Thank you to everyone who sent holiday e-cards. I'll have them up on site here this weekend sometime, and I hope to have mine ready and posted here by then too. Also, my holiday shopping is finally done.
The second installment to my holiday story is up.
More specific information is out about Version Vibrant. In a comment to an Otaku Opinion Poll over on the TheO main page recently, Adam specifically stated that the customizations of MyO will NOT be carried over to the new version. Personally, that's the burg what sank Titanic if you ask me, part of the fun of blogging here is the ability to do things with the page that other sites don't allow, or make difficult. See this week's Otaku Opinion Poll comments for Adam's in context and unedited posting. I'm annoyed cause the time I was putting into a new theme could have been better spent on the artwork I'm overdue on.
Also in Version Vibrant related news, Adam is working on several "user groups" of admin appointed member titles. He provided basic information on one such title, tentatively the "Otaku Honor Guard" which will probably spiral into friends of staff and be the biggest group of condoned harrassers on Version Vibrant. Based on what Adam provided about that particular user group's function. I can easily see people using it for, as SomeGuy put it in his comment on the post "backseat modding". I do not see that concept working as it is intended.
My Cell phone provider is a complete [Censored]. They fouled up my voicemail account and I told them that if they don't fix it, they can play their games all they want I'll take my business to another more reliable provider. I will do that when my current obligation runs out in late January.
Comments
NekoMimi16:
I can't speak for my own writing style or ability. Every artist is hyper critical of his or her own works. Read and just decide that for yourself is all I can offer.
I know people who don't have daily or weekly access to sacanners or digital cameras, so they tend to upload a lot when they have the time and resources to do so. I don't really think it's fair to that type of user to cap the number they can submit cause certain artists are whining that their works aren't getting views and such. Adam also caused part of the problem by setting up the system to bypass moderation after so many works are submitted. He set the system up to be flooded with works that way. Maybe he should start by rescinding that "hidden" feature and seeing how that works first. It still takes my works a while to show up, mine have to go through moderation, why should someone else's works not have that same process just cause they submitted more works over time? That's hardly fair either.
Shireishou:
Nice to see you around again. I was wondering what happened to you.
the titles for all fo the pieces actually came from statements in the comment that inspired the artwork. Just knowing I did a good job on it, and that you like it is saying enough.
Well, I don't want to get you in trouble for being online. come around when you can, but don't push it to get on if your boss don't like it too well. Best of luck with the new job.
Yeah, a lot is going down right now, and in the near future I think. The Version Vibrant thing has a lot of people really confused and there's a lot of conflicting info going around about it, that's why I'm putting together a comprehensive report on Version Vibrant, what's to expect with it, what's going to change, how will it affect MyO and so on. Just keep reading my blog here when you can, I'll have Version Vibrant updates on it as often as I can.
I miss your posts too, I hope to see you back in action here real soon.
AngelBest Dream:
Gathering information is something I'm told I'm good at, but seeing "the whole picture" in this case is more luck than anything else. Spotting gems requires being in the right place at the right time to see that stuff. Like that first Version Vibrant piece I posted. Normally I don't respond to those polls, but that one I had to, and sure enough there was Adam's statement regarding the MyO customizations.
I don't pretend to know the ins and outs of web commerce and site proffitability, but I think in the end it comes down to the question "who is the site for?" If the bulk of what's being done is to resemble competing sites or web models, or to cater to advertiser whims, then the site shouldn't be there at all in my opinion. This site is about the members, what the members provide in feedback should at least have some bearing on the future developments of the site. Yahoo! fails to consider it's members' opinions when it changes features and things, and that site is falling apart more and more each day in terms of features randomly breaking down, long-time features not working for over a year or more, and so on. It's an insult to the members to tell them "this is how it's going to be and you're going to like it.", that's antagonistic, and counter productive to wanting to bring more people in.
I don't think restricting the number of art each member can submit in a day is the solution to the problem. The problem isn't the number of works being submitted, it's about popularity, plain and simple. There's a faction of ill-tempered artists on here who went whining to Adam about not getting high view counts and demanding that the "flood of 'inferior to mine' art be stopped by limiting the number of works they can submit" to the point he's blindly taken that road. I can see a number of good anime fan artists being turned off to TheO for it having that submission restriction feature. No site as big as what Adam wants to make this has that kind of self-inflicted shot in the foot type of feature. And I can see real problems coming if the submission upload page does not provide clear and direct information on the submission limits as well.
I don't comment on every artwork I view, I don't vote on every artwork I view, and I don't favorite every artwork I view either. I have to be moved to do those things, something has to stir in me the passion to say something profound and intelligent. I'm not the type of person to just pop in and go "Dazz c00l!" to a piece of art, just to say I commented on the art. I could comment more than I do, I realize that, but number of comments isn't going to go up for those artists who think limiting the amount of submissions we can upload here is going to get them more views. If people aren't lookng now, they're not going to look when there's "less filler" as some would say. It just won't happen. I'd like to see what other asinine ways they try to beat Adam into implementing to gain those numbers that they crave, cause I guarantee you, they won't work either.
If that's about the calendar or the novel, I'm not giving up on the novel, I just have to change my approach and list my landline phone in future solicitations with the manuscript/proposal package. The Calendar will not be valid after next year so it's pretty much a wash considering it hadn't sold a single copy since I made it available. No point dwelling on the failures, just the possibilities right now. If it's about something else, I'm not sure I know what you mean.
