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If you like the idea of the reputation feature suggested in the comments, why not share some thoughts on it on this thread?
Hello folks, I'd like to talk about something that concerns me. There have been quite a lot of people who have mentioned the Aywas community has not felt the same and has seemed, almost... colder and ruder.
In the beginning, we all knew each other from a small handful of common sites. We recently passed 30,000 users - so we've grown a whole bunch from the original beta testers, and people from all kinds of sites have joined and made Aywas their home.
With more people, the original family feel gets diluted. I suppose that happens when you have so many people coming in. We can, however, all work together on that.
First thing is, for those of you coming from more aggressively moderated sites, you may not know that the moderators are all really, really nice people. If someone rubs you the wrong way or behaves disrespectfully to you, our staff is always here to help. We've seen a large number of these sort of reports lately and we encourage you to keep reporting. We want to help!
Second thing is, we have always required that members be mature and respectful - it's a staple of our TOS . It's kind of awkward phrasing, but I think it's still a decent description - to show respect to other members, the staff that works hard to entertain you, and the site as a whole.
This seems to be slipping. More and more, there are people who are not acting mature and/or respectful. We've seen a larger increase of individuals who express damaging and hurtful comments in public places, on and off site. This also contributes to an overall feeling of coldness and breeds pain and anger, because whether it's here or not, it still affects all of the community in the way that it infects. We encourage thoughtful feedback, but we don't tolerate bashing and mindless insults, whether here or elsewhere. That hurts our community feel, and does not represent a mature and respectful attitude.
While we want to welcome everyone, maturity and respect is necessary to keep our community thriving, and keep that family feel we all yearn for. The best way to ensure this is to report inappropriate behavior and contribute ideas, not venom and hatred.
That said, please remember that Aywas is a private website. It's one of the things that sets us apart from other ones - our ability to filter registrations. That doesn't end at the sign up page, though. We want a community full of awesome people who have fun together and are, of course, mature and respectful. Please remember to be mindful of how you treat others, the staff, and the site - everywhere. Our community does not welcome hurtful attitudes, and we as staff will step up and do our best in preserving the purpose of our filter.
Your reports are the most helpful in aiding us there - whether it's someone speaking in chatspeak or someone who acts disrespectfully toward you, site, or staff, your reports can make or break our efforts.
I think our community needs healing, but I know we can do it. :) Thanks to all for reading. Now let's do our best!
Posted by Jack
(#1) on Mon Sep 5, 2011 8:33pm
- ay4u
(#12662)
-
Posted on: Tue Sep 6, 2011 12:16am
This community isn't the best, and I'm not saying that it's anywhere near perfect. But when you care about the people behind the computers it changes everything. I know you guys are working on hard and care! Thank you!
- ay4u
(#12662)
-
Posted on: Tue Sep 6, 2011 12:16am
[delete the "on" c: ]
- flynn •
(#4217)
-
Posted on: Tue Sep 6, 2011 12:40am
-Puts her small bandaid of friendship and love on Aywas- :3 We will be friendly!
- Farlz
(#8510)
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Posted on: Tue Sep 6, 2011 12:40am
Yes lets all work at keeping this community as far as possible from turning into another wajas :| Over modded/rules and setup for small children. Apart from one conversation I've come across, most of the players *you know it ;P* are really nice and helpful. It's time to up my game and become more a part of it.
- Sweetevee
(#529)
-
Posted on: Tue Sep 6, 2011 1:55am
Out of all of the pet sites I've belonged to,Aywas is the one I visit daily because the users are friendly and usually easy to talk to.I'm usually a quiet and shy person so being a laid back environment is a plus.I haven't been to any of the other sites in a very long time because of people in general being rude and ruining it for me.Same thing for my other family members.I have seen a few minor squabbles on here,but I really hope we can all get along and the site will remain a peaceful friendly place.
- Dragonessofire
(#26704)
-
Posted on: Tue Sep 6, 2011 2:04am
This is one of the most friendly sites I've ever played on. When I was new here, I could ask anyone a question and be given advice. That is rare in a large site.
- BlazingMadness
(#7685)
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Posted on: Tue Sep 6, 2011 2:32am
I find that out of all the pet sites I regularly visit, Aywas has the most friendly comunity. Luckly I haven't come around any kind of harmful behavior myself for now, but I can see how with 30.000 users going around it is bound to happen.
:) thank you for always caring for us so much!
- moved
(#21737)
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Posted on: Tue Sep 6, 2011 3:22am
I haven't really seen a lot of hurtful things around and see Aywas as a quite peaceful community. I'm glad it has been said though, I'm sure it will feel like a family again, just a few thousand extra members :P
- ApPre
(#2006)
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Posted on: Tue Sep 6, 2011 3:43am
I quit a while back because of people being rude. The problem was, people were being mean but in ways that didn't violate the TOS technically. I only came back bc a friend was here and let me join her account but it certainly wasn't bc of the community. I'd love it if the boards felt like it did when I started back on account 81. I miss the users, but I don't like the general atmosphere anymore. I hope this can be remedied <3 I have a lot of hope for this site.
~Aperture
Posted on: Tue Sep 6, 2011 12:12am
Aywas has the best community of any site I've been on, pretty much. There will always be problems, but I'm sure they can be sorted out.