Language…
19 users online:  Ahrion, Beed28, CircleFriendo, crocodileman94, DanMario24YT, gizmo_321, Golden Yoshi, Heitor Porfirio, Maw, Mohamad20ZX, ocked, OEO6, OrangeBronzeDaisy, Papangu, signature_steve, SMW Magic, steelsburg, TrashCity, yoshisisland - Guests: 294 - Bots: 486
Users: 64,795 (2,370 active)
Latest user: mathew

my thoughts

  • Pages:
  • 1
  • 2
smwc is a good place, with good people and good stuff.

for several months now, ive been feeling a huge disconnect with the site though. my feelings, opinions, and thoughts are different from those held by the community, the staff team, etc. smwc is headed in a direction that i dont really agree with. this has caused drama in a few cases

i look back to "pantsugate" and how close i was to outright leaving the site, splitting the community in the process. i was prepared to do it. it was pretty much a done deal. but i didnt do it. i chickened out at the last minute, and i always wonder why.

its obvious i have strong feelings for the site. its pretty much the first and only community where i feel at home. where i can be heard. where i can have an impact, good or bad. where i am able to contribute things, and receive feedback on them, even if lately i feel like the work i put into the site and community isn't appreciated as much as i'd like. that may be a contributor to the disconnection i feel.

i have lots of friends here. some feel the same way i do about smwc. however, they are more aggressive. they dislike the community, harbor resentment for the staff team, etc. this has brushed off on me in some cases. they even go as far as to create alternate communities, or leave the site, much like i almost did. im stuck in a position where i want to believe in the site and in the friends i have here

there's not much i can do about anything. so i'll just continue contributing what i've been contributing. if i clash heads with someone or something, like what always happens even if i dont want it to, then oh well. if i deserve another staff position due to my positive contributions, then oh well. if i deserve a permaban due to my negative contributions, then oh well.



not leaving or ranting or seeking attention or anything. i just wanted to post my thoughts. staff can throw this thread wherever they want, but not before banning derpybackslide
Honestly, I can't see where you're going with this.
this is getting old
Originally posted by Mindevous
Honestly, I can't see where you're going with this.

Originally posted by Ladida
not leaving or ranting or seeking attention or anything. i just wanted to post my thoughts.



Originally posted by Lazy
this is getting old

What is? I'm 99% sure this isn't a joke thread and I can't recall anyone posting any thread similar to this one in the past year (mostly because personal threads aren't allowed).


Originally posted by Mr. GreenThunder
Took me like 2 seconds to figure out why you wrote this up.

Protip: this thread has nothing to do with you and nothing in that post even implies anything negative towards anyone, so your other 2 versions of that post were also wrong.
Your layout has been removed.
I really don't know what to reply with so I'm just gonna put some of my own thoughts on this same topic. I just want you to know that you're great Ladida and that I too miss what this community was.

I feel like a lot of the personality of this community has just disappeared along with people's passion for the site, only to be replaced by drama instigators and apathetics. I've switched from browsing for fun to browsing as a chore and of course that's part just "growing up" but most of that is the change of community and how that community is moderated. Fun threads are rare and most seem to get killed by people lazily replying without actually contributing, though some are prematurely killed by staff.

I am fully aware that I'm part of the problem by generally not posting but at the same time there's rarely any chance for me to participate and I don't like risking derailing threads, since when I do want to post nowadays it's mostly because I have a very contrasting opinion. Because of that I generally end up keeping my opinions to IRC.

Originally posted by Mr. GreenThunder
Oh? Did a half-op just up and ban you from a channel you didn't do anything wrong in?

I opted to "archive" this post so that others are aware of what you actually decided to make your first reply to this thread be. Though in your defense you did decide to change your post fairly quickly.
Originally posted by leod
I'm 99% sure this isn't a joke thread

It isn't? Call me naive, but I honestly can't tell anymore at this point.

Either way, I really don't have an opinion on this topic as I'm a relatively young user who is only semi-in touch with the community - though I did notice the central isn't quite as pleasant as it used to be.
I believe you have a point, but I'll leave that to the veterans to decide.
I've been contemplating whether or not to stay on the site for quite some time, especially considering the group of friends I have on here are for the most part in the same boat as I am. It doesn't help that there's a certain group of users making the community toxic and a staff that at best is a mixed bag.

Also Greeny, you can stop making shit posts and then cowardly deleting them because nobody is going out of their way to "harass" you as much as you think they are.
You guys say you have issues with how the staff is running things. This is why the feedback page was created. I encourage you to use it to articulate your thoughts, and I personally assure you that the issues raised are brought up in the staff forum (only admins can see the feedback, but I'll get p4/Ersan/Lightvayne/Kieran to post in the staff forum). If, for some reason, you don't feel comfortable using that page, feel free to PM me personally and I will see to it these issues are addressed. I say this not just as a staff member, but as a member of this community and a friend to most of you in this thread (no offense to the others, I just haven't really talked to you).

Even those of you who I'm more of an acquaintance with, I would not like to see anyone leave. I, like you, have grown up on this site. I joined here when I was 14 and I'm about to turn 21 in a month. This is the only community where I feel like I am known and well-liked, and while nothing lasts forever, I cherish the time I've spent here with all of you, and I would like that to continue for as long as possible.

And yes, while Ladida has a history of making joke threads, I think it's clear this one is serious, and I'm sure he would appreciate it if you guys keep it that way. I feel like this has probably been on his mind for a while, not to mention the others who have posted here in agreement. I'll be keeping an eye on this thread, and anyone who attempts to derail it will be dealt with.
I've also been thinking of leaving considering the fact that I don't really have much friends here and well, it seems like everybody hates me here... so I don't know what to do,, but you shouldn't leave. Most of your stuff here I have used and are pretty helpful to everybody.
Originally posted by ladida
they even go as far as to create alternate communities

...huh? The only two people who have done that in the past 5 years are MandL27 and Izuna, and I'm not sure if you were friends with either of them.
I can see what you mean very much. Even though a lot of shit happens here very often I still like to be here personally and I wouldn't leave (so I don't think I can contribute fairly), but I still get your side and I can't deny that the community has indeed changed, even more if compared to what it seems like it was like before I joined.

I'm actually happy that you made this thread. I hope it keeps going somewhere. Discussing the site openly is something healthy that should be encouraged in my opinion.
It's easily the best thing I've done
So why the empty numb?
I feel you, lolida; not deeply, though ;) I don't even read jojo. I mean, I still like it in here, maybe it's because only recently I've gotten a stabilished group of friends so I'm still feeling that novelty-like type of excitement. Also, some of the newer users are pretty ☆nice☆ like berkay, eevee, drtapeworm and melodic; what I mean by that is that the community hasn't really gone to shit or anything like that (not implying, of course, that that's what you meant with your post, I'm speaking in a more general sense).

...Though it does seem to be getting a little boring; like derpy said, there's a group of lame and kinda lame people making the site poopy, but I think at least most of them will eventually grow out of that phase and become ☆nice☆ people too (that's also the reason why I don't think stupid (not unbearably stupid) users should be banned at first sight, they need to adapt and lash out their stupidity because only then they may get ☆nice☆ too; it's important to note that this may be the average stupid user's first forum, so they still don't quite get how things work and all that). Another thing is that some of the GFX people seem to have deviantart-like ideals and that actually bothers me a lot.

The lack of fun events might also be another reason (24hospc was a great idea btw, nice work, staff), but coming up with ideas for them is difficult, so that's understandable. I had a dumb idea for a type of event the other day, I think I'll pitch it to the staff, idk.

~~~~

Look lolida, I don't want you to feel let down or underappreciated, like, when I funpost with shit like "LOLIDA BEST GIRL", I actually mean it (sans the girl part because obviously I know you're a
cute
dude). I really, really appreciate your effort and your contributions, and I do that to let it be known that your work is not going unnoticed. It's the same reason why I posted this. I know lui is hard at work trying to make smwcp2 work properly and I want him to feel appreciated and good about himself and push forward and make that project, at long last, see the light of day (not to mention his music is fucking sweet).
I actually care about you guys ok ;-;


Originally posted by Kaisaan Siddiqui
post

Alright, listen, people would like you a lot more if you:
1) Stopped using ellipses in every single post you make and sometimes every single sentence. Look buddy, it doesn't make you look cool or mysterious or like a stock misanthropic anime character who spends most of their time looking into the distance with half-closed eyes and sometimes leaning on a wall. It makes you look dumb ("you" as in "literally anybody who does that", not you specifically).

2) Stopped grasping at straws when you're proved wrong in a discussion, you've done that twice already. It's really tiresome and, again, makes you look dumb (see above about the usage of "you" in here).

You're one of the users I want to see improve (and I don't like to see people leaving, unless they're total assholes, which is not your case), so please follow those two "steps", it'd already help a lot #smw{:TUP:}.


This is a nice thread #tb{:]}.

I actually left the site for some years when I got frustrated with a huge part of the community. Plus the drama.

Now I try to avoid the drama and parts of the community I don't care for. When I did that I had tons more fun with the site.

Just my two cents. Would hate to see you leave.
I just don't give a shit about anything. At this point I watch the community from afar and get my hands dirty every once in a while.

It's still my home.
Originally posted by Magiluigi
Originally posted by Kaisaan Siddiqui
post

Alright, listen, people would like you a lot more if you:
1) Stopped using ellipses in every single post you make and sometimes every single sentence. Look buddy, it doesn't make you look cool or mysterious or like a stock misanthropic anime character who spends most of their time looking into the distance with half-closed eyes and sometimes leaning on a wall. It makes you look dumb ("you" as in "literally anybody who does that", not you specifically).

2) Stopped grasping at straws when you're proved wrong in a discussion, you've done that twice already. It's really tiresome and, again, makes you look dumb (see above about the usage of "you" in here).

You're one of the users I want to see improve (and I don't like to see people leaving, unless they're total assholes, which is not your case), so please follow those two "steps", it'd already help a lot #smw{:TUP:}.


I'm willing to change for this. This is a nice thread
I sat here for a while thinking about anything of substance I could actually add to this, considering at this point I think I've breached the barrier from "average user" to "apprentice old-fag" (For those who care, a little over 4 years. I was 13 when I joined, now 17).

I haven't hacked seriously in a very long time, and my list of total levels I've ever made in LM hovers about 30 or so. I've never bothered playing hacks, or venturing beyond anything that wasn't vanilla in my designing. So the main draw of the site, at least for me, has been lost. And yet, I stick around.

I might be just someone who has nowhere else to go, or too much of a coward to find somewhere else, but this place always has, and still feels, like home. Maybe I'm just scared of change. Maybe it's the fact that the only thing you need to do to flip between a place where everyone knows your name to a place where you're just another user chatting is to change the irc channel.

I'm still not sure why I'm still here, but there's still something pulling me back here nearly everyday I'm online. Maybe eventually that thing will fade away, and so will I. Maybe that'll be tomorrow, or in another year or two. I at least know now that I'm not the only one who feels, in some way, similar to this.

tl;dr: meh.
Later.
I don't blame anyone who thought this was a joke at first, seeing who made it (sorry, ladida, no offense meant though) and the fact that joke threads that are meant to look serious have been done before (aka that thread about the WoI). I also wasn't sure if this was serious at first, but since everyone is taking it seriously, so I will.

That aside, I also feel distanced from the community lately, a lot of times, I don't even feel like posting, or even reading threads but not for the same reasons. Reading the posts here, I see many people complaining about the lack of "fun" threads, which personally I could care less, since I don't share that kind of humor. I do agree site is becoming bland though, but it's not just the "fun" that is missing, activity in general, people hacking, initiative, everything is slowly going down and so is my motivation to post here and I feel I might end up disappearing slowly one day.

I miss the days when there were people like AxemJinx and Rameau's Nephew trying to help others with their level design, or people like Zeldara questioning what's established as good or bad, or when we had a lot of more people composing music, drawing graphics or coding ASM, and when people had the initiative to work on team hacks. And yes, we still have people like that, but way less than before. Nowadays I don't feel like speaking for level design as I did before, or pretty much anything for that matter because I don't feel anyone would be interested in listening to what I have to say.

Finally, I also feel we are running low on events. Last year only one 24hoSMW contest was hosted and no winter contest was done. This year, the VLDC collab drained out four months worth of events. Also a lot of these events are exclusive to some type of hackers, for example, the 24hoSPC was a good idea and I'm not saying something like this shouldn't be hosted again (on the contrary!), but you can't participate unless you're a music porter. Those contests only take 24 hours, so hosting more 24hoSMW along with other 24 hour contests should be perfectly possible.

This post ended up being longer than I expected, I really didn't want to write a wall of text.
Now, as for me, I was happy enough just to see that this place is still around, several hundred internet years later...
I don't know. My relationship with this site is weird. I don't have as huge of an influence as you do, but a fair amount of people recognize me, which I think makes staying here a lot more understandable to me than if if it was just the community alone. That feeling is probably even stronger for you.
I probably won't be leaving for a long time (I've taken breaks before). It's not because I'm thrilled to be here. I've stopped posting as much as I used to. Part of it is probably to do with me knowing a lot of people here, and part of it is probably just because it's become a habit. I'm pretty sure SMWCentral is one of my most visited sites and that shows that I can't possibly say that I resent this place.

There are just quite a lot of users that take things way too seriously.
It might just be a phase though. I know that I thought hacking should be taken more seriously for a while, but I didn't know what that really meant back then. There are also a bunch of users who are fully aware of their bad habits, yet they don't do anything about it.

There's obviously something that has changed about the site. There are a handful of users who left and a bunch of staff members have become much more inactive. I don't know if it's the userbase itself though. I think it's more the tone of the site in general that's changed.
The site has become a lot more uniform. We now have "affiliates" and we've swallowed a whole bunch of other games into our sections. The site just feels a lot less cozy than it used to. The staff team mirrors this as well (not all of them).

Things don't have to be so strict. There's no reason for it to be. It won't improve things. Hacking will never be professional.
Originally posted by Various staff members
Good responses

I was a bit tired when I wrote my post so I forgot to mention that I'm actually really glad how much more responsive the staff team have gotten lately. The only thing I'm really missing is a more instant way to contact staff via irc. While I've found Alcaro to be great as a pocket staff for dealing with crazy avatars and post layouts there's been a few times where I've seen spammy or outright offensive posts and have no way to alert staff (recent examples: comp & tech referral link thread, animal abuse in media).

I've mentioned it to a few staff members on irc that I'd love to see an official way to contact "all staff" about an issue and have a staff member open up a query and see if they can resolve it. I especially think this could have helped resolve some quick misunderstandings about some recent bans (though those misunderstandings were still resolved super quickly thanks to some very caring staff members <3).

[EDIT] On the topic of events: Yeah I think there could be more hacking events (the recent VLDC's have been fantastic) but I also think there needs to be more general site-wide events that brings all active members together to do something fun. I consider some simple fun threads to be events as well, especially those that bring in creativity.
  • Pages:
  • 1
  • 2