Nifty that.
Neither are people obliged to donate. But they are convinced with "perks" and promise of improvement to the server... It goes two ways, if they stop doing their end of the bargain then people stop donating or complain of being duped into donating.
Everyone falls back on the great community argument (which is valid) but the community is constantly shafted. What a way to look after one of your greatest assets...
Sorry if this seems harsh or directed at you Kari, it's not. Your statement just reminded me of something I wanted to say. They need to see the community's pain and the effects thereof.
~ @hardegat
No, I agree, just stating the facts as I know them. :( As far as my opinion goes...
I know that a lot of the crap F uzzlr gets is from people who don't like change and love to complain, and I really want to give him and the rest of the administration the benefit of the doubt. I've been trying really, really hard to moderate my own comments in the past couple of days, but my patience and understanding is wearing thin (I'm sorry if it shows). This may be "just a video game," but it's also a business of sorts, and a group of people who (sometimes :p) care about each other.
Baagag really did nail it in his post. Most of the time, when I refer to fuzzlr's age, it's out of admiration (and some amusement, because I kept forgetting it when I first joined). He is running a business and leading a sizeable online community as a 16-year-old, and that's no small feat, even considering the help and backing he has gotten from Onis, the admin team, and whoever else. What he's been able to do with the server, especially after the tough times it went through before I got here, is impressive. I've seen him ask the player base for feedback and adjust things accordingly, which I very much appreciate, whether I personally like the results or not. He's more involved and responsive than most owners of large servers, from what I've seen.
But IMO, this change, along with this one... http://www.meepcraft.com/threads/money-wipe-will-kick-19-residents-from-my-town.22140/
... were both bad calls, and from where I'm standing, they could have easily been handled in a way that avoided at least some of the problems that we're seeing now. Instead, we get no communication, no warnings, and abrupt technical decisions that don't seem to make sense because there are better options (like slowing the towny wild regeneration rate drastically, giving a warning to allow people to prepare for these things, or taking $5,000 Meebles from players who have been inactive for x number of days instead of wiping the balances of everyone who had less than $5,000). It confuses me even more that this comes right after an announcement that Towny Beta is back in the works - why not just start the new biomes and wild regeneration in that world, instead?
We all make mistakes, and this is part of running a business and being a leader - learning what to do when you mess up, and people feel hurt and/or are angry at you. It's necessary to face this at some point in order to be a better leader/manager/owner in the future. I don't envy anyone who is going through this experience.
But fuzzlr, part of what's bothering me right now is the total lack of acknowledgment on your part of how these two decisions have negatively affected the player base that your business depends on. (Edit: Besides "we're sorry if this has inconvenienced you," which is fine, but by itself isn't all that meaningful.) This has happened with more minor missteps in the past, and it's happening again now. It doesn't matter if it's not a big deal to administration or to some players - it's a big deal to a sizeable part of the community, and that makes it important. That doesn't mean you have to cater to every whim of the majority, especially when the average age trends as young as it does. This is your server, and you get to do what you want with it, and in many cases you know what's best for it. But that does mean that there may be consequences that come from ignoring the people who have been supporting you and who feel like they are not being treated fairly.
I tend to get defensive at first when criticized (I think we all do to some extent), so I understand that reaction. Now, you have the opportunity to handle it with grace and humility. You have an excellent admin team who can help listen to players' concerns and let them know that they matter (I'd probably leave one admin on the sidelines in this situation, and I think everyone knows who I'm talking about ;)) but I think it would mean a lot coming directly from you, F uzzlr. Edit: I hope that you consider, too, any ways to help fix some of the problems that people are reporting.
At this point, I'm glad I only paid for Exclusive and not Elite during the recent sale on ranks. This isn't out of spite, or because I don't want to help the server, or because I'm holding the donation hostage until some feature I want is implemented. I just want to make sure that if I donate again, my money (because it would be my own money) is used effectively, and right now I'm not convinced that it will be. I hope I change my mind. :)
tl;dr: What fuzzlr has done with MeepCraft is mostly awesome. The decisions to suddenly reset the towny wild and wipe money from players under 5,000 Meebles are not awesome, and there wasn't any real communication or warning about either of these. Things could be improved if fuzzlr recognizes this, or at least if he listens to and acknowledges players' concerns about them. Edit: They could be improved even more if some actions can be taken to fix the problems that have happened, wherever possible. I have faith that it will get better, but we'll see.
