Regarding Recent Changes to the Forum

[thoron]

From what I have discussed, that's not necessarily true; however, if we did such a thing, I would like for it to be integrated into the site structure and not merely stitching vBulletin to the site.

As I said, bad idea because if FA goes down so does the forum. Thats always been FA saving grace is that the users have somewhere to go while FA is suffering down time or maintinance.

 

[Aleu]

From what I have discussed, that's not necessarily true; however, if we did such a thing, I would like for it to be integrated into the site structure and not merely stitching vBulletin to the site.

Well as others had pointed out as well, the best part is that people can stay updated within FA and not have to turn to Twitter or something. They can stay within the community

 

[Chase]

As I said, bad idea because if FA goes down so does the forum. Thats always been FA saving grace is that the users have somewhere to go while FA is suffering down time or maintinance.

Well as others had pointed out as well, the best part is that people can stay updated within FA and not have to turn to Twitter or something. They can stay within the community

I'm hoping that with future updates, etc. that it will be possible to work on the site while not affecting the forum. Concerning downtime, it's something I would like to see minimized/removed in the coming years so that it shouldn't be an issue. And if the site is taken down, have an appropriate flag that tells users why when they land on the site's page.

 

[Percy]

Concerning downtime, it's something I would like to see minimized/removed in the coming years so that it shouldn't be an issue. And if the site is taken down, have an appropriate flag that tells users why when they land on the site's page.

Hopefully that can be figured out soon. Just way too many outages recently...

 

[thoron]

I'm hoping that with future updates, etc. that it will be possible to work on the site while not affecting the forum. Concerning downtime, it's something I would like to see minimized/removed in the coming years so that it shouldn't be an issue. And if the site is taken down, have an appropriate flag that tells users why when they land on the site's page.

And what about those who prefer to have seperate accounts? Also just telling people the reason why the site is down doesn't cut the mustard, people come here to hang out while the site is down and if the forum does go down due to a main site outage people will not be pleased. In short, its best that the two sites remain seperate.

 

[Butters Shikkon]

I just want to add a bit of user feedback.

I for one am very disappointed in the sluggish response to such action taken. (IE: Admin changes and crackdown on behavior) I've never been much of a problem user (no infracs or bans in all my user history in fact) and was quite shocked when I noticed some key staff members suddenly changed.

If I might make a teensy suggestion. In the future, when changing the head of forum of this size it might be wise to make a thread about to alert the users. It sorta helps them understand what's going on and not panic.

 

[Willow]

Also, if you're suspended from FA or FAF it doesn't effect whether you can use one over the other. Let alone being able to appeal it.

Unless you plan on creating separate infractions for different parts of the site. Which seems kind of tedious.

 

[Chase]

Hopefully that can be figured out soon. Just way too many outages recently...

I agree. I know that our techies get a lot of flak, especially Yak, but seriously, they all work hard to keep the site running, rushing to every emergency. I know users get, "We're working on yada yada yada," all the time and I'm not here to offer any excuses. The site needs work and we're doing what we can.

 

[thoron]

Also, if you're suspended from FA or FAF it doesn't effect whether you can use one over the other. Let alone being able to appeal it.

Unless you plan on creating separate infractions for different parts of the site. Which seems kind of tedious.

This, what of those who might have a temporary ban on one or the other? I've seen some get banned from the forum and continue on the mainsite as if nothing happened and vise versa. How would merging the forum and site affect that?

To be honest I don't understand the obsession some have with having forums intergrated into a site. Sure its neat and fancy but the forum becomes completely if the site goes down and to say that one aims to reduce/remove site outages at some point in the future and use that as justification for merging the two really isn't planning for the unknown very well.

 

[Chase]

I just want to add a bit of user feedback.

I for one am very disappointed in the sluggish response to such action taken. (IE: Admin changes and crackdown on behavior) I've never been much of a problem user (no infracs or bans in all my user history in fact) and was quite shocked when I noticed some key staff members suddenly changed.

If I might make a teensy suggestion. In the future, when changing the head of forum of this size it might be wise to make a thread about to alert the users. It sorta helps them understand what's going on and not panic.

I agree and I will do my best to be more proactive in the future concerning forum updates.

And what about those who prefer to have seperate accounts? Also just telling people the reason why the site is down doesn't cut the mustard, people come here to hang out while the site is down and if the forum does go down due to a main site outage people will not be pleased. In short, its best that the two sites remain seperate.

I personally don't see the benefit of having separate accounts. Also, I hope that users don't come to the forum simply because the site is down. I think that kind of goes against earlier notions that there are two separate communities all-together.

Also, if you're suspended from FA or FAF it doesn't effect whether you can use one over the other. Let alone being able to appeal it.

Unless you plan on creating separate infractions for different parts of the site. Which seems kind of tedious.

One site, one set of rules, etc. Nothing is definite at this moment concerning your notion; however, it isn't out of the realm of possibilities.

 

[Aleu]

I personally don't see the benefit of having separate accounts. Also, I hope that users don't come to the forum simply because the site is down. I think that kind of goes against earlier notions that there are two separate communities all-together.



One site, one set of rules, etc. Nothing is definite at this moment concerning your notion; however, it isn't out of the realm of possibilities.

Many people come to the forums because the site is down. Some even stay because they like it or get more publicity.

The benefit of having two sites is that if there is a ban on the forums, you can still post your art. If there's a ban on the mainsite, you can still chat and maybe appeal if it is worth one.

 

[thoron]

I personally don't see the benefit of having separate accounts. Also, I hope that users don't come to the forum simply because the site is down. I think that kind of goes against earlier notions that there are two separate communities all-together.

You might not but many other do so why would you force your own idea of community onto everyone else. Basically most users don't want the forum and the main site merged.
Also, FA was able to recover after that massive month long (+) outage years back because the forum was here. If FA should ever go down like that again and there's no forum for people to go to FA will likely never recover.

 

[Zeitzbach]

One site, one set of rules, etc. Nothing is definite at this moment concerning your notion; however, it isn't out of the realm of possibilities.

So much for promoting the forum. No one's going to use a forum that can affect their main site account. It's like MMOs. Unless you receive around 15 permabans, they will NEVER touch your main account.

 

[Chase]

Many people come to the forums because the site is down. Some even stay because they like it or get more publicity.

The benefit of having two sites is that if there is a ban on the forums, you can still post your art. If there's a ban on the mainsite, you can still chat and maybe appeal if it is worth one.

So, by integrating, there is more incentive to follow the rules. I cannot foresee a system where users wouldn't be able to appeal at any given time.

 

[Willow]

I personally don't see the benefit of having separate accounts. Also, I hope that users don't come to the forum simply because the site is down. I think that kind of goes against earlier notions that there are two separate communities all-together.

The good seems to outweigh the bad by quite a bit as we've already kind of pointed out. Regardless of if the site goes down less frequently, not having a direct line of communication for when site outages, or even little things like that white page that comes up to ask "hey, what's going on" is a problem.

I'm sure you wouldn't want people to just sign up for Twitter just to ask that too or give general input. Because then you're making two separate accounts on two separate websites to use the same site basically.

Also separate communities would kind of exist regardless of whether or not the two integrated.

One site, one set of rules, etc. Nothing is definite at this moment concerning your notion; however, it isn't out of the realm of possibilities.

I'd rather this not be like SoFurry tbh. Because that kind of nixes the whole "PG-13 forums" bit seeing as how main site supercedes the forums.

 

[Zeitzbach]

So, by integrating, there is more incentive to follow the rules. I cannot foresee a system where users wouldn't be able to appeal at any given time.

And with both of them together, you're just adding an option to get the main site account banned.

With that kind of risk, it's a lot more preferable to just remain silence, post new art, talk abit to watchers and just leave. No one wants to risk a random ban on their main site because they argued with someone on the forum.

 

[Chase]

So much for promoting the forum. No one's going to use a forum that can affect their main site account. It's like MMOs. Unless you receive around 15 permabans, they will NEVER touch your main account.

Like I said, there isn't anything definite concerning how infractions and such will be applied or if they will ever change at all. The rules being adjusted is merely for simplicity's sake to have everything more streamline.

 

[Percy]

One site, one set of rules, etc. Nothing is definite at this moment concerning your notion; however, it isn't out of the realm of possibilities.

That would just seem highly unfair if it were implemented. The two websites are very different; one is an art website, the other a forum in where you can post about anything (rules permitting of course). Bans really should be kept separate as they are now.

 

[Chase]

I'd rather this not be like SoFurry tbh. Because that kind of nixes the whole "PG-13 forums" bit seeing as how main site supercedes the forums.

I am not aware of any ideas to change of the Forum's rating. Streamlining the rules wouldn't affect this.

 

[thoron]

So, by integrating, there is more incentive to follow the rules. I cannot foresee a system where users wouldn't be able to appeal at any given time.

So why should I encoure a ban here if I get into a scuffle on the main site? You do realize its only going to cause a massive spike it evasion account right? Basically stop trying to merge two things that have no place being merged. Yout trying force a gallery and a bar into one. Here users feel like they can let off steam and banter, the main has no real place for that.

 

[Maolfunction]

So, by integrating, there is more incentive to follow the rules. I cannot foresee a system where users wouldn't be able to appeal at any given time.

And bam, suddenly people will only see this as becoming more strict.

It's a good idea on paper, but people never react well when suddenly they feel like they have to tiptoe around both sites because if they get in trouble, they lose access to a lot more stuff. The forum will most definitely start to die if people feel like the risk of getting in trouble on the forum isn't worth it. (Which at the moment, getting in trouble can be pretty easy as it's not entirely clear how people are supposed to act here, [the general atmosphere is way different than the mainsite] though it seems like you have plans on changing that, which I'm slightly curious about)

 

[Chase]

And bam, suddenly people will only see this as becoming more strict.

It's a good idea on paper, but people never react well when suddenly they feel like they have to tiptoe around both sites because if they get in trouble, they lose access to a lot more stuff. The forum will most definitely start to die if people feel like the risk of getting in trouble on the forum isn't worth it. (Which at the moment, getting in trouble can be pretty easy as it's not entirely clear how people are supposed to act here, [the general atmosphere is way different than the mainsite] though it seems like you have plans on changing that, which I'm slightly curious about)

You very well could be correct, which is why I didn't say this was something that is planned. At current, the only plan is to streamline the rules so that they are simple and understandable across the board when looking at the site and the forums.

 

[Aleu]

I am not aware of any ideas to change of the Forum's rating. Streamlining the rules wouldn't affect this.

Well that's something to think on because that's kind of important.

Unless you're gonna make the mainsite PG-13, in which case HOO BOY I'd LOVE to see the result.

 

[Toshabi]

Well that's something to think on because that's kind of important.

Unless you're gonna make the mainsite PG-13, in which case HOO BOY I'd LOVE to see the result.

Lovely, FAF is going to become a fetish fodder website. I can't WAIT to see the delicious new threads that come with the reworked FAF. =)

 

[Batty Krueger]

Well that's something to think on because that's kind of important.

Unless you're gonna make the mainsite PG-13, in which case HOO BOY I'd LOVE to see the result.

No you wouldnt. It would be a fucking disaster.
Maybe you would, I dunno.
Goddamn my eyes hurt.