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So here's just an interesting thing I noticed.
Some people really like to focus on the number of players online and use this as a judge of how "alive" or "dead" the game is...
Most understand however that this isn't an accurate way to judge the communities livelihood due to how often the number of people online fluctuates given what time of day or year it is.
Either way many like saying that in earlier years the game had soo many more people online than these days but fail to realize that that isn't actually true. Having been around since this game's earlier days I've seen the population trends.
So here's a clip of the counter from 2011 as seen in an old preset tutorial video I made on an old cringey YouTube channel:
(http://i.imgur.com/egZHCpC.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/2y4ICOq.jpg)
As you can see it reads something like 415 people were online at the time... mind you that I recorded that tutorial during the so called busy hours of FH.
Then just recently I screenshot this image of the counter this year as of January 2017
(http://i.imgur.com/vsXQxAw.jpg)
The counter reads 437 people online... xD
Not much has changed on average. Sure there were days that were busier than that back then but even still at 415 people online no one was running around saying the game was dying.
Point in all this really is that I believe people focus too much on the numerical side of the game rather than just playing. People put this seed of "the game is dying" and then that negativity is all that manifests itself. I think we should focus less on quantity and more on the quality of our relationships with those who are online...a game isn't dead until there's 0 people online and as long as the server/site/game is managed and up that will never happen xD
Idk I just find all this quite so silly given how long I've been around here.
While yes sometimes there has been more users online on various occasions nothing has gone to drastically different since then. I just think people like grossly exaggerating things.
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Ahh thank you for bringing this to attention, Sura. It really is disheartening to hear that so many people think that the game is "dying" due to a fluctuation of users. People forget to keep in mind that registration had been closed for quite some time, which kept the user influx stagnant for a while. I think they also seem to forget that the people playing FH here in 2017 aren't exactly the same people that were playing back in 2011. Although some veterans still remain, it's crucial to understand that with time, users come and go, and the general population changes. And with a general population change, you get users of different backgrounds and personalities, which drastically contributes to the overall mood or "feel" of the game.
People also like to think that the game "isn't the same" as it was back in 2011/2012, but really nothing has changed gameplay wise. The rules and norms are still quite the same. Like I said before, I believe a majority of this "not the same" feeling can be attributed to the change in general population, but we have to remember that as a whole community, we have the power to shape the game in whichever way we want. We can chose to embrace qualities or the past or to move on, and really, we decide what feelings the game invokes, not the game itself.
I hope that the community will take time to reflect on what really has changed/and or can be considered as "dying" before going around parading the idea itself. Thank you again for creating this post and laying down some clarification.<3
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Thank you for bringing this to peoples notice. I've met many people that have said "FH is dying, why do people still play it?" and this is not true at all. The time of this post FH is at its second highest player point. I've seen many new people and FeralHeart isn't dying at all, it's more of a re -birth.
As Kynvuu said, some people don't think that FeralHeart is the same as it was in 2011/2012, but it still technically is. Most people just think it isn't as most people are out of Grounds RPing, Causing them to believe that no one stays in Grounds and talk.
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I'm just glad something was said about this. I don't have much else to comment, but we can always count on Sura to set rumors straight.
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Props to Sura bab for posting this.
My belief on the topic is that FeralHeart has it's moments. Sometimes it's busy, and other times, usualyl 1-4 AM it is at its most quietest. The game has its moments, and depending on the time you catch it in that's what you'll build your opinion on sadly enough.
The game surely has its fair share of loyal members, and everyone needs to be patient for the opening of Registration again, pushing it won't get anywhere. :/
Either way, thanks Sura. c:
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Thank you for bringing this up, Lord Sura. I've seen around 400 players online lately since it's winter break for many people. It really just depends on the time of the day and season as to how many people are going to be online. Feral Heart isn't really dying, and there are some new members who come in from time to time during open registration. I'm sure whenever the new registration gets fixed there will be more and more people to come. We just got to have faith.
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I am sure people appreciate this being said, and it's great that you've proved that FeralHeart hasn't changed much popularity wise, and got that proof for those who disagree. However, I gotta say I understand where people come from when they use the term "FH is Dying". Sure, it's not an appropriate use of words, nor am I agreeing that FH is dying. On the other hand, when you read into it more, is it honestly that good that the FH popularity hasn't increased much since 2011/2012 as you so proved? I am aware that people leave, and people come to 'replace' the hole of those who do leave, but why are people saying Feral Heart isn't as 'great' as it used to be?
Don't get me wrong, it's lovely to see that Movie Nights are still being held, and that lovely 'official' Feral Heart events are still about such as; staff hosted parties, MOTS, preset contests and contests outside of Feral Heart. But you must agree that you don't see people turning up and involving themselves as much as they used to before? Or maybe how the number of users including themselves in these events aren't increasing? If not then maybe not enough attention is being made in terms of user activity. As said before, the game has changed a lot since 2011/2012. A lot of users were new, and a lot more Roleplays were about, people didn't need continuous events, and the majority of those events are held on the forum or external websites. People are coming, and people are going, but I see a lot of users on a daily basis that have been here since probably the beginning, who then see other users who are just the same as them. A year or so ago, user online activity would peak up to the 500's-600's. Don't you think users are getting a little bored maybe? Could this be the reason users are saying that Feral Heart is "dying"? I'm just trying to encourage you to read more into it.
Yes, a patch has been released, and the base of patches has been created. A lot of effort and time was put into it, and I know this because I was there to help even. A lot of users are more than happy to be on FH, whether changes undergo or not. A lot of people like the changes of Feral Heart and can appreciate what efforts have been made to make changes that people have been craving for a long time. However, I am online in-game almost every day for reasons. I see more complaints about how people do not like the changes than people who do. Sure, not everyone will like the same thing, and it's possible that you and others might only see them as ungrateful. But have you taken notice on how a lot of users are dropping Feral Heart because they're not happy any more? Instead of telling people most of the time how Staff had put a lot of time and effort into the patch, as soon as they say that they understand that, I just ask them what they want to see and what changes they do not like. Now, I'm not saying focus your future ideas based on those who don't like the changes very much, but to maybe listen and learn.
I understand that the patch was secret, that the patch was a nice surprise for users to see this past Summer. However, maybe it would be nice to have the users get a say in what they want for future patches? That would give Staff, or people who are working on the patch, a better base on what users want to see than just guessing and thinking "this would be cool to add". I guarantee you'd see a lot of users returning as well.
How about public advertising? Maybe FH could have it's own YouTube Channel? A place where you can post an advertisement of Feral-Heart, maybe update the main FH game advertisement each patch. It would sure grab a lot of gamer attention out there. A lot of games have their own YouTube Channel. This Shouldn't be a palce for sillyness, but a place for professionally made videos. Maybe release teasers of what's to come game wise. No voices, but some sweet music from the game, as well as text. A lot of games have high quality mics and recording stuffs, paid voices etc.. so it'd be wise not to use voice. Could end up sounding trashy. If you even wanted, upload Podcasts that you record. This would allow users to get to know you more, trust you more. Make a playlist on that channel, even, called 'podcasts'. Maybe name each one "Feral Heart Staff Podcast - Staff Member 1, Staff Member 2, Staff Member 3... and so on. Take advantage of other game forums if they permit advertisements for other games. Try to increase the popularity instead of settling with what users you have registered?
I donno. Maybe I went into too much detail, but too much detail is better than none I suppose. I just wanted to give users a more open perspective than just one proved point on game popularity/daily user count.
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I have never seen Feral Heart as a dying community. It's just evolving in to something greater. Like the in-game and forum update has brought a lot of attention to Feral Heart which is good. I have been with this community for 4 years and I have never seen the members playing number drop dramatically. Thank you for bringing attention to this. It is very helpful.
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I have never seen Feral Heart as a dying community. It's just evolving in to something greater. Like the in-game and forum update has brought a lot of attention to Feral Heart which is good. I have been with this community for 4 years and I have never seen the members playing number drop dramatically. Thank you for bringing attention to this. It is very helpful.
FeralHeart is evolving, just at a slow rate. The update was nearly a year ago and Raz is busy so he can only work on the forum here and there when he has time.
I suppose a concern of mine is that while FH is evolving, it isn't growing. Sure the number of members hasn't decreased, but it hasn't increased either and community participation in events is declining. A agree a lot with what Buffy said in her post, there should be more done to bring the community together, to advertise, and to overall bring something fresh to members.
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Going off of what Buff said above;
There used to be some videos on Red's channel on YouTube as far as I was aware of some past podcasts, but i'm not sure they were FH. But this would be a nice idea! I know that if FH had it's own channel, it could be livestreamed to for FAQ sessions etc.
User input is important to any game, new or old. I mean, thus far we've seen some changes to things the users have wanted/needed in the past years such as the username changer, but other things...
I'm not actually happy to hear the term 'FH is Dying' considering the game itself has evolved so much in the past few years. BUT, you're going to experience a user change no matter where you go. During certain times of year the user count will rise or fall. Usually around the middle of the school year that number drops due to mid-terms etc. It's not that much of a surprise.
There's nothing we can do about people having lives outside of the game, and as Sura mentioned, the numbers haven't changed all that much. It really all depends on what day/when you log in. Older users may log in when the younger base of the users are in school etc and things may seem empty, but you also have to consider time zones.
I really don't feel FH is dying, but instead is doing what I like to call a shift of activity. Even if the numbers drop drastically, it doesn't mean to point fingers and assume the death of the community. Things may have been rather quiet lately, but with all the work going on, it's expected.
The update is liked and both unliked by users all around, but sooner or later it'll be accepted. I like the ideas suggested of user made trailers, teasers etc. It might just bring that spark back for a influx of new users. We'll never know unless it's tried.
~ Whisper
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I'm not actually happy to hear the term 'FH is Dying' considering the game itself has evolved so much in the past few years. BUT, you're going to experience a user change no matter where you go. During certain times of year the user count will rise or fall. Usually around the middle of the school year that number drops due to mid-terms etc. It's not that much of a surprise.
There's nothing we can do about people having lives outside of the game, and as Sura mentioned, the numbers haven't changed all that much. It really all depends on what day/when you log in. Older users may log in when the younger base of the users are in school etc and things may seem empty, but you also have to consider time zones.
Though what you say is true, user online count does become off balance at certain times of years (due to school terms and what you mentioned basically), but when you base this off all the activity you have seen and witnessed throughout your time (for me, since mid 2012 perhaps?), you do notice that there isn't a certain hype you'd see in the 'good old days'. Maybe it's time for a change, a change that will encourage users to enjoy themselves more, instead of hosting a constant routine of the same events (that are mostly hosted on the forum and external sites). All though they are nice, and very much appreicated, it's not fun to settle on one thing and just have that going just for the sake of haivng some sort of entertainment going on.
I am aware that Staff have lives too, but when you say 'yes' to training and even becoming a staff member, you're taking on the duties it holds. Staff will have entrusted you, and all the dedication and good abilities you have provided and shown to FH. You have devoted your free time to 'volunteering' (not really working, as it's not a paid job) on Feral Heart. Sure, not all of your free time, like you said, they're not robots, I and a lot of others respect that. After all, past and current staff were left with a game that it's creator practically dumped on them.
However, if staff want to do good by FH's name, an prevent people from thinking that FH is 'dying', then this is what I honestly encourage them to do. They've done things like; hosting movies, MOTs, preset contests, parties... but it's all recurring and repetitive. Users are getting bored. It's good to keep, and you can change themes all the time, but it would be nice for a twist, or a bigger challenge. But why not introduce something new? Or maybe if they don't have time to do that, advertise FH through other medias like I've mentioned here (http://feral-heart.com/smf/index.php?topic=59774.msg822001#msg822001) and do something about increasing members. Sure, they may think they're doing that now, by changing things (which is appreciated, a lot) but a lot of it is current users making more accounts for themselves. I do not have evidence to prove this, though it doesn't take an idiot to see that numbers aren't rising in terms of online activity. I'm not saying that this should have to be done, but users are clearly unhappy and want to see more people playing this game.
Yes, they have also created a patch, I contributed to that too. I'm not trying to bash anyone when saying this but the base line is done now. The big reveal of being able to create a patch has been done. Now it's time welcome your users into your arms and take their ideas into account for future patches. Let them provide you and inspire you to tailor the next patch. This is a game they a whole community is playing, not just them. I'm not trying to make things sound like Staff are selfish either, I'm just suggesting that they should do this in future. I know many users can agree with me when I say that they want their ideas to be included a lot too, instead of secretly.
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So I made charts.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIlNIVXpIns (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIlNIVXpIns)
I’m glad you brought this up. Too many people are focusing in on the online indicator to determine how they feel about FeralHeart. It’s just like you said: they’re using it to determine if they think the game is dying. I think we can all agree here that the game isn’t dying. We can all agree that the number of players online at a time is never consistent. It has never been.
I took it upon myself to go to a website called www.web.archive.org in order to expand on that screenshot you included with the number of users online. What I did was I went through the many “snapshots” that have been taken of the FeralHeart homepage throughout the years. If you go to The WayBack Machine and type in the FeralHeart homepage, you will notice that there are 238 times this site has been preserved by it. I went through them all, and instead got a number of 227 snapshots due to the times the site was offline and didn’t show a number, the snapshots didn’t work, or there was no online indicator (such as the beginning in January 2011). And through doing that, I decided to put together some graphs for you all.
Now I might’ve gone a little bit overboard with this with the graphs, but it’s the first time in a while that I’ve gotten to make any sort of chart and for some reason I’m excited about that.
These first two charts are not going to be a very accurate way of measuring our number of users online throughout all of FeralHeart’s history as this was a scattered selection because the data I collected was from random times that the site was snapshotted and is not an everyday collected value of the max number of users online. Because of this, there are going to be hundreds of key values missing which could alter the charts very dramatically. But, considering that, notice that is it is still moments of time where the number of users online was recorded and will help show some of the people that think FeralHeart used to be astronomically more populated that there hasn't been much of a difference.
(http://i.imgur.com/JpwsEA5.png) (http://i.imgur.com/aVOEjGc.png)
My first chart example (left) shows my calculated average number of users that were online FeralHeart per year. As you can see, we did have a drop in 2016 but the 2016 value is very close to the 2011 value. The years 2013-2015 are quite similar. According to the averages, we had a spike of activity in 2012 which makes sense because it was the first year after FeralHeart was released and there was more of an outreach by then.
My second chart example (right) shows the maximum number of users that were online per year. Now, this data is a little bit all over the chart and the values aren’t that much different in my opinion. Once again, there was a drop in 2016. But, keep in mind that there was also the update which brought the most people online this site that we’ve ever had. And a reminder that these numbers are not near as accurate as they could be.
Now, the last chart example is easily accessible on the forums by finding the FeralHeart Statistics Center. The data here is also much more accurate than the previous examples. This one shows the most online on the FeralHeart site ever each year. It is also separable by month but I figured that would be excessive.
(http://i.imgur.com/rZ4qE0r.png)
It is important to note that the average number of people online per day according to the FH Stats is around 158 and we get 58,459 page views a day. In my opinion, that is a pretty good number. However I feel like it’s important to look at what several users are concerned about as well. There isn’t as much discussion going on in game is there used to be. One could argue that there is less activity because there is less people involving themselves in game activities or losing interest. Like Bawfle said,
But you must agree that you don't see people turning up and involving themselves as much as they used to before? Or maybe how the number of users including themselves in these events aren't increasing? If not then maybe not enough attention is being made in terms of user activity. As said before, the game has changed a lot since 2011/2012. A lot of users were new, and a lot more Roleplays were about, people didn't need continuous events, and the majority of those events are held on the forum or external websites. People are coming, and people are going, but I see a lot of users on a daily basis that have been here since probably the beginning, who then see other users who are just the same as them. A year or so ago, user online activity would peak up to the 500's-600's. Don't you think users are getting a little bored maybe? Could this be the reason users are saying that Feral Heart is "dying"?
I think many of her suggestions are valid. I, just as much as any other user, enjoy the FeralHeart Movie Nights more than anything! They're an exciting way to get together with the community and participate in something as a whole. They are activities that seem to be bringing us together in a very outstanding way. And as for coming up with other activities, I'm not sure what we could do myself. But, I think we should look to the community for that. Find out what they would want to do together as a community! I'm sure there are several people who would have some ideas to throw at us. With FeralHeart we have rather limited resources but there are probably still ideas out there.
And this brings me to the closing part of my post. I hope what I provided will be beneficial in some way in reassuring some people, or helping people draw their own conclusions before they claim FeralHeart is dying. As I've said in other posts like this, FeralHeart will continue to live on because of the registration coming back and because of upcoming future changes we may have. I don't think going anywhere anytime soon but I do think that listening to the community for future updates and ideas for what to do should be considered.
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(http://i.imgur.com/rZ4qE0r.png)
It is important to note that the average number of people online per day according to the FH Stats is around 158 and we get 58,459 page views a day. In my opinion, that is a pretty good number. However I feel like it’s important to look at what several users are concerned about as well. There isn’t as much discussion going on in game is there used to be. One could argue that there is less activity because there is less people involving themselves in game activities or losing interest. Like Bawfle said,
Before everyone gets excited, I just wanted to note that the increase of forum activity in 2016 is majorly to do with all the users and visitors logging in, in the Summer, to view the new downloads of FH and the patch. Everyone would have landed here on the forums to find out what was going on. Thank you, Magora, for providing these statistics.
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(http://i.imgur.com/rZ4qE0r.png)
It is important to note that the average number of people online per day according to the FH Stats is around 158 and we get 58,459 page views a day. In my opinion, that is a pretty good number. However I feel like it’s important to look at what several users are concerned about as well. There isn’t as much discussion going on in game is there used to be. One could argue that there is less activity because there is less people involving themselves in game activities or losing interest. Like Bawfle said,
Before everyone gets excited, I just wanted to note that the increase of forum activity in 2016 is majorly to do with all the users and visitors logging in, in the Summer, to view the new downloads of FH and the patch. Everyone would have landed here on the forums to find out what was going on. Thank you, Magora, for providing these statistics.
I was going to mention this ^ and the fact that IF there were 400+ people playing FH during 2016/2017 it would probably be a peak hour on a GOOD day. What Bawfle mentioned about increasing active member numbers are good ideas!
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i noticed a small pick up in levels since registration opened but the newcomers don't always stay for a long time. If players want something to happen in game, make it happen.
(What's the worst that could happen?)
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Thank you all for sharing your thoughts about this.
With out a doubt there's a number of things that could indeed be contributing to this notion that the game is "dying"
Change is one of those biggest things...
I think Kynvuu brought up an interesting point as well in that:
I think they also seem to forget that the people playing FH here in 2017 aren't exactly the same people that were playing back in 2011.
A few years can really change a person and within these years that have passed a number of the original population have aged considerably and moved into new chapters of their lives (be it elementary school to high school, college, and or career etc) No one is expected to stay the same and always come back to Feral Heart always. Some of us linger around longer than others but truth be told that at some point we all go our own ways and move on.
I do believe that this is what happened to the majority of the old users. Once the community patch came it also makes sense that some of the last remaining old users left because there was nothing much left of their old times to hang on to (if that makes any sense). For some nostalgia plays a huge role in sticking around and coming back.
On the other hand, when you read into it more, is it honestly that good that the FH popularity hasn't increased much since 2011/2012 as you so proved? I am aware that people leave, and people come to 'replace' the hole of those who do leave, but why are people saying Feral Heart isn't as 'great' as it used to be?
While it's not great that its popularity hasn't increased much since 2011/2012 it is good to see that the population of users is at least steady and stable. I would be more concerned if the population was drastically falling while not gaining any new members because then in that case we can safely assume that the community is dying. However for a game that was abandoned by its creator with no hope of a source code, hasn't been truly updated or fixed and has encountered so many issues now with extra log in screens etc, it's quite the notable feat to see it still surviving without much of a dent in overall average user flow.
As for people saying it isn't as great as it used to be, nothing much has truly changed since 2011/2012. I believe it's that most know that the creator left and left us without a source code and so it means there's no chance for anything more than what we already have. That childish imagination for fun new potential content is dead. I will admit that back in early 2012 that was a reason why I initially quit. I've had the unfortunate luck of being a part of so called "doomed" communities which were abandoned by their creator, so I only imagined the same fate for Feral Heart... however I returned later that year because there was something different about this community. Unlike these other communities Feral Heart has a staff team that still makes themselves available to the community for both leisure & assistance. Feral Heart also still has an active server master managing the site and game... these are thing that those other communities lacked and so give Feral Heart an advantage.
As long as the server is running and staff are around to maintain the game I don't see it as ever dying. People may go but there will always be new "blood" to fill their place. If anything FH is just stable, and sure it may not be as exciting as people gushing in, it's better than the game dying.
Don't get me wrong, it's lovely to see that Movie Nights are still being held, and that lovely 'official' Feral Heart events are still about such as; staff hosted parties, MOTS, preset contests and contests outside of Feral Heart. But you must agree that you don't see people turning up and involving themselves as much as they used to before? Or maybe how the number of users including themselves in these events aren't increasing?
It's understandable that after years of hosting particular contests some contests may lose some popularity. I can genuinely say that the only place I see this as an issue is the seasonal Preset Contest. This year has seen a bit less submissions. There is still great interest but less people actually submitting. For this reason myself and the other fellow staff tried doing something a little different for the Autumn Preset Contest by asking the community to vote on a theme. The voting went well however even after a theme was selected by the majority of voters there was still a lack of substantial submissions. In this case I believe there's more to do with the fact that our rewards system is a bit broken due to the site still needing updates and fixes on the old badge/awards section. Currently the preset contest allows for 3 winners but only the 1st Place Winner gets a tangible prize... which at this time may feel a bit lacking for contestants. This however is something that the entire staff team is and has been aware of and are currently working on fixing. In the meantime the staff has discussed pushing back preset contests in place of a new fresher contest (of which we will not disclose yet since we'd much like to surprise the community).
Point is though that the staff isn't blind. We can see trends and we do pay close attention to what the community is telling us be it through straight forward criticism or subtle changes in behavior. The users on the staff team wouldn't be a part of the team if they didn't care enough to pay such close attention to the community's wants or needs.
Another thing to take into account is that we are very limited on active staff. In the past things were easier when we had more staff who could manage all the FH media from DA to Tumblr etc and effectively advertise such events both on sites and in game. A small team can only manage so much. While the amount of people joining events or contests isn't booming, like the game, it's stable. While we have enough interest to show that people still care, we will continue to do our very best to deliver on those things faithfully.
However, I am online in-game almost every day for reasons. I see more complaints about how people do not like the changes than people who do. Sure, not everyone will like the same thing, and it's possible that you and others might only see them as ungrateful. But have you taken notice on how a lot of users are dropping Feral Heart because they're not happy any more? Instead of telling people most of the time how Staff had put a lot of time and effort into the patch, as soon as they say that they understand that, I just ask them what they want to see and what changes they do not like. Now, I'm not saying focus your future ideas based on those who don't like the changes very much, but to maybe listen and learn.
I agree with you 100% on this.
However, keep in mind that when the patch was made we had no way of knowing how it would be received. We all knew we had the best intentions and we all tried to imagine what users may think but in the end it was a learning experience. This initial community patch was just the beginning of future planned patches. By no means is this patch the solid fate of the FH public maps. When the team worked on these maps there were a lot of things discussed, you should know yourself that not all of the staff agreed to certain aspects of these maps. Just because we are all on a single team doesn't mean we all think the same and agree upon something. In the end certain individuals finalized the patch maps and their overall design, most often the designs were for practicality and to improve game performance.
Those left on the current team pay close attention to the community's wants and needs... and we have taken note of many things. We plan to make better upon what we've learned from this experience I guarantee you that.
The community will have a part in the next community patch. All the threads and complaints haven't fallen on deaf ears.
How about public advertising? Maybe FH could have it's own YouTube Channel? A place where you can post an advertisement of Feral-Heart, maybe update the main FH game advertisement each patch. It would sure grab a lot of gamer attention out there. A lot of games have their own YouTube Channel. This Shouldn't be a palce for sillyness, but a place for professionally made videos. Maybe release teasers of what's to come game wise. No voices, but some sweet music from the game, as well as text. A lot of games have high quality mics and recording stuffs, paid voices etc.. so it'd be wise not to use voice. Could end up sounding trashy. If you even wanted, upload Podcasts that you record. This would allow users to get to know you more, trust you more. Make a playlist on that channel, even, called 'podcasts'. Maybe name each one "Feral Heart Staff Podcast - Staff Member 1, Staff Member 2, Staff Member 3... and so on. Take advantage of other game forums if they permit advertisements for other games. Try to increase the popularity instead of settling with what users you have registered?
I distinctly spoke to Red about that sometime during our many random calls or chats. In this day and age of social media a Feral Heart Official YouTube would be wonderful.
The only problem is management and time. We have a small team already pouring itself over on DA, Tumblr, the FH forum, and game. If something like this was to even be made we'd need to first have everything else settled from site work etc. Yes a Feral Heart YouTube would be fun and great for advertising, but as of right now, with out limited team we are trying to focus on priorities.
Again thank you all for the feedback
Morgra those grafts are wonderful! Thank you for taking the time to put all that together. I'm sorry if I haven't responded to every point made...
There's just so much that can be said.
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As long as the server is running and staff are around to maintain the game I don't see it as ever dying. People may go but there will always be new "blood" to fill their place. If anything FH is just stable, and sure it may not be as exciting as people gushing in, it's better than the game dying.
I did read through your whole response, which holds some valid points, and I don't mean to be pushy on the subject and pinpoint it out of your entire post, but I really think the issue needs to be addressed as more and more users are noticing this issue. It may not be my place, but nowadays I see very few staffers around the game itself, other than the same two Staff members in-game and the same two plus one maybe two other Staff mostly active on the forum, and I'm bringing this up because it has bothered me for quite some time. I'm not saying they're never on, but definitely rarely. It has come to the that people have seen Raz on more than some others. I don't mean to speak for him, and Raz please feel free to correct me if I'm misunderstanding, but his custom title is The Janitor, and to contact other staff and if necessary it will escalate to him. Has inactivity become that much of a problem? That may be due to the fact that I'm not on at the same time, but I've heard and seen other people say and see the same. There's not a lot of staff in-game so much, I only see Nynx and Kiki making an effort in that area, and a lot of other users I'm sure can agree or confirm this.
Certain Staff like Ally and Shallow are gone at months at a time, and don't give notice to anyone? This is an Administrator and a Global Moderator, and it really seems like they clearly do not have the time anymore to manage FH. Other Staff, other than Nynx and Kiki, I only see them active on the Forums, but close to no activity in-game. While I'm sure those who are inactive have good reason, they could at the very least give notice to let the community know they're going to be absent for a while? These staff members could at least have the decency to let people know they're going to be inactive. Some users feel like the staff have abandoned them, because they dropped off the face of FH with no notice, and even though we know that's not true, surely it says something about the perspective of the players?
Again, not trying to come off as pushy or looking to start an argument, and I hopefully didn't come off that way, but I think many can agree and speak up about it.
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Thank you for responding, Sura. You make a lot of great points.
I think they also seem to forget that the people playing FH here in 2017 aren't exactly the same people that were playing back in 2011.
A few years can really change a person and within these years that have passed a number of the original population have aged considerably and moved into new chapters of their lives (be it elementary school to high school, college, and or career etc) No one is expected to stay the same and always come back to Feral Heart always. Some of us linger around longer than others but truth be told that at some point we all go our own ways and move on.
Although this is true, no one is expected to stay the same. As well as how old users are probably not around anymore for those reasons you mentioned. However, users are joining Feral Heart who were pretty much the same as those back in 2011/2012. The cycle is constant, they come in generations? You could say??
It's understandable that after years of hosting particular contests some contests may lose some popularity. I can genuinely say that the only place I see this as an issue is the seasonal Preset Contest. This year has seen a bit less submissions. There is still great interest but less people actually submitting. For this reason myself and the other fellow staff tried doing something a little different for the Autumn Preset Contest by asking the community to vote on a theme. The voting went well however even after a theme was selected by the majority of voters there was still a lack of substantial submissions. In this case I believe there's more to do with the fact that our rewards system is a bit broken due to the site still needing updates and fixes on the old badge/awards section. Currently the preset contest allows for 3 winners but only the 1st Place Winner gets a tangible prize... which at this time may feel a bit lacking for contestants. This however is something that the entire staff team is and has been aware of and are currently working on fixing. In the meantime the staff has discussed pushing back preset contests in place of a new fresher contest (of which we will not disclose yet since we'd much like to surprise the community).
I understand completely that FH is low on staff, and there are many people who meet the requirements needed of a Mod (as Nynx states in this thread (http://feral-heart.com/smf/index.php?topic=59171.msg811085#msg811085)). I also know nothing can be done about it at current time, as Ally is the only one 'trained' to train Mods out of you and her, and you still need to be trained on how to train mods. As a former Staff member myself, I am aware of this, and how Moderators can only answer questions related to the topic of what a MiT is learning. Admins are the only ones who can truly train new recruits. Red trained Allegra, and Allegra was treated like an intern (as in, she always had help with things hands on if you know what I mean?). But now it's your turn, and nothing will improve unless something is done about Staff activity/Staff recruitments.
As for pushing the Preset contes back, I personally don't think the Staff should? Sure, maybe make it less regular if you feel it's getting too unsuccessful, but maybe you don't need to at the same time. I think Staff should improve prizes, as they're what people are truly after, they should improve how the preset contest works. The new feature of asking what people want to see/do is great, it's wonderful that the community is being invited/included in this kinda stuff. With Prizes, maybe it would grab more attention if more prizes were involved. For example, a preset for a preset, maybe if someone wants to win the chanse of winning their character a preset from a good preset maker, then maybe people will join in more. 45 DA points, I think is what they offer, it's not much at all for probably hours worth of effort. As well as art. I'm not trying to sound lame about this, but people want art from good and talented artists.
However, back to the events, Staff should keep adding contests instead of replacing. When you add, there's a range of activities for multiple users to do, and pick what they're interested. Replacing activities is just rather lazy? Instead of a repetitive Seasonal Preset Contest, how about a different event for every season? Plan these things while current events are going on. Maybe plan these events so people aren't expecting them? Like Bam, Preset contest, Bam, Caracter creation screen contest?, Bam, another contest.
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I think it's exceptionally important to bring up something that Edo said. The staff do a lot for us and a lot of members look up to them, go to them when they are feeling down or just need help with something. But other than Kiki and Nynx, I feel that staff activity in-game is lacking. There are a countless number of users who never even visit the forums and feel that their opinions aren't being heard. They feel as though some of the staff have abandoned them.
This is where I feel Notice of Absence threads should be required of staff if they plan on leaving for more than a week. There's no need to go into detail about why they will be absent, but the community needs to know. Simply an 'I'll be absent from the forums and in-game for a couple weeks, please direct any PMs or concerns to other staff members.' Something like that? It's informative without involving the community in the staff member's personal business, know what I mean? I mean, even if a staff member can't or doesn't have time to post a notice of absence, I'm sure another staff member could do it for them, that way the community gets the message.
I'd also like to point out that I've seen Razmirz in-game far more often than some staff members who are active. This surprises me, to be honest, as his status clearly states that he is only to be contacted as last resort when issues arise. If he's in-game moderating, then that kinda points out how severe staff activity is lacking in-game. He hosts the server and makes the game run smoothly, that is his priority with FH.
I'm not staff, I've never been staff, but I do realize there are certain responsibilities and duties that staff members must perform and keeping the community in the dark is certainly unbecoming.
Now, onto contests and events! This topic seems to arise often when we think of 'FH dying'. At least that's how it appears on this thread. I know that the preset contest certainly hasn't gotten much attention lately, and it's assuring to know that the staff realize it may be because of the quality of prizes. Although, I don't believe that temporarily retiring the preset contest is a plausible solution, especially considering there are a number of avid preset makers in the community. Presets are art, some take hours, even days to make, and people enjoy doing it! I agree with Buffy in that prizes should be much greater in quality so that the regular preset maker who sells or does commissions feels like they're getting something for their time and effort. And I absolutely agree with her in that making more events and contests available to the community would keep things rolling and would give members more to do and participate in.
Maybe for contests with art prizes, take volunteers to provide a prize to a contest winner. Just people from the community who could take some of the stress of providing good quality prizes off the few staff members we have~
Maybe create a nice To-Do list available to all staff members, that way if anyone has some free time, they could give back to the community in some way or another.
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I think Edo is absolutely right.
The very backbone of this game is the staff team. They are responsible for keeping this game clean and appropriate for users of all ages. However, with the lack of active staff (Save for Nynx and Kiki, bless their souls) the backbone is weakening. People are indeed starting to talk about the lack of staff, and some thinking they now have the freedom to get away with anything they want because "Staff aren't doing their jobs." Reports help yes, but even they can only go so far. With staff not being as active as they could be, reporting is proving to be more of a bad alternative, especially since there are more reports than actual action being taken and it's leaving other users thinking that it's ok to break the rules, and it's starting to influence other players. So why not have a whole team of active, strong staff that can be online at the hours when it's needed most to take care of the issue there and then?
I also definitely agree that staff who need to be gone for any extended period of time should at least leave a notice. It's highly unfair to the rest of us when they vanish. I know they have lives of their own, and they don't have to say everything that goes on in their personal life, but what has already been said, a simple "I'm not going to be around for awhile for personal reasons, please take any issues you may have to other staff." would suffice. We would much rather be reassured that way than to just have a staff vanish.
As for the contests, I also agree that preset contests shouldn't be pushed back as many people enjoy that contest. But better prizes may be a way to get more people to compete.
And definitely have a better selection of contests. If I remember correctly, back in the older days of FH, there were quite a few different contests (correct me if I'm wrong) and if that's true, why not bring some of those back? Just have a more mixed selection on this stuff. It would be a nice fresh thing for the game and forums and may draw more people in the long run.
Basically I think the last three people have extremely valid points as well as you did Sura. Yes things are going to be hard in the upcoming months, but why not finally move to make a change? A change that FH so desperately needs?
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People are indeed starting to talk about the lack of staff, and some thinking they now have the freedom to get away with anything they want
This is all very true and accurate. Here's just a little screenshot I took a little bit ago, proving this point.
(http://i.imgur.com/ptLDr2J.png)
I blurred the user's username partly mainly for respect of their privacy, but also to prove this is an actual user and not some set up or whatever silly thing.
Reports help yes, but even they can only go so far. With staff not being as active as they could be, reporting is proving to be more of a bad alternative, especially since there are more reports than actual action being taken and it's leaving other users thinking that it's ok to break the rules, and it's starting to influence other players. So why not have a whole team of active, strong staff that can be online at the hours when it's needed most to take care of the issue there and then?
I have also noticed the increase of people being influenced by other's actions and behavour. Reports are handy, and everyone is very clear that Staff are not robots, and they respect that. Though it appears with the lack of ingame Staff Activity, reports aren't good enough right now? Situations aren't being taken care of on the spot as they used to because of this.
I just wanted to back this up, I feel strongly about this area.
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I've been keeping tabs on this and reading through replies as they come in, and you've all brought up wonderful points and ideas to be discussed.
I think it's widely known that there is a shortage of staff. It's been discussed on quite a few other threads, and everyone knows that it exists. Like Ashes and Buffy confirmed, the lack of staff activity has greatly impacted the game. But we have to remember that these staffers are people who are volunteering their time to take care of this game. While yes, I 100% agree it would be nice to have a notice of absence, we have to remember that life is sometimes unpredictable, and things can happen that can take us away from the game abruptly even if that's not our intention. The staffers are only human, and so are we, so I don't think it's fair to single them out for their activity when we all know that lives outside of FH are or can be demanding. It has already been said that they are working hard to find new staff, so this issue will be sorted out in due time. We just have to be patient and trust that the staffers are working hard to solve these issues.
However, with the lack of active staff (Save for Nynx and Kiki, bless their souls) the backbone is weakening. People are indeed starting to talk about the lack of staff, and some thinking they now have the freedom to get away with anything they want because "Staff aren't doing their jobs."
I just want to touch on this point that Ashes brought up here, and expand on what Buffy confirmed because I think it's a very important repercussion of the staff activity issue. I think there seems to be this great misconception among users that think it is okay to break the rules when the staff aren't around. I've witnessed this occur quite a lot, and more times than not when users (And myself) attempt to remind them of the rules, they proclaim you as "butthurt" or "mini-moding" (Which seems to have a negative connotation even though it is meant as a simple act of kindness?) and then continue the unacceptable behavior. I've seen quite a few of these situations end in arguments, some of which turned the whole mood of local foul and unwelcoming. It's not healthy for the game, and whether through more staff or an announcement to the public, I think that the issue should be definitely considered and dealt with.
Also, I know that I am breaking away from the aforementioned and back to the topic of "dying", but I thought it would be a good idea to point out these few things that I sometimes think people forget while forming their opinions about the game.
- FH has in no way had an easy time as an online MMORPG.
Like Sura said, we were left with a game with no opportunity for major future changes. Somehow during the time of 2012-2014 we were able to accept that and playing went very smooth. But then in 2015-2016, we had three major changes to the game 1) The removal of general 2)The Hacking Incident/Login Page 3) The Update. These three events happened in such a short amount of time, and no one was really able to settle into these changes which created confusion and chaos among the playerbase.
- FH can never own up to what the players demand.
I know that this sounds a little pessimistic, but I urge to look at it from a realistic standpoint. Although the staff and Raz do wonderful jobs of trying to make everything for the players possible, it's just not realistic. Heck, MMOs run by large companies with over thousands of paid employees can hardly please all the players. It's simple in that not everyone can have what they want, so sometimes sacrifice and compromise are necessary.
- This is a game tailored for children.
Although I know that there are plenty of older users on the game, whether it be late teenagers or adults, this game was still intended for a 13 year old audience. In fact, though not encouraged, I've seen users ages 9-12 on here as well. My point is, a game with a large playerbase of children will behave like a game with a large playerbase of children. We have to realize that a lot of the players on here are in fact children who do not know better. Though this is definitely no excuse of justification for rule breaking, we have to at least bring an understanding of this to the table before we dismiss parts of the community as "crybabies" or "complainers" as I've seen many been called before.
I just want to finish this up with saying that things will all work out soon, no matter what happens. I know it sounds cheesy, but this game has gone through a lot and survived. We have a beautiful staff team which will hopefully grow in the near future, and we just have to be patient. As the staff confirmed, the community's ideas and complaints have not gone unnoticed or unconsidered, so we have to trust that the staff will do all that is humanely possible to improve our game and community.
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I too have to agree with what is being said. I understand fully that the staff have lives and can become busy and need to take time away, but the community should receive some kind of notice that so and so will be away for such amount of time. It's only a fair notice, and as mentioned, nobody has to go into detail about the reasons etc.
The other thing I wanted to brush up on was indeed the staff activity. Again, it's understandable that everyone has a life, but at the same time upon accepting this role in the community, they understand what comes with it. I'm not pointing fingers or trying to offend anyone, but it's not exactly the best time to be low staffed. As of current, we only have three moderators and two active admins to monitor the game and forum. That being; Sura, Raz, Kiki, Nynx and Ressy. Four staff members to monitor the game, take cake of reports, and monitor the forum all at once. You have to admit, that's a lot for four people, especially those whom have work outside of FH.
Reports can only help so much, to be fair. Some may not check the forum as mentioned and may not know the proper way to report a user etc. Some users might not take a screenshot at the right time and so on. There's an endless amount of possibilities that could render a simple report invalid to an investigation. It's more beneficial to see the action as it happens then to have the mere screenshot of doing so. It's more 'just'.
With a community that is growing, the small team of staff we have currently isn't going to be efficient. Again, i'm not saying you guys aren't doing a good job, but trust me, a large community for a small team is going to be a lot to handle in the long run. Especially if we're going to continue updating the game.
And as Buffy mentioned, it's not shameful to ask for help from members of the community. We're willing to assist the staff in any way possible so long as it means FH is a better place. Trust me when I say this, we have a very creative and helpful community compared to many i've witnessed in my years of gaming. We should take pride in contributing from the community. Hence why I suggest maybe adding some items etc. Not ones from the packs, but actual items made by the staffers/talented members they asked.
I totally agree with bringing back the older contests, or bringing newer ones in as the seasons change. As I suggested here (http://feral-heart.com/smf/index.php?topic=59798.msg822265#msg822265), events don't have to continue through the year, but instead could be rotated around. This keeps topics fresh and doesn't make a user 'bored' with the same-old-same-old.
With new contests, they could be maybe once a year or simply seasonal as most are. This would give users something new to look forward to as the year/season changes. And not only having these events on this time frame, but not telling users ahead of time and giving them a surprise! For sure there's some users out there whom would wish to participate in new events around the community.
I don't want to say that we're getting bored, but it's becoming the same thing we see. I'm not the first to witness the things mentioned, nor will I be the last to say them. We know the staff are doing their best, but they can only do so much with the numbers they have. I agree with Buffy when she says it's time to recruit some newbies, but again there's the issue of Ally being away. Following the replies here, I think the community has spoken their mind to it's loudest at this point. I just hope we're being heard..
~ Whisper
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Oh wow, a lot of responses on this. I loved a lot of the points you were all making, so I thought I'd have a few words.
I'd like to first say thanks to Bawfle for pointing this out in response to my graphs:
Before everyone gets excited, I just wanted to note that the increase of forum activity in 2016 is majorly to do with all the users and visitors logging in, in the Summer, to view the new downloads of FH and the patch. Everyone would have landed here on the forums to find out what was going on. Thank you, Magora, for providing these statistics.
When including that graph, I figured that the reason for the spike in the activity was because of the update bringing people onto the page, but I thought to include it because it did show that there were a record number of people coming online to view the update and to download it. Now the activity throughout the rest of 2016 is a different story.
We have been seeing quite the decline of people online recently. It isn't as bad or as dramatic as some people make it sound, but it is still there. Yes, there are a lot of people that you can say, aren't the most thrilled about the update? Kynvuu and Sura bring up a great point about this. Several members enjoyed the old maps so much because of nostalgic purposes. It's because of what they were used to. These new maps were a complete turnaround from what they were used too, which is probably why the update hasn't received the best feedback. Not because the new maps were bad, but because they just missed the FH that they were used to with Bonfire, Fluorite and the other maps. And maybe, in their eyes, it just didn't feel as much like FeralHeart anymore because the new maps. Now, this isn't really the focus of the more recent responses to this topic as I see, Sura, that you and the other staff members are looking into that situation.
However, keep in mind that when the patch was made we had no way of knowing how it would be received. We all knew we had the best intentions and we all tried to imagine what users may think but in the end it was a learning experience. This initial community patch was just the beginning of future planned patches. By no means is this patch the solid fate of the FH public maps. When the team worked on these maps there were a lot of things discussed, you should know yourself that not all of the staff agreed to certain aspects of these maps. Just because we are all on a single team doesn't mean we all think the same and agree upon something. In the end certain individuals finalized the patch maps and their overall design, most often the designs were for practicality and to improve game performance.
Those left on the current team pay close attention to the community's wants and needs... and we have taken note of many things. We plan to make better upon what we've learned from this experience I guarantee you that.
The community will have a part in the next community patch. All the threads and complaints haven't fallen on deaf ears.
I am so glad that you brought this to our attention too. This patch isn't going to be the end. Who knows what might change in the future? I think a lot of people need to hear you out on this. It's clear you have heard their criticisms and are going to take them into consideration for future updates.
In regards to the rest of the replies about staff inactivity:
I do think this needs to be addressed as soon as it can be. The concerns of Bawfle, Ashes and Kynvuu about people breaking the rules because of the staff not being around are becoming increasingly more problematic. People are discussing inappropriate subjects in local. I keep seeing it time and time again. Offenses that used to be considered serious rule breaks are now being ignored because there isn't someone around to take care of the problem. I even heard someone say in local in response to someone calling out someone on the inappropriateness of what they were saying that "FeralHeart isn't PG-13 anymore lol" I don't want to see this kind of behavior continue and I'm sure none of you do either.
I understand completely that FH is low on staff, and there are many people who meet the requirements needed of a Mod (as Nynx states in this thread (http://feral-heart.com/smf/index.php?topic=59171.msg811085#msg811085)).
I read through Nynx's post that Bawfle linked in her post and by the looks of it and your reply here, Sura, it looks like the staff team is looking into finding new candidates for moderator positions. I am hopeful in thinking that this is going to start taking care of all of these concerns and bring us back on the correct path. We all believe in you as you are a wonderful staff team! We just hope that some problems that are starting to arise will be fixed as soon as they can be.
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It has come to the that people have seen Raz on more than some others
Yes this is because he is still working on updating the site and doing a lot of cleaning. A task that's taking quite a while due to the many avenues that need attention but also formation of new issues that he must deal with. We're probably going to see a lot more of him during this time.
There's not a lot of staff in-game so much, I only see Nynx and Kiki making an effort in that area, and a lot of other users I'm sure can agree or confirm this.
Kiki and Nynx do an amazing job at all that they do. Both ladies go above and beyond and I'm thrilled to see that the community recognizes their efforts... however just because you do not see certain other staff as readily this does not mean that they aren't making an effort to in game more often but rather that they are working on other aspects of the game, example some of our staff are extremely active on the other FH media sources like the DA group & Tumblr etc. The job of a FH staff isn't solely moderating in game...
I can honestly admit that my efforts have been focused more on the site than in the game. Keep in mind that while moderators, global moderators, and admin share similar duties we also have some duties exclusive to our title... example as an admin Allegra & I focus more of our time and efforts to dealing with back end things with the game. If we are constantly out moderating the in game maps we wouldn't get any where with patch planning and making. This is why a staff team is made to be versatile, so that we can all pitch in in what ways we can while still making a difference for the community.
As the team gets smaller the more demand there is for work else where than just in game moderating. I'm sorry but you guys can't always expect us to be in game. We can't neglect everything else.
(Not directing this at you Edo but more so to anyone here)
Calling out specific staff simply because you think some are more active than others is hurtful. Do not assume things guys when you're only seeing half of the story.
Certain Staff like Ally and Shallow are gone at months at a time, and don't give notice to anyone?
They both informed the staff team that they were going to be unavailable. They left notices on their profiles about it. I discussed it with Raz and he went as far as removing the easy message option (from the staff page) to reduce if not eliminate inbox traffic.
You can see this on Shally in this image:
(http://i.imgur.com/yNajrYi.jpg)
I understand completely that FH is low on staff, and there are many people who meet the requirements needed of a Mod (as Nynx states in this thread (http://feral-heart.com/smf/index.php?topic=59171.msg811085#msg811085)). I also know nothing can be done about it at current time, as Ally is the only one 'trained' to train Mods out of you and her, and you still need to be trained on how to train mods. As a former Staff member myself, I am aware of this, and how Moderators can only answer questions related to the topic of what a MiT is learning. Admins are the only ones who can truly train new recruits. Red trained Allegra, and Allegra was treated like an intern (as in, she always had help with things hands on if you know what I mean?). But now it's your turn, and nothing will improve unless something is done about Staff activity/Staff recruitments.
Not true.
I can train new potential mods just as Allegra can. We are both administrators after all.
While it is true that the admin do the bulk of the MIT training global moderators and moderators are encouraged to give supplementary guidance and advice along their peer's way. The team is a team after all and therefore trains like a team should.
Also there are not many people who qualify as potential MITs... if there were we'd have more mods by now. One of the biggest factors is age. To some it may seem like there are numerous members who are staffy worthy but to staff who know what's expected the pool is limited. We don't put the requirements as a means of hindering things... but we must be careful whose hands we put the community in.
As for pushing the Preset contes back, I personally don't think the Staff should? Sure, maybe make it less regular if you feel it's getting too unsuccessful, but maybe you don't need to at the same time. I think Staff should improve prizes, as they're what people are truly after, they should improve how the preset contest works. The new feature of asking what people want to see/do is great, it's wonderful that the community is being invited/included in this kinda stuff. With Prizes, maybe it would grab more attention if more prizes were involved. For example, a preset for a preset, maybe if someone wants to win the chanse of winning their character a preset from a good preset maker, then maybe people will join in more. 45 DA points, I think is what they offer, it's not much at all for probably hours worth of effort. As well as art. I'm not trying to sound lame about this, but people want art from good and talented artists.
Nothing has been finalized amongst the staff in regards to the Preset Contest, its future, and prize system. Staff has discussed the prize system numerous times and even gone as far as suggesting new prizes as you mentioned... none of this is new. You were around when we were discussing this stuff so I'm pretty sure you're aware of the staff's concern and desire to improve it for users.
You also know that the staff team is made up of people with various talents. Not everyone on the staff team is an artist and even those that are aren't always willing to lend themselves over for the task for various reasons. Some artists also don't work by command but rather by free will and inspiration. As the staff team shifts it's understandable that we will not always be able to offer certain prizes. What do we do in the case that there is only one artist? Do we expect a single person to keep up with prizes? No and we shouldn't. This is why I shut down the preset contest a few years back... because while we want to be able to offer users fantastic prizes we have to be good and kind to our staff.
Our staff are not slaves. As an artist yourself you know you do not like lending your immense time, efforts, and talent for free. Luckily we've had some wonderfully generous and kind staff who have tried to keep up faithfully to the demand...
And so that brings me to that bit about people wanting art from "good talented artists"
Exactly how does one gauge art as being better or worse than others? Are you insinuating that our staff artists have subpar skills? Because it seems that way, and I would advice you not to go anyway further with such notions.
As for points I discussed myself (given my experience with DA art pricing) how small the point prizes seem. But again what are DA points? They are things that you either spent real money buying or real time effort and sweat gaining through commissions etc. Is it kind of us to put that expense on any one member(s) of the staff?
So when you say:
Replacing activities is just rather lazy?
No. It's not lazy nor are we being lazy. It's called caring about your peers and realizing what you can handle without putting immense stress on an already tiny and broken team. While we staff do what we do because we love the community and want to see their happiness we do not do so at the expense of the staff. This is not a slave shop. There's nothing wrong with trying new things and putting some old things to rest temporarily.
Instead of a repetitive Seasonal Preset Contest, how about a different event for every season? Plan these things while current events are going on. Maybe plan these events so people aren't expecting them? Like Bam, Preset contest, Bam, Caracter creation screen contest?, Bam, another contest.
If we could keep up with it a different contest a season would be wonderful.
Also you state a lot of things as though you are aware that we don't do them. We do plan things ahead of time while other events are going on. You were a part of the staff team and you know full well how we did things so idk why you're suggesting things that you know we already have considered or already do as though it's something new and innovative.
I appreciate all the feedback but do keep in mind that we aren't without our own ideas too. We still have the community's best interests at heart and always will.
The very backbone of this game is the staff team.
But the very life blood of FH is the community and that community is made up of the staff and users. A co existence. FH staff can only do so much to please you guys...
It's up to the users to decide if that co existence will be a symbiosis or antibiosis.
At the end of the day we are all just trying to make the best with FH, and that shouldn't cost either side their happiness.
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I understand completely that FH is low on staff, and there are many people who meet the requirements needed of a Mod (as Nynx states in this thread (http://feral-heart.com/smf/index.php?topic=59171.msg811085#msg811085)). I also know nothing can be done about it at current time, as Ally is the only one 'trained' to train Mods out of you and her, and you still need to be trained on how to train mods. As a former Staff member myself, I am aware of this, and how Moderators can only answer questions related to the topic of what a MiT is learning. Admins are the only ones who can truly train new recruits. Red trained Allegra, and Allegra was treated like an intern (as in, she always had help with things hands on if you know what I mean?). But now it's your turn, and nothing will improve unless something is done about Staff activity/Staff recruitments.
Not true.
I can train new potential mods just as Allegra can. We are both administrators after all.
While it is true that the admin do the bulk of the MIT training global moderators and moderators are encouraged to give supplementary guidance and advice along their peer's way. The team is a team after all and therefore trains like a team should.
I was just going based off the system that was in place when I was Staffing. Allegra was being trained/was an apprentice of sorts as an Admin, and was learning techniques from much experienced people in the mod training feild. If you really can train moderators with no experience in training them first hand, then it's encouraged to do something about the low staff issue? I'm sure other Staff will be there to be a helping hand. As said before, there can't be absolutely no users who meet the Mod requirements here. (http://feral-heart.com/index.php?option=com_jfusion&Itemid=2&jfile=index.php&topic=21992.0) Right? It's been months upon months since the last set of mods were recruited. Are you saying that there's not been anyone? o; I'm just curious, not trying to start trouble.
As for pushing the Preset contes back, I personally don't think the Staff should? Sure, maybe make it less regular if you feel it's getting too unsuccessful, but maybe you don't need to at the same time. I think Staff should improve prizes, as they're what people are truly after, they should improve how the preset contest works. The new feature of asking what people want to see/do is great, it's wonderful that the community is being invited/included in this kinda stuff. With Prizes, maybe it would grab more attention if more prizes were involved. For example, a preset for a preset, maybe if someone wants to win the chanse of winning their character a preset from a good preset maker, then maybe people will join in more. 45 DA points, I think is what they offer, it's not much at all for probably hours worth of effort. As well as art. I'm not trying to sound lame about this, but people want art from good and talented artists.
Nothing has been finalized amongst the staff in regards to the Preset Contest, its future, and prize system. Staff has discussed the prize system numerous times and even gone as far as suggesting new prizes as you mentioned... none of this is new. You were around when we were discussing this stuff so I'm pretty sure you're aware of the staff's concern and desire to improve it for users.
I know I was.. I was just harmlessly coming out with what I thought about it, how I personally think certain things shouldn't be stopped/pushed back dramatically if these things were to happen.
You also know that the staff team is made up of people with various talents. Not everyone on the staff team is an artist and even those that are aren't always willing to lend themselves over for the task for various reasons. Some artists also don't work by command but rather by free will and inspiration. As the staff team shifts it's understandable that we will not always be able to offer certain prizes. What do we do in the case that there is only one artist? Do we expect a single person to keep up with prizes? No and we shouldn't. This is why I shut down the preset contest a few years back... because while we want to be able to offer users fantastic prizes we have to be good and kind to our staff.
Our staff are not slaves. As an artist yourself you know you do not like lending your immense time, efforts, and talent for free. Luckily we've had some wonderfully generous and kind staff who have tried to keep up faithfully to the demand...
And so that brings me to that bit about people wanting art from "good talented artists"
Exactly how does one gauge art as being better or worse than others? Are you insinuating that our staff artists have subpar skills? Because it seems that way, and I would advice you not to go anyway further with such notions.
As for points I discussed myself (given my experience with DA art pricing) how small the point prizes seem. But again what are DA points? They are things that you either spent real money buying or real time effort and sweat gaining through commissions etc. Is it kind of us to put that expense on any one member(s) of the staff?
I know Staff aren't slaves, and I'm aware of matters such as expences. Staff aren't required to do that, and that's fine, but I was only suggesting harmless alternatives, like a preset for a preset. I also only suggested that the DA points aren't a good motive for people as the offer is so little for how much effort is put into submissions? I was simply suggesting (if staff want to keep this prize option), then to up the DA point amount? Like said, Staff aren't required or expected to go and buy points for the sake of a contest. It was just a suggestion if this prize were to be kept, and only that-- nothing more. It just doesn't seem like a valuable prize? I think that's the right word choice?
I also want to point out that I wasn't gouging (or wasn't intending?) art as being better or worse than others. I'm not insinuating that staff artists have subpar skills, either. I'm aware I'm a good artist but I kinda feel like this was used against me there? I kinda felt you saw me as shadowing upon others, which I hope I'm wrong in. My main and only idea was to, if art prizes were to be kept in future, maybe ask upon artists on DA or other sites for art 'donations' of sorts for prizes? Art you think is suitable for a preset contest maybe? Just to pick out some artists who are really talented/skilled and might offer art for such things. It's not a likely chanse you'd get many yes' in terms of 'donations'. Like you said, there are people who don't really give stuff for free, unless they're passionate about giving that is. I apologise if I didn't make myself clear enough with this before.
Replacing activities is just rather lazy?
No. It's not lazy nor are we being lazy. It's called caring about your peers and realizing what you can handle without putting immense stress on an already tiny and broken team. While we staff do what we do because we love the community and want to see their happiness we do not do so at the expense of the staff. This is not a slave shop. There's nothing wrong with trying new things and putting some old things to rest temporarily.
This is all in the matter of if. If the only ever available option were to replace contests with others, in terms of being able to 'keep up', I just feel other users would see view as lazy. If not given proper reason for it, that is.
Instead of a repetitive Seasonal Preset Contest, how about a different event for every season? Plan these things while current events are going on. Maybe plan these events so people aren't expecting them? Like Bam, Preset contest, Bam, Caracter creation screen contest?, Bam, another contest.
If we could keep up with it a different contest a season would be wonderful.
Also you state a lot of things as though you are aware that we don't do them. We do plan things ahead of time while other events are going on. You were a part of the staff team and you know full well how we did things so idk why you're suggesting things that you know we already have considered or already do as though it's something new and innovative.
I appreciate all the feedback but do keep in mind that we aren't without our own ideas too. We still have the community's best interests at heart and always will.
Yeah, it would be. I'm happy to see you feel it would be wonderful. I and others understand that you need to be able to keep up with things, and have a lot of active helping paws, but these are all suggestions. The community aren't trying to beat anyone down and I'm sure I can speak on behalf of other users her, we don't want you to feel that way either. We're only giving our suggestions and thoughts to lend a helping paw in the future. I understand that I was there, and witnessed things being planned ahead of time, but not really in terms of new content? Just the stuff we have today? Sure, there were suggestions and ideas, but never really got put through.
I really feel things got unnecessarily heated here, and I apologise if some of it was of my own fault for not being as clear as I should be. You out of anyone should know I do not do so well in wording things together, I was kind of hoping more than anything if you'd ask what I meant by certain things. Personally I felt a bit blamed? I don't want to cause heated subjects, but regular members like those who have commented on this thread, and myself, just want to offer our ideas and thoughts on how things could be improved? As well as pointing out ways people might feel the need to say "FH is Dying". Prizes were mainly decided upon by staff, maybe ask the community what they want to see prize wise as well?
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Dear Feral-Heart Community
You all seem to be very concerned about the game.
Yes numbers have reduced. (Morga's stats are way off not sure why...)
Yes we know why.
No its not the staff or there activity levels that have caused it.
And no I'm not going to provide a huge explanation as to the problems.
What I will say is there is a plan! Things can be fixed and will be fixed!
Some of you have noticed me around more, that’s simply because I have a little more free time at the moment. Also just because I'm in game doesn’t mean I'm there to moderate typically I'm fixing or testing things.
Now there a part of the problem that staff can't fix but you can.
Feral Heart has a serious problem and that is silence...
Being in game lately its very noticeable. People go in game and just chat in there group chat or party. Yes local is used but not as much as it should be. If you're in a group and you're all in the same map use local. If other people are using local in that area and you cant have you're conversation move out of range and use local.
Why use local? So other people can listen in or even join in. You never know you might even meet some new friends that way. Without this use of local new users turn up into silent maps and half the time when they talk they seem to be ignored.
So use local get you're friends to use local and get them to do the same. Lets just make it an unwritten rule, a general courtesy. If you as the community can do that I will personally make sure we hold up our end even if I end up doing it all myself xD.
See you in local
Raz