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more freedom of speech, less mindlessly trivial topics, less pointless one line posts, less censorship, more responsibility given to members for their own actions. less nit-pick moderation (can't double post, can't reply to an old topic regardless of how valid it is etc), more adult conversation. destroy premium accounts (what a joke)
i could go on but i'm sure no one is listening
I said one thing, not fifty. >=(
oh yeah... whoops!
okay... err... "MATURE GOVERNANCE", there.
Interesting that our changes could unite another community that much!Quote:
Originally Posted by Jojee
So basically you want more freedom of speech and less censorship by having has censor pointless one-line posts and trivial topics?Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul
Levels again ^_^!
I'm not interested in Premium Memberships, but I don't see what the big deal is with offering someone the choice. Don't want one, don't buy one. Is it somehow insulting to be given the option?
For me, it would be fewer ads. I think it makes our site much less appealing to newcomers.
The forums looks very annoying when you're not logged in. Lots of adds and 10 posts per page, making you go to the next page all the time to read a thread. It doesn't have a direct effect on me, but I'm afraid it might scare away potential new members.
I don't see a problem with premium members either. The membergroup Regular Members hasn't been changed one bit, so it's not like they're missing out on anything they didn't have before.
Personally, I couldn't care less about the advertising here. Some people run websites because they genuinely desire to discuss their favorite fandom in depth with like minded individuals. Others do so to make money. It doesn't offend me that someone would chose the latter over the former, especially when the amount of advertising can easily be averted by either becoming a member or using a web browser that isn't complete bollocks. What might be an idea, however, is make it more clear that registering will indeed reduce the amount of advertising one will be subjected to significantly.
As for the changes I would make, it seems like a lot of the staff-run activities here put a greater focus on the more general forums rather then the FF/Square-Enix ones. If I was to change anything, it would be geared towards creating a greater number of staff threads that promote activity in the actual Final Fantasy forums.
Not to mention the "Join now and free PS3 and blah blah blah" link at the bottom of every post.
Premium memberships are fine if people want to support the site, get new skins, whatever. :P But when you make it so that there's giant ads which are just really ugly without getting a premium membership so that people feel compelled to get one, or when you make it so that the forum is max ugly and almost unusable without logging in so that people feel compelled to register and log in, that's not so good and makes me want to not support the site.
To be fair, they're not really huge or ugly at all. The ones before you log in are, I agree. But the ones after you have logged in are pretty small in comparison, I don't even take notice of the ad at the top of the page, and the in-thread ad is also easily skipped. It was like this way before we started with premium accounts, and it was definitely not intended to be a way to trick people into getting one. For those who don't remember, Cid's the one who started with the in-thread ads, spdude made even more, including picture ads, then Michael and Warren toned it down.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jojee
and checking out ffwa was fun :D we have over twice the number of members joined in september so far than they've had all 2007.
Hmm...Probly allowing pictures to appear in user notes. Then all the overused macros could finally feel personal and warm.
I don't think we had ads like that prior. There was a smallish ad at the top that fit into the blank area in the brown theme, and that was fine because it fit nicely. But they made the ad a lot bigger and put it below the header layout, which leaves a blank spot at the top in the layout and a big ad below it. The main page layout also looks sorely misused, because the tables are stretched due to the Google search feature they implemented and whatever else. It's not 800 x 600 compatible anymore and the top/banner portion doesn't stretch so far as to cover the whole layout.Quote:
Originally Posted by LevianTo be fair, they're not really huge or ugly at all. The ones before you log in are, I agree. But the ones after you have logged in are pretty small in comparison, I don't even take notice of the ad at the top of the page, and the in-thread ad is also easily skipped. It was like this way before we started with premium accounts, and it was definitely not intended to be a way to trick people into getting one. For those who don't remember, Cid's the one who started with the in-thread ads, spdude made even more, including picture ads, then Michael and Warren toned it down.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jojee
and checking out ffwa was fun :D we have over twice the number of members joined in september so far than they've had all 2007.
Edit: And yeah, FFWA is pretty much a pure oldbies site xD Very rare to see someone posting there that didn't join in like 2002 or prior.
After logging out and looking at the main forum page, the ad banner still fits in the small space on the logo. There are a few ads beneath it, but they're just lines of text. Same for the main page.
Actually...I always thought user notes were a pain to get to. Couldn't you make them easier :P
You must not be seeing the box ads, then. Let me demonstrate what I see.Quote:
Originally Posted by Karellen
1. This is the top of the forums while logged in. See the blank spot where the ad was supposed to go, see the giant ad below it. I won't talk about the ads in between posts right now and I can't remember if Sean did have them there. I thought he had announced he was putting it there as a testing period and I'm not sure what happened after that.
2. Top of the forums while not logged in. I am using a 1152 x 864 screen and I do not see any actual content yet. Additionally the ad in between the posts while not logged in is also of the larger size.
3. The main site. Part of the top banner is dislocated, everything just generally looks out of place and like a badly put together layout. Not to be ultra picky about it, but as someone who has webdesigned in the past and someone who browses websites, the layout of the site does make pretty big impression on whether I want to keep clicking.
I can get some kind of browser that blocks these ads as you probably have or get adblock, but I've been sort of rejecting that on principle. xD I wouldn't need it for any other sites I go to besides this one, and keep in mind that most people joining or stumbling upon the site would not have that, either.
Anyway I'll stop blah blahing, I'm off byebye :D