Ok a lot has happened in the last 36 hours and I thought it time to step in and try and straightened some things out. I apologize first to the community, I was busy in real life at my part time job both last night and today so this is literally the first chance I could weight in on the matter to any great length.
Recently there has been some intense discussions spanning several sections of the site in various threads. Most notably here: https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/t/9985 These discussions on the forum have been over a variety of issues from post count, to lack of transparency by the Staff, etc so hopefully I can cover all of the major bases.
Before I really begin keep this in mind: My answers may not please everyone.
Staff
Starting off: Staff decisions and lack of transparency. News to me because I can honesty say that I have had zero messages in my inbox regarding individuals coming forwards with concerns of the site; if any thing hints perhaps on the forums. Witness Golden Hat VIII, you guys mentioned artillery and we did just that: the most open Golden Hat to date.
We cant fix something if we don�?Tt know what is broken. Saying �?oyou never listen to us�?� after the fact is not constructive either. You�?Td be surprised: the Staff here does indeed listen, we take pains to make the right decisions. There are times where we discuss a great many things, sometimes for hours on Skype! I don�?Tt talk to anyone for hours regarding anything, not even my mother, but I do for CDO! There are plenty of sites out there that the Staff doesn’t care what you have to say, we do. We will not always make the right decisions by you as an individual, but we will always try to make the right decisions for the site.
Also bear in mind this Staff here is one of the most committed, dedicated forum teams you could hope to find. I have been on a ton of sites and am astonished by this. Being a Staff member is a thankless job lets face it; it doesn�?Tt give you some mystical power, in truth it simply means more work. Want evidence? Look at the state of my blog before I became a Staff member and after. Notice anything? In short we give up a lot for the site that often is unnoticed. I�?Tm not complaining either, I knew it, I did it anyways. I�?Tm honored to serve and hope to continue to do so.
Lastly on this point: we do listen, we do care but quite simply there is no way we are going to please everyone 100% of the time, its impossible and not a task that we are even going to attempt.
Post Count. Its a number guys, it doesn�?Tt win you anything by having the most. Having more does mean better. By the same token if you have 1 post or 4,000, as long as your idea is clear or concise each person has an equal the right to be heard. Please don�?Tt put stock into it as a member of the site being more important then someone else there is no point in racing on it, have fun and enjoy the ride I say.
Also post count isn�?Tt going away. If you have an objection with this please bring it up to the Staff. However as Xander succinctly stated it here: https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/t/9985 post count is a valid measure, but what is being said is more valid if not more so.
Now with that being said it seems time to reiterate guidelines about posting:
Posting a response consisting of 5 words in 5 different threads over the span of 5 minutes… really? Is that adding something substantive to the conversation?
* Continue to do it and its discussion time with the Staff.
* Feel someone is spamming let us know.
* Feel someone is abusing the guidelines let us know.
No one is saying you can make an off the cuff comment, or post a one liner. But if that’s all you post, is that contributing? As Clam rightly pointed out do we really need to get draconian regarding this? I hope not. We give the members of this site a great deal of latitude, please don�?Tt make us have to reconsider it. The last thing I want to do in my daily life is to sit down and talk about someone�?Ts posting habits.
Back to basics.
I have heard that some members feel we are slipping away from Chaos Dwarfs, I don’t know if I agree with that. For us on this site: Warhammer is Chaos Dwarfs, You need Warhammer in order to play Chaos Dwarfs, the two are interdependent. So with that how is discussing Warhammer bad? It isn’t.
I�?Tm sure everyone will agree that Chaos Dwarfs being the focal point of our site is the reason for being here. But as Xander rightly pointed out we have people who are fans of CDO so we need to serve these folks as well.
So yes lets have everyone start to focus more on Chaos Dwarfs (or again rather) then on anything else. But we are in a unique place with army that has no official support. We have only ourselves; our army is what we make of it, more so then any other army. People on other sites are astonished that there is as much activity here as there is. Lets get it back to that.
Action Items:
News Letter
We will continue to try and get the email blast monthly going forward to remind everyone of upcoming events. The calendar and the Word of Hashut will also be utilized to help with this. However we can over communicate till the end of time, if you miss it we can help with that. We�?Tll do our part, please do yours.
Site Suggestions
A new sub forum will open called Site Suggestions as a Child Board of Chaos Dwarf Discussion. if you have a suggestion post it there so people can comment on the suggestions. IF you feel you have to get something of your chest you can always contact a Staff member via PM. Pick the one you feel most comfortable. If you have a problem with a Staff member go to another one.
If nothing else think of this as a place to air out your grievances rather then let them fester.
Post Count
Until further notice we will reinstate it so post count for OT Showcase, Warhammer and the Marketplace so that they do count towards your post count.
In closing we are never going to please everyone, nor are we going to try to please every single person: there will always be someone unhappy with decisions we make. However we do try to make our decisions that effect the community for the benefit of it and not its detriment.
Also I would like this conversation to focus on site improvements rather then what just happened so please direct the discussion there.
As always if you have a gripe, comment or want something addressed contact one of us usually the Staff member you feel most comfortable with.
Well written, Willmark. Aside from some typos, that is.
I likewise haven’t really been contacted by members who have issues with CDO. Occasionally some people do contact me, and I am (to my knowledge) always able to work things out with those who do!
I don’t like locking topics, I prefer constructive discussion. So please, if something has been eating at you, don’t keep it to yourself because it only simmers into resentment, and that’s not what CDO is about.
I’ve been very clear about what CDO is from the very beginning of the website. It’s right on the main page, and it has never budged:
So long as the popularity of Warhammer continues, a source is needed for the Chaos Dwarf army to keep pace. Chaos Dwarfs Online provides a community with a forum for members to learn about, inform others about, contribute to, and evolve the Chaos Dwarf army in a welcoming and open minded environment. Chaos Dwarf generals, old and new, can unite under a common banner that Chaos Dwarfs Online is happy to provide.
Mission Statement:
I’ve been a bit absent today, as I have been painting non-stop since I woke up! I’ve been really pumping Golden Hat #8, as you may have seen! I don’t intend to miss the deadline!
I just want to say that (in my opinion!) you all make a great job!!! :hat off
CDO is the only forum that I really use, I´m nearly every day online and I´m again and again curious about new contents, pictures and suggestions!
Sometimes I have other views on certain topics but this is normal! Like Willmark said “you cannot make it everyone right”,
that´s the way things are … it´s life!
Although I don´t agree with all your decisions I cannot say that here is a lack of transparicy. I have always mentioned a great willingness to explain your intentions to the/us others!
And the count of the posts? I´m looking on it … why ever not? But it´s not really important. It wouldn´t prevent me from posting my DE pictures in the OT-Showcase! Not the posts are important … the feedback of the other members are important!
So I hope this excellent forum will survive the next years! Please go on with your great work! :hat off
It doesn’t help that these ridiculous, minor issues - someone not seeing that they were being asked to nominate people for some awards, changing the way post count works and some people kicking up a fuss for no good reason - are vastly blown out of proportion by the staff. Neither of these things were a big deal. No one cared. But now we have a news letter that’s taking time away from actually doing stuff on the site for someone and a huge fuss over post count.
I know, personally, how difficult it can be to strike the balance between leading a forum and being a member of it but sometimes, guys, you just have to stick to your guns and be a little aloof. It seems like whenever the staff does something and people kick up a fuss, you guys take it very personally. It isn’t the end of the world when someone doesn’t like something you’ve done here and maybe, just maybe, it’s okay to make an unpopular decision sometimes.
I actually agreed with the staff on both of these things that happened: the Year End Awards were well advertised, and the changes to post count were perfectly valid given the scope of the site. Just because some people didn’t like it doesn’t mean you weren’t right.
Can’t we all just chill out here? It’s toy soldiers.
Points noted Thommy and quite a few I agree with. I think the air needed to be cleared however. I don't think its always that easy however :)
All- One spot that might actually go to non-post count is Slavebay, the nature of it with bids and such means that it is not directly promoting Chaos Dwarfs: its an auction in essence. I would be surprised if anyone has an issue with that. But in light of recent events I think its better to discuss. I will listen and the Staff will decide.
As of right now I have not heard or seen a compelling reason why Slavebay should could towards post count.
To be honest you are the best forum staff i’ve seen you all take your time to vist the forum and place your opinon to many thread some staff don’t even post on other forums
And what do post counter have to do with seeing if your are an active user dosen’t seeing mutible post on most threads show your an active user?
I think the staff were taken by surprise by people making a big deal out of what are really unimportant in the grand scheme of things. At the same time, we staff don’t want to look like we are dismissing someone else’s opinions just because we disagree with them. Feedback is always important, and as soon we we start ignoring the users the site will stop being a fun place. We don’t want it to be “a good site but I hate…”, we want it to be "a great site."
Don’t feel you can’t state your opinions, but don’t treat the staff as if they are ruling with an iron fist.
And also bear in mind that staff can’t address an issue of they don’t realise there is an issue. If you have a problem, then try contacting a staff member (me, for example) so that we can talk about the issue on the staff forum.
Creating a post in one of the forum sections to address a problem means that we end up with an issue that has become a big deal before the staff have even had an opportunity to look at the problem.
Remember, raising an issue with a staff member is not annoying the staff, it is being fair to the staff and giving them a chance to address the issue before it deveopls into a problem.
3. Being blunt, I suspect the ‘issues’ are the result of people with too much time on their hands who have nothing better to do
4. As regards to moving away from Chaos Dwarfs, nearly all warhammer players have more than one army. Being an active site, they will want to share this. Being reasonally well rounded individuals (?), they will also want to share other ideas and themes completely removed from Chaos Dwarfs and Warhammer.
5. For those who don’t agree with me on 2) and 4) and therefore may be suffering from 3), I recommend more time on Chaos Dwarfs and less time worrying about the nature of the site :hat off
My two cents worth which, given the current NZ exchange rate, is probably worth less than one shiny US penny
Love the site. I don’t have any problems with how it’s run.
2. I have 4 Warhammer armies I can use at any time, I’ve been playing Chaos Dwarfs more than the others lately. I do have knowledge of how other armies play because of the ones I play and have played against.
3. I haven’t put any names in the community awards becuase I’m a fairly new member and didn’t feel I had the knowledge to choose properly.
4. I don’t really care about post counts. There is one site I’m on that I’ve been a member of for 6 years and I have over 1200 posts where others hit that count in under 5 months. It’s always been the content that counts.
First off, the staff here and the people are of the best I’ve ever had the opportunity to meet.
Even if there is a problem, like what has happened over the last 3 day, at least everyone here tries to help out and to work it out. This is rare in Cyberland!
Willmark didn’t even have to write this letter, didn’t have to explain anything, but he did and I applaud him for it!
Beleive me, I’ve left a few web fourms because of the garbage that goes on in them. Fourms where people are suppose to be your friends, and they are the very people who twist around your words and stab you in the back. Moderators never step in to fix things unless it’s coming to a nailhead and they HAVE to close a person’s thread because everyone is fighting on it. Other shinanigans are people that hyjack your thread and form their own for their own joke. Never in my time on CDO has this happened!
Also, as for post count…be happy that they even have this type of reward system. I don’t know of any other web site that does. (With the possible exception of Bugman’s Brewery.)
I also like the people here. Kera gave me some spare parts from her Lizardmen and Chaos Sprue as well as 2 Female Dwarfs and this was in the first week of being on CDO. I barely even knew her, never asked for anything from her, and she was giving me free stuff!
The Staff is great too! Willmark and Wallacer have given me free slaves for doing something as minor as poking a dull knife blade into a lump of Green Stuff and making it look like the rest of a CD’s beard. It’s not a big deal for me to build a model, simply because I enjoy doing it, but to get that little recognition is great! Other web sites, you might get 3 people saying “That’s nice!”, and that’s where it stops.
Here I feel really welcomed by everyone and I often come on just to see who’s doing what. Other model building sites I’ve been on are almost as happy to get rid of me and here they want to keep me…and the rest of us as well. Therefore I’m really happy to be on CDO!
The only thing I’d change on this site is the following : Sometimes when I try to access this site, I get a 404 error or a “Broken Link” error. I might have to try a few times before getting the page to work. So if this can get fixed, then CDO would be that % better!
Unlike many other forums I’ve been on, the staff here actually act like staff, but at the same time they are members of the forum like everyone else.
Many other forums I attend, staff occasionally develop “Superiority complexes”, they act like they can do anything they want (well they can really) and they rub it into your face, some even threaten you with their ability. Others, sort of act as if they are a class above everyone else, and some others tailor what they want into what benfits them the most, and some believe that as staff they can never ever be wrong.
But I have not seen one thing here yet of negative nature. By far, although this forum is a smaller community than some others (cough WOW forums Cough) it is also the best organised forum I’ve ever been on, and probaly will stay that way.
