Um, ya. I was going to comment on those forums, but I wasn't about to sign up for just one post. So, to reply to it here:

(1) has already been tried. I was actually involved in it. The site was called newsoftheverse.net. What was done is to post what was going on with fans, etc. Unfortunately, after the first bit, the posts became perhaps one or two a month. As in, there just isn't any real activity in this fandom. So, because of the cost involved and the fact that no-one in the fandom was doing anything, the decision was made to end the project.

Please keep in mind that this was a couple years ago when this fandom was much stronger with far more people willing to do something. Even still, with newsoftheverse.net there was THREE people that went with it (only one by the end) and the other project (on-line magazine) that was started only had about a 1/2 dozen (as I recall) people regular contributors, if that. And that went under after only a couple editions.

The fact of the matter is that savefirefly.org is too little too late; the fandom's numbers have been steadily dwindling for a *long* time now. In fact, to the point where there is too few. And of the few that remain, they are /not/ motivated to do anything if only because they've been involved in soooooo many campaigns in the past it isn't funny; they are burned out in a way.


You know, it /is/ nice to see people come in from time to time with such excitement about the series. And seeing such people come in might give the misconception that the fandom is growing. But, it isn't. Haken (this site's admin) has stated explicitly that the numbers have fallen drastically over only the past couple years.

If you want to do something, don't do something as useless (and embarrassing) as joining a dozen (pretty much literally) people in mailing something. That's just sad. Instead, make new content for the fandom. Make fan fic. Make art. Make anything that could be pointed to that says that the fandom is still around and active. That says that if the corps aren't going to provide, then the fandom will do it for itself.

THAT shows the fandom is still active. THAT gets people to stay around longer. THAT gets others motivated to do something themselves or get involved in an ongoing project.

It is people /not/ doing that, that has lead to the current downward spiral. Wanna fight it? Find something to do that's more than just writing a letter.

Join the club. I became a new fan myself a few weeks ago, and am also pretty obsessed about it. I am also up for more Firefly, and have been looking for ways in which I could help renew interest. I am of the belief that the fanbase for firefly might already exist, but they are too scattered and disorganized right now to have much of an impact.

I stumbled upon a site called "SaveFirefly" (http://www.savefirefly.org), where the site administrator usually hosts Postcard campaigns and such, but the site seems to be suffering from a lack of active members, so his efforts don't have the broad impact that they could have if he were to reach more firefly fans. He seems to be facing the obstacles that come with Firefly being a "cult" hit: (This is an excerpt of my post at SaveFirefly's forums).
"
1) Disorganization. There is a dire need to create a central hub that all firefly fans are aware of and go to regularly for communication with other fans and firefly news. Being rather new to the firefly fan scene, I am not sure if there is a site/affiliation yet that fulfills this role. We need to take advantage of these facts, and post links to plans and movements to sites with lots of active members, [so that more fans are reached and united under a common cause such that the plans have a bigger impact.

2) Once 1) is overcome the most important things to realize is that all studios and production companies see are numbers. Thats all the business really is about is numbers. Whether its sending postcards, letters, pictures, death threats, money, whatever, if you plan something well enough, and, lets say for example, that on one particular day Universal receives 15,000 letters from firefly fans, someone has to take notice.

If this happens consistently throughout certain intervals (3 times a year or so), then interest is clearly there, and someone takes notice. If 5,000 copies of Serenity's BluRay/Comics/books/CDs are sold in one day, that says something. It says "money" to studios, which is better than anything else to them. Unfortunately, this "numbers" game DOES NOT apply to online petitions, emails, forum posts, polls etc. Because it's really hard to judge how much revenue those signatures/emails/etc. really represent for a company. Nothing is stopping anyone from making 300 email addresses and sending 300 emails/signatures, so these methods hold no meaning for a company.
"

Note: all the numbers in that posting are to be taken as "a large group of people" rather than actual figures.

That being said, yes, Joss is busy with other projects, but if no studio is willing to approach him about the series, he can't make it even if he wanted to. I agree that large Firefly sales on ITunes and Amazon will definately get their attention. I am not so sure about viewings on Hulu and the like, because it goes back to that "not being able to accurately judge revenue point" that I was trying to make, since it doesn't get Fox anymore revenue per viewing. For the sake of expanding the fanbase, yes it might work, but the problem is expanding the fanbase to people who are willing to shell out cash for the show once they've seen it on Hulu and the like.

What I think would have more of an impact is if the Browncoat fanbase and organizers all united under one banner. Planning movements and campaigns would be a lot more efficient and have more of an impact. The easiest way to do this is obviously through the internet and website forums, since its not subject to distance restrictions and whatnot.

Right now SaveFirefly.org seems to be the most active in terms of trying to organize campaigns and such, so it'd be nice if anyone who stumbles acros this atleast stopped by the site and showed your support. But again, wether its SaveFirefly, Fireflyfans.net, or any other provider of easy communication, the best thing that the Browncoats can do right now is unite and make an impact through effective planning and such, IMO.