Site Updates and Issues Discussions #9 - Page 132

Originally posted by: Viswasruti

Wow… receiving such suggestions and advice from a member who has been part of this journey for 18 years is truly invaluable and deeply respectable.

You must have witnessed countless changes in this place over the years, and your presence and the journey itself reflects the richness and evolution of this community.

I can understand your concerns and the valid points. But at the same time, this place has something unique, that is, the community bonding, the friendships built here, and the fact that it gives people a platform to share their creativity and voice without being lost in the noise like on other social media platforms.

About the warning level reduction system, yes, it feels strict, but it was actually designed to encourage consistent positive participation instead of just waiting out the time. It’s more about showing you’re engaged in a healthy way rather than only avoiding mistakes. Still, your point about automation is valid and has been suggested before, so there’s always room for improvement.

As for moderation and admin involvement, I completely understand it can sometimes feel a little slow. But do remember that all the moderators here are volunteers, balancing forum work with their personal lives. We truly put in our best efforts with genuine intentions, because we also want the forum lively, fair, and engaging for everyone.

If at any point something feels biased or unfair, the best way is to raise it politely through PMs. Many such concerns have been addressed and resolved that way in the past and even now, we try to listen and make improvements wherever it is possible.

The site may look a bit old-school, but that’s also part of its charm!! And a makeover is always possible, in fact it is a perennial process; intermittently, and most frequently admin steps in with changes when there’s enough demand. If members like you and me, i.e, us, continue contributing, suggesting improvements, and creating engaging threads, we can actually bring back the expected spark instead of waiting for it to just happen!

As you rightly mentioned, this website has huge potential, it just needs a bit of collective effort and patience.

Let’s keep suggesting and expressing our thoughts in a constructive way, that’s how positive changes happen. When ideas are shared respectfully, it's not only helps the forum grow but also keeps the spirit of the community alive.

Thank you for the kind and considerate reply. I really appreciate it.

While contests are a result of a lot of hard work, a few improvements could make them even better. For example, in one photography contest and a fiction contest, there were hundreds of entries and members had to vote from very long lists. Next time, maybe consider closing entries after 20 to 30 submissions maximum or shortlisting them before opening voting, so it’s easier for members to go through them and vote and fair to the participants too.

For forum games and contests, it would also help to make voting and eliminations more transparent, for instance, explaining why someone was eliminated instead of just referring to an automated random choice. I often wanted to participate, but the process seemed confusing, and it sometimes felt like the same people kept winning, which can feel discouraging for new participants, just what I observed. To make friends and bond as a community like you said, these contests and games should be more inclusive and welcoming than feel like a closed group.

Perhaps encouraging more members and moderators to host games, watch parties could make things more better and bring in fresh ideas, while reducing the workload on the current organizers. And yes, giving proper credit to the creative team is so important, it keeps everyone motivated.

Finally, for the warning level system, it might be more encouraging if posting once or twice a week was enough rather than daily, since the current format can feel like detention and discourage participation.

I felt it's more convenient to post than pm since, others who relate to my post can voice their opinions or relate too.

Originally posted by: Bornfree

Thank you for the kind and considerate reply. I really appreciate it.

While contests are a result of a lot of hard work, a few improvements could make them even better. For example, in one photography contest and a fiction contest, there were hundreds of entries and members had to vote from very long lists. Next time, maybe consider closing entries after 20 to 30 submissions maximum or shortlisting them before opening voting, so it’s easier for members to go through them and vote and fair to the participants too.

For forum games and contests, it would also help to make voting and eliminations more transparent, for instance, explaining why someone was eliminated instead of just referring to an automated random choice. I often wanted to participate, but the process seemed confusing, and it sometimes felt like the same people kept winning, which can feel discouraging for new participants, just what I observed. To make friends and bond as a community like you said, these contests and games should be more inclusive and welcoming than feel like a closed group.

Perhaps encouraging more members and moderators to host games, watch parties could make things more better and bring in fresh ideas, while reducing the workload on the current organizers. And yes, giving proper credit to the creative team is so important, it keeps everyone motivated.

Finally, for the warning level system, it might be more encouraging if posting once or twice a week was enough rather than daily, since the current format can feel like detention and discourage participation.

I felt it's more convenient to post than pm since, others who relate to my post can voice their opinions or relate too.

Only random elimination happened during bluffmaster game only. All rest times its very transparent the elimination

Originally posted by: Bornfree

Thank you for the kind and considerate reply. I really appreciate it.

While contests are a result of a lot of hard work, a few improvements could make them even better. For example, in one photography contest and a fiction contest, there were hundreds of entries and members had to vote from very long lists. Next time, maybe consider closing entries after 20 to 30 submissions maximum or shortlisting them before opening voting, so it’s easier for members to go through them and vote and fair to the participants too.

For forum games and contests, it would also help to make voting and eliminations more transparent, for instance, explaining why someone was eliminated instead of just referring to an automated random choice. I often wanted to participate, but the process seemed confusing, and it sometimes felt like the same people kept winning, which can feel discouraging for new participants, just what I observed. To make friends and bond as a community like you said, these contests and games should be more inclusive and welcoming than feel like a closed group.

Perhaps encouraging more members and moderators to host games, watch parties could make things more better and bring in fresh ideas, while reducing the workload on the current organizers. And yes, giving proper credit to the creative team is so important, it keeps everyone motivated.

Finally, for the warning level system, it might be more encouraging if posting once or twice a week was enough rather than daily, since the current format can feel like detention and discourage participation.

I felt it's more convenient to post than pm since, others who relate to my post can voice their opinions or relate too.

Sorry to chime in — just wanted to share my take on one of the points mentioned.

@b: regarding contests:

Isn’t that the whole idea of open forum contests? It’s not meant to be first-come, first-served — as long as entries come in before the deadline, everyone should be given a shot. Capping it at 20–30 would end up leaving a lot of people out, and ironically, could make it easier for the same few to win every time. Maybe just doing the voting in rounds would help make things more manageable.

I agree with Soni on Bluffmaster — though even in that game, the host was pretty clear about how eliminations worked. No elimination was ambiguous or randomly automated. She explained upfront that after knockouts, except for the respective slot winners, the rest would be put in a pool, and the high scorers will proceed to the semi-finals. She even posted the leaderboard at the end of the game for anyone who had doubts.

From what I’ve seen and know, most contest hosts are approachable and happy to clear up any confusion. I’ve had a barrage of questions myself, and almost every host I reached out to took the time to explain things patiently.

Originally posted by: missFiesty_69

Sorry to chime in — just wanted to share my take on one of the points mentioned.

@b: regarding contests:

Isn’t that the whole idea of open forum contests? It’s not meant to be first-come, first-served — as long as entries come in before the deadline, everyone should be given a shot. Capping it at 20–30 would end up leaving a lot of people out, and ironically, could make it easier for the same few to win every time. Maybe just doing the voting in rounds would help make things more manageable.

I agree with Soni on Bluffmaster — though even in that game, the host was pretty clear about how eliminations worked. No elimination was ambiguous or randomly automated. She explained upfront that after knockouts, except for the respective slot winners, the rest would be put in a pool, and the high scorers will proceed to the semi-finals. She even posted the leaderboard at the end of the game for anyone who had doubts.

From what I’ve seen and know, most contest hosts are approachable and happy to clear up any confusion. I’ve had a barrage of questions myself, and almost every host I reached out to took the time to explain things patiently.

I just shared my personal point of view and didn’t mention any hosts by name. Sometimes things felt vague based on what I read and got to know, Excel sheet eliminations, sudden rule or score changes, and even cases where team scores were accidentally swapped, causing a sudden reduction in one team’s points. That’s simply what I noticed in game threads personally. Winners or runners up often seemed to be the same group of people whenever I checked the threads. No accusations just what I observed. Hope you people won't sound defensive over this, expecting a calm reply/discussion.

I’ll leave it at that, that’s it.

Originally posted by: missFiesty_69

This is a glitch that has been existing since some time. If we try to create one private forum, it doesn't get created but when we check after a while, almost 2/3 are getting created & we are unable to create a forum after that.

Pls look into this issue.

I'm unable to tag Vijay.

Thank you for reporting. We will certainly look into this and get this rectified.

P.S. Since I am the topic creator I anyway get notified whenever there is a new post on this topic.

Originally posted by: vijay

Thank you for reporting. We will certainly look into this and get this rectified.

P.S. Since I am the topic creator I anyway get notified whenever there is a new post on this topic.

If possible, please look into deleting all these inactive and duplicate private forums so that members are not precluded from creating new forums.

This happens whenever I view the account of a banned/hibernated member