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+--- Thread: Word (/thread-521.html)
RE: Word - Falaflame - 10-09-2014
My goal was to make this place a lot more friendly to newcoming guests and people willing to give this place a second chance, and I'm glad to see the fruits of my labor worked wonders. My point is, however, that there still is work to be done here. You mention the site activity and lack of general interest, but I think there's more left to improve. And the biggest thing to work on right now is general motivation.
The lack of general motivation is keeping the community from moving forward. This right here is the biggest issue. Nobody really felt compelled to want to do anything to make FEP stand out, nor do they have the opportunity even if they did want to. For example, sirocyl hasn't really done much for the past 3-4 months. The plan was to get FETO off of the previous platform the forums were once on, and since he has a job and an urgency to get out of the hamptons, that's really not going to happen unless someone else steps up. And herein lies the next problem: No one else would step up. We've only had a handful of people who applied to be testers for FETO, and less than half of that were active members of the community. Even lesser had the knowledge or theory to actually make something out of, for example, HTML5. I even brought up the idea that we could seek help from sister sites such as Serene's Forest, but no one really fueled any discussion about it. So really, the motivation just wasn't there.
The site for the past couple of years has grown stagnant because of the unwillingness nor the opportunity to take the site to the next level. I mean, when it's 2014, and we're 3 games behind (at least 5 years behind) in site content, we're not going to attract any people here. And it's going to stay like this until someone steps up and does something. Sirocyl has proven to us that he can't do everything by himself, so he needs the support. Otherwise, we're not going to be here come 2015.
RE: Word - Breadophile - 10-10-2014
(10-09-2014, 04:58 PM)Falaflame Wrote: My goal was to make this place a lot more friendly to newcoming guests and people willing to give this place a second chance, and I'm glad to see the fruits of my labor worked wonders. My point is, however, that there still is work to be done here. You mention the site activity and lack of general interest, but I think there's more left to improve. And the biggest thing to work on right now is general motivation.
Not to demean you here, but that was all of our goals, even if we didn't think it. It was by virtue of who we were as people. And let's be honest: even before you became admin we had this corrected. Hell, we had this corrected before I even returned. Y'all are just THAT damn good.
Quote:The lack of general motivation is keeping the community from moving forward. This right here is the biggest issue. Nobody really felt compelled to want to do anything to make FEP stand out, nor do they have the opportunity even if they did want to. For example, sirocyl hasn't really done much for the past 3-4 months. The plan was to get FETO off of the previous platform the forums were once on, and since he has a job and an urgency to get out of the hamptons, that's really not going to happen unless someone else steps up. And herein lies the next problem: No one else would step up. We've only had a handful of people who applied to be testers for FETO, and less than half of that were active members of the community. Even lesser had the knowledge or theory to actually make something out of, for example, HTML5. I even brought up the idea that we could seek help from sister sites such as Serene's Forest, but no one really fueled any discussion about it. So really, the motivation just wasn't there.
I got all of that but the experience. =(
As for serene's discussion, I do remember talking about this and you're definitely right about no one bringing it up. So then...
Broseidon, you're the admin, don't be a pleb and fuel some discussion about it, why don't you? I feel as though throughout all of your flaws, motivation isn't one of them, which, with our other two admins being the way they are, makes giving swift kicks to the pants to get going your job.
Though, I guess I did kinda ragequit after the whole "this game is too luckbased; fix it or I'm dropping your asses" deal, so I'm not helping too much there. I was serious when I mentioned the problem of having every luck-based event in FETO have two outcomes (hit or miss). In a balanced game (say, advance wars), the damage would look like a bell curve. Not necessarily using advance wars as an example, in an ideal situation, the average damage might be 20 with a 30% of it being 19-21 and maybe an 80% chance of being 16-24. Get what I'm saying? It wouldn't just have a hit% chance of doing (AVG DMG)/hit% and the remaining chance of doing 0 damage.
No one would take me up on that, though. Except Leaf, because Leaf is obviously a genius like myself (though not nearly as mad).
Quote:The site for the past couple of years has grown stagnant because of the unwillingness nor the opportunity to take the site to the next level. I mean, when it's 2014, and we're 3 games behind (at least 5 years behind) in site content, we're not going to attract any people here. And it's going to stay like this until someone steps up and does something. Sirocyl has proven to us that he can't do everything by himself, so he needs the support. Otherwise, we're not going to be here come 2015.
Maybe I should make another topic telling you guys to get your shit together and see if another set of gears are set in motion. Unfortunately, there's only so much we can do as generic run of the mill users. I lent my help for game design and idea but that's really all I'm good for.
Not gonna lie, it's extremely amazing that you got Siro. I don't think we'll have another case with a friend of ours being an experienced coder willing to work for a site he's never heard of for free. You pulled in a favor that can't really be replicated without money.
RE: Word - Falaflame - 10-10-2014
Well, things definitely were a lot calmer when I did return. I wanted to enforce that once I got into position of power. When I checked a lot of staff topics, I definitely saw a lot of hostility within them, be it with certain members, or be it within themselves. The amount of staff in-fighting was atrocious, and honestly, it was painful reading through them. (and I'll admit, I was guilty of this 6+ years ago) So I made it a point to change the entire staff infrastructure to put the member base before themselves. Something the staff 6+ years ago NEVER did.
I reshaped the staff guidelines to reflect such changes, partly using a guide from a friend of mine (who currently co-owns a huge booming 60,000 member site, he goes by the name of Sly) and getting tips from him as well. Along with that, I stressed to fensti and Speedy (the new admin, by the way, go congratulate him if you haven't done so already) that new staff members that are to be appointed must be selfless and be willing to give to the community. Trying to stray from people just wanting the limelight and having a pretty colored red bolded name on them, or people who want the position just to get that golden opportunity to pull a power trip every chance they get, is a must. I'd post an example on who did everything I mentioned in the most wrong ways possible, but I've namedropped the person several times in the past, and most of you already know by now. (And no, it's not SaS, much to anyone's surprise)
Judging talent is one thing, but judging character is another. And the biggest difference between good and bad staff members lie within the character. Some people are able to handle the job and do it right, while others just aren't cut out for it. It's a complicated process to pick staff members, and staff trials as well as "interviews" may help, but you can never really tell how new staff member will pan out. If I see a blatant red flag, I usually take care of it right away instead of letting it linger. Either by consulting the staff member myself in private, or just flat booting them off the team if they're unwilling to correct or otherwise change the way they go by their duty. Successful sites that last a long time has a staff team that knows how to do their job, and do it well. And I'm honestly surprised FEP actually lasted this long given the staff they had.
But that was a long-winded rant on how I went by my job here, so I'll continue on with the other points that were brought up.
I did bring the discussion up more than once, actually, in the skype chat. Several times, actually. I even posted it in the Summer Plan topic, with no responses to it to this day. Rarely did people actually respond to it. At all. People usually went on with their discussions about games I pretty much never gave a damn about in the first place, and eventually I just gave up bringing the discussion up.
About your AW idea, I would've definitely welcomed the idea. I definitely would've had it as a trial game mode first though to see how it would've panned out though. I wasn't opposed to it. It just didn't get enough traction nor enough people interested in the idea. But I'll tell you one thing for sure, I definitely would've at least tried it. You have my vote of confidence there.
And lastly, the last bit. Another big part of why nothing was getting done is because no one said anything about it. If you had a topic like that, it definitely would've been welcomed with open arms in my mind. I'm pretty sure a topic like that definitely would've gotten a lot of us stretching our arms and maybe scrambling a little. I was always getting on siro's and fensti's case because nothing was really getting done. (I got on siro's case a lot less because on technicality, it was really out of his control considering what he had to go through)
The answer I got? "There's no rush."
If you're wondering why nothing's getting done here, that's the reason why right there.
As for sirocyl, I'm giving him the biggest thanks I'll ever give for bothering to do something with this site. The most important thing he's done with the site was to make it a lot more secure. The old forums were dangerously hazardous, so I'm definitely glad we got that problem overwith. But the other problem is, we're still dependant on that old forum because the FETO platform is still on it. So as long as FETO is on there, work still needs to be done. But that aside, I'm blessed to know someone who could at least help us, rather than having to track someone down on the internet and potentially (90% of the time actually) have to pay for it.
That's about all I have to address. Sorry for the rather lengthy post, just posting everything I know and recall.
RE: Word - Breadophile - 10-11-2014
Quote:Well, things definitely were a lot calmer when I did return. I wanted to enforce that once I got into position of power. When I checked a lot of staff topics, I definitely saw a lot of hostility within them, be it with certain members, or be it within themselves. The amount of staff in-fighting was atrocious, and honestly, it was painful reading through them. (and I'll admit, I was guilty of this 6+ years ago) So I made it a point to change the entire staff infrastructure to put the member base before themselves. Something the staff 6+ years ago NEVER did.
How recent were these ventures into staff topics? Are you talking Foe, Vel, Sui, and the like who were in power when I got here two years ago?
Quote:Trying to stray from people just wanting the limelight and having a pretty colored red bolded name on them, or people who want the position just to get that golden opportunity to pull a power trip every chance they get, is a must. I'd post an example on who did everything I mentioned in the most wrong ways possible, but I've namedropped the person several times in the past, and most of you already know by now. (And no, it's not SaS, much to anyone's surprise)
Tch. I dunno who exactly you're talking about, but I know you think me power-hungry. Maybe that's true, but I actually do care about this site. You can't blame a guy for wanting a hand in things, to help others, to feel needed, etc.
God, that makes me seem like the most depressed person on the Earth. I'm not, but it's been a nagging itch for a while.
Maybe I have been a little mean lately though. The people I beef with are strong-willed enough to take it, so I normally don't care.
Quote:I did bring the discussion up more than once, actually, in the skype chat. Several times, actually. I even posted it in the Summer Plan topic, with no responses to it to this day.
I thought that was already said in stone.
Quote:About your AW idea, I would've definitely welcomed the idea. I definitely would've had it as a trial game mode first though to see how it would've panned out though. I wasn't opposed to it. It just didn't get enough traction nor enough people interested in the idea. But I'll tell you one thing for sure, I definitely would've at least tried it. You have my vote of confidence there.
Thanks bro. Problem is, it's missing something. A piece of the puzzle that I can't find. Something to still keep it fire emblem-y.
Quote:And lastly, the last bit. Another big part of why nothing was getting done is because no one said anything about it. If you had a topic like that, it definitely would've been welcomed with open arms in my mind. I'm pretty sure a topic like that definitely would've gotten a lot of us stretching our arms and maybe scrambling a little. I was always getting on siro's and fensti's case because nothing was really getting done. (I got on siro's case a lot less because on technicality, it was really out of his control considering what he had to go through)
Should I make another then?
Quote:The answer I got? "There's no rush."
We're waiting for something to happen before we go on, but nobody knows what that something is.
Quote:As for sirocyl, I'm giving him the biggest thanks I'll ever give for bothering to do something with this site. The most important thing he's done with the site was to make it a lot more secure. The old forums were dangerously hazardous, so I'm definitely glad we got that problem overwith. But the other problem is, we're still dependant on that old forum because the FETO platform is still on it. So as long as FETO is on there, work still needs to be done. But that aside, I'm blessed to know someone who could at least help us, rather than having to track someone down on the internet and potentially (90% of the time actually) have to pay for it.
I tried to learn HTML5 and shit but I'm way too lazy. Maybe I'll do this timeboxing strategy or whatever and get somewhere.
RE: Word - Falaflame - 10-11-2014
(10-11-2014, 01:17 AM)Breadophile Wrote: How recent were these ventures into staff topics? Are you talking Foe, Vel, Sui, and the like who were in power when I got here two years ago?
I'd say all the way back to when I was staff 6+ years ago first time around.
Quote:Tch. I dunno who exactly you're talking about, but I know you think me power-hungry. Maybe that's true, but I actually do care about this site. You can't blame a guy for wanting a hand in things, to help others, to feel needed, etc.
Don't worry about it. You weren't the example I was thinking of citing.
RE: Word - Cheffy - 10-19-2014
I'll be frank. I don't give a shit about fire emblem. Only reason why I joined up was because I was IRL pals with Falkyn and... lone wolf, or lone dragon wolf or whatever the guy's name was that played the dragon card before MT showed. Regardless, I stayed because people would bullshit with me in the spam forums. I left because of blatant power abuse and favoritism(the Leon and marcus fiasco), a complete lack of transparency if staff decisions and actions, and a general attitude of "I am right and you are dumb" from Sas/Zero, with nobody contesting them.
I am not the model forum member you wish to attract or keep. I just like systems of rules, and the maintenance/use/interpretation thereof.
Afterthought: The sheer number of name changes that went on was another massive blow. I can't give a shit about the community when everyone constantly has some other name, and I'm left not knowing who anyone is on a week-to-week basis.
RE: Word - Swift_Assassin - 10-19-2014
I have to agree with you on that last part. The name changes were so absurdly frequent everytime i came back from a brief hiatus I didn't know who half the people were unless I looked up there past name changes. Crimea had probably 40 name changes alone.
RE: Word - Cheffy - 10-20-2014
Is that Ket? I remember she changed her name, like, every other week.
RE: Word - Falaflame - 10-21-2014
(10-19-2014, 11:05 AM)Cheffy Wrote: I'll be frank. I don't give a shit about fire emblem. Only reason why I joined up was because I was IRL pals with Falkyn and... lone wolf, or lone dragon wolf or whatever the guy's name was that played the dragon card before MT showed. Regardless, I stayed because people would bullshit with me in the spam forums. I left because of blatant power abuse and favoritism(the Leon and marcus fiasco), a complete lack of transparency if staff decisions and actions, and a general attitude of "I am right and you are dumb" from Sas/Zero, with nobody contesting them.
This was by far my biggest beef with the staff at the time, and was one of the main reasons why I was constantly bickering with the staff 6+ years ago. A ton of the staff had the "I'm right, you're wrong" attitude, and SaS/Zerxer took it to extremes. I was the only staff member that stood up to them about it. Yes, I've made some dumbass mistakes while as staff, and I was guilty of some of the things the staff was doing, but I never liked the general atmosphere they were imposing on the memberbase to begin with.
What happened, do you ask? I got booted off the staff. Eventually, I got banned because I got tired of their general circle-jerking so I started trolling the shit out of them. I consistantly watched over the site, still, and made an alt account as soon as I found out SaS and Zerxer flew the coop.
Since then, I've used my past experiences with this site's staff, as well as help from a friend of mine who owns a pretty big site, to use my own knowledge from my past mistakes, all on how NOT to be a staff member, and recreated the staff guidelines. You should pretty much expect the staff to be a lot more friendly to incoming new members from now on. We put the new members before us now.
Quote:I am not the model forum member you wish to attract or keep. I just like systems of rules, and the maintenance/use/interpretation thereof.
I could probably argue that I'm not much better, and look how I've reshaped the forum today. My point is, you're much better off than a lot of people nowadays, because as far as I know, you have your head in the right place, and you know when exactly a place has gone to shit. The only difference is, I was a lot more vocal about it, and I got brutally punished for it.
Quote:Afterthought: The sheer number of name changes that went on was another massive blow. I can't give a shit about the community when everyone constantly has some other name, and I'm left not knowing who anyone is on a week-to-week basis.
Oh god. Not those. NOT THOSE.
The name changes were the bane of my existance.
Yes, I know I was guilty of this 6+ years ago, and I've only recently stopped doing this about 2-3 years ago. But I'm definitely glad this has stopped being a thing. As far as I know, ever since moving to the new forum platform, I have not once received a single name change request, and honestly, this is a welcome change. Obviously, if you play FETO, you will still see the occasional name change, but it's nowhere near as bad as it was 6+ years ago. But that's because FETO is still being hosted on the old and outdated IPB software.
My biggest issue with the name changes are, is, the system is way too broken. And I'm not talking about just the name change system, I'm talking about the item shop system that hosts most of the name changes. I'm not shitting you when I say this, but... no. I'm not going to waste my time telling you how horrible the item shop system is. I'll let a single screenshot do all the talking.
![[Image: iL1L1f9.png]](http://i.imgur.com/iL1L1f9.png)
Simply put, stupidly broken. You could name change a million times over the course of a single day. That's how bad the item system was.
If name changes are to be done on this forum, I'm only allowing 2, maybe 3 times a year. If you don't like it, I'm sorry, but we're not allowing IPBFEP to happen ever again. The only exception we'll make is if you spelled the name wrong, or something.
RE: Word - Pura - 10-21-2014
Are you really telling me that I can't have my 10+ name changes a year? D:
RE: Word - Falaflame - 10-21-2014
That's right. It's a turn off to members, it's a turn off to new members, and it's a turn off to possible returning members. We have to be a lot more limited to name changes now.
RE: Word - Breadophile - 10-22-2014
Name changes aren't stupid, but there are no good non restricting ways to implement them. You'd have to take the gfaqs approach (misspelled or censor bypassed names only).
RE: Word - Mizu - 10-22-2014
(10-06-2014, 01:21 AM)Cheffy Wrote: Also Also, I don't remember this conversation?
It was after you had first left. We were talking on AIM and I said you'd eventually come back because no matter how long a vet left, they always came back. It was the trend. lol You said you couldn't because you changed your password to something random and then changed your settings so that you could never ask for a password change/reset.
Fala: I know someone who's really great with coding. He is very busy and I don't know how willing he would be to help out, but if he does agree he'd be an incredible asset. He won't be home until around 5:00 or so tonight but when he gets back I'll ask if he'll look into helping out. Is there a condensed description you could give me of responsibilities, the types of coding, and things he would specifically be asked to attend to? I'm sure he'll help out at least a little, so if there's a specific set of things I could ask him about that would be lovely. ^.^
RE: Word - Falaflame - 10-22-2014
(10-22-2014, 10:47 AM)Mizu Wrote: Fala: I know someone who's really great with coding. He is very busy and I don't know how willing he would be to help out, but if he does agree he'd be an incredible asset. He won't be home until around 5:00 or so tonight but when he gets back I'll ask if he'll look into helping out. Is there a condensed description you could give me of responsibilities, the types of coding, and things he would specifically be asked to attend to? I'm sure he'll help out at least a little, so if there's a specific set of things I could ask him about that would be lovely. ^.^
That's something you'll have to speak with siro about. Go ahead and bug him on skype.
His ID: t.to.the.square
Quote:Name changes aren't stupid, but there are no good non restricting ways to implement them. You'd have to take the gfaqs approach (misspelled or censor bypassed names only).
I think 3 name changes in a year is a fair maximum. Maybe there will be some event (usually on holidays) where there may be a 4th, but that's as about as much as you'll get.
RE: Word - Cheffy - 10-23-2014
(10-21-2014, 06:53 PM)Falaflame Wrote: I could probably argue that I'm not much better, and look how I've reshaped the forum today. My point is, you're much better off than a lot of people nowadays, because as far as I know, you have your head in the right place, and you know when exactly a place has gone to shit. The only difference is, I was a lot more vocal about it, and I got brutally punished for it.
I'm gonna take that as the highest of compliments. Truth is, though, I don't have the time, effort, or mental/emotional bandwidth to really be an active forum member. I'll roll around when the thought strikes me, though.
I've seen too many online communities wither up to really get invested into anymore. Good luck with this one, though
(10-22-2014, 10:47 AM)Mizu Wrote: It was after you had first left. We were talking on AIM and I said you'd eventually come back because no matter how long a vet left, they always came back. It was the trend. lol You said you couldn't because you changed your password to something random and then changed your settings so that you could never ask for a password change/reset.
Ah, yes, I remember this now. Honestly, I only re-rolled here to check on my old mind worms thread. Seeing you, myke, and Avalanche all rolling around's what got me to poke my head and say hello.
Fun fact: Even though I was only on the old FEP for maybe a year - That was before I really had my online presence solidified. I never use Chef Brian anymore. ./chortle
RE: Word - Mizu - 10-23-2014
Well it's fun to post in the HOOT thread, so you should hang around. lol
RE: Word - Falaflame - 11-03-2014
Sorry for being super late but i finally got around to showing sirocyl this thread. He'll get to you about the responsibilities and such. @Mizu
RE: Word - WyvernSlayer - 11-03-2014
I like the words that are being spoken here, but please please PLEASE don't let this be just another "rah rah" meeting. If someone wants to volunteer, they need to understand what that means. It doesn't mean "when I'm thinking about it and have free time and a good muse and X-Y-Z." It's a commitment.
I want to see this place come back to where it was 5-6 years ago (minus the staff infighting, obviously). If you think you can make a difference, please step up. FEP wants you, but you've got to want FEP in return.
EDIT: I also feel compelled to mention that I haven't changed my name in 7 years. You're welcome, Cheffy.
RE: Word - Falaflame - 11-03-2014
I'd love to see the place back when it's 5-6 years ago too. But the staff in-fighting isn't the only thing I don't want to return, but also the general circle-jerking, elitist attitude, and total shit treatment of the memberbase that was done back then. One of the big problems 5-6 years ago is, if you weren't part of their little friend circle, you're either getting ignored, or mocked.
If we want to be successful again, we can't afford to allow any of that to happen again.
It may feel we're kicking up old dust when I'm saying this, but I just felt i needed to clarify something here.
RE: Word - Speedy - IX - 11-03-2014
I recall reading the old forums and seeing that stuff. Seemed like it could really make people uncomfortable (it even made me uncomfortable when I wasn't even a part of the convo).