Its difficult for a community to accept ownership changes. The immediate apprehensions are what are the steps that will be taken that will affect the community, how will the forum environment change, how well can the new owner understand the community that exists and related events.
What are your main apprehensions when you go through such a situation as an owner and as a member. How do you think the transition should take place?
It's always an good idea that the old owner stays with the new owner for some weeks and the stuff there try and get to know him and tech the new guy. If the new owner see it's an active live website then no need to chnage things unless it's dead as an grave with no staff other then the new owner then chnage things around
To be honest, when there's a new owner for a forum I get a bit apprehensive - as both a member and an owner.
When a new owner comes in to take over my forum, I would really be nervous because when I own a forum I know exactly how to run it. A new owner is coming in fresh and has no idea how to run things. I would want to stick with them for a while to make sure they have some idea of how to run things, but in my experience it usually is never the same after someone new takes over. That being said, in a lot of cases a new owner can breathe fresh life into a dying forum. I think it's just a case-by-case basis kind of thing.
As a member, I usually stick around for a few weeks to see what changes take place. If it's for the better, I'll continue to support the community, and if the changes are for the worse I'll move on.