Shambhala
Shambhala, the refuge of the damned, is an underground spinoff site of the Total War Center, founded by Osceola and The Sundance Kid in October 2008 (as well as recruiting Boeing to do the technical work), as a response to both TWC's strict Terms of Service, which many members felt were castrating free speech on the site, and Anagennese, the more famous and high-profile spinoff site of TWC. The Sundance Kid had been a member of Anagennese and noted how it had maintained its elitist attitudes towards new applicants, and wanted to create a similar haven where anyone could join if they wanted. The site is currently ruled over by the ESFTS #7, although this has been dismissed as an ancient myth.
The city of Shambhala is, according to legend, built over the final resting place of the Ark of the Sundovant. The spot is known only to Sundance himself, a secret he guards closely.
Joining
Joining Shambhala could not be easier; the link is available by messaging any member, especially Sundance, Boeing, Magic Man or Osceola (though the latter two are currently suspended). Once there, an account is freely creatable and all forums open to all members. So far in the 3 months the site has been open, only two members have been banned:
Trobalov - For being annoying, idiotic and a conspiracy theorist.
Saneel - For being perceived as a racist moron. Saneel was later let back in after he was determined to be awesome. It is currently believed that Saneel is indeed Niko Belic, the protagonist of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV.(Niko Belic is a Serbian foo!)
GH@Z!-Self own4g3...typed random letters into the password changer.
The Administrators retain all rights to ban people they believe are detrimental to the site as a whole, yet will review their decisions if a public outcry is made. This clause was added due to the disputed banning of Magic Man from the Anagennese forums in Summer 2008, as he was let in to the site after a member voted yes on him multiple times, giving him a majority that was later noticed and corrected.
Content
There are forums for all possible types of discussion on Shambhala, including a general chatroom, games discussions, the arts and many more. There are absolutely no swear filters, however, and more importantly, Tony83 has taken to posting pictures of his penis, so one must be warned that they join at the risk of their own tender innocence. There have been a few minor difficulties in the past, but now Shambhala is back to normal.
There have been many epochs of Shambhala:
- Shambhala Original
- Bagelhala - A Bagel Theme (presided over by King MacBagel I)
- Ye Olde Shambhala - A Medieval Theme
- Sham Diego - An 'Anchorman' Theme
- Shirebhala - A Lord of the Rings Theme
- Kemetbhala - An Ancient Egyptian Theme
- Naboohala - A short-lived attempt to vilify Episode I
- Coruscanthala - A Star Wars Theme (and the current theme)
- Sham-Oldgamer-hala - After Oldgamer (or someone pretending to be him) joined Shambhala, the Shambhala Faithful joined together to repel him.