Featured User Group: Furrehs

With a motto of “Peace, Love, Furry,” the Furreh user group prides itself on having members who are accepting, sociable and fun. It is a safe place to explore the furry lifestyle, and maybe a meet a friend or two.

• Why was Furrehs founded?

  Fox KITSUNE:
  Furrehs was founded by TheTygerfire in Early September of 2009 as a place for the Furries of The Escapist to meet, chat and have fun. In his own words, he said:

  “I wanted a place where furries could have discussions on The Escapist without the risk of flame wars cropping up. Anytime furries are mentioned somewhere there’s a sect of the internet that has an unhealthy, almost obsessive hatred of the fandom that for some reason feels compelled to trash people for what they like. Not only did I wish to keep that ridiculousness from poisoning the main forums, but also to avoid it altogether.” – TheTygerfire

  Sporky111:
  I wasn’t a member until a while after it was founded, but I suppose it was founded as a place for the furries of The Escapist community to come together without fear of unrestrained hatred.

  Mookie_Mangus:
  As I wasn’t part of the group at its founding, I’m going to say that it was founded to give furries, and friends-of-furs, a safe-haven for us to talk and be friendly.

• What do you see as the future of the group?

  Fox KITSUNE:
  We will continue to grow, we will continue to be a pillar of peace and a source of information about furries. We will continue to be here for as long as possible, ready to welcome anyone!

  Sporky111:
  I can only see it growing. In the few months I’ve been active I’ve seen it go from a fairly-average amount of conversation and membership, to one of the most active groups. We have many regulars, and several more have joined recently.

  Mookie_Mangus:
  Ideally, I’d like to think that our group would serve as an example, and help to set right a lot of misinformed stereotypes about furries.

• What do you think other users could gain from the group?

  Fox KITSUNE:
  Users will gain the support and friendship of some of the most creative, fun and loving members ever! Our group does a lot for our members: My Admins, members and I host an array of activities to keep our group users together having fun. We host Xbox gaming days(Steam coming soon); write news reports, polls, and a few webcomics; we have member of the week shoutouts and tests to win prizes. We are our own little community that is open to anyone looking for some fun times.

  Sporky111:
  We aren’t exclusively for furries. We’re a very welcoming bunch, and we’d be happy to have some non-furry members; just so long as they’re looking for fun conversation and aren’t there to judge.

  Mookie_Mangus:
  That’s difficult to say. Obviously, new furry users will get a place to be amongst others of their ilk, but non-furries can benefit as well. We’re a very accepting and affectionate group and, like many other groups, we’re a place where you can talk about random things. Also, we’re a place for support. The members of the group are very close, and we care deeply for each other.

• What sets you apart from other user groups?

  Fox KITSUNE:
  Besides the large amount of furries? Well our members, of course. We have a strong community that cares about one and other. We are active, all day, everyday, 365 days a year; our chat, Steam group and other forms of communication seems to always have a few of us ready to comfort or ready to have fun. I’m constantly told I am one of the best leaders and I care deeply about everyone in my group. The reason why our group is different from the rest is only because I share a group with the best members The Escapist has to offer.

  Sporky111:
  I’ve never seen a user group with as many regular posters as we have. There are around 30 members that chat on a daily or almost-daily basis, which means that nearly one quarter of our entire membership is coming in every day to chat. Plus, since members are spread over many time-zones we have activity all around the clock.

  Also, I’ve never felt as at home in a group as I have in there. It really does have a family atmosphere between the members.

  Mookie_Mangus:
  Our atmosphere. The group is basically one giant roleplay, and the chat takes the setting of a bar/cafe. It’s all very lighthearted and can be hilarious at times. It can also be very, very, very cuddly. Snuggles abound.

• If you could improve one aspect of the user group area, what would you improve?

  Fox KITSUNE:
  Many of my members have come to the consensus that we would love a better chat system. I’m sure we can’t have our own Skype or MSN in The Escapist, but something so we don’t have to hit “F5” every 3 seconds would be nice.

  Sporky111:
  I’d like to have a different system for notifications. Perhaps you could put a tag on a user and get an alert any time they post in that group. Or set your chat notifications to only go off when you’re online, so you’re alerted when the group becomes active but don’t have to delete potentially hundreds of messages that come in while you sleep.

  Mookie_Mangus:

  I dunno if this counts as an improvement … probably more something that sounds really cool, but probably nigh-impossible to do: Inter-group chat. Like, two-or-more groups being able to merge their chatlogs for a short amount of time. Just a neat thought.

• Anything else you would like to add?

  Fox KITSUNE:
  Yes …

  I would like to take this time to thank “TheTygerfire” and “Sleekgiant” – two members who were responsible for my promotion to owner.

  We are a very peaceful group that does tts best to stay positive and support each other online and in real life; furry or not furry. It’s the little things that keep us friendly, together, and above all, send a positive message about furries that may help destroy any negativity that still lurks on the internet. It is my hope that our postive example will inspire change in others in the furry fandom to be less aggressive and more peaceful. If you have no interest in the fandom or us, I understand and no one in our group will bug you or put it in your face. If you ask about our fandom, we will answer in a calm, informative and civil tone and inform you the best we can.

  The Escapist is truly a wonderful place and I or my group plan to do nothing to harm that fact.

  Take care and I’ll see you all on the forums.

  Peace be the Furry

  Fox Kitsune – Owner of the Furrehs Group Escpaist Magazine

  Sporky111:
  I’d like to say that stereotypes are pointless, as is prejudice. Furries get a lot of hate for the actions of a small section of our fandom. We’re really just people who like to have fun, prefer to accept people for who they are rather than hate them, and have an affinity for anthro animals.

  Mookie_Mangus:
  Who wants a hug? I’m nice and cuddly, and I don’t bite hard.

As requested, an image was created to share the spotlight with the other members of the group by Fox Kitsune:

If you would like to nominate a user group for an upcoming Featured User Group, feel free to let me (that is, Kuliani) know through a PM!