[urgent] this site really is actually dying

[Kiesen]

I'm not the oldest player you'll find, but I've been here for over a decade, so I figure my observations might have some merit.

1. Forums are generally a dying breed. The internet has been consolidating into a few websites at a faster and faster pace since the mid 2000s. People are less interested (or even unaware that they can do such a thing) in setting up a niche website compared to accessing hours upon hours of content with thousands of people that apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tiktok provide. And that's not even touching on how much easier it is to talk to people with non-website based means, such as Discord, because phones are so commonplace and often times what people have over a traditional computer/laptop because they're cheaper.

To those that don't know: you used to have to pay for calls and texts there was no "unlimited talk and text," and while some phones had access to the internet, it was so expensive and impractical nobody did that.

2. The site is archaic compared to other website-based games. Flight Rising in particular took out a lot of the player base because it offered a LOT more to do at a very accessible level.

3. The staff are inactive and the moderation they can provide ranges from unhelpful to actively hostile. Whereas in the past you might've found someone who cares about blatant rule breaking such as theft, you're more likely to get a shrug and "We can't do anything about that." And details aside, I'm still blocked by a damn staff member nearly a decade later, and earlier this year when I contacted other staff to have it dealt with because I find it unprofessional (among other things), I was told that they have a right to do that.

Now my biggest gripe with the site:

4. The user-made adoptables section is a damn soulless cesspit. I'm not saying that people have to make art for free, but the amount of adoptables being produced that place a price tag for 90% of their designs is jarring to me. Even closed adoptables, which are my bread and butter, seemingly only produce worthwhile designs for a cost, everybody else can get scraps. And the staple special designs for their markers (i.e. the 100th main adopt, the 1000th, etc.) are asking for something in return, usually with a high C$ price point to encourage users to instead opt for the real life currency price. Everything is about hustling and it isolates the amount of people who will want to engage, y'know, like kids or adults who can't afford to shill out $60.

A decade ago, it was egregious to ask for something for a closed adoptable that wasn't CS pets. Around 2014-2015 some slips of designs asking for money got in there, but for the most part, it wasn't everything. People made designs and they hosted competitions, often time very vicious, which kept people coming back day after day producing new art and writing. Each adoptable had their own problems and nuances but it surely had a fanbase who kept trying and supported each other in that trying. Now it's basically gone.

[wheatleys]

Now my biggest gripe with the site:

4. The user-made adoptables section is a damn soulless cesspit. I'm not saying that people have to make art for free, but the amount of adoptables being produced that place a price tag for 90% of their designs is jarring to me. Even closed adoptables, which are my bread and butter, seemingly only produce worthwhile designs for a cost, everybody else can get scraps. And the staple special designs for their markers (i.e. the 100th main adopt, the 1000th, etc.) are asking for something in return, usually with a high C$ price point to encourage users to instead opt for the real life currency price. Everything is about hustling and it isolates the amount of people who will want to engage, y'know, like kids or adults who can't afford to shill out $60.

A decade ago, it was egregious to ask for something for a closed adoptable that wasn't CS pets. Around 2014-2015 some slips of designs asking for money got in there, but for the most part, it wasn't everything. People made designs and they hosted competitions, often time very vicious, which kept people coming back day after day producing new art and writing. Each adoptable had their own problems and nuances but it surely had a fanbase who kept trying and supported each other in that trying. Now it's basically gone.

i don’t want to sound rude, but people are allowed to charge for their hard work. if you don’t have the money or don’t want to pay, that’s your own choice. there’s always people that will take bribes or cs pets— it might be harder to find, but they’re there. not to mention that it’s not just chicken smoothie, it’s like this everywhere. i’ve never been active in closed species communities but people will charge what they see fit, and they have the right to do that. a likely reason people ask for real life currency nowadays is because they’ve grown up and need to support themselves financially.

i also think it’s a little unfair to expect someone to unblock you. they have their own reasons and at the end of the day, if they don’t want to, they don’t have to.

[Kiesen]

Now my biggest gripe with the site:

4. The user-made adoptables section is a damn soulless cesspit. I'm not saying that people have to make art for free, but the amount of adoptables being produced that place a price tag for 90% of their designs is jarring to me. Even closed adoptables, which are my bread and butter, seemingly only produce worthwhile designs for a cost, everybody else can get scraps. And the staple special designs for their markers (i.e. the 100th main adopt, the 1000th, etc.) are asking for something in return, usually with a high C$ price point to encourage users to instead opt for the real life currency price. Everything is about hustling and it isolates the amount of people who will want to engage, y'know, like kids or adults who can't afford to shill out $60.

A decade ago, it was egregious to ask for something for a closed adoptable that wasn't CS pets. Around 2014-2015 some slips of designs asking for money got in there, but for the most part, it wasn't everything. People made designs and they hosted competitions, often time very vicious, which kept people coming back day after day producing new art and writing. Each adoptable had their own problems and nuances but it surely had a fanbase who kept trying and supported each other in that trying. Now it's basically gone.

i don’t want to sound rude, but people are allowed to charge for their hard work. if you don’t have the money or don’t want to pay, that’s your own choice. there’s always people that will take bribes or cs pets— it might be harder to find, but they’re there. not to mention that it’s not just chicken smoothie, it’s like this everywhere. i’ve never been active in closed species communities but people will charge what they see fit, and they have the right to do that. a likely reason people ask for real life currency nowadays is because they’ve grown up and need to support themselves financially.

i also think it’s a little unfair to expect someone to unblock you. they have their own reasons and at the end of the day, if they don’t want to, they don’t have to.

It doesn't come off as rude, but I said it myself that I don't think people have to make stuff for free. It's just soulless how everything has shifted to hustle, hustle, hustle. I actively buy designs and commission art, so don't think I'm asking for handouts. But when people are using the backbone of a system that operated as free and creativity based and then turned it into a pay-to-win process it's annoying.

The exact details of why the person blocked me might add more weight to why I think it's wrong (feel free to PM me about it, I'm not putting it out publicly), but in general, somebody acting as staff shouldn't be disengaging from their userbase like that. It's unprofessional. You don't walk into a physical business and get ignored by staff regardless of their feelings about you because behavior like that is seen as rude and unprofessional.

[axes]

not even gonna comment on the artists getting paid decently for their hours of work thing but on the blocking thing:
where I work if someone we don't get along with engages with us like asking a question or something, we go to another associate and ask them to take care of the customer. it is absolutely a thing that happens in the workplace in the real world and even if it wasnt CS staff aren't being paid to moderate so I dont see why theyd need to be held to the same standards as a store or something.

[LilMissFerret]

not even gonna comment on the artists getting paid decently for their hours of work thing but on the blocking thing:
where I work if someone we don't get along with engages with us like asking a question or something, we go to another associate and ask them to take care of the customer. it is absolutely a thing that happens in the workplace in the real world and even if it wasnt CS staff aren't being paid to moderate so I dont see why theyd need to be held to the same standards as a store or something.

This. If a customer is making you uncomfortable or you are unable to be professional because of some sort of situation, you should absolutely step away. It’s much better than having your employee engage in unsavory customer interactions.

There are plenty of staff members here, even if they aren’t online, there’s no need to force one to interact with someone they can’t or don’t want to deal with.

[Serial designation N]

I personally find that the whole “can’t block mods” thing to be problematic for the site. If I ever find myself uncomfortable with a moderator,I’d be out of luck so it discourages me from interacting with any. Mods are just normal people to and not all are going to act in a way a mod should. It happens on any site. Any time I visit the setting for blocked users,I am always reminded that mods cannot be blocked. If mods can block us,we should be able to block them as well. I understand that moderators need to be able to do their job and interact if need be,but i don’t think that is really a good reason to render them “unblockable”. If mods don’t have to interact with people they are uncomfortable with ,I don’t think Normal members should have to interact with mods that they aren’t comfortable with just because of their account status. Just a personal thought,I know there are probably problems with this,but I don’t have much else to say about it.

[huskyhiccups]

I personally find that the whole “can’t block mods” thing to be problematic for the site. If I ever find myself uncomfortable with a moderator,I’d be out of luck so it discourages me from interacting with any. Mods are just normal people to and not all are going to act in a way a mod should. It happens on any site. Any time I visit the setting for blocked users,I am always reminded that mods cannot be blocked. If mods can block us,we should be able to block them as well. I understand that moderators need to be able to do their job and interact if need be,but i don’t think that is really a good reason to render them “unblockable”. If mods don’t have to interact with people they are uncomfortable with ,I don’t think Normal members should have to interact with mods that they aren’t comfortable with just because of their account status. Just a personal thought,I know there are probably problems with this,but I don’t have much else to say about it.

Giant agree from me.

[Lacuna]

Just want to clarify, if you could block moderators it would be very easy to block ALL moderators, which is clearly a problem. If there's someone specific you don't want to interact with you can send in a help request about that so an admin can inform them.

[HamLikesHam]

I had an idea and it’s probably stupid but…
What if people was selling art here, not for c$, not for USD, but for music?

Like think of it. All the producers and mixers could make music for a peice of art they want to buy. I was wondering if that was possible?

[Lanayru]

I personally find that the whole “can’t block mods” thing to be problematic for the site. If I ever find myself uncomfortable with a moderator,I’d be out of luck so it discourages me from interacting with any. Mods are just normal people to and not all are going to act in a way a mod should. It happens on any site. Any time I visit the setting for blocked users,I am always reminded that mods cannot be blocked. If mods can block us,we should be able to block them as well. I understand that moderators need to be able to do their job and interact if need be,but i don’t think that is really a good reason to render them “unblockable”. If mods don’t have to interact with people they are uncomfortable with ,I don’t think Normal members should have to interact with mods that they aren’t comfortable with just because of their account status. Just a personal thought,I know there are probably problems with this,but I don’t have much else to say about it.

Giant agree from me.

Thirding this. While obviously blocking every mod would be a problem on paper (whether it'd actually happen is another thing) the fact that I can't mutually block an user who blocked me makes me uncomfortable, and I'd imagine them seeing me interacting with them would make them uncomfortable too. It's not as simple as "well just tell the other staff you don't want them handling your reports!!"...