd love to explore with her. I don't want to spend my life in front of a computer anymore. I want to go play outside.

Still, even though the show was called the "Goober Zone", it was never about me. It was always about a) the audience and b) the guests. I would always rather play requests than my own stuff, mostly because I know not everyone will appreciate it (hence "Music for the Discerning Geek"). And I'm thankful that I caught the attention of some really funny people (not to mention the occasional AWI employee) who were willing to contribute to the craziness. While there were a few duds here and there, sometimes, the stars would align and we'd have an awesome combination of great guests, responsive audience, and hilarious music.

You guys don't need me for that; anyone can do it. If someone else wants to take over and keep the magic going, let me know and I'll fill you in on all the Goobery tricks of the trade. Otherwise, the GZ will go quietly into the night. But before it's gone for good, I'd like to thank all the awesome contributors that have graced the show with their presence over the years. The Goober Zone would be nothing without you!

Absolute Monarch
Agent1
Archergirl
Byte
Cactus Jack
Digigurl
Elyk
Espilae
Gnu64
Heather
Hyper Anthony
Ima Genius
Jaguar Hahn
Jeff Raven
Keith Thomas
Martin
Master Penguin
Matt888
Mercedes29
Stacee
Strike Rapier
SW Chris

Thanks for all the memories! Keep it stupid, always!

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