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Site Update
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
- King Sombra
(#382)
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Posted on: Mon Sep 5, 2011 8:53pm
For me I only come across coldness through sales related threads or pms. Has anyone else come across the seller who gets nasty when you make a reasonable offer? (-u-) Also, I can vouch for the mods too. I dont interact with them that much (because I dont want to be a bother xox), but when I do its always been a pleasant experience.
- Amagami
(#10414)
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Posted on: Mon Sep 5, 2011 8:53pm
Aywas is the most friendly site that i ever know... I don't think a few bad apples can change an entire community full of awesome people ^^
- Kandria
(#293)
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Posted on: Mon Sep 5, 2011 8:54pm
I love this news post. I've seen a lot of hostility (in rants, mostly, as I browse there a lot) so it's nice to see it being addressed.
- BrokenClaws
(#11717)
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Posted on: Mon Sep 5, 2011 8:56pm
*tackle hugs Slash* You don't try to hide from us, you're actually there. :D I will follow you and Aywas until either Aywas explodes from awesomeness or martians invade Earth.
- Lynnanine
(#17642)
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Posted on: Mon Sep 5, 2011 8:56pm
I very much like this site. Slash, you're awesome, and I hope that Aywas stays awesome. :)
- Fem vs Real Life XP
(#15536)
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Posted on: Mon Sep 5, 2011 8:57pm
Senpai, a like button? you mean like on comments, profiles, and/or threads?
personally I think something similar to the bug reports would be cool, but for good and bad people on the site. Maybe with incentives for being really good, because if somebody went out of their way to go and put in a good report for you then you must have been really nice ^w^
though I'd think it would need a spot where you could put in the user's id that's easy for an admin to reference, and then an area where you could say what the person did to be nice or bad... because what it was can be really important.
- Phoenix
(#5088)
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Posted on: Mon Sep 5, 2011 8:58pm
I admit to the fact, that, at times..I can be very rude, opinionated and outright bitchy. However, the usually stems from flat out and pure ignorance, because I have a low tolerance level for such. Like, putting certain things in a post, and someone completely not reading it and disregarding what is said (though, I know I have made that same mistake myself, but try really hard not to), or...when people try to argue things that are just.....I don't know..stupid probably isn't the right word :( I try to be nice to people, I do, it just depends on the person though, and how they seem to act toward me I suppose. I'm strict you could say. Believe that rules are there for a reason and everyone, -EVERYONE- should have them enforced upon them, and for no favourites to be played. Not insinuating that staff do this, cause I'm not meaning it for the staff and the site rules, I mean like..any rules in general. Like contests have rules, and many users run contests. If someone breaks a rule, or is allowed to slip on a few rules, it's not fair for everyone else. I guess I try to be fair..but yeah. I'm rambling XD *goes back to Pottermore*
- Daisy
(#21884)
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Posted on: Mon Sep 5, 2011 8:58pm
Thank you for saying all of that slash - I also want you to know, Aywas is the most friendly site I've been to yet and the mods and staff are doing an amazing job. I'm sure most of the users will do their best to continue this, I really hope aywas doesn't turn into.. certain other sites I can name. I'm near positive it won't, as the caring actually shown here proves that you are all trying to make this site great. C:
wispy
- Loveless
(#19023)
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Posted on: Mon Sep 5, 2011 9:02pm
I have been here since April of this year and I have yet to see anyone be rude or hurtful to me personally. I have enjoyed meeting people here and I have found everyone to be really nice. Then again I don't really spend a lot of time on forums apart from buying/trading items and pets and events. I hope everyone can get along and make this site even better than it has been. Thanks to everyone who has been awesome in making me feel so welcomed here :) I look forward to making more friends <3
Posted on: Mon Sep 5, 2011 8:53pm
Quite honestly, I only ever play this and Felisfire anymore because the users are awesome. I've had a few rough times, but that's alright because that's life. Quite honestly the majority of people on here are pretty amazing, even new users. :3