Difference between Dolphin and Social Engine?

I am beginning to think that wasting any more of my time (been close to a year now) and money waiting for Boonex to release a stable, bug free version of Dolphin is just a bad move.  Now before this thread turns into anything like a "don't bash Boonex/Dolphin" or "a bug-less SN script is impossible", that's not my intention at all.  Honestly since I have found Dolphin, I have always believed in it, and respected and appreciated Boonex and the team here for putting out a pretty amazing script for people like me, who wouldn't know where to even begin.  That said, let me explain the situation, and hopefully one or more of you can convince me to stick it out a little longer...

I am sitting on a domain name that alone is worth a lot of money (high 5 to low 6 figures).  It's a regional domain name that is mentioned on TV and in print media literally tens of hundreds of times a week.  Everyone from this and surrounding area uses this name when they refer to the region.  Every newscast, in every time slot, on every channel welcomes viewers from the term I have in the domain name, it's that common and popular.

I'm confident, as are my investors, that a social network built around this region would be huge, and pull in some very nice recurring monthly/annual income.

The problem is, it's been in this this "stalled" stage for months.  To the point that I've often literally forgotten about it for days and weeks at a time, which is ridiculous considering that within a month or so of it's release, it'll be my full-time job just keeping up with it.  I already have committed monthly advertisers ready to go...

So here I am, in a pickle about what to do, and beginning to wonder if I should try another platform like Social Engine or maybe one of the paid solutions...

I don't want to give up on Dolphin, really.  But as a business decision, and considering the vast amounts of other options out there, I am really starting to feel like I may not have a choice.  I am so scared of committing to sticking it out, getting potentially tens of thousands of members, and either the script can't handle it, or there are so many problems with it, my members don't come back.

I started looking at other scripts today, and I removed Dolphin from my domain to try some out.  Why?  because after waiting all this time for the new D7rc1, and attempting to update my old 6.1.4 to 6.1.5 to 6.1.6 to the d7rc1, my site crashed, and I just don't feel like trying to fix it or go through the process to figure out what went wrong.

I am myself a developer/designer, and work full-time (and more) on various CMS's, including some of our own in-house systems we use.  I run sites that make millions of dollars a year for the company that employs me.  On a weekly basis I suggest to 5 or 6 people all kinds of Social Marketing or CMS platforms to work with for their own specific needs.  I am in no way new to any of this (scripts, social networking, integration, management) and I've been working with sites online now for almost 10 years.

This problem isn't something I am looking at while "wet behind the ears".  I'm fully aware of what the pros and cons of sticking with Dolphin are, I am just looking for any advice or experience with the other systems out there if anyone has anything to offer.  And to make it fair, I'm posting similar posts on forums of the other solutions out there as well, because I want to know, from the user-base of the scripts/solutions, what should I consider, as a business person, that's going to be the best suit for me.

Thanks for reading, and I apprecaiet any and all input.

Bill

So..... what's the domain name?

he probably can't tell for some reason

I sent it to you in a private message.  Honestly I don't want a bunch of people hitting the site/domain right now, especially since I just pulled it all down.

The longer I sit here and look in to other products and solutions, the more I kind of feel bad I even put this all out there.  I just want a stable, working site, like many of us, within a reasonable amount of time.

I don't have a problem installing the RC, and getting off the ground, but another fear I have, knowing I can fix most of the bugs/issues I may find "in-house", is when it becomes upgrade time (again), will I have to go through all of this again?

Just frustrated right now, backs against the wall, and I need to sh*t or get off the pot...

You mean you have been waiting for a year to get started on your project? You have not installed and tried a few of the other scripts available out there yet?

Social Engine is to release 4.0 some time "in the future". PhpFox is to release 2.0 before the end of the year (hopefully, as they are on RC8 and counting now)... You are going to have the same problem with all scripts. First thing I'd do is to determine which script provides the best base for the project in question. Then comes the developer's track record, availability of third-party developers, and the long etc of whatever priorities you think are important in a script.

I mean, given your experience in the field, as well as the type of investment, tens-of-thousands of users and full-time job expectations this project entails for you, the obvious thing would have been for you and your team to try/purchase a few scripts, test them out right and left, and make a decision. Why not develop-outsource your own script? It's LAMP software, after all, and given the caliber of your project, it could make sense for you. Only you'd know....

As for recommendations, it's hard to say. Again, it all really boils down to which script is a better base/frame for your project. I have a site running phpfox, and it is great for that site. Love phpfox's support forums (structured, highly professional, very active), third-party developers (very talented people) and overall work (V2 is looking great). But I also have a Dolphin site, and am sticking with Dolphin for it because it is a better fit. As much as there are things I love about phpfox, not just the script, Dolphin is the best choice for my other site.

If you have been waiting for a year, it probably means you've made your decision, you want Dolphin.

The type of stability you are looking for in Dolphin 7, I think, will not be around until well into 2010. 7.1.X will kick ass, for sure. Are you going to hold back until then? If you have the know-how and the resources to get going, well, get started!

Hammer Time... Let's break it down boys: 

I love mydatery's post.

I dunno.... I think he needs to take more sensitivity classes.