Jeric

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Everything posted by Jeric

  1. Full transparency, we reassess how strict we are on content routinely, and this is a great example to base one of these comparisons on. If my intention was to completely end this thread it would be hidden and the OP PM’ed
  2. Temporarily closing pending staff discussion
  3. Most are leftover from my Philly upbringing. Bagel I pronounce beg el. Water will occasionally come out as waddah. Compass sounds .... like romp and not some The one that no one know where it came from is how I say wafer. It is pronounced way-fer. I pronounce it wah-fer if I’m not catching myself. That word and me don’t get along either.
  4. That’s curiously high school meme material. Strange to pull from that well. Then again, it was on the Instagram account.
  5. Wow. It was actually right before large venues started to close down in March. We cancelled a cruise as we were not about to take any chances with that nonsense so Cindy and I took a trip to Tampa (where we had dinner with @~C. Discord~ ). We caught a museum and the zoo while we were there. Anyway, I normally visit my local zoo a few times a year. Zip line fun over elephants is always worth a smile!
  6. I cleaned up the Subscription Page .... dramatically. I'll be making a post in general about Subs tomorrow. If you have subbed, then you are able to see what option you are paying for, and also a very easy to spot cancel button. I am also going to work on making the Donation option more visible since that is the only non-recurring support option.
  7. I put a tube of toothpaste in the fridge just now. The moment of confusion on my wife's face when she roots around in there will be worth her questioning my sanity and her own life choices in marrying me.
  8. WIP art can go in the the same forum as completed art you create.
  9. Roleplaying, for some, is about interactive authorship of a character and scenarios surrounding the characters. That right there should really be where any discussion on the subject begins and ends. Why does Stephen King focus on speculative fiction and horror? Why does John Green concentrate on YA? Comfort and intrigues are possible (and highly plausible) reasons. To take an Ericksonian approach to the question, I posit that most of us are primed at a young age with mostly SoL stories. Think about stories and shows made for toddlers. Sesame Street, MRN, Blues Clues, and most children’s educational and entertainment ventures are centered around stories with a slice of life focus, irrespective of the fantasy or imaginary elements surrounding the basic “how to life” stories that they present.
  10. Yes it still works. I'll make some tweaks to the menu and subscriber pages to better showcase the option. Note that there is currently a distinction in perks between a Donor and Subscriber, but that is another topic outside of the scope of this discussion. If you paid via Credit Card or Debit Card it will appear here. PayPal is a different story because usually requires you to cancel recurring subscriptions on their end. In the situation a customer cannot do so, then yes the Admins have to manually cancel it. That is hard baked into the system and cannot be configured.
  11. I don't use steak sauce because steak has a wonderful flavor by itself it cooked properly.
  12. Subscriptions by their nature are renewed automatically these days. We used to have a one time payment option. That users could manually update. If that is gone now, we could look into bringing it back.
  13. Jeric

    Support Forum

    Support, Disputes, and Admin Authorization Requests Recently the email server stopped working for a bit and we stopped receiving disputes, emails from users, and tech issues that required quick responses. This has happened before. Going forward we will be handling at the issues we originally handled in the old support system right here on MLPF. There are three sections that should be self-explanatory. Tech Support issues that are beyond what a community member could answer, Mod Disputes, and Admin Requests. Other users cannot see what you post in there (it is similar to the Testing Forum), and only Admins and Topic Creator can topics in the other two. And yes, banished and suspended users can actually see the Dispute forum and can create a topic in there. I am hoping that this improves the speed of initial communication. Any questions please ask away. In the meantime I will be trying to work the backlog support email box as much as I can, before we close it off completely.
  14. In general, I find when a story decides to be too “on the nose” about any subject it is a staple of poor writing techniques. Or rather when there isn’t a second layer under the obvious one. All in the Family was a great example of using characters to impart obviously crafted social messages along side more subtle ones, and it’s long been considered one of the better sitcoms of TV. That’s usually my litmus test for how you should approach social commentary in a narrative.
  15. Well, nothing technically is a qualifier for that since there really isn't a structured criteria for what is "woke" and what is "garbage" and what is "woke garbage". Nebulous is as nebulous does, but yeah some have called Duck Tales SJW propaganda because of various character changes.
  16. If we had a tech pony sure. That is a workable solution. I'm working on a different solution anyway. FYI, staff are not bound to engage a user perpetually. In fact, I kind of discourage it depending on the user. Say someone makes a complaint or suggestion and someone gives the user an answer, and they have the authority to make that call, they don't have to continue the discussion. You have an answer. If you go to another staff for an answer, its usually seen as shopping and unless you were provided someone that is simply wrong, most times it is looked at unfavorably. You see how I close topics when I give an answer? Because we are a volunteer site, and because we all do have things to do, thats a great way at basically saying, "Good question, here's your answer". Most time's I hear "Communication Issues" and it boils down to "Someone made a simple mistake" or "I did not get what I wanted". Basically, continuing the conversation from that point is completely optional and I would not look poorly at any mod or admin if they ceased communication. Hopefully what I am doing with support tickets will solve the missed initial contacts, but under no circumstances is a staffer required to keep talking if they gave a definitive answer. That's not effective communication. But I have read everything in here, and as it stands we will work on the initial parts making sure support requests and general questions directed to staff or responded to by one of the staffers in authority, particularly when it comes to disputes. Beyond that, I really don't see the benefit of this thread becoming the very time vampire that an ongoing DM or chat can become. Watch for the new Forum Area soon. Closing this as addressed for now.
  17. For years we have managed moderation disputes, non-directed staff communication, commissions support, and tech support through the Commerce system that is part of our IPB package. For years this system has had issues with email servers and delayed support box messages coming through. To help mitigate this for users, I am working on a forum side solution today, though I need to thoroughly test this before it goes live. Access rights will be the same as the current Support Ticket system, meaning only a user creating a support thread or dispute thread will be able to see it (and the specific staff that work it). We already have public channels for feedback and wide tech issues and questions. I'll make a proper announcement after it has been tested and the Admins and Support Team have signed off. There is an outside chance that we will go a different route later, but we need a better solution that works now.
  18. As the question was asked and answered by either a staffer or user who was correct, we will be closing this question out. Thank you as always.
  19. Moderators can split topics if they feel it is warranted or needed. Splitting would be a valid suggestion to send in a report. Closing as answered.
  20. Yep, I have several Cash shirts and actually hunted down his Funko as well. His version of Hurt was a masterpiece.
  21. Cash was a person who took influences from many genres, and his music could be categorized as rock, country, rockabilly, gospel, folk, and blues. Not so much rap though.
  22. So much goes into why I find enjoyment in something, I can't say for certain. I enjoy the hell out of Duck Tales and enjoyed Steven Universe, and both had elements of progressive social commentary that some would call woke, but that is/was an artifact of the showrunner's world view, something that you will find in all art forms.
  23. There is no automated way to do that at present. This is why I created the staff section of the "currently online" block. I can speak to support tickets. Apparently for a while the email server for it was down. We have a lack of any dedicated tech staffer so it sat broken for some time. It was fixed but it created a mess of backlogged support tickets. Ultimately, people have to sit back and manage expectations on communication. In the grand scheme of things, MLPF is not life critical for any staffer (and it shouldn't be). We pop on when we can and do what we can. I can tell you from my end, I have had less and less time in the last few months to do much of anything on here because of IRL elements. I know that this is the case for most staff at the moment. I make no apologies. There is no KPI or any other metric designated or one that will be designated to manage communications, nor will I create one. If you are not getting a reply in a few days from one staffer, just try another. You have done this before, and I find that an acceptable solution considering the limitations of the software that the site runs on. It is also important to not be a time vampire. There is the occasional user who receives an explanation that they see as an invitation to continued 'discussion' on the matter every time they contact staff. Them you have the triage issue. Staff will usually prioritize one matter over another based on perceived importance. There is no way around that without setting up rules that make working on staff mimic a customer service job ... where you get paid. I think we do a reasonably decent job considering that we are a fan forum and not a consumer driven business. I appreciate your feedback though.
  24. The power to merge and split topics is insignificant next to the power of The Sith. I shall do it anyway. Rise and take your place reborn Darth Thread
  25. Gonna eat ham and, grade assignments, and play Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
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