I dunno. But I was under the impression that a sister site would not necessarily involve the complete staff of Gaia, plus it could be managed by someone else.
What I'm getting from all of this is that they're using what they make on Gaia to make this sister site, instead of "keeping the lights on" and "funding new devs and artists." Because clearly, nothing has changed and you KNOW they made a fortune off of the halo re-release, Flynn, and Smashblox.
Kind of bothers me. Well, really bothers me.
Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 1:38 pm
Xaetorase
TS Sailor Cronus
I dunno. But I was under the impression that a sister site would not necessarily involve the complete staff of Gaia, plus it could be managed by someone else.
What I'm getting from all of this is that they're using what they make on Gaia to make this sister site, instead of "keeping the lights on" and "funding new devs and artists." Because clearly, nothing has changed and you KNOW they made a fortune off of the halo re-release, Flynn, and Smashblox.
Kind of bothers me. Well, really bothers me.
Okay, yeah. That much is certain.
TS Sailor Cronus
Feline Paladin
Offline
Madame Xiva
Enduring Gaian
Offline
Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 3:43 pm
Casidhe Wetherington
Hey guys! I've sent a message (now two) to Narumi Misuhara, a developer here on Gaia. I got her name from this guild, and I understand everyone's view of her may not be very positive, but she seemed to be a level-headed sort of person to me, and more importantly, someone who might have answers. I had questions, and I think they're not just points of concern for me, so I told her I might post her answers here. I just got her response today, and I'm posting it, along with my reply, in here for you all.
Narumi Misuhara
Casidhe Wetherington
I know that you might not respond to this message, but I wanted to try. Lately, I've been noticing some changes in the Gaia community that have me concerned. It seems a lot of users are very angry with the administrative staff here. I was in Ask-the-Admin last night and talked to a few users who have been there more regularly, and that's what brought these concerns to a head for me. The way I remember Ask-the-Admin, it was a [mostly] polite place where the admins talked to/with and listened to us users. In fact, the previous time I'd been there it was about a forum glitching issue that had been ongoing for some time, and literally weeks after I posted about it, it was fixed. It made me feel really good that we had admins who care about us like that. Last night was a whole new ballgame. I didn't see as many admins around as usual. It seemed like there was a lot of hostility, some not entirely misplaced. One big concern I noticed was that the admins decided to go ahead and center the site even after they took a poll where the response was widely negative. I, personally, don't care about the site centering. I understand Gaia has always been a place willing to change. I've been here since 2006 and seen quite a few changes in that time. Some, true, have been not great, but you all have always listened to your users' feedback before when that happens. I guess what I'm wondering is what's going on now? What's changed? Also, if you could tell me why Gaia decided to do a poll if the plan was simply to ignore its results (with regard to centering), that would be much appreciated.
Another concern I have is the constant onslaught of sales and Gaia cash and ads in the flash spaces and announcements about these. I heard something about a new 18+ site that this push is going to fund? Could you tell me more about that? Or if that's not it, a little bit about where the funds are going? I realize some of that information might be "above my paygrade" so to speak. Also, since I choose not to spend real money on the site typically, I don't have any right to complain, so I won't. I also know there are options to turn announcements etc. off, but I choose to put up with the onslaught for now since there are still occasionally announcements I care about, and I realize Gaia needs to make money. I'm just curious what the seemingly sudden increase in the push is about.
Anyway, I just joined a guild called Revolution: Gaia, and I'd like to post your answers for them. From what I've seen of your posts, you seem like a reasonable person, so I just thought you might be a good choice to go to for answers. If you don't have answers for me, but could direct me to who might know, that would also be appreciated. Thank you for your time. I apologize for the length of this message. I hope to see a response, but I completely understand if you're too busy.
~A concerned Gaia Citizen
The poll was to see where people stood on the issue. We had to center the site due to contractual obligations, had nothing to do with ignoring users but with fulfilling our end of an agreement.
The "cash push" is us putting in standard practices for a social website to keep the business viable so we can further invest in Gaia.
Thank you so much for answering my message! I really appreciate it. One of my questions, however, I'm still curious about is why the cash push feels like it's suddenly gotten more intense...say, within the past several months. Is it related to the contractual obligations? I mean, why the sudden decision to go so hard on it? I understand Gaia needs a certain amount of money to operate and improve, etc. I'm just wondering, I suppose, if those needs have changed recently. If you can't say, I understand, but I just wanted to be more specific with my question, since I don't think I was very clear when I asked it the first time. Thank you, again, for responding.
Hrm. I hope he didn't hurt himself with the two-line response to your well-written letter.
Sorry, I'm not impressed (with him and that response, not you.)
Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2013 3:58 pm
frozen_water
I appreciate that Narumi tries to respond, however his responses are becoming increasingly unsatisfactory.
I'll commend him for trying, but at some level that's just not enough.
(BTW: Narumi is male IRL)
Thank you! I seriously wasn't sure about the gender thing. sweatdrop
Hey guys! I've sent a message (now two) to Narumi Misuhara, a developer here on Gaia. I got her name from this guild, and I understand everyone's view of her may not be very positive, but she seemed to be a level-headed sort of person to me, and more importantly, someone who might have answers. I had questions, and I think they're not just points of concern for me, so I told her I might post her answers here. I just got her response today, and I'm posting it, along with my reply, in here for you all.
Narumi Misuhara
Casidhe Wetherington
I know that you might not respond to this message, but I wanted to try. Lately, I've been noticing some changes in the Gaia community that have me concerned. It seems a lot of users are very angry with the administrative staff here. I was in Ask-the-Admin last night and talked to a few users who have been there more regularly, and that's what brought these concerns to a head for me. The way I remember Ask-the-Admin, it was a [mostly] polite place where the admins talked to/with and listened to us users. In fact, the previous time I'd been there it was about a forum glitching issue that had been ongoing for some time, and literally weeks after I posted about it, it was fixed. It made me feel really good that we had admins who care about us like that. Last night was a whole new ballgame. I didn't see as many admins around as usual. It seemed like there was a lot of hostility, some not entirely misplaced. One big concern I noticed was that the admins decided to go ahead and center the site even after they took a poll where the response was widely negative. I, personally, don't care about the site centering. I understand Gaia has always been a place willing to change. I've been here since 2006 and seen quite a few changes in that time. Some, true, have been not great, but you all have always listened to your users' feedback before when that happens. I guess what I'm wondering is what's going on now? What's changed? Also, if you could tell me why Gaia decided to do a poll if the plan was simply to ignore its results (with regard to centering), that would be much appreciated.
Another concern I have is the constant onslaught of sales and Gaia cash and ads in the flash spaces and announcements about these. I heard something about a new 18+ site that this push is going to fund? Could you tell me more about that? Or if that's not it, a little bit about where the funds are going? I realize some of that information might be "above my paygrade" so to speak. Also, since I choose not to spend real money on the site typically, I don't have any right to complain, so I won't. I also know there are options to turn announcements etc. off, but I choose to put up with the onslaught for now since there are still occasionally announcements I care about, and I realize Gaia needs to make money. I'm just curious what the seemingly sudden increase in the push is about.
Anyway, I just joined a guild called Revolution: Gaia, and I'd like to post your answers for them. From what I've seen of your posts, you seem like a reasonable person, so I just thought you might be a good choice to go to for answers. If you don't have answers for me, but could direct me to who might know, that would also be appreciated. Thank you for your time. I apologize for the length of this message. I hope to see a response, but I completely understand if you're too busy.
~A concerned Gaia Citizen
The poll was to see where people stood on the issue. We had to center the site due to contractual obligations, had nothing to do with ignoring users but with fulfilling our end of an agreement.
The "cash push" is us putting in standard practices for a social website to keep the business viable so we can further invest in Gaia.
Thank you so much for answering my message! I really appreciate it. One of my questions, however, I'm still curious about is why the cash push feels like it's suddenly gotten more intense...say, within the past several months. Is it related to the contractual obligations? I mean, why the sudden decision to go so hard on it? I understand Gaia needs a certain amount of money to operate and improve, etc. I'm just wondering, I suppose, if those needs have changed recently. If you can't say, I understand, but I just wanted to be more specific with my question, since I don't think I was very clear when I asked it the first time. Thank you, again, for responding.
Hrm. I hope he didn't hurt himself with the two-line response to your well-written letter.
Sorry, I'm not impressed (with him and that response, not you.)
I would assume the short reply is because he's a very busy dude, hopefully doing things to help our site. That is my sincerest hope anyhow, as the eternal optimist that I am. lol. Also, in the corporate world, with contracts etc. like Gaia deals with, I have a bit of experience and know that sometimes people are tight-lipped because there's a lot you are legally-bound to keep quiet. I don't need to know everything. I just need to know enough. smile
@thread: Also, I was reading some of Narumi's journals the other day. I found those slightly more informative.
