Apart from a few power outages and a some quickly dispatched trolls, Define Cynical has enjoyed relatively smooth sailing for the past year. Atleast that's my opinion. What do you think?
What do you guys think is/are the most important issue(s) for the community right now? Regarding features or moderation or anything else. Is there anything that needs to be added or revised?
Also last month the forum had an emergency move over to jent's servers, and there they have stayed. How has this affected page load times for everyone? The current setup is sure to be more stable hardware wise. But I haven't discussed long term plans much with jent yet, so I don't know if it's possible to keep it there.
Please share your thoughts on how DC is being run. I'm open to suggestions, and I'll put in the effort where it's needed.
Where should Define Cynical be going?
Moderator:Æron
Re: Where should Define Cynical be going?
Er, ignoring Doog ( 
) I'd say it's been good, though the tone of the board seems to have changed in a way I can't describe - not better or worse, just... different.
Moderation seems to be among the better of the forums I frequent, though I put forth the idea that having another one or two of the senior, trusted members having mod powers might help 'future-proof' the board against future dangers. Not a nomination process though, that could get ugly, rather, if a new mod is to be chosen, that it be done via private conference of current mods/admins/etc., the fanfare kept low. It's a 'job', not a status symbol.
As far as community issues, I don't frequent the Airport section of the forums, but it seems that new members sometimes don't feel welcome? I'm not sure how true that is, but it never helps to be kind to the newbies - everyone was one, once.
Would it be worth having a central 'fanart' upload space/page on the servers? A beefier version of the Fanworks section, with it's own FTP space, central page/collection of O&M fanwork. Eh, I guess that doesn't really make sense, and probably wouldn't be worth the bandwidth - honestly, it works well as it is. I know there's an O&M deviantart page somewhere, maybe make the link to that more apparent, so people looking for lots of O&M fanart will be able to find it without going through pages and pages of forum only to find dead links and etc.? *shrug*
Speed on jent's servers seem okay to me, though I'd be uncomfortable long-term about welcome being worn out - is the overall growth of DC on an upward curve, ie., likely to use up increacing bandwidth over time, or is it fairly steady?
That's pretty much all I can think of for suggestions, and it took a bit to get even that little bit. One of the better run forums I've come across, all in all.
) I'd say it's been good, though the tone of the board seems to have changed in a way I can't describe - not better or worse, just... different.Moderation seems to be among the better of the forums I frequent, though I put forth the idea that having another one or two of the senior, trusted members having mod powers might help 'future-proof' the board against future dangers. Not a nomination process though, that could get ugly, rather, if a new mod is to be chosen, that it be done via private conference of current mods/admins/etc., the fanfare kept low. It's a 'job', not a status symbol.
As far as community issues, I don't frequent the Airport section of the forums, but it seems that new members sometimes don't feel welcome? I'm not sure how true that is, but it never helps to be kind to the newbies - everyone was one, once.
Would it be worth having a central 'fanart' upload space/page on the servers? A beefier version of the Fanworks section, with it's own FTP space, central page/collection of O&M fanwork. Eh, I guess that doesn't really make sense, and probably wouldn't be worth the bandwidth - honestly, it works well as it is. I know there's an O&M deviantart page somewhere, maybe make the link to that more apparent, so people looking for lots of O&M fanart will be able to find it without going through pages and pages of forum only to find dead links and etc.? *shrug*
Speed on jent's servers seem okay to me, though I'd be uncomfortable long-term about welcome being worn out - is the overall growth of DC on an upward curve, ie., likely to use up increacing bandwidth over time, or is it fairly steady?
That's pretty much all I can think of for suggestions, and it took a bit to get even that little bit. One of the better run forums I've come across, all in all.
Loading times have been miserable for me. Sometimes a page just doesn't load completely and sometimes I have to reload it. I'm fairly sure it started when the server move occured. Sorry Jent, but that's what I've been getting.
I've tried to start fanart contests now and then to get a little community participation going. I think those sort of things are good, but I don't know in what other way they can be made.
To be blunt, not a lot of new people stay. Though they feel welcome because I've seen most say how they didn't except that many hello's to their introduction post, but they either just lurk or drift away. I don't know if anything could be done to keep them, it's really up to them if they want to stay.
I've heard at least one person say that Ozy and Millie doesn't interest him much anymore, but he's with the forum still. Possibly because of the community I think. Quite a few of the old names have either disappered or left so I'm hoping others don't follow suit. If there are lurkers I'd wish they participated more.
Not many suggestions there. Perhaps someone better at working with people than me has some fresh ideas.
I've tried to start fanart contests now and then to get a little community participation going. I think those sort of things are good, but I don't know in what other way they can be made.
To be blunt, not a lot of new people stay. Though they feel welcome because I've seen most say how they didn't except that many hello's to their introduction post, but they either just lurk or drift away. I don't know if anything could be done to keep them, it's really up to them if they want to stay.
I've heard at least one person say that Ozy and Millie doesn't interest him much anymore, but he's with the forum still. Possibly because of the community I think. Quite a few of the old names have either disappered or left so I'm hoping others don't follow suit. If there are lurkers I'd wish they participated more.
Not many suggestions there. Perhaps someone better at working with people than me has some fresh ideas.
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Dragon-Dancer
- Posts:30
- Joined:Wed Mar 07, 2007 3:01 pm
- Location:A cluttered hanger.
As a newer member, I'd just like to say that I haven't had any issues with load times or moderation (though that may be the newness 
I probably would have joined sooner had I noticed the forum existed since I've been reading O&M for a few years now. Oftentimes I do tend to lurk, mostly I'm logging in from work and while I like the distraction of reading the forum during my breaks I don't have all that much to say on the subject... or at least nothing I believe that would add to the discussion. That may be an error in belief on my part, I'm just not all that chatty.
I probably would have joined sooner had I noticed the forum existed since I've been reading O&M for a few years now. Oftentimes I do tend to lurk, mostly I'm logging in from work and while I like the distraction of reading the forum during my breaks I don't have all that much to say on the subject... or at least nothing I believe that would add to the discussion. That may be an error in belief on my part, I'm just not all that chatty. as jack said, yeah I find myself not paying any attention to the strip threads. I read OM, but I don't associate it directly with this community as some may. I know that other people who I hold highly feel similar about how the community is self-sustaining without OM, but without it we would not get new members (and I've seen what the loss of a fanbase can do to chronically destroying a community). I don't want to dwell much further, because I don't want to start some sort of flamewar since you guys don't all particularly like everybody like you should.
I'm still pissed at whoever thought it was a good idea to ban Ibun.
As for the fan section, I've been saying for a year or two that I would gladly maintain it with all the art if you guys would help me recreate the old layout. That was the only good layout, we can't just keep adding more and more art to the current page. To keep it as a single php page or however it should work to properly implement with the board, I would need some extra help but after that if I had an ftp account to part of the server I would go back and add in all the art. LAF, you still have the backup of the old section don't you? that worked great until you took it down since the art wasn't meant to be stored there.
I'm still pissed at whoever thought it was a good idea to ban Ibun.
As for the fan section, I've been saying for a year or two that I would gladly maintain it with all the art if you guys would help me recreate the old layout. That was the only good layout, we can't just keep adding more and more art to the current page. To keep it as a single php page or however it should work to properly implement with the board, I would need some extra help but after that if I had an ftp account to part of the server I would go back and add in all the art. LAF, you still have the backup of the old section don't you? that worked great until you took it down since the art wasn't meant to be stored there.
pants jesus
DCS should've ended the comic a year or two ago.
I was just going to take a second to reply about the hosting....
First I have no problems hosting DC long term, This month was the first full month of hosting DC for me and DC only used 21gigs....All my sites combined were still less than 100gigs of transfer. To put how easy it is for me to host this I can have up to 3000gigs a month of transfer. So all my sites would have to get 30x as much traffic a month before things on the server even started to get tight. So long story short it really is no sweat off my back for hosting.
As for the quality of hosting service, well that is something you will have to decide. Unfortunately since I am a college student and all, all I can afford is shared hosting. This has some benefits but it also means that in high server load times there is nothing I can do but watch the slow page loads. I have worked pretty hard with my host to try and make things run a bit better for DC, but I think were at a point where it wont be getting any better without more $$...but hey, I would all be down for donations to help pay for a dedicated server. Many admin/mod's on my site have been talking about pitching to help cover the cost of having a dedicated server. So depending on what happens with my site, as well as work....we might be going dedicated anyways.
Long story short, it is all up to you guys. But I would love to keep being a party of this community. Both in the aspects of being a member, as well as helping support the behind the scenes action.
First I have no problems hosting DC long term, This month was the first full month of hosting DC for me and DC only used 21gigs....All my sites combined were still less than 100gigs of transfer. To put how easy it is for me to host this I can have up to 3000gigs a month of transfer. So all my sites would have to get 30x as much traffic a month before things on the server even started to get tight. So long story short it really is no sweat off my back for hosting.
As for the quality of hosting service, well that is something you will have to decide. Unfortunately since I am a college student and all, all I can afford is shared hosting. This has some benefits but it also means that in high server load times there is nothing I can do but watch the slow page loads. I have worked pretty hard with my host to try and make things run a bit better for DC, but I think were at a point where it wont be getting any better without more $$...but hey, I would all be down for donations to help pay for a dedicated server. Many admin/mod's on my site have been talking about pitching to help cover the cost of having a dedicated server. So depending on what happens with my site, as well as work....we might be going dedicated anyways.
Long story short, it is all up to you guys. But I would love to keep being a party of this community. Both in the aspects of being a member, as well as helping support the behind the scenes action.
cheers.....
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In my short time here, everything has seemed fine, apart from the one little crash or whatever a while ago.
I could say that the Moderation is good, but really, from what I've seen, there's not many problems here that require mods to step in. A couple of clashes seem to have occured, but most of the time, all's well.
As Doog said, I don't always associate DC with O&M. It's why I first joined, but even in the three or so months I've been here, I've come to look at DC as a stand-alone community.
I like the fact that it is small, as bigger forums don't have the same community aspects. Here, I know all the main people, they aren't just bunches of words on my screen.
Anyway, loading times have been fine for me, so no problems there.
I could say that the Moderation is good, but really, from what I've seen, there's not many problems here that require mods to step in. A couple of clashes seem to have occured, but most of the time, all's well.
As Doog said, I don't always associate DC with O&M. It's why I first joined, but even in the three or so months I've been here, I've come to look at DC as a stand-alone community.
I like the fact that it is small, as bigger forums don't have the same community aspects. Here, I know all the main people, they aren't just bunches of words on my screen.
Anyway, loading times have been fine for me, so no problems there.
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The Donmeister
- Posts:614
- Joined:Sun Nov 19, 2006 10:19 am
Was Ibun banned? If so, then I'm pissed too.I'm still pissed at whoever thought it was a good idea to ban Ibun.
As for the rest, the site has been a bit buggy for me, though that's probably due to errors caused by the recent crash. Other than that, it's fine. I can't really think of anything that needs improving.
Last edited by The Donmeister on Sat Mar 31, 2007 12:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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The Donmeister
- Posts:614
- Joined:Sun Nov 19, 2006 10:19 am
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BladeRaptor
- Posts:95
- Joined:Tue Mar 20, 2007 7:37 pm
- Location:Philadelphia
I'm a newcomer, too. I can't really compare the new hosting to the old since I never knew the old, but aside from the birthday glitch, the site's been running smoothly for me.
As far as the moderation goes, I have yet to see that in action, but that's because I haven't seen anything that warranted their intervention.
That, in turn, is becuase this community seems like a friendly one so far. I think that can be attributed to its smallness. I call this diseconomy of scale "McDonald's Law" after myself in a shameless display of ego.
"The harmoniousness of a group is inveresly proportional to its size."
Just like a big city has more crime than a small town, a smaller forum like this O&M fan site has fewer trolls than a more general one. And because of its focus on a particular subject, everyone here has at least one thing in common: we like O&M.
As far as the moderation goes, I have yet to see that in action, but that's because I haven't seen anything that warranted their intervention.
That, in turn, is becuase this community seems like a friendly one so far. I think that can be attributed to its smallness. I call this diseconomy of scale "McDonald's Law" after myself in a shameless display of ego.
"The harmoniousness of a group is inveresly proportional to its size."
Just like a big city has more crime than a small town, a smaller forum like this O&M fan site has fewer trolls than a more general one. And because of its focus on a particular subject, everyone here has at least one thing in common: we like O&M.
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