The New Site

[Goldberry344]

I really want to get annonymous member views on the new extension of TTF. Please vote. :)

[FREEDOM!]

Are you talking about the rpg extension? If so, the only thing I don't really like is the fact that you have too sign up for that again. Now maybe if Beorn or the WM could change it to where all members of this forum are automatically members of that forum, then I guess I might like it a bit more.

[Goldberry344]

yep, i am speaking of the new RP section. and great idea, FREEDOM!, please post why you like, dislike, dont care, dono, whatever about the new extension!

[Talierin]

You know, I think SOME people need to stop whining about it and make the best of it... why don't you actually help to MAKE it work, instead of complaining wherever you can?

[FREEDOM!]

I'm not complaining, I'm just suggesting that maybe the members of ttf, would automatically be members of the new extension.

[Talierin]

I know you're not, but goldberry is...
and I'm not sure if they CAN hook it up like that

[YayGollum]

Am I a crazy person for thinking that what you're saying, Talierin person, is pretty much ---> "Suck it up, people. There's nothing you can do about it and it's not that bad for most people so we all think you're just a bunch of little whiners." :eek: Why not toss in something a little more placating? I'm not a fan of this new place because I happen to know that sites that look the most well rounded always seem more attractive to me. New people showing up for the first time won't see the RPG sections. Even if they see some link to it, I doubt that they'd feel like joining both sites. I love the idea of just combining the two. But then, if it's not possible, I love the idea of keeping things normal. I see no reason not to. Is there one?

[Talierin]

First off, I am not "Talierin person", I am Tal. Thank you.

And no, that is not what I'm saying, I'm saying that maybe you should actually do something useful like helping out with the new site and turning it into something you like, than sitting around complaining and making stupid polls like this that don't help anything.

The rp section here is a pretty confusing mess, if you ask me... we *could* add more sections and try to straighten it out, but that would make TTF even bigger and longer and harder to navigate than it is. So an extension site was made.

[Courtney]

Hey! I AM a beautiful flower! Oh yeah, and the new site looks really neat!:)

[YayGollum]

Is calling you Talierin person really that offensive? It wasn't meant to be. I just call people things like that because I like assuming that their name here isn't their real name. Silly me.

Anyways, am I crazy for thinking that this thread was started to try helping out? The person that came up with this thread doesn't like the new site. They want to know what other people think. If it turned out that lots didn't like the idea, we'd expect it to be taken away. If it turned out that lots love the idea, maybe we'd shush? I have no idea. I'm guessing too much about the person that started this thread. Whoops!

sorry you're confused with the way things were. I had no idea that just adding more sections on would make things less desirable. Do most people not like a place that's well rounded?

[Ciryaher]

Please, people...let's calm down!

Now, maybe some of you think that the new site's layout is confusing. Please explain why you think so. I designed it around what I felt to be the most easily-understood layout, but then again my style may differ from others' styles.

Second, the reason we made a different site was because everything you see on there, except the discussions, is needed *here*...and that's about 25 forum slots, which translates into a lot of added space on the main page! Right now we have 3 slots, on TTF. Now we have about 30 in all...that means that we can spread out, not be so crowded. We can even add in more if we find a need for it, but as it stands, the layout encourages RPing and discourages spamming-type chats that pass for RP's.

Transferring accounts would be nice, but not feasable, from what I know. Firstly, the new site has a different staff, and I don't think that those statuses will work normally if the memberships are linked. Anyways, it only takes about 2 minutes or less to register, so it's not *that* much of a hassle, if you really think about it.

Thank you for starting this thread, and for your input! :)

[Goldberry344]

Acctually, Tal, i havent said a word against the new site on this thread. what you said was rude and hurt, and i think you might want to watch what you say to people, and not single them out. I didnt start this thread to be picky, but so that you moderators could hear criticizm/praise for the new site and work off it, seeing as you havent bothered to try for that yourselves. By starting this thread, i was not "sitting around and complaining" was i? i did the most logical thing for you to get input on the site, and you bash me for it? is that mod-like or smart?

you want member input, well here's a spot where we can tell you and you dont like it. *rolls eyes*

[Aerin]

Goldberry, Tal wasn't getting on your case, so chill out. :rolleyes: Criticism and constructive criticism are often separate identities.

Everybody just needs to take a deep breath and relax. As Cir said, it was designed to be an "easily-understood layout"; not as the final draft.
If you'll note, TTF has gone through layout changes and different structures. Webmaster makes changes as he thinks will help and make sense. I'm sure the new forum will be just the same.

Now, everybody can come out of time-out and play again. :p ;)

[YayGollum]

Am I a crazy person for not seeing the reason for why we can't have all of those extra little sections for RPGs over here? sorry if I am. I'd like it spelled out. I must be crazy. oh well. Sure, I can see the good reasons for making the whole new site, but that doesn't stop me from being concerned about the bad things. Also, what was so confusing about the way we had it here? I can see why the way it is there might look nicer, but I don't see much of a difference. We had all of the sections they did, just combined to save space, I guess.

[Eledhwen]

I'm not a RP person, by and large, but I did sign up for the debating forum, but found I hardly ever logged on to it, preferring the main Tolkien Forum. It's a bit like joining a club and spending all your time in a tiny annex.

[Turgon]

They were my exact thoughts on the subject - a lot of community spirit has been taken away by this new venture, I'm not happy with it at all - but it seems the choice laid before us is 'join the site - or else no RPing.' And Tal you're wrong to accuse people of whining. This change occured without consulting the membership at all - so it's easy to see why people are miffed at it. If a poll had taken place before the change I wonder how the voting would have went? If people aren't given chance to have a say of course they're going to complain - a little understanding would be nice.

[Talierin]

*sighs* sorry... I'll go crawl back in my hole again

[Nenya Evenstar]

I just wanted to add in a few thoughts . . . if anyone goes to the new site they will find more of a community there than has ever been experienced or felt (at least in my time) amongst the RP's and RPers of TTF. It is really wonderful! :)

[Goldberry344]

It seemed like a kinda weird reunion of friends who havent seen eachother in a few years. kinda funny, really. I do find it interesting that the mods seem as if they were'nt prepaired for any oposition to the new bit of site.

[CelebrianTiwele]

Goldberry didn't put in a space for an inbetween opinion :D I'm glad this poll was set up. The only thing I didn't really like about the new site is that we were not asked about it. I'm afraid the mods are starting to look a little bit like dictators. You change things-and expect us to welcome it with open arms. We are allowed to have opinions you know.

[Nenya Evenstar]

Yes, you are allowed to have opinions . . . I just think the mods are trying to increase the cheer and happiness that they thought would go along with the new site.

[Elbereth]

I am officially going to say that

"I'm a beautiful flower"

...and I refuse to make an opinion on the new website until it has been up for at least a few more weeks.

The fact is ...the site is new. We have to give it time to sort itself out and get moving before we can say it is good or not. Give it time people! Let's not get overly excited about this.

[YayGollum]

I'm not excited. just trying to defend the little guy's point of view. I don't know why you people always like to attach a negative type tone to posts. oh well. I only voted for the hateful thing because it's fun to defend the little guy. Few people don't like the site. Lots love the thing for some reason. Some are saying that they hate it, then suddenly decide to love it for some crazy reason. oh well. I gots to go for the little guy.

Let me see here. What does the little guy think? Maybe that a well rounded site is the most attractive? Maybe that we're too lazy to join a whole new site and get to know all new people and have to click more things than usual? Maybe that we don't like change and that keeping things the way they are is comfortable?

I'd like to know what all of this craziness is about with not having enough room. Noone has been able to explain that to me. What is evil? Making all new sections to spread the RPGs out so they won't be confusing? Even though I don't see how they were confusing. That would be something that someone could explain to me. Or is just lots and lots of posts for talking about making RPGs better over here what's taking up all of the space? sorry for confusion. It must be some crazy internet thing.

[Snaga]

I found it hard to decide how to vote on this.

Firstly props to Cir/WM/anyone else involved for making the new site a pleasure to the eye. I think its very well laid out. For sure it will change over time, but as a first stab its superb.:)

But... you just knew there was a but, didn't ya!:D

I am worried that by seperating the RPs from the rest of the forum two things may happen:
(1) New blood may stop coming to the RPs. I think people often find their way to TTF with a question or two about LOTR and end up staying because they discover the fun of RPs. But they would never had gone direct to an RP site. Oh and BTW the best RPers are usually Tolkien fans first and RPers second IMO. Because they have more feel for Middle Earth.
(2) People who go to the RP site will stop coming to TTF. As they discover their buddies are actually not at TTF, there will be less reason to go there.

OK, I know that is a doom and gloom scenario, and it may prove wrong. But that is my main worry with this.

A final thing is this... was it really impossible to consult first? WM/the mods have their reasons, and I respect them. Ultimately they have a right to make decisions, and noone will deny that. But by listening to views first, even if they don't sway you, people feel more respected.

OK I'm done. I'm gonna do my level best to make the new site work.:)

[dapence]

Okay.

First, quit giving my moderators a hard time. I don't like seeing Talierin feeling the need to say, "*sighs* sorry... I'll go crawl back in my hole again."

Here's the deal.

1. The RP fora are fast becoming as active as the discussion fora, which is great ... But ...

2. I don't want a split site. Sooner or later, the different areas of interest would become factions, and start to cause serious divisions in the membership. RP is more important that discussions. No! Discussions are more important that RP. I already see signs of this today. So ...

3. Rather than begin to curtail the RP fora, I decided to setup a new site, which will be better able to focus on RPs. Finally ...

4. The fact is, after studying traffic data for TTF, that most members either visit the site to participate in discussions, or in RPs. There is little crossover. So, I don't think the new site will adversely effect either group.

In closing ...

I'm sorry that a few of you are unhappy with the new site. I say, at least give it a chance, rather than fight it.

[YayGollum]

Oo! I love the snaga1 person's 1) and 2) things. Anyways, sure, I'll meekly agree with this scary webmaster person's little numbers. Why not? I've joined and I'm having fun and I'm giving it a chance. It's also good to fight for the opinions of the few that happen to be discontent. I think so. sorry about that. I am achingly sure that there's nothing I can do about it. The two sites will stay like they are. I'm just trying to help out. *hides*

[Elfarmari]

Originally posted by snaga1
(1) New blood may stop coming to the RPs. I think people often find their way to TTF with a question or two about LOTR and end up staying because they discover the fun of RPs. But they would never had gone direct to an RP site. Oh and BTW the best RPers are usually Tolkien fans first and RPers second IMO. Because they have more feel for Middle Earth.


I completely agree. I am also going to join the new site, and I understand the Webmaster's reasons for creating it. I started out on this site because I liked discussing Tolkien with other people, and gradually started to look at some of the RP's going on. I found a couple I wanted to join, and am having fun, but I never would have looked for an RP site. Perhaps keeping the old RP's archived could serve the same purpose?

[YayGollum]

They're already doing that, aren't they? I thought I read that somewhere. Maybe not. *hides*

[Ithrynluin]

Originally posted by Webmaster
First, quit giving my moderators a hard time. I don't like seeing Talierin feeling the need to say, "*sighs* sorry... I'll go crawl back in my hole again."


Originally posted by Talierin
You know, I think SOME people need to stop whining about it and make the best of it... why don't you actually help to MAKE it work, instead of complaining wherever you can?

Originally posted by Goldberry344
I really want to get annonymous member views on the new extension of TTF. Please vote. :)

It is visible from Goldberry's first post that she wanted this to be a thread for opinions, both negative AND positive. Talierin saying "stop whining" was extremely inappropriate here and I don't understand why you should feel the need to defend that, WM. I do understand that she wanted to get a reasonable point across - but insulting, even of a milder sort, is not the way to solve anything and should not be used by anyone, least of all the moderators. No offense of course Tal.

I've only visited the new site once, and from what I saw, it looks well made and nice. I am not an RPG-er though, so my opinion may not be worth much.

[Goldberry344]

thanks ithrynluin, i was getting kinda confused. but really i dont want this to escalate in a negative way.

first, i dont like the idea of TTF spreading, and we know it will split. there will be a distinct RP section of people who know whats going on and when others want to join in it will be almost impossible. however, to say i am completely opposed to the new site is wrong. I think i was somewhere around the 30th person to join....and the fact that i joined says that i am willing to try it.

i started this for opinions, not defensive response.

and could a mod add in two other choices??

-I like it alright.

-Its not so great.


merci....some inbetween thoughts.

[Ithrynluin]

I understand what you mean, Goldberry. I dislike it when a tiny little comment gets all blown out of proportions, and that was not my intention. I also understand that some people complain needlessly, or without any good arguements to back up their claims, or fail to recognize the effort and hard work that was invested in the making of the new site.
But the fact remains that matters should always be dealt with politely and reasonably. Insulting and negativity rarely breed something other than that.

Cheers

[Ciryaher]

I am hoping that we can maybe put a banner where the RP section is on TTF linking to MERPG, and that a banner to TTF can be put somewhere on MERPG linking it to MERPG.

Yay, you seem to really want to put everything on one page...but as I said in my previous post (if anyone looked at it), there are really too many threads to put all on one page.

The only possible drawback I find is that members aren't automatically members of both sites. Only a minor drawback, but that's the worst I can think of, to be quite honest. And if it seems like I'm very zealous about the new site, it's because I am ;)