Talking Despair Faction, Part 1: Some DF History

Despair Faction
1

dfbanner.png1330×400 139 KB

Lately I’ve wanted to dive into Despair Faction discussion on a heavier note. I had an urge to discuss it outside of just forum discussion. So, recently I decided to gather all of my Despair Faction shirts from the packages from over the years and go through them one by one. Since not all AFI fans / Despair Faction members have been around since the beginning, I felt it would be a good opportunity to talk about what I know and what I remember from 2000 on.

In this 7 minute video I give some brief history on myself, but I mainly show off the Despair Faction packages, how the Despair Faction was named and some questions as well as some observations I’ve made.

I don’t regularly do these kinds of videos, so forgive me if it’s not as good as it could be. Regardless, I hope you enjoy.

@Blag @dnlkdwll @_tonibell @Ophelia @Vanished @Cher_I_Despair @j_chapz @PitchBlaqk @MyFireInsidePod

History of the Despair Faction (Packages & Details)

  • 2002 - 2006 (three packages)
  1. Distributed by CinderBlock, a musician merchandising company that would end up going out of business or bought out? They’re now nowhere to be seen online, including a dead Facebook page.
  2. This would explain why several things have changed including why there was never more than two issues of “Under the Rose”, because this was published & produced by CinderBlock and Fritch.

  • 7 years pass…

  • 2013 - Burials Despair Faction Package

  1. No exact date and this package was distributed by “groundcntrl”, which would turn into “WonderfulUnion” (I believe), which is a fan / artist services website. Regardless, AFI doesn’t seem to have any services with GroundCNTRL anymore.
  • 2017 - Blood Album Despair Faction Package
  1. The Despair Faction signups were powered by FanBridge.com, a leading “fan audience customer relationships marketing (CRM)” platform. The packages then came from the same place as any of the items that you currently order from the AFI store, which is through Artist Arena, which parent organization is Warner Music Group.
  • A few questions and possible concerns I have with this…
  1. If you go to www.afi.fanbridge.com, you’re allegedly able to submit questions. There’s a link for events and you can “subscribe” to it. However, I’ve personally submitted a question and it doesn’t seem to work. It basically disappears. Because if you click on “Questions”, it says “None yet! Be the first to ask a question!”. So, what I’m getting at is the structure of the Despair Faction… it seems to have broken away a bit.
  2. No more official DF forums
  3. We do get emails letting us know about offers and details, which is amazing, because it seems to happen fairly regularly. For example: during the holidays, ticket giveaways, etc.
  4. Regarding the forums: After reading the Noisy article about the Despair Faction forums, it seems like those forums really died off in 2009. Meaning, the activity just wasn’t there anymore. However, I also heard that they became DF exclusive forums and getting old DF information updated was a nightmare, which makes me wonder… “is that part of why the forums died?”.
6 Likes
2

I’m away with my fam right now, so I can’t watch it until I get back. But this looks really cool.

1 Like
3

Great video and awesome information @STORMS. I want to start calling you The AFI Professor with that kick ass cardigan your rocking you look like a cool rock teacher lol. Looking forward to more! Good job my Friend.

2 Likes
4

Thank you, sir! Doing this kind of thing, much like being a guest on @MyFireInsidePod really helps keep AFI excitement going for me during this downtime. Plus I don’t think there are any other videos like it.

On top of all of that, I thought it would be neat for newer Despair Faction members to see into the past.

1 Like
5

Hey @STORMS I was busy on the weekend, so I just finished watching your video :slight_smile: Really nice stuff…thanks for creating it :slight_smile: Sadly…I can see that I have missed a lot of cool stuff…so I hope more DF packages are expected in the future :wink: One of these days I will post some picture of all my AFI merch (t-shits, hoodies, mug, caps)…that are for sure very few compared to more senior members…but still…show my love for AFI :slight_smile:

2 Likes
6

I added some details to the first post. I was going to make a video about it and still might. For now though, it’s in the first post under the video.

1 Like
7

My recollection is that activity on the old DF forums was going strong - albeit with the usual seasonal dip - all the way up to 2013 and the start of the Burials cycle, when “I Hope You Suffer” dropped. I think they ditched the old forums shortly after Burials itself came out. And yes, those were DF exclusive.

1 Like
8

If there is interest, I may still do the Under the Rose video.

I enjoyed doing this video. Hopefully it was informative to some! :slight_smile:

2 Likes
9

I was a DF member and for some reaso never got my under the rose (I bekieve there were two issues?)so I’d definitely be interested if you were to do a retrospect.

1 Like
10

Please do it :slight_smile: I very new…so anything that goes memory lane is great for me :slight_smile:

1 Like