sell/giveaway this site

[Cloverstream]

If you were active on these threads (which is where information was disseminated by post or when they were locked, so those who were concerned received it) it probably seems like this was a world-ending issue, but, in fact, the vast majority of users were not affected or aware. As I said, it was not CS's security that was compromised. Making a global announcement about a relatively small number of accounts being compromised with insecure passwords does not make sense if there is no real information to share about changes that will affect everyone yet.

> this i don't agree with in the slightest. a "small number" of compromised accounts
that resulted in- what- hundreds of reversed trades? people being put into debt?? i
don't think you're being fair to the users that were effected, either. they're still a
part of the community. your response seems entirely indifferent to the problems.

Agree. I don’t think minimizing things is constructive. I really love cs and the community- I hate seeing so many awesome people affected. It is not just a few In my opinion.):

[macintalk]

i'd just like to say the real thing that incited panic when it comes to this hacking situation is the fact every single thread trying to gather information and find out what was going on was instantly locked by mods, leading to the userbase to feel like they were being outcasted, ignored, and kept in the dark. a small announcement that they were working on it would not have caused MORE panic

[Lex.]

I want to clarify that this will be the last post I make on this thread because I have other responsibilities to attend to. I will admit that I feel frustrated in trying to convey information and having people then twist and look for holes in it because they think that I am trying to cover something up or be dishonest when I truly want the best for the users and CS.

I truly believe that a sitewide announcement would have done more harm than good based on the facts of the situation. Many people have distorted those facts in this thread even after statements from both Nick and myself to the contrary also in this thread, which is why some people think it is so serious that CS's security was compromised. That only shows that a sitewide announcement would have incited more panic and incorrect info if it was vague. Big changes cannot happen instantaneously, and I do believe that the sincere requests for specific security changes were helpful to understand what people are interested in, but not everything is possible or the most helpful solution so they may not be implemented.

Please be patient for the detailed announcement that will be available as soon as possible.

If you truly wanted the best for users and CS why belittle everyone that has been affected? It just seems that there is a lack of accountability and dodging a lot of suggestions that users have suggested. Not only that but how would an announcement make things worse? That is literally anti-transparency, what the mods said they would do better on in the OTHER sell CS thread.
In my opinion, that just seems disingenuous. [not to be mean.]

[illumié]

I feel the issue is with the timing, not the statements. An earlier response may have yielded better results. But, I suppose that hypothesis means just as little now.

A detailed announcement will be appreciated.

[skylark]

I agree with @illumié's points.

Additionally, despite the fact that the hackers were only able to do this because of data breaches on other websites does not mean that it's not also a chicken smoothie security problem. /nm The other beaches have brought to light glaring issues with cs's current system. We were watching as multiple accounts a day were getting hacked, having outbursts, and being suspended. And with no staff response, users were stuck waiting to see whether or not they or someone they know would get compromised as well. That's scary, and why many players were asking for some urgency on the staff's end to come up with both temporary and long-term solutions to stop the ongoing hackings.

We've been relying solely on the user base to get the word out about what's happening and what to do. /nm If there weren't so many user-made awareness posts being spread around, I wouldn't have known to update and secure my accounts and could have easily been preyed on by the hackers as well.

Staff really ought to make an official, visible post explaining what's happening, the safety tips to follow that users have graciously been spreading, and reassurance that it's being fixed. Similar to what's been posted on the threads, just on the front page!

I understand that this is a super stressful situation for all involved and I'm really appreciative of all the effort being made by staff to fix it! /gen

edit: Also wanted to mention, I'm not sure that I'm in favor of the site being sold, but I think more coders and maybe administrators are necessary and could have made dealing with this situation way more efficient.

[kitsuwn]

i'd just like to say the real thing that incited panic when it comes to this hacking situation is the fact every single thread trying to gather information and find out what was going on was instantly locked by mods, leading to the userbase to feel like they were being outcasted, ignored, and kept in the dark. a small announcement that they were working on it would not have caused MORE panic

this!! the reason people are panicking is because we don't feel like we're being heard. people would not have panicked (or at least not to this extent) had there been some kind of announcement.

[asta,]

i'd just like to say the real thing that incited panic when it comes to this hacking situation is the fact every single thread trying to gather information and find out what was going on was instantly locked by mods, leading to the userbase to feel like they were being outcasted, ignored, and kept in the dark. a small announcement that they were working on it would not have caused MORE panic

> this is a key point i forgot to mention in my original post. the reason there was
so much panic was because when people were wondering about reversed trades,
the threads were locked with minimal information given other than mentioning a
compromised account-- a reoccurring theme that 100% caused more panic... an
announcement would have diffused the situation before it began. it wouldn't
have incited any more panic than the lack of response did.

[hellevi]

i'd just like to say the real thing that incited panic when it comes to this hacking situation is the fact every single thread trying to gather information and find out what was going on was instantly locked by mods, leading to the userbase to feel like they were being outcasted, ignored, and kept in the dark. a small announcement that they were working on it would not have caused MORE panic

> this is a key point i forgot to mention in my original post. the reason there was
so much panic was because when people were wondering about reversed trades,
the threads were locked with minimal information given other than mentioning a
compromised account-- a reoccurring theme that 100% caused more panic... an
announcement would have diffused the situation before it began. it wouldn't
have incited any more panic than the lack of response did.

topics are not locked for simply discussing events that are occurring. the thread that was asking what trades got reversed was up and running for a decent time and was also where much of the information was disseminated. the issue comes from these discussions quickly turning into something that is rule-breaking. a majority of these threads had rules in place to prevent them from getting locked, but many users still did not follow them, hence why they were all locked so quickly. it was never the intention to make users feel ignored but to instead, still enforce the rules of the site and ensure privacy.

[TheMamba]

I don't agree with selling it. This could lead to CS being changed completely (but not in a good way). Remember what happened when Elon Musk bought Twitter? I agree with hiring more coders though.

[captain dude]

Personally I wish they would actually hire people, even one or two, since to my knowledge all CS staff are volunteers. But I like how this site has a casual "old web" friendly neighborhood feel instead of something more corporatized, so I don't think this should be bought by a bigger company.

I agree with Cat on this one!!! I LOVE the fact that this site is such a blast from the past! I seriously feel like I stepped back into 2008 in a good way.

CS’s small site feel and its old school style will always have a special place in my heart that I don’t know selling would improve. I love this site and its original owners and I feel like it’d lose a lot of what makes it unique if that happened.

It was so special to me I came back after all these years. I feel like it needs to stay under Tess and Nick’s guidance, maybe hire some new staff to update security and make a few improvements here and there.

I think that selling would likely turn this site more highly monetized, which wouldn’t benefit users who are strapped for cash and use this site for cheap entertainment (like myself). Other sites that I used back in the day such as Webkinz went that way and I’d hate to see CS do the same… I’d hate for it to become somewhere where you’re constantly nickel-and-dimed and those who don’t want to pay always feel like they’re playing in Lite Mode and it’s not the same experience as those willing to shell out. I love how right now, even things that are paid options like C$ can be obtained if you work hard for it with trading, art, writing, characters, etc.