This topic is written in past tense, although at the time of reading this the Krew may still be alive. A countdown is being held on the forum till the final collab is submitted, and the site is shut down.
First of all, I know what everyone is thinking... "Hooray, the KK is dead!" Well now honestly, although some may say it has been dead for a while (on Newgrounds anyway), you must also realize that the Kitty Krew community is now dead. I have been a member for about 2 and a half years now, moving up from a newbie at flash to someone who fell to love the boards as a mod and later an admin.
Most will talk about the KK on Newgrounds, but when I think about the KK, I think about the forum and its members more then its involvement with the flash portal. I have been glad to take part in the Kitty Krew community for so long.
When a community like that dies, there is no way that can be the end of it. People still have the same feelings about it, the people they met on there, and are willing to continue to be active at Newgrounds and at flash. With that you must realize that yes, the Kitty Krew is dead, but that will not stop the members. New plans are already in works so dont be shocked when you see some new names in the portal.
My view on the Kitty Krew: From the beginning the main belief of the original members was to have a group that was not all about quality, or to harm Newgrounds and its members, but to make flash for fun. Some have abused that right and made us the reason to hate the Kitty Krew, but there is no changing the majority's opinion. Making flash for fun, not to harm the portal, or annoy other people. It was a place where people who did not wish to spend countless hours on a single flash could get together and enjoy themselves. Many felt that it was not truly worth it in creating something for others to be amazed with, as it was a "waste" of time to let others enjoy your hard work. With this style, many of the flashes you would see under our name were considered spam, but members would learn new tricks and sometimes submit an epic flash that sadly was overlooked because it was in the name of the KK. You must realize that it is not our true abilities, but moreover that people did not or could not put in the effort to make great flashes. Even still, loops and series were generally not welcomed, but sometimes were done in order to win an award, or done by individual members who supported the Kitty Krew.
The Forum: Ahh yes, the forum. Not everyone who was in the forum and considered themselves kitty krew members were spammers. In fact, many people only ever submitted several flashes. People who support the group co-auther other members when submitting a flash. For example, look at my account. I have submitted 22 flashes myself, and have taken place in several collabs, but at the same time I have been co-authored onto hundreds of other flashes. This makes it look like I am a spammer and make flashes that suck, but in truth I have not submitted anything for a while and tend to enjoy making games with some quality. Some may enjoy making the spam, and my only problem with this is all members of the Krew get their Rep hurt by this. Many cool intelligent people have been members of the Kitty Krew. Although you may not see the intelligence in a spam flash, it was defiantly there on the forums. The atmosphere of the forum was very relaxed, and allowed posting of anything. We allowed spam in our own forum and even had a board called "Spam" to keep it clean in the other boards. It was a place where you could act immature but also talk about serious stuff. The forum was validation based, which was a way to keep idiots and people who were too immature off the forums, so it was not a hell hole of dumb asses.
Why did the Kitty Krew die? Over the several years, the original members slowly moved more and more away from flash. New members would join thinking that it was an easy way to get their flash to pass judgment, others just wanted to spam. Although it has been hard to keep to our beliefs, many want to stay with the same ideals. It became harder and harder to finish collabs, and instead people would submit solo flashes under our name. As time went by, the forum would stay active as the only flashes that went into the portal were totally useless. It was a flash group, yet it was going no where with flashes. It was enough to make anyone who supported the KK sad. More time went on and with no change, Kes decided that it may be time to start fresh. Some ideas got pushed around, but in the end nothing happened. Now, some of the leaders, not the members decided to make change. All we can do is wait and see what happens to the name of the Kitty Krew and what its members decide to do from here on.
So... what now? Most of the members wish to stay in a group, but are torn between what its goals should be. Some believe they should focus on more quality while others believe they should keep flash for fun, but get back into collabs. Some members will be torn apart, but for the most part the KK community will live on under different names and different opinions. Only time will tell what will happen, but Newgrounds will see a difference in the portal in some shape or form.
R.I.P. Kitty Krew
July 17, 2006 - August 26, 2008
