Site Feedback Let's have a discussion about the site

Ok fine, I agree, bye : - )

 

I feel there's been a noteable increase in general assholery on this site, especially since the last downtime. Now that the singular admin seems ready to throw in the towel (pity), maybe it's finally time for everyone to look for greener pastures?
It'd be good to keep the current state for archival purposes though - yet archive.org seems to only have a fraction of it. Ideas? Anyone wanna start spidering, or something?

 

I personally don't agree why some people are so hostile towards Kevin. I have never seen him act inappropriately or in a way that would significantly harm the community. I get that he's busy and that's perfectly fine. The website did go down for an awfully long time, longer than the initial ETA to get it back up. If people are going to get upset about this then they have to understand that as a site admin (I've been there). The security of the users of the said website are the highest priority. To access a hack, isolate it and even detect it is not easy. We don't know how long foreign code was injected onto the forum... But at least the website is back online and that is all that matters!

 

@rso
This drama has been going on for like four hours, maybe wait a little bit more before jumping to conclusions. This forum is over 15 years old, I think it can survive this debacle.

Kevin only needs to find the balance so that he finds a way to keep the community running while still enjoying his participation in it.

Most of us think he put too much on his shoulders and should delegate a little more. Maybe that's the solution, maybe it's not, but abandoning this place wouldn't be a fix for anything. I know if this forum closes my FG Dreamcast-stuff alter-ego will disappear with it.

 

AFAIK there have been talks about this before, but the plan fell through.

I don't think we should move on, I just think the site needs a revamp; both in its functionality, and also the way it operates. More power needs to be given to the trusted moderators so that Assembler doesn't have to be in this alone, but in the end, I doubt he will ever relinquish his control over the site.

Incorrect, the "drama" has been going on since the site went down earlier this year.

 

I will never understand where people get their sense of entitlement. When the site went down, I was sad and worried that all the resources here would be lost. When the site came up again, I was happy. I never thought that I deserved access to the site, as it's not like I'm a paying customer, or anything. The idea that users can have "grievances" related to their use of a free service is laughable. The owner doesn't owe you anything, and if you donated money, that was your choice to make.

If you're upset at the prospect of losing valuable information in the event of another site crash, then take some responsibility for archiving that material yourself, or you'll only have yourself to blame if you lose it. If you're upset at the way the staff manages the site, then start your own. The users will decide which site best suits their needs.

 

I agree with @Durandal on this one. This discussion topic is important, and shouldn't be besmirched by more drama than needed.

I've been here longer than my join date lets on (years!) as a watcher, lurker, and preserver. Seen things that previously have been unseen for years, maybe decades even. Even today I still have a mind filled with wonder as I log in for the day, imagining the next thing that the community shines a great light on. Look how far we've come!

This site that you have made, Kev, has done so much and given us obscure folk a place to band together and share artifacts that would otherwise just fade into the shadows.

I can't comment on recent dramas surrounding the downtime and the refugee effort, nor any other related to Kev or Demon or other members of the site because I don't know their personal issues/motives or whatever entails them to take actions, and would rather not shame others or start more uneeded problems. Stuff like that is what continues to fracture this community, rather than make us band together and work towards a better future.

But I CAN comment on the future of the site we know and love. If you have to move on Kev, selling the site I feel isn't the way to go about it. It feels hollow. Over 15 years of friendship, research, development, and digital archaeology. People here may only log onto this site, and this site only. It's home to a lot of users. Upturning a home to some new, unknown entity seems unfair to all who have given their best to be a part of this community.

If you have to leave, please pass the torch on to the wonderful staff who have stuck by you thus far. Let us all continue the legacy you started. I hope it doesn't come to this, of course, but as Borman and others have said in this thread and at other times, it's not doing you good to have so much stress involving AG.

Do what's right for you, by all means. But don't forget that you should still do right by everyone here too.

 

What does it say under my user name?

 

It goes without saying that we're all a bit mad here, but you are madder than most, @ASSEMbler. Taking apart N64 controllers in hotels, sneaking into private Sony parties, making cheerleader pyramids out of PS2 TOOLs, digging Nintendo dev hardware out of dumpsters... You created this place, to boot.

Your dedication in this regard has made you a pioneer in all this. You have my respect and that of many others, but you are a figurehead. As a figurehead, you will be polarizing. People will talk about you whether you are there or not and no matter what you do, someone will complain. Sometimes it's proper and just (site hack). Other times, it is stupid (whenever the site theme changes and people lost their shit). This scene has grown rapidly, so the polarization will only continue to get stronger.

A few 10-year-old accounts of mine got hacked into after the breach. It was slightly annoying to sort out, but nothing major was lost or jeopardized. No one died. The world is still spinning. I can't say the same for everyone else.

That said, it is great to see the site back up. This place is irreplaceable.

 

Yes, power should be delegated to mods. Other mods need to be relieved of their duties as they are clearly unfit for the task and have a lot of other things on their plate.

 

It's no surprise that you won't ever understand, you haven't put anywhere near as much time and effort into assemblergames as the site's most prolific users have. Obviously I'm not talking about myself here, but if you had contributed hundreds of dumps, put in thousands of hours and dollars into preserving prototypes, artwork, design documents, etc. for the community, you too would feel "entitled" to some sane level of communication and reliability from its creator.

 

It's hard, but let's just ignore that atm, and tell Decapicitated that he can make a thread about it or something.

Wow, there's a lot of good reads here. Many posts you should take into consideration, Assembler.
I've just recently registered after lurking for some years, and good for me I never saw any of the drama. Not gonna ask.
It's very heartbreaking to hear how you explain your latest experience keeping AG together, Assembler. Some just can't handle that niche forums aren't run like Apple Store. And when you're struggeling to lift your private life with one hand and AG with the other, you're bound to let one of them drop, and we all care too much about this site and you to let that happen. People come first, so to find a solution to how you can stay in the game, while giving some resonsabilities to new admins and mods, should be a topic sooner the better.

As most have mentioned you probably see mostly the shit side of AG. I don't even know your name, and ( I can only speak for myself), yes, I may take your hard work for granted on a daily basis when I just log on for five minutes, but when I stop and think it occurs to me how much I don't take it for granted. THANK YOU for all your hard work. You've probably been thinking what you think now plenty of times, but yet kept on going! You should feel proud!
Don't let the negative feedbacks overshadow the people who believe in this. You don't hear or see it often, but the activity here is a grateful thanks to you and the very most of us would like to have onboard where ever this fleet takes us. C'mon, captain. More crew and we're off!

 

This part made me think of the epigraph to Hemingway's "The sun also rises".

One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth forever… The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to the place where he arose… The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to its circuits… All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come thither they return again.
– Ecclesiastes

 

The only question I have now is, should a sale of the site go through, what would change (if anything)?
Who would be into buying the site to begin with?
What kinds of price range would it be sold for?

The sheer volume of content here is large, the quality of things is usually really high, and how would the new person handle any legal issues should they arise? Those who are "in with it" know what I'm referring to and I foresee a problem with that content unless the site buyer is also part of that group. The price would have to be considerably high when this is considered.

A position like the owner is hard to replace and keep things going at the same rate the last did. I've been on a few sites with MAJOR changes per site owner, but we all adapted accordingly due to the small-ish size of it. I myself even had to make a decision to step down as an owner of a site and all I worked for would have to be left with another person, which was very hard to handle at the time. I still stop by these sites and see where things are and some have changed some haven't.

 

One usually sees people through oneself. You don't write in a very welcoming manner either. But how about you make a power hungry themed thread in another section, and map and sort out a case where it's easier to understand your perspective.

 

Neither do certain members of staff. A Staff member's job is to rectify conflicts in a civil manner. To swear at users and speak to them in a hostile manner does not help. This is the perfect thread I've posted in. It's simple, constructive feedback that was seriously blown out of proportion by my frustration which I accept.

Staff members are representatives of the community. Their actions reflect dearly on every community member. If staff swear and speak rudely/aggressively to members they're not setting a good role model and can be severely damaging.

 

gg

 

That's true. It's just best for the included people to battle outside the ring sometimes. But yeah. It's good we're calming down.

 

Dude, this really is not the place for this. Can you go and make your own feedback thread?

 

I would love if the theoretical sale could be done to another high member of the forum who knows the quirks and how to move it forward. I'd bet that the community would be willing to help fund it - I'd surely throw in my monetary help if needed. We can carry ourselves as a unit, or at least I hope so.