BATEWORLD’S SEVENTH

It’s our seventh anniversary online, and Peter and I want to say a great big “Thank you!” to our members, our supporters, and our staff for your dedication to the world’s largest online community of bators.

Seven years ago Peter asked me if I’d be interested in starting a masturbation site for men. The idea seemed so provocative and fun; I had no idea how it would change my life and affect the lives of so many others. Along the way, there have been rewards and challenges, but I’ve never stopped being excited and humbled that I get to work for this wonderful community. My duties have expanded into editing and writing for The BatorBlog, but I still oversee, with Peter, the work for all three sites (including TheBateShop.com).

What makes BateWorld so special is the community of men gathered there. Some fascinating guys are on BateWorld—really genuine, smart, kind, decent guys who care about others and the brotherhood of bating. They’re supportive and encouraging of each other. Over the years I’ve seen how they continue to be strong examples of masculine energy in balance, focused on bate as a practice of mind and body. There are so many different forms of sexual expression in men, and so much of it is directed in acts of power and aggression. One thing I love about bators is that we aren’t competitive, we’re supportive, and that’s one of the revolutionary points in our community’s evolution.

It’s a wonderful feeling knowing how we’ve helped bring men into a larger world of masturbation with others. We get lots of messages from men who tell us how BateWorld has changed their lives. We’d like to share a few of those here, and in future we’ll be posting more on The BatorBlog. I think it’s important to stress that the people behind the scenes are grateful for these compliments, but it’s the community that gives BateWorld its unique personality.

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“I hope you realize what a service to mankind you provide that is both necessary and truly beneficial.”

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“…we need to be always mindful of the members of our community and how special this community is. I’m about to enter my third year of membership. I’ve made many good friends here and I am still in contact with a small group of guys that I met very early on—my first buddies. I’ve added a few along the way, too.

We look after each other through health, family, job issues. I’ve not yet met most face to face, but we know each other’s likes/dislikes, highs/lows, joys/sadnesses. We help each other and rejoice in each other. Even if it’s only in a message, we know someone is there.

This is much more than a masturbation site. This is truly a men’s forum where we can express ourselves and not feel vulnerable. Thank you for what you contribute to all of us.”

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“All of us who embrace our self-pleasure progress through a series of stages as we mature and as our passion for pleasure matures.

This is what BateWorld.com is all about, liberating men to find the freedom to get past all the negativity about masturbation and enjoy it for what it is—a great gift of nature and a vital, healthy part of being human.”

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“Since discovering the beauty of BateWorld I feel like I have found a candy store of magnificent men who share my lust for self-loving and bating pleasure. I’ve received a lot of encouraging and very nice messages from guys around the globe. I’m overwhelmed by the friendliness and eroticism of so many guys. I feel like I’ve found ‘home’.”

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“You guys provide much more than a killer website. You guys provide a safe place for self-discovery and exploration without any attached stigma. This is a safe place for curious or questioning guys to come and figure out. There’s more of us out here seeking a safe place to come out than you know.

I’ve discovered that there’s a lot to take advantage of if one dives in a bit. The blogs, Forum, and Community Page have all been enlightening. “

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“I think that the one constant in any man’s life is masturbation. It excites us. It calms us. It cures insomnia. It cures drowsiness. It softens the blows of grief and sadness. It is familiar comfort brought about by no other means.

It is a different sensation than any other form of sexual activity. Intercourse of any kind does not replace my want, need and desire to masturbate. It is my private joy and solace. It transcends routine and monotony and becomes spiritual and ritualistic in its evolution.

We never masturbate alone. The primal tribe in my head and soul stroke their shafts with me and howl in private ecstasy that no other experience can live up to. I masturbate because I am male, and because I am male, masturbation is an integral part of my nature and soul.”

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“This member knows of no sites remotely similar. BateWorld is in a class by itself. If one can’t make a connection here, it’s doubtful they could make a connection anywhere. For the value of its premium section: It is the steal of the century. For it’s free section: It’s STILL the steal of the century.

No other site makes a new member a premium member for a full week at the outset. If fetish websites were all on Rodeo Drive, BateWorld is the Gucci. A one of a kind. Elsewhere they sell sex. BateWorld is exclusively Masturbation and no other retailer—high end or otherwise, comes close.”

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High praise indeed. Make no mistake that the people running BateWorld are passionate about making it the best site possible, masturbation or otherwise. We work hard to make our members’ online experience seamless, so they can focus on the task at hand (ha) and when troubles arise it’s really upsetting to us, because I know personally how dedicated these men are who work behind the scenes. I see it every day.

All our employees are part-time, but they’re on-call 24 hours a day, and routinely give us much more than they’re paid for. Our tech guys Sean and Phil are exceptionally devoted to making the site run well. They speak a language I’ve never understood, but I see how they’re constantly upgrading things and fortunately Peter understands it, and we rely on them constantly to keep us afloat.

One analogy I’ve used from the beginning about BateWorld is that it is basically an ocean liner we salvaged and have brought up from sunken wreckage and restored. When the old Bate Nation site closed (no relation), so many members were left stranded, and BateWorld gave them a place to really build a community beyond Yahoo groups.

I’m so impressed when I look at what we’ve built, this giant ocean liner, how much work we’ve put into it and how far it’s evolved. Our earliest members can probably attest to that. It’s nowhere near where I’d like it to be in terms of evolution, but BateWorld is constantly changing and upgrading and is now a unique working leisure liner for the bate community.

Along the way, we’ve experienced occasional outages of the site. In the first year, it was epidemic. Because of that, we built a new platform and just after our first year we introduced the current version of BateWorld.com. It’s built on a structure called Social Engine 3, and from the start we knew that it was our best alternative, yet would still present challenges as the technology changed rapidly. And boy has it!

The most recent period of site outages is the longest period we’ve sustained since our first year, and I’m sure was trying for everyone involved. It’s been taken care of now and the site remains stable again. The reality of web programming is that occasionally it can happen to anyone—recently United Airlines went offline, stranding thousands of people. If only they could just have spent the time bating lol.

We do take our security seriously and we’ll be bringing in a security specialist to asses things for the future. Meanwhile, we’re addressing the problems some people are having with chat, and discussing possible options.

We’re really grateful for the patience and support of our members during such difficult times. I assure you that these site outages are no way an issue of incompetence. Our tech guys are on the ball and extremely reliable, but BateWorld is a giant complicated site now and there’s lots of code to keep up with, and continue to work on upgrading the site to responsive design.

Our new signin pages will be the first of these upgrades. While this project is moving forward slowly, there’s been way more of a learning curve than Peter or I could ever have imagined. I previously announced that they’d be up in April, which just goes to show how complicated such things are because it’s now the end of September. We’re in testing phase now, so it’s close, and I expect we’ll have them by the end of the year.

I’m very proud of this design and I hope our members will enjoy it. The current version essentially forced certain creative decisions that I’ve always felt looked clunky and awkward, so the new designs have a more streamlined look, and most importantly, easier interface for the one-handed user. I’ve already mapped out how the new site upgrades will look, but honestly I have no idea how long that process will be to completely redo every page on BateWorld.

So I want to wrap this up by also acknowledging the work of Wayne and Peter W, whose dedication and professionalism have been an integral part of making the site run smoothly in front of and behind the scenes. I can’t even state how much time, care and concern these guys take to make our member experience the best it can be.

Wayne has been with us the longest, and it’s mind-boggling how much he keeps up with, often taking the brunt of things during difficult periods like our recent troubles. We’re sincerely grateful to have him on our team.

In the last year, Peter W has taken so much of the responsibility for things I was never good at—the business end of things—and masterfully built himself the position of Chief of Staff, allowing me to breathe freely and focus on my creative, editing and writing duties.

Right now he’s not only taking on the myriad concerns of BateWorld, but also managing The BatorBlog, both exhausting challenges that only seem to invigorate him. His friendship, brotherhood and positive outlook in the face of much difficulty has been such a gift to me this past year, I can’t even tell you.

And finally I want to acknowledge Peter R, and tell you that you guys are just so lucky to have such a dude who’s absolutely dedicated to this site. If he’s awake, he’s thinking about BateWorld and how to make it bigger and better. He’s taking care of all the financial issues and keeping up with all the emails back and forth about the most arcane technical matters. He’s checking out every new member, sending tweets, researching new technologies, scheduling ads, and taking care of myriad details around three sites while working on plans our fourth. It boggles my mind!

I’m so lucky that Peter asked me to be his business partner, and in many ways it turned into a marriage of sorts that I never expected. Apart from his dedication, Peter is also a genuinely good-hearted, decent and fun person to work with. He’s been my big brother, looking out for me, patiently letting me throw my tantrums now and then. We’re all lucky to have his leadership in BateWorld, and I promise you that we have more surprises to come.

Happy Seventh Anniversary Everyone!