WHY PEOPLE ARE QUITTING CS- A Discussion

[Elm]

Really appreciate the staff adding the games in the archives! <3 It means a lot to see some changes so soon already, as others have said it’d be nice to see an official post telling us what else is being worked on behind the scenes- even if they wont be added immediately

[skypony101]

i know a big thing that would help a lot of people would be being able to sort your groups by rarity.
also, whats all the drama with the mods? im not very active on any forums nor do i search for the info, so is there any threads i can read to catch up on all the problems/drama in recent years? i like reading that stuff lol

[TheSongOfTheStars]

So much appreciation to see the games up in the archive! I know it's not the big change some people would like to see but I find it very heartening to see that we are not being ignored

[tiredddd]

i know a big thing that would help a lot of people would be being able to sort your groups by rarity.
also, whats all the drama with the mods? im not very active on any forums nor do i search for the info, so is there any threads i can read to catch up on all the problems/drama in recent years? i like reading that stuff lol

Not really "drama" but i can say whats going on, people arent really happy with the way tess and (sort of) nick have been mia for a while, theres suggestions that are left to rot, some since 2011 even. site is dying, theres no transparency. we dont even know the roles of the different staff positions (ex: whats the difference between admin assistant and admin and what do the roles do?) we dont know the difference between a board warning and a mod pming you about an issue/ what warrants either or of them, and overall its a mess, i recomend reading the original post to this thread too if you havent already

please see oddity-lad's most recent post to this thread too for an update
Forum/viewtopic.php?f=119&t=4885370&start=1920#p142668319

[tiredddd]

So much appreciation to see the games up in the archive! I know it's not the big change some people would like to see but I find it very heartening to see that we are not being ignored

this!! its a good start!

[ChocolateGryphon]

Does anyone know if direct messages sent to admins/owners are usually responded to in a timely manner and taken into consideration, or if things are usually dealt with in a robotic manner and it takes a long time to even reach someone? Does anyone have experience with that? I’ve been sitting on an issue that happened to me a while back on the site but haven’t bothered with direct messaging admins because like everyone else I just felt like this site is dead and I probably won’t get a response and if I do then it would just direct me to the rule board or something. But the issue has been bothering me for a while and was always a regret and big disappointment on this site for me but it requires a conversation and an admin or someone to actually hear me out

[Sharpy]

Does anyone know if direct messages sent to admins/owners are usually responded to in a timely manner and taken into consideration, or if things are usually dealt with in a robotic manner and it takes a long time to even reach someone? Does anyone have experience with that? I’ve been sitting on an issue that happened to me a while back on the site but haven’t bothered with direct messaging admins because like everyone else I just felt like this site is dead and I probably won’t get a response and if I do then it would just direct me to the rule board or something. But the issue has been bothering me for a while and was always a regret and big disappointment on this site for me but it requires a conversation and an admin or someone to actually hear me out

In my instance, I emailed them directly and they responded within a day or two, and kept an open line of communication with me throughout! I thought it was really nice.

[ChocolateGryphon]

Does anyone know if direct messages sent to admins/owners are usually responded to in a timely manner and taken into consideration, or if things are usually dealt with in a robotic manner and it takes a long time to even reach someone? Does anyone have experience with that? I’ve been sitting on an issue that happened to me a while back on the site but haven’t bothered with direct messaging admins because like everyone else I just felt like this site is dead and I probably won’t get a response and if I do then it would just direct me to the rule board or something. But the issue has been bothering me for a while and was always a regret and big disappointment on this site for me but it requires a conversation and an admin or someone to actually hear me out

In my instance, I emailed them directly and they responded within a day or two, and kept an open line of communication with me throughout! I thought it was really nice.

That’s great to know, I’ll try messaging then. Thanks!

[Keero]

I've debated posting on threads like these for a long while, as they do pop up often enough and spur many emotions for me each time I see them. CS has been a major part of my life and has given me life-long friends that I now could not do without. I don't think I have anything all that new to add to these threads, but I do wish to put my two cents in. I'm not here to start a debate, these are just my raw thoughts on all that's been going on.

Thank you to all the admins and support staff that have responded to these threads and share the sentiment of the player base. I used to think CS was coming to an end just because of the times. Forums are a thing of the past and it's difficult to get the next generation of players interested in them. I admit, the comments I have seen here, have made me think otherwise. CS doesn't advertise itself like other websites and most of who are here have found it by word of mouth. Almost anything can be brought back from the brink of death if it garners enough interest. However, forgive me, but I will say that over-moderation killed a lot of the forums over the years. I know CS is geared toward being child-friendly, but a quick look at the user base makes me think it might be time to move away from that. The early years during which I was on CS had an entirely different feel on the forums. Being silly was completely in line with the site and encouraged, so long as it was not entirely spam. I was just a kid back then, but I helped run a thread that was completely ridiculous: we just chatted about a make-believe battle against snails. This would never fly nowadays. Those 218 pages were an absolute blast, though. Not saying the forums need something to that level of silly to be allowed, but, again, things were different back then in 2010. Another huge hit that got killed off was the things that annoy you thread. I know there was drama regarding the thread, but it was such an easy place to get some relief from the struggles of life, just by venting in a mostly safe space behind a username. The death of this thread began the death of the CS forums, as far as I could tell. Or at least, combined with changes to the roleplay forums, it did. Very few people roleplay on the CS forums now. Is it because discord chats are easier or because CS became too strict? I'd like to think it was both.

I've never been huge on trading, but what's been said makes sense- new players are continuously at a larger and larger disadvantage. I'm not entirely sure if this has been said before, but my solution to this is to give new players a gift box with rare pets (not as rare as Dec 18th pets) but have these pets locked from trades for a month or so to make sure they have an understanding of the trading system if they are still actively playing. It would add to the economy and give a boost to new players. Or, better yet, offer an interactive tutorial of sorts to the trading system that would reward the new player with a random rare or two upon completion.

Finally, I respect that Tess and Nick have likely moved on with their lives and are busy adults with lots on their plates. I thank them both for not shutting the site down and at least keeping it running with events and bare minimum changes. I think, though, it may be time for them to give more control to other staff members and see where the site goes when controlled by the player base. It seems that the community has plenty of ideas and suggestions, but they're just too much of an undertaking for Tess and Nick right now. This community is strong; I'm sure we could put all of our strengths together to make it thrive once more, if given the chance.

Also, thank you for adding mini-games to the archive! It's a sweet walk down memory lane to see them all again.

[sighs_alot]

I appreciate Tess and Nick and all the mods but if they don’t have the time or passion for chicken smoothie I think they should give the reigns to people who do care or at least sell it.

Flight rising has a raffle system that gives out rare colour combos and genes and I feel like something similar could be done here. Like a raffle for very rares and old rares and up, one ticket per person no way to buy more tickets.

I think the introduction of CS$ was not a good idea, or at least what it has turned into. I can’t trade with people anymore because they just want CS$ instead of pets. You can’t interact with adopts because they want CS$.
I don’t think CS$ should be tradeable or it needs a complete rework as it has almost destroyed trading (side eyes “the list”). Plus if this sight is truly geared toward younger kids than all of this I have mentioned would be very discouraging and almost pressures you to buy CS$ to play the game.

I don’t know if this is the case anymore but CS was very against selling adopts or anything for real money, but I fail to see the difference in spending real money on CS$ just to buy pets or designs. You spend real money either way.
It comes across as CS has to be the middle man, “if you give us money then it’s fine.” I guess every premium currency is this way and I’ve never liked it on any game. I understand it’s how they make money to keep the site up but it seems very hypocritical and for younger kids it’s just not viable. I know my parents would never buy something like that for me.