Bar Torn City: a free-beer thread runs eight months, then closes

A bar made of forum posts

Hopslam [795412] started the thread "Bar Torn City" in the Fun & Games board on 20 Feb 2018. Players posted in character as bar customers and asked for beer.^[1][2][3]

At the archive's last fetch the thread had 10,138 replies and 20,015 views. The title now carries the tag [CLOSED].^[1]

Where the beer came from

Hopslam said they had organised Torntoberfest and were given a very large amount of beer by donators and sponsors. They said not all of it was consumed during the event. Participant claim^[4]

Hopslam said they did not want to hand the stock to one player or a few players who would likely sell it. The bar thread was the result. Participant claim^[4]

Hopslam's inventory log started at 75,000 bottles of beer on 20/02/18 and showed the count falling entry by entry, for example to 74,525 on 21/02/18.^[5]

Beer requests, card games and roleplay

Early posters requested beer and named playing cards for a card game. bLiNd [2010548] wrote "5 beer please Mr Bartender. Card: 10 of hearts".^[3][6][7]

Posts were often written as bar scenes. Dolfwagos [1900418], marked in the documents as Torn officer/committee, wrote in character asking for beers and knocking over another player's drink. Torn roleplay^[8][9][10]

On 27 Feb 2018 Hopslam posted the round 5 results of "Horse Race - Game 2.1" and named Clemmy_Leya the winner under a tie-breaker rule.^[11]

Players also ran their own games in the thread. Jefayette [2044515] restarted a crazy 8's game on 25 Feb 2018.^[12]

The closing announcement

On 17 Oct 2018 Hopslam posted an announcement that the thread's run was ending. They said the inventory stood at 175 bottles of beer and that they would not seek further donations. Participant claim^[2][13]

Hopslam then posted "Last few beer sends" with the line "Bottle of Beer x175".^[14]

Hopslam gave these figures: over another 37,000+ bottles of beer in the past 2-3 months, over 500 forum pages, nearly 8 months active, well over 4200 unique item sends, and over 117,000 bottles of beer sent out. Participant claim^[2][13]

Hopslam also said 30+ larger and unique games had been played, and that the thread had morphed a few times in format or layout but stayed alive and active. Participant claim^[2]

On 18 Oct 2018 Hopslam posted a list of the last beer sends, each with a short message such as "from the bar".^[15]

Farewells from regulars

MrLuna [2127461] replied on 17 Oct 2018 with a rhyming farewell. They said the bar had helped them and asked for a final beer.^[16]

On 5 Dec 2018 Prophet_Jonas [1995840] posted in character behind the bar. They said the decorations were packed up and the bar was closed down. Torn roleplay^[17]

On 3 Oct 2018 irivi [2135216] had posted a Torntoberfest poem in the thread.^[18]

After the closing

Hopslam wrote that they would not say 100% that the thread was gone and done, and pointed to a Bar discord for card games. They said that once the last beer ran out they would close the bar for beer requests. Participant claim^[2][13]

The thread's last post is dated 14 Mar 2019. On 13 Mar 2019 Kidboss03 [2143920] sent a beer to Hopslam with the message "We can hope... To the old times".^[1][19]

During the run Hopslam linked to the bar from other threads. These included a Green Stout giveaway on 17 Mar 2018, a free-beer note on 24 Apr 2018 and a Bar Torn City Raceway thread on 04 Jun 2018.^[20][21][22]

Timeline

1. 20 Feb 2018 Hopslam opens Bar Torn City and posts the origin story.^[2][4]
2. 27 Feb 2018 Hopslam posts round 5 results of Horse Race Game 2.1.^[11]
3. 17 Oct 2018 Hopslam announces the end of the thread's run, with 175 beer left.^[13][14]
4. 18 Oct 2018 Hopslam posts the last beer sends.^[15]
5. 5 Dec 2018 Prophet_Jonas posts in character that the bar is closed. Torn roleplay^[17]
6. 14 Mar 2019 Last post in the thread.^[1]