Underlyeing Problms

[Sjha]

May 24, 2010 18:02:45 GMT -5 Sjha said:

I think that before we start getting new members, we need to fix out some problems the site has. I came here the other day, and noticed we had -28- guests in the last 24 hours. I asked my self 'Why did no-one join?" Then I looked the the board, nice and good...

1) Activity. Let's face it! All of us are getting older, and with each passing year we pick up more new things; new schools, getting a job, or getting in a relationship are just a few examples of what the loyal members of the site gain each year; what 16 year old is going to stay back and post in an RP when hi's girl-friend/boy-friend's asking him out to dinner, or what person's going to put aside a project or work to type up a story? Not many will, and fewer can. As much as I hate to say it; we are slowly growingaway from the site, we just don't know it or accept it yet. Look at the board; when was your last actual post in an RP?

2)Design. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the design, just that..I don't really think it has anything much to do with the site or it's past and present; All the RP's and Sega's are now more focused to chaos in the twisted world we formed, and yet the site is bright, happy, and used soft colors.

3) The role plays them selfs. Alot of them.. die. You can look in any forum and see at least 3-4 dead RP's in the first page, if not the first 10. Not only that, but the one's that do finish, it because they were closed and moved, someone powerplayer, a mod steped in and took over, or,rarely, someone actually finished it(And, there usually the newer members, or people who post mabie five words in each). If I was new here, and saw that, I wouldn't think of join that fast, too.

4)The Members... Don't kill me for saying this; but we -all- need to work out our differances, learn towork together, tollerate each other, and, in all reality, become some what Pasifictic; What I mean is, we need to cut the Drama. Really, people, look at what most of out general topics turn into; race, religion, or sexual prefrance wars. If I wasn't a member of the site, and I saw someof the conversation in the general boards on a -PG 13- site, I would report it before joining it...

Yeah, were are looking into one of the things I mentioned, but, it's only one of the minor problems and details of the much deeper problems that have to be looked at just as seriously. We can't simply change the diaper with out cleaning up the crap from the old one.

Things that need to be discussed;

Activity:
-How do we plan on makeing new members?
-In all reality, if we change the site over, how are we going to manage new members,if the everything is new to us our selves?
-How often can every one post on the site/set aside time for the site(Estimate)

Role Plays
-How can we keep Role Plays from dyeing?
-Should there be a 'member intervention' system, were if one person should 'drop out' of a role play unexpedly, while the other person still wants, to RP, another member could 'intervene' and save the post?
-Should there be a minum word count?
-To keep things intereting, should there be 'staff events' in random posts? As example, there could be an 'open' RP, and hlf way into it, a staff member could start a rondom event to change it's coarse(Mainly, because it is -open-); this could be a simply change, fromsomeone bumping into a character and droping a wallet, to turning intoa full out pokeon battle.

Memebers
-Staffing has to be address -seriously-. Not only if most of the staff currentaly inactive, it also need a fairly good looking over.
-We -need- to watch out selves more, not only in the way we speek, but at what we say to each others. We normaly speak first, worry about whats said later(I, my self, an responsable for this more then a few times.)
-We need to respect each other, reguardless of our status on the site, age, location, social status, etc., treating each other equaly.
- The issue on Homosexualty, Bisexuality, And Trans-sexuality has to be relooked at; We have to remember, it's the twenty first century, and such things are now accepted in most of the world, so we have to accept it, too, disreguardless of our -own- personal standing on it(Not saying that it should be force, by an unbiast vote should be made about it.)

[Aether]

Alrighty, lemme take a crack at this:

Activity
-First off, we have to start being active ourselves. We're gonna start with the renewals of the site, but once that's done, we gotta start showing other potential members that we are an active site. Them we do the usual things: advertise, ask other people we meet on other sites, things like that.
-Managing the new site won't be any different than what we have going on now other than a new era, different names for those in charge, and some slight variations. Instead of a head principal, we have a lord or something of that manner, and so on. The Academy will still run like the Academy with the classes and rules.
-This is entirely up to the members. We can't force anyone to make certain amount of posts in a week or at all really.

Roleplays:
-Again, entirely up to the members in the RP.
-This is something that would have to be discussed between the members in the RP and the member(s) wishing to join the RP. This is something that can be handled by using the PM system between members. I believe that trying to set up any kind of system to deal with this would only cause complications.
-I believe the word count should apply to whatever the author of the thread wishes it to be. The count can be based off words, sentences, paragraphs, whatever. But to set a word count policy on all members on all threads would, I believe, prove to be extraneous. Sometimes, there's only so much that can be said in a reply, and to force people to come up with more adds irritation and takes away from the quality of the post.
-I think this would also be better left off to a discussion between staff and the members using the PM system. I know that I would not want another staff member coming into my RP, open or not, and randomly changing the scenario without my consent, especially if there's a story going on that I and the other RPing members are enjoying.

Members
-Yes, eventually the staff will need to be remolded once we reach a certain amount of members. However, I believe for now that we do not need to deal so much with the staff with the few amount of members we have. Let's focus on the actual site for now, get it up and running, and get other members to join before we put focus on the staff.
-I agree with this. Sometimes it's better not to say anything at all, especially if you don't have a cool head over the situation. If you feel the need to say something that you know or don't know if it will cause problems, that's what the PM system is for. (And it's not for people to use for holding private conversations, then one person copying the text and putting it up on the board publicly for those "I told you so!" moments. PM stands for "Private" or "Personal" Message, so let's keep it Private and/or Personal. I've seen this done several times and it irks me to no end. -_-'
And, don't use the PM system to flame other members. If you have something to say that you either wouldn't want said back to you or something you would not say on the board publicly due to a violation of the rules, it is probably best to keep those words to yourself.)
-Also, I agree with this. We're all different in some way, and there will always be times where someone will not agree with another. Sometimes, you just gotta deal with the hand that's given to ya and keep on going. Be respectful no matter what, and if you have a problem: PM system, or MSNM; whatever you have that you can use to speak to the person one-on-one without outside interference.
-(The only problem I had with this is saying that we have to accept it. We don't ever have to accept something of this nature if we don't wish to, no matter the time or place.)
Here's my problem with this situation. From what I can tell, no one here has a problem with Heterosexual relationships (am I correct to make that assumption?) But we do have members that are uncomfortable with such alternative lifestyles for varying reasons. (Sometimes, it's not just a religious thing. There are people out there who just think it's plain wrong.) Honestly, I do not believe that having homo/bi/transsexual lifestyles on the site would help bring in members. I'd dare say that it would draw people away from the site more than it would bring them in.
But, I'm willing to make some sort of compromise for the situation:
I don't think we should openly state that we allow such relationships and sexuality onto the site. Instead, I believe it should solely be left up to the member. (maybe we could have a Sexuality option in the character profile, allowing them to state which sexuality there character is. Then, regular rules would apply from then on out. If people are confused as to what sexuality another character is: look it up on their profile.) It'd be nice if such characters placed some kind of spoiler or whatnot for other members who might be offended by alternative relationships somewhere in their first post or title if there maybe any kind of emotional interactions, but I think we could live without that if someone forgets.)\
((However, try explaining a transsexual back in the age of knights, castles, and the lack of technology. 0_o' We gotta keep in mind the time era here as well.))

Anything I missed? Does this sound good? Questions? Complaints? Flaming?(PM System) ((Jk about the flaming. XD ...Seriously, don't try it, please.))

[Sjha]

Activity
-I agree completely; only problem is we don’t have any real way to advertise(last I checked, the site doesn’t have banners, buttons, etc. to use)
-That’s good to have cleared up
-True, but it would be good to get a general idea of how active it’s going to be.

Role Play
-again, Agreed
-What you mentioned is actually along the same lines of what I had in mind.
-So, what you are implying is that should a word count be desired, the original poster/author would include it in the opening post?
-This was just an idea; in my opinion, it would be fun and make things interesting, and make it more like a school/actual life. No matter how hard you try, things are going to happen that people will never have control over.

Members
-Again, I agree, but it is something that will eventually need looking at
- I’m glad that you agree with this, and an idea for a solution might to be including what you just said about the topic some place within the rules/guidelines to make it clear for newer members.
-((See above))

-I’m going to break apart your answer, and answer/respond to each , if you don’t mind.

“-(The only problem I had with this is saying that we have to accept it. We don't ever have to accept something of this nature if we don't wish to, no matter the time or place.)”
(Have might have been a slightly strong word to say, but it was the only one that came to mind.)

“Here's my problem with this situation. From what I can tell, no one here has a problem with Heterosexual relationships (am I correct to make that assumption?)”
I’ll say it right now, your wrong to make that assumption… I my self, am gay, so I do have a problem being more or less forced to role play a type of relationship which makes me feel uncomfortable.

“But we do have members that are uncomfortable with such alternative lifestyles for varying reasons. (Sometimes, it's not just a religious thing. There are people out there who just think it's plain wrong.) Honestly, I do not believe that having homo/bi/transsexual lifestyles on the site would help bring in members. I'd dare say that it would draw people away from the site more than it would bring them in.”
The problem with this is, in my opinion, it’s like saying every character has to be Caucasian, because some members might be afraid of people of different races.
Also, saying that it might not bring in members but rather drive them away and such is also an assumption not to be made (In my opinion).

“But, I'm willing to make some sort of compromise for the situation:
I don't think we should openly state that we allow such relationships and sexuality onto the site.”
Just wanted to point out how much of a contradiction that sounds like >>

“ Instead, I believe it should solely be left up to the member. (maybe we could have a Sexuality option in the character profile, allowing them to state which sexuality there character is. Then, regular rules would apply from then on out. If people are confused as to what sexuality another character is: look it up on their profile.)”
This is something which should be discussed by all members of staff, as well as the members, rather then be a final decision served on a silver platter

“It'd be nice if such characters placed some kind of spoiler or whatnot for other members who might be offended by alternative relationships somewhere in their first post or title if there maybe any kind of emotional interactions, but I think we could live without that if someone forgets.)”
Please better explain this.

“((However, try explaining a transsexual back in the age of knights, castles, and the lack of technology. 0_o' We gotta keep in mind the time era here as well.))”
((The medical science to change the gender of humans has been around for hundreds of years; like all medical procedures, it’s one that evolved. Look at the C-Section used now adays as a birthing option; it dates back to ancient Rome, but has evolved using modern tools and technology. Much in the same way, so has the sex change… there are actually historic records from those times(Early rome, so, roughly 1700 years ago).))

And no; I’m not going to flame.. “If you hate it, tolerate it.”

[Aether]

((leaving out points that were agreed on))

Activity
-Well, then we get buttons and banners. We have several talented artists we could ask for assistance; we just need to ask around and see how many would be willing to help us out. And some sites don't even require banners (Elemental Academia just has a section at the top of their site with links to other RP sites, one link that leads to us.)
-Here's the best way I can figure to estimate how active the site will be: If people post, reply, and we get more members who do the same, it should be active. If the opposite happens, we definitely won't be active. How would you suggest we try to estimate activity?

Roleplay
-Yes, the word count would be left up to the author of the thread should he/she desire to have one.
-True, and I'm not saying that it's a bad idea. But maybe it's something that could also be left to the PM system for open RPs. If the author wants some random event to occur, then they can ask staff member to throw something in to change up the situation. Otherwise, it should be left alone to flow naturally.

Members
-I'm not speaking about forcing people to make their characters have a heterosexual sexual preference. I'm talking more about the idea. What I was saying was that I don't think this anyone who has a problem with the idea of heterosexuality, but there are those who are bothered with the other ideas of homosexuality. As said further down my lists, You would be able to choose your sexual preference within your profile; as such, you would be able to RP your character as such within a RP. However, if I am wrong in this assumption, then we'll need to have some sort of compromise.

-The problem I see with that is that your race is something you have no control over. If you're born black, you're black, and to hate/fear someone because of their race or something else that person has no control over is racism (or whatever term applies). Sexual preference is something one has a choice over, so I don't see this as a valid comparison.
((Other sites gain members just fine without having to state somewhere on the site that homosexuality is allowed. I don't see how they could come to the assumption that homoesexuality is not allowed if it's not clearly stated within the rules that it is not allowed.))

-There's no contradiction there, unless you cut off my paragraph short and leave out the rest, beginning with "Instead, I believe..." Of course it'll sound like a contradiction if you leave out everything else that was said there and make it another point. <<
(In case you didn't catch my idea for a compromise, here it is:
I don't think we need to openly state that we allow homosexual lifestyles, but we're also not condoning it or ruling against it saying that you cannot have them, which was the previous decision. We would be allowing homosexual lifestyles on the site, which was originally not the case, but I don't see the need to make a statement on the site saying that we allow them. Many other sites do this and they're functioning just fine; I don't see why we would need to be different unless we were specifically trying to gain homosexual members.)

-Ok, it can be discussed. I used the term "maybe" to state that it was my idea as a compromise; I was never serving it out on any kind of platter or stating it as already in affect.

-I feel this could be debated, but due to its irrelevancy to the topic, I think it is better left to the PM system if the debate were to continue.

[David]

I'm not going to bother signing in for this one...

Tim, for most people, homosexuality is not a choice. That's been argued time and again, but here's what it boils down to:

If you like vagina, there's something inside of you telling you that you like it. If you like penis, same thing.

It's as though somebody tried to claim that someone's favorite food is their choice. It is, to an extent, but something inside of you when you eat it is all like, 'this is freakin' tasty!'

Please, don't open the floodgates for this debate again with statements like that. Fact check, sir, fact check.

[Chim]

Haha. Well put, David, in a rather amusing fashion. As for advertisement, I'm rather good at that department. I've done some work with ads and I have a few sites that are active and act as directories as well as active PROBOARD websites.

Again with sexuality, I generally don't care much for sexuality as long as I'm not hit on(I get the zOMG feeling..) but I'm sure homosexuality would definitely be outcasted during the time considering it was a time where Priests and other religious figures had a high authority, so....I don't know as it works for time period unless your willing to die to get your fix or however I should put it.

I've got the idea that a kind of money system or class system should kick in by posts. Like you make say.....5 coins/points a post. It takes 250 coins/points to buy/earn a third apricorn(I'm not sure if we've worked out the capture system yet) for another pokemon. Something like that would bring more activity to the site considering your character can't be all bumped up with Garchomp, Empoleon, Scizor, Rhyperior, and Jolteon in the beginning. That's one thing that always bothered me about the original PA. You could be fair about it and start off with a couple decent pokemon like a starter or a first stage pokemon and someone you battle comes out with an Aggron vs. Your Bidoof. I'd like to see that system kick in too, a certain amount of posts and you can evolve a pokemon.

[Sjha]

I'm not gonna say anything else, before this turns into an arguments, which is something i'm trying to prevent >>