Category: Zone BBS Suggestions and Feedback
Recently quite a few suggestions have been made on this board which seem to have been totally ignored by the admins/cl’s, despite the fact that the majority of the users were in favour of these changes being made. Also decisions have been made by the admins, e.g. the removal of adult channels on vt, purely off the back of one complaint from one user. Now while I realize that changes cannot always be implemented immediately, and that coding etc takes time, it just seems to me that the general feedback of the community is being totally disregarded, and that you have to be in favour with the higher authorities on this site in order to be able to make a difference. I thought this was a community, and I thought that this suggestion board was here in order for people to make suggestions, so why is it that all these suggestions seem to be ignored without any explanations? Is there any point having a suggestions board if no one takes any notice? Let’s not forget that some of the users on here are premium members, and have actually paid to have more features on this site, and yes I know that if people don’t like it here they are free to leave, however, sites like this are few and far between, it just concerns me that if people become disillusioned with the site, they will not renew their premium memberships, and the site will ultimately cease to be. So could the admins/CL’s perhaps clarify whether the users have any input at all? Because if not there would seem to be little point having a suggestions board.
Have you ever heard the phrase you can't please all of the people all of the time? I'm sure it is very hard for the community leaders and admins doing their jobs and trying to keep people here happy. And I have found zonebbs admins to be much more responsive to questions and suggestions than admins on similar sites I used to visit.
Exactly, Clare. I have said time and time again that I have been really disappointed in how things are being run!!! Any suggestions that the majority have made, has been treated with disregard. Why is this happening? What is, as Clare asks, the point of having people make suggestions when no one in authority is willing to consider them??? I too liked the effort that Liam put in to the Ventrilo server with the adult channels. He at least made an effort to help with how comfortable conversations will be in the presence of everyone. But they were taken down because of one, I repeat, one user's complaints!!! As to the unignoring of board posts' topic, posted by Harp, there wasn't any consideration of it from the leaders of the zone!!! It was ignored time and time again and the only person who seemed to be listening to the majority was Maddog!!! Many of us who are considering becoming premium have seriously reconsidered because of the lack of interest the admins have shown in listening to what users have to say. So again, Do we have any input at all???
*sexy*
Well yeah I realize that you can’t please everyone all the time, but the fact of it is that some of the ideas put forward recently have been voted as good ideas by the majority of the users, and yet they have been thrown out because of objections from one or two people. The adults only channel on vt was one such example, and that was changed because a child, and no disrespect to heather but legally she is still a child, didn’t want the channels there! Oh and for the record, I don’t go on to vt as a rule, but as this is the most recent example I will use that one! The rest of the users have been totally disregarded in this respect, because one user, who happens to get on well with someone in authority, didn’t like it! What about the rest! Is what they want not important?
I totally agree and made a comment regarding this somewhere else on the boards last week. Knowing that there's no way on earth I'll get a refund for premium membership, I'm not even going to bother to ask for it, but you can sure as hell bet your life that I won't be buying it again when it runs out. This site's turning in to a joke, the way it's been being run lately. I'd love to know where the money really goes... Get people to pay so that you can tell them where to go? nice... And, yeh, if I don't like it I know where I can go? What a nice outlook on things, well, you wish. My money just won't be contributing to it in the future, that's all I can say. Btw Claire, another example to be used here is the sudden decision to get a new CL, yet when the question was asked a few months ago, the answer was, and I quote, "there are enough of us. We don't need any more." yeh. Really. Never the less, an asset I'm sure she will be...
i find this both amusing and sad all at the same time claire! i was just considering creating a new topic on the suggestions board entitled (lets scrap suggestions) when i came across this one!
as it happens i don't feel i can add a great deal to this thread though apart from my voice. the one thing that i would add is that i have had a complete U-turn with regard to buying a premium membership over the last week! i'll keep my money for people who are interested in earning it.
i could carry on but there seems little point. the chances of anybody of importance reading it seem negligible, while the chances of anybody of importance actually responding to it, or even taking it seriously, nonexistent!
Sugar Baby, thanks for posting this topic. I wholeheartedly agree with what has been said so far. Certainly, not everything can be realized instantly, but I think it would be nice if admins or cls could be bothered to comment on suggestions that have been made, as to if they can be realized or if and why not... That would at least make us believe that our input is even considered.
as people know, I work really hard to keep this site stable. Ask anyone who talks to me on a daily basis. If I could I would solve all the zone problems, but I'm not an admin so I can't do everything. there are certain things I do not want to comment on in this post, but trust me when I say that I understand where everyone is coming from.
Hello Claire. I thank you for having the courage to post this topic. Generally, I would say that people who complain about a site like this should just enjoy it, be thankful for the friends they've made, and get a life. However, when I see that suggestions approved by the majority are regularly ignored, I have to wonder why we have this suggestion board. Many of these suggestions have not concerned me, but I've observed as they've been ignored. My ears perked up today when I heard JAWS announce a new community leader. Now, I know this person and consider her a friend and am in no way attacking the appointment or expressing envy. However, we were all curtly informed that there was no need for new CL's when many of us expressed interest in becoming one. So what brought on the arbitrary decision? You can't please everyone, granted. I do applaud the admins and CL's for all the work they do to keep this place stable and to stave off hackers. But, on the flip side, if suggestions aren't going to be taken into consideration, let's just get rid of this board and not leave members with false expectations. As I say, I love this site and will continue to visit it every day. If we have no voice, I am fine with that too. But let's not pretend!
oh I absolutely know that liam for one spends a lot of time cleaning up the mess that's been left when hackers have infiltrated the site etc, also that he is invariably online, also, maddog has regularly responded to suggestions topics so I by no means want to take away from what the CL's do on here. I believe also that the issue regarding the channels on ventrillo was resolved last night, after some users had discussions with chrisN online, however there are still suggestions outstanding and sometimes it would just be nice to know one way or the other, and if the suggestion is not going to be taken on board, then it would be nice to know why that is the case. after all, we don't always see what goes on behind the scenes.
sb. I'm not writing this to sound rude. Just hold on. seriously. I think We're all on the same page now. Me and chris talked for a while and worked some stuff out I hope. your opinions still mean everythign to us, and we're gonna do what we can.
it's good to see that these posts have been sorted out. i hope we still do have a voice, as i have posted a few suggestions, and i hope to see some of them implemented soon.
For what it's worth, here are my comments. 1. The adult channels were not initially removed because of complaints. They were removed because of an apparently incorrect assumption that I had made. See the appropriate topic for the full story. 2. First and foremost, the money for premium membership goes towards the site, and as the person who coded probably more than haf of it, I can definitely say that it's not showing up as a salary for me. Necessities include the portion of server resources used by this site, bandwidth, the ventrilo server, etc. Specific questions should go to Admin. 3. I can understand the surprise at the appearance of a new community leader. I truly believe that Midnight Princess will be an asset and integrate well. I have some ideas on how we can get feedback from users prior to selecting any future community leaders. It's important to remember that this isn't a popularity contest, and that many factors go into the decision, but at the same time I can see how we might seem a bit elitest or cliquish to some. I hope this helps clarify things. Finally, if their is something that you think I should pay attention to, you can always send a private message on The Zone. I'm not on this site quite as much as Liam and may miss something as I'm skimming the boards.
Chris its 1 thing to go against the majority of members by ignoring their opinion ,but it's quite another to take leave of your senses.In the few times I have spoken to MP, she has consistantly ignored me, I ask you is that any way for a CL to behave...
Chris thank you for responding – I never had any doubt that the money from premium membership was used to maintain servers … etc, it was more a thought that some might not wish to pay for premim membership if they felt they did not have a voice. I think the question re a new CL surprised some, not so much because a new cl was appointed, but because when users have enquired about potentially becoming a cl, they were told that there was no need for any more cl’s. One other issue which has come up time and time again and which the majority of users bar 3 I think it was, seem to have agreed on, was the possible removal of the ignore feature from the boards. Time and time again this issue has been raised off the back of several incidents, i.e. conversations becoming disjointed, and users responding to users they have ignored thus proving that they actually read the boards externally and just keep the users on ignore to maintain the pretence that they cannot bear to read anything they have written. I believe there are no plans to remove this feature but at least an explanation would have been nice, considering as so many were in favour of it being removed and so few, namely the users who have the most others on ignore, were against.
Well, I totally see Chris's point about the money. Even if we all contributed $25/year it wouldn't really add up to much in terms of sallary for admins/community leaders. In all actuality development work is evaluated at $20 to $50 an hour and peple working on this site most definitely would not make that evenif everyone paid the anual fee, as far as I can estimate I wouldn't think ore than 50 people (and probably a lot less) paid the $20 to $25 dues which leaves us with around $1200 at most for server space etc ($100/month) which translates to all programming work being done essentially for free.
I still think a community leader or admin should be more active in responding to suggestinons and explaining rationale behind them being accepted or ignored (high development cost, the admins don't think it's feasible or just etc). It's much better to get a "no we can't do it because ..." than simply silence, people come here to feel and be part of a community and being able to voice your opinion is really all important in that respect.
And, no offense to midnight princess at all .. I certainly have nothing against her, but I am surprised that someone who does not even frequent the site very much was rewarded a cl job without going through the community at all while much more active members on here who asked for such a position were completely ignored. Of course it is up to admins to run this site and if they feel like their friends can be trusted best with cl duties I suppose we don't really have much to say about that. I just wish there was a more democratic process on electing these cl's. Again, I am not meaning this as a criticism of mp herself, I certainly have nothing against her in any way.
cheers
-B
And actually as an adendum to previous post, I must say Liam has been doing a good job as a CL and trying to address concerns and Mad Dog has done a fairly good job at being responsive too so thumbs up for them.
midnight princess is hot, that's why she got the job. Also think about this, Chris well has stuff he has to do other then coding full time for this sight, and J's just J, and I don't expect anything from him. If everyone would quit bitching and 5 or 6 of you learned php and offered to help code then maybe more would get done quicker. This isn't what feeds the people who run it, so frankly I don't think it matters one way or the other if they take the time to implimint new features.
First off, Goblin, when have you tried talking to me? I don't recall ever getting any sort of message from you and if I did, I'm sorry but somehow I didn't see it. Secondly wildebrew I actually do frequent the site alot, I just don't post or qn often, that doesn't mean I'm not aware of what's been going on. Blindguy, thanks for saying I'm hot, lol, but I don't think that's why Chris appointed me as CL. I'm smart, catch on quick, and like helping out. Lastly, I wish everyone would just ease up a little on me. I'm new as CL so maybe I haven't gotten the hang of it yet, but if there's anything I need to work on or anything you guys want me to do, please send me a message or PQN me. I've been trying to do as much as I can since becoming CL, but if nobody tells me what I can improve upon I can't do any better. So please, just give me a chance and try talking to me, really I don't bite.
MP, I wish you all the best with the CL job and never said you were not capable of doing it .. just wish we'd been moreinvolved in determining who got the job or got explanations as to why someone was chosen.
BlindGuy, for the record I've privately often offered to help, I'm learning php just for fun and I'd love to help out, there were talks of setting up a dev environment but I guess J or Chris have always been too busy to really implement it. My offer still stands by the way and I'd love to help out. I'm not an expeft at php but my resume is fairly good and I know c, vb6, vb.net, perl, unix scripting etc so I'll pick up php soon + my buddy at work has been a php admin/programmer for 8 years and is totally an expert.
cheers
-B
I know, that comment was for zoners in general, I just wanted to make it clear to you that I am on the site alot. <smile> and thanks.
To resurrect an old thread, as for suggestions, it seems to go in spurts. Remember that if a suggestion is agreed upon, it still has to be coded. This varies in complexity from suggestion to suggestion. There are several (topic watch, various games, pictures in profiles) and many more that we have in the to do list. As for getting direct responses from admins, try the email link from the home page. It's now been switched to come right to my Email so I'll see it faster.
Danielle, maybe there are so many suggestions which take a lot of time and work. You can't do all at once. This is my opinion.
no you can't but there's always been this bone of contention with regards to lack of diplomatic responses from admins etc. after all it's the comunity that makes the site not the admins.
Well they can't reply to everything at once either.