Board change blues

[primsong]

I'm sorry, but as I'm not allowed to badmouth Decipher on the boards (I 'represent' them - pbbbbt!) - I'm going to mutter just a little bit here to get it over with.

There are times I really wonder if they have two working neurons that communicate with one another anywhere in that company - how divisive, to slap a big, grey, ugly "MEMBER" under people's names, and then to have the audacity to charge ten bucks for an avatar! Are they insane? Pretty steep for a little picture that most places let you have free. They never even mentioned any of this to the mods, then drop us one message letting us know we'll have to be policing avatars now also, except there's no way for us to kill a bad avatar - we have to holler and hope someone at Decipher will take care of it... if it's not a weekend. Sheesh!

I'm not renewing my magazine... kind of sad that they'll have mods who aren't even 'members' pretty soon.

If I can get techie-hubby Treblemaker to carve out the time to help set it up, I've given up on Decipher ever looking at the threaded option and am pursuing it myself. We may have to pass the hat for a server upgrade, but I think we could really, really use a "non-Decipherized" Pony right now... Here's hoping...

If anyone has any good ideas, besides dumping the entire community, let me know.

Comments

[lin4gondor.livejournal.com]

They sure seem to have a knack for stirring things up, don't they? Just when people seemed to be starting to settle...

The worst thing is how the member thing affects people who ARE members, but couldn't get their name to work properly so are under a different name -- and now can't be "members" with all the benefits -- without paying again. :-/

I have taken advantage of my new "status", but that doesn't mean I don't see the problems this will cause with the poor folk who are being snubbed again. They could have at least made the Member thingy a bit smalller....

((((Prim)))) Sorry!

[siradaono.livejournal.com]

oh crud! did my posting my avatar, pretty smile, just cost me 10 bucks???? i am not worth ten bucks....

btw i have a partner for the Plane ride..i will post pics next week

Count me in for the new server upgrade, you know i am good for it.

((((My Brave Hobbit)))))

[primsong.livejournal.com]

No, they're handing out 'free memberships!' to anyone registered with their storefront right now - what isn't clear is when they 'expire'

I mean, I know they are a business and it makes sense they would charge if they think they have a product people will pay for, but - it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth the way they handle things sometimes. All the delicacy of a sledgehammer.

Don't mind me - I'm just needing to throttle them right now, mostly because of a rather brusque communique they gave Rosie when she tried to complain.

Have a wondrous plane ride! I hope the weather holds for you - and thank you for your support, and I don't just mean monetary promises. :-)

((((Ada))))

[madamenorthstar.livejournal.com]

What new devilry is this? I saw the new member sticker under people's names - I am assuming this means that some of us are favored Decipher members and others are just mud? I honestly have to wonder the same thing about the brain workings at Decipher. If you decide to do the threaded option idea, count me in as well. I should hopefully be working soon and able to contribute. Poor Prim...it hasn't been easy being a mod lately, has it?

[primsong.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, I've been in a mood haven't I? The new boards are so much harder to track as it is, we've all considered quitting more than once, sigh... I guess I'm just too blasted loyal for my own good - I love the people there and their creativity - and I tend to be an optimist, so I keep waiting for that dawn.

I'm sure it isn't as bad as it appears - it's more the abruptness and confusion of it all, and my own frustration. Thanks for humoring me. (((NS)))

[solodancer.livejournal.com]

aargh!!! I must admit I haven't been there lately so I haven't noticed these changes.

Prim....whatever it takes to get "our" boards back, I'm with ya. I'd even be willing to pitch in with $$ if neccessary. I would consider this money well spent.

I miss the feel and the flavor and the Magic of the old boards. I was one who really tried to be open and accepting of the new boards too. I really tried, but it's just not the same.

Would Decipher just freak if all of us just jumped ship and found our own place.

I don't know if I'll renew my mag subscription or not. I'm still hoping that they'll get all of the fellowship on the covers. There still isn't one with Legolas on the cover. I'm not an Orli swooner by any stretch, but it would be nice to have a complete set, y'know?

I don't know how you've hung on this long to tell you the truth.

((((Prim)))))

I'm so glad you're here at least so I feel like I'm still connected to you.

[irascian.livejournal.com]

I haven't been to the boards in ages, but Lith was saying the other evening that since the change in format things were quieter and it was more difficult to moderate.

As for Decipher - well the signs have been there for years. I think it was after ComicCon 2002 I realised there was little point in expecting any common sense from anyone there other than Dan, who's effectively been disenfranchised for the last couple of years anyhow.

What strikes me most is their incompetence. Memberships expire and they make it incredibly difficult to renew, as if they really don't want to make any money. For international members they can't even be bothered to help out with reducing costs substantially by offering anything other than DHL prices for shipping, can't have simple wording on lithographs that explains they're just photo's or pictures (describing them as 'fine art' which attracts a heavy customs import cost) etc etc etc.

Then there's all the broken promises - the names on the DVDs (the ones that most people buy - NOT the extended ones), the mail forwarding service, the missing issues that take forever to get replaced, the Orlando Bloom interview...

Enough said! You're not the only one who won't be renewing. It's just not worth the hoops they make you jump through, and I'm not convinced that when their renewal rate is so much lower than they were expecting the magazine won't become just a 30-page pamphlet advertising their store goods.

[pippinswolf.livejournal.com]

I'm all for dumping the icky new Pony format, that's for sure...but I also think a new, no-rules, no-charge-for-avatars community would rock, too.

[primsong.livejournal.com]

What I'm looking at would be very similar to the old threaded boards we had, just more secure - I did find the old scripting that would have copied it, but it was too risky to host. Avatars would be a moot issue, as there wouldn't be any - but at least there's still LJ to show off the fun ones. :-)

[pippinswolf.livejournal.com]

The opportunity to edit our own comments, like we can here, would be nice too- many's a time I have posted something, and then wished I hadn't have done.

[primsong.livejournal.com]

Isn't that the truth! I bought two things from them early on (my ME watch and the hobbit cap) but their shipping and prices were so high I soon found I could do better elsewhere. *Somebody* must be buying their stuff, as they just keep going more and more to being an online store, so it must be profitable for them. The amount of advertising in the mags is getting ridiculous. Count me out....

It's a shame, as they had the potential to have something of very high quality and they've muffed it.

[primsong.livejournal.com]

Amen! I'm hoping it will allow that - at the very least I hope you will be able to delete yourself, and retype it if editing doesn't work. I need to do more research on it. At this point I'm the blind leading the blind.

[madamenorthstar.livejournal.com]

I think you are an extremely patient and loyal person, Prim. You've put up with a lot of foolishness from we "creative people" more than once! And I know its been hard to work with Decipher's new format, especially since their consideration for the users is, well, limited. They aren't rude, but they don't go out of their way to be helpful, either. And you know what? You are completely entitled to rant whenever and about whatever you want! You don't exercise that option often, so when you do, never feel guilty.
(((((((((( Prim)))))))))))))