Mate centers

[Dark Greyodon]

So today I decided to RP with my younger sister who began discussing "wanting a mate". I decided to take her to Bonfire, where there is usually a "mate center", as I know asking for people in general about mates will get you a lot of angry comments. When I got there, there was no mate center--only a LARGE (at least forty) group of characters complaining about the mate center leaving.
I decided to make a mate center, and I was bombarded with people asking me if "it was their turn" and "could they go now" and as laggy as Bonfire is, I could barely reply to them and didn't know WHAT they were talking about.
I just told them to go ahead and go up if no one was in the center, because it was so slow and I couldn't respond to most of the people asking, nor could I even see what was going on as the only way to avoid lag on Bonfire is to look up or towards the area with the least characters so I just started saying "yes" to everyone who asked if they could go up.
I started getting a lot of comments about "how I was the worst mate center ever" and the amount of people insulting me for my system was getting so bad I just left and started a new group, under my own system where you just wait until someone asks you to be their mate. Of course, when I explained this to people who came over to join me, I got a couple of comments saying "that's not how mate centers work, idiot" and I just decided to stop and tell my sister she wasn't getting a mate.

I now have a few questions for those of you on the forums...

1. WHY are mating centers taken so seriously

2. Aren't mates not allowed on FH? Or is "mating" simply not allowed?

3. Why are people at mate centers unusually rude and impatient?

4. Why is the system of "taking turns to ask for a mate" taken so seriously and why does it cause a lot of rage when you attempt to change it despite it difficult to manage in large groups?

5. Did I do something horribly wrong without realizing it or is the whole ordeal just as ridiculous as I think it is?  

[BouncyLion101]

Yes..mate centers can get difficult. There's just so much already in little Bon Bon, and everyone crowding in one place and spamming the chat for a mate and turns makes it unbearable.
But if it's organized enough and there isn't 100 people at the mate center, it can be fun.

New players can meet new roleplay partners and get familiar with roleplaying in Feral Heart.

[Dark Greyodon]

Yes..mate centers can get difficult. There's just so much already in little Bon Bon, and everyone crowding in one place and spamming the chat for a mate and turns makes it unbearable.
But if it's organized enough and there isn't 100 people at the mate center, it can be fun.

New players can meet new roleplay partners and get familiar with roleplaying in Feral Heart.

I do enjoy the concept of having a mate. I like raising cubs/pups/whatever baby animal with them and having an RP partner.
I also don't think Bonfire is the place to find a mate, as it's such a tiny area with so many people.
I think the South Pole would be a good place for that, as it's spaced out like Fluorite but not jam-packed. If the strategy was improved or if it was explained to new people, that would be nice too, rather than "you understand it or you get harassed".

[Genesis9]

1. People don't like change, over the years, a 'way' of how Mate Centers are 'supposed' to be run has developed, and despite its flaws and the fact that they practically never work in terms of getting a mate for your character that will actually last, people are familiar with it and don't like being introduced to something they are unfamiliar with.

2. Having a Mate or companion/partner is fine in the game, it's just the act of mating which is considered undesirable, after all it is a sexual act and as this is mostly a game for /children/ it shouldn't really be happening.

3. People go to Mate centers to get a Mate quickly and 'efficiently' they don't like to be kept waiting and all they can think about it wanting to get up there and get chosen. Most of these players (although not always) are illiterate and are unable to get a mate in actual rp, so they see Mate centers as their only way of getting what they want and do not appreciate being kept waiting.

4. See 1. People just don't like change, even if the current system is the worst ever :/

5. You didn't do anything wrong. In fact you tired to help them out when they were all complaining, when in reality they could just do the whole thing themselves. I don't even really see the need for a mate center character. We're all civilized and capable of taking turns are we not? Don't feel to bad about it, people on Bonfire, and more specifically people attending mating centers can be a bit crazy sometimes.

[Fivael]

In my opinion, I think the whole 'mate center' business is ridiculous.
If you're going to have a mate, maybe get to know the person first? Instead of insta-mate.
I think having a mate is ok for people who want to, but I know that I may never have a mate on FeralHeart again, even through roleplay.
Sometimes, the 'Mate centers' turn into 'Mating centers', which the people there engage in 'sexual' activity, which is against the rules.
If you're going to have a mate, don't go to bonfire, because that place is one horrific place to find a so called 'mate'

[Feareh]

I really do hate the idea of a "Mate Canter" cause it just brings people together who sometimes want only one thing besides just hanging out with you. If anything, it really shouldn't be taken serious cause its just a bunch of little kids :p
So just walk away if they are doing stuff like this, or just block them.