Closing Open Registration on January 15th

[Diana]

However I do have the concern of what if in real life I get too busy to keep up with my roleplays then I get free time to go again and want to come back but this rule is still active and my account has been deleted due to inactivity.

You would have to be inactive (not log in AT ALL) for an entire YEAR before this ever became a possibility! People that go inactive that long, rarely ever come back.

BUT. we will definitely have open registration dates on a regular basis. So invites won't be the only way to get re-registered if this does happen.

 

[Andy]

You would have to be inactive (not log in AT ALL) for an entire YEAR before this ever became a possibility! People that go inactive that long, rarely ever come back.

BUT. we will definitely have open registration dates on a regular basis. So invites won't be the only way to get re-registered if this does happen.

alright that makes me feel better haha :)

 

[Kagayours]

:/ I understand the reasoning behind this, but, I can't help but feel like it just gives off this sort of... exclusive vibe.

It's weird, having a site like this be some sort of fancy club that you can only get into after you've been personally hand-picked by someone already in it. Just seems weirdly... clique-ish. I feel like it would take away from the community feel somewhat, but, I'm having a hard time pinning down just how.

Hopefully these fears are just irrational, but, I can't help but worry... I totally understand where this decision came from, but, I just don't like the vibe it gives off...

 

[Kagayours]

BUT. we will definitely have open registration dates on a regular basis. So invites won't be the only way to get re-registered if this does happen.

Aaaand this makes me feel better.

 

[Kestrel]

The biggest issue is that we can't hire volunteers and staffers fast enough to handle the size. D: We have to find people who are trustworthy AND have time. AND train them on how to do both maintenance work as well as social work (member drama and so on). By the time we get someone trained, someone else has to retire because of life commitments, etc. With our current number of members we need AT LEAST 30 active staff members, and we're barely able to reach 20 (on a good season).

meanwhile, the amount of members we have just keeps growing, and growing, and growing. Without sufficient staff to keep them all under control, quality of life starts to suffer. Jobs don't get done. Things get messy. Social problems start to happen. Cases don't get handled fast enough.

So basically the workload is bigger than the staff can currently handle, is what you're saying? Are there many issues outside of GD? Does the community feel less tightly knit than intended? Aren't enough challenges and workshops posted? Quality of life isn't exactly the most descriptive term, y'see.

 

[Hecatoncheires]

Never been a part this sorta thing before. I think this will help if you guys do, though I do hope that one day people will be free to join, and spambots are at least funny enough to be tolerated

It's not just spambots this'll curb, mind. Closing registrations also kills a number of the techniques people have used to evade bans in the past as well.

It's a win-win from a security standpoint, and it gives the Staffies some time to regroup and re-staff.

 

[Gwazi Magnum]

Exactly how long does it take to train new staff members if Iwaku's losing them at the same rate they get trained?

Also, what level of activity is being used to define/differentiate between active and inactive members?

 

[LogicfromLogic]

I suggested to Diana that she let me ban at least a thousand members to cut down on the numbers, but she didn't want to go for that for some reason.

Fucking spoil sport.

But nah, locking down the registrations to folks our members already know comes with an added benefit. At the minute, the majority of bans we're throwing out are for spambots that keep finding ways to sneak past the spam detection systems we have in place to wreck merry spam-havoc across the board. Which is always a frustration. This way, no more spambots. Makes everyones' lives easier.

If she cut down her army wouldn't exist. Iwaku is all part of her plan to take over the world.

 

[Diana]

So basically the workload is bigger than the staff can currently handle, is what you're saying? Are there many issues outside of GD? Does the community feel less tightly knit than intended? Aren't enough challenges and workshops posted? Quality of life isn't exactly the most descriptive term, y'see.

All of the above. >:/ General is not the only place there are consistent problems. (it's just one of the most visible) Closer knit community is a bit subjective, but when you have fewer people it's a LOT easier to design the community in a way to please the majority with a higher success rate. The more members you have, the more they become faceless and you lose touch with what the site as a whole really needs. (Because you just CAN'T please that many people!)

Exactly how long does it take to train new staff members if Iwaku's losing them at the same rate they get trained?

That always depends on the circumstances. D: Some people learn faster than others, and sometimes we'll get like 3 people retiring in the same month. Sometimes we're able to hire a bunch at once. But in the long term it always ends up with us being short.

Also, what's level of activity is being used to define/differentiate between active and inactive members?

THAT member count is Daily Logins. That's how many people are actually logging in to the site on a semi daily basis.

 

[Kestrel]

All of the above. >:/ General is not the only place there are consistent problems. (it's just one of the most visible) Closer knit community is a bit subjective, but when you have fewer people it's a LOT easier to design the community in a way to please the majority with a higher success rate. The more members you have, the more they become faceless and you lose touch with what the site as a whole really needs. (Because you just CAN'T please that many people!)

Hm, alright. So basically tighter management and tighter user-centred design are the objectives.

 

[Hecatoncheires]

Hm, alright. So basically tighter management and tighter user-centred design are the objectives.

Way to suck all the fun out of it, Business Bot.

 

[Peter Feels]

Can you go into further detail regarding the reasoning behind this decision? What qualities do you believe are too difficult to manage right now? What is the in-out-ratio of active members? What do you look to boost versus what to discourage? etc.

From an outside perspective, this is immensely vague.

She doesn't want to work as hard.

 

[Kestrel]

Way to suck all the fun out of it, Business Bot.

Don't be so grumpy about it.

Bet you never heard that one before.

 

[Brovo]

Hm.

I'm okay with this. Adopting a "wait and see" for how effective this will be. I'm not really sure I can accurately measure how much of that 2500+ person activity is really role playing until the sections get fixed from the chaotic mess they are now.

If closed registrations bleed the well dry, we can always open them again anyway.

Therefore, no harm could really be found in this action.

Still, it would be interesting to know how the 2500+ person metric was derived. This site feels big, but more in the hundreds range, rather than thousands.

 

[Jorick]

Still, it would be interesting to know how the 2500+ person metric was derived. This site feels big, but more in the hundreds range, rather than thousands.

See this:

THAT member count is Daily Logins. That's how many people are actually logging in to the site on a semi daily basis.

 

[Brovo]

See this:

Had it answered via Skype. Thinking on it. We'll see how many of those logins translate to RP's outside of the landfill Libertine section.

 

[chillin]

I am so glad I signed up when I did, then! I'd probably be very sad and still searching for a good community and RPs if I didn't...

Also, you guys get new members, like, every day, so I think you'll be safe for a while.

 

[Snakey]

 

[Karakui]

is there a limit to how many people we can invite? I'd rather not go around inviting a bunch of people only to find out that I've run out of invites when I want to invite another person... (not that that's likely to happen, but just in case...)

 

[Diana]

is there a limit to how many people we can invite? I'd rather not go around inviting a bunch of people only to find out that I've run out of invites when I want to invite another person... (not that that's likely to happen, but just in case...)

There is no limit!