I'm not on this site often, but it's still disheartening to see the state that avatar sites, and menewsha in general is at. I've always thought menewsha was one of the better run avatar sites.

I know it's not that far-off from what is here now, but it'd be awesome of Menewsha was a steampunk based site. You have touches of victorian and the industrial age, kind of the feeling of the past and the future. And the victorian theme in particular is pretty popular in fashion nowadays, so the combination of that plus the whole dressing up avatars things sounds like something the fashion crowd would be into...though I suppose they have actual models that they can play dress up with.

But, what Siri mentioned about introducing more normal clothing does sound like a good idea as well since, well we can't escape the real world so we all have some level of interest in it ^^;

I absolutely love the idea of group games. =D Especially art related ones.
I used to obsess over iscribble, just because you could chat and draw at the same time. xD It wasn't really pictionary, but chatting + drawing, and seeing what other people draw is awesome. (I shouldn't say used to be obssesed, I still adore iscribble).

Neopets has that board game now, something like that might be kind of cool. =]
A board game people could play together. x3 It's theme could be of all the NPC's and stuff.

Originally Posted by Siri

@Inso: I had no idea what stardoll was until I googled it, but I think it's popular because it's all mainstream stuff rather than anime. So yes, I think you need to whip out some abercrombie and express inspired clothes for our next commons update. Giant sunglasses would be so easy to make too. :D

Can you invest at all in some group games? I'm not talking about gaia online's stupid car rallys, but group games are more fun because they're interactive in real time. What about a pictionary game with a chat on the side? We've got a lot of artists here and it'd be a great way to attract new members. The most popular pictionary site for the last couple of years, isketch, has lost so many members because of random bannings and people have been looking for a replacement. Trust me, I signed up for a ton of crappy sites just so that I could play online pictionary--I'm sure that others would do that same. (My entire neighborhood is banned from isketch for some reason, so I'm sure that others have the same problem as me).

Would you mind explaining this a bit more for me? We were looking into an oeakaki feature t some point, but that doesn't have much pull compared to pictionary by the looks.

Originally Posted by Siri

Also, any chance in expanding to pets? I know we probably don't want neopets or breedable pets, but what about just normal pets? I don't think any other avatar site has normal dog and cat breeds. The reason that I mention this is because a lot of my friends (and myself) are pre-vet students and they waste so much time playing farmville. They play it all day just because 'it has animals in it'.

I know both of those options would be huge investments--definitely more than this site can afford right now. But in the long run, I think they could bring in more users of a different demographic (and that's what you're looking for, right?).

Ummm "GET OUTTA MY HEAD" lol we've had something in the works since forever on this, no idea on release dates though.

I haven't read all what's written but I skimmed through that post by Siri peppered with Insomniac's answers and would like to contribute some thoughts.

Firstly, I was mildly surprised about what was said about mene being a "anime"-laced sort of place. Yeah, I agree about the children of Gaia bit, but the exact reason why I'm still here is because I see Mene as a forum site that's LESS anime-ish than most. It balances out the other sites I'm a member in, because there, it's anime this and that, whereas on mene, I can be something else.

So IMO maybe it's about perspective. On the part of the staff, since you work on Mene day in day out, you end up seeing things in a myopic way. Hence, you haven't been maximizing on what's already HERE. I think that veering away from too much anime-ish elements and into others is a great idea because Mene already possesses that feel. All you have to do is tweak those elements and aspects.

EDIT -- I have to add that yes, instead of adding more and more new stuff, please fix the bugs and errors of your current features first.

Also, I agree with Siri on this. A real community consolidation can only come from people who have a healthy regard for others and do try to widen their understanding that people are not all the same and that you really have to adjust to everyone's personalities. An uptight staff and an equally bristley group of members don't make for a harmonious equation. As much I love mene, I feel that many of its staff and members end up too defensive about even the littlest things that you can just simply let go for the sake of harmony.

Added - And people often end up misinterpreting constructive criticism of the site as something bad. I hope you do realize that the people who care the most are the ones who would bother to actually point out mistakes or help clear the air.

Some ideas I thought about. Hopefully, they're helpful if only a tiny bit. They aren't brand spanking new. They're mostly from observation.

Evolution:
1. Another site really demands a person's attention because they have many events. Perhaps mini events once a month. But, not during a month that a large event will occur such as Valentine's.

2. Interpretation! At first, I was annoyed that another site created interpretations of items based on tv shows, celebrities, etc. However, there are shops selling costumes, fan merchandise, etc. in real life. So my opinion has since changed. For example, users are knocking themselves dead to get a lady gaga themed item.

Revenue:
1. Cash Shop!
a. I could bet on the fact that people would donate for popular items, that are not suitable as a CI. I understand what Izumi said about not donating for CIs, that they won't donate for something else. Or maybe we just need a bit more variety. What if it's because they don't care for the CI's? One example is an angelic halo available for 6 months at say $3.00. (just tossing numbers/time frame) Other items could be devil horns, tails, even feminine/masculine items that didn't fit the unisex requirement for a CI. The maximum price for a cash shop item would be maybe $5 and that would be based on the detail, poses, etc. in the item.

b. Special Event Item. What if during the entire month of an event 1 special item for say $1.50-$2.00 would be available to purchase? It would be in addition to the commons and ei sets that will be released during say the winter event.

c. Limited Throwback CI's. What if older CI's were featured in the cash shop. We wouldn't want the value of a king's crown to steeply drop. So only a limited number would be available. The price would have to remain at $2.50, higher or lower than that would be unfair. It would help if the CI only has a few in circulation. The limited number would prevent any major price changes and possibly help the site.

3. What about sponsors? New movies, video games, etc.?

4. A part of the site dedicated to advertising an outside company's product(s)?


Related Feedback on the Premium Member idea:
I don't remember where/who said it. But, I think the standpoint of nonpaying vs. paying users isn't good. It was something along the lines of

"how do you feel about paying for something while someone else doesn't"

Don't know if those were the exact words but I'm quoting just in case for posting rules. That mentality will only divide us in a time when we all need to stick together like white on rice.

There will be backlash from the community if suddenly features that were always free suddenly were restricted for a price. If you do not restrict features, that means time, money, and energy will need to be spent to create and develop premium features. When that is done will the premium price pay for said features plus profit. There would be no point of going out of your way to do that if there won't be a positive return. I think it is in better taste that a premium account is implied and not shoved in everyone's face. It is implied by the free item with $10 purchase every three months. Wonderful idea, btw. It is implied by receiving "opportunities" via email. Perhaps at the end of the year, some other incentive could be provided? I'm not saying that it has to. However, I can't think of how premium status will be beneficial to this community. Would it be preferred that only the paying members participate? Plus, there is no guarantee that all paying members will go for a premium account. People's words and actions are two different things. Case and point-> A random generator for cash has people screaming redrum elsewhere. However, a staff member pointed out that despite the fuss, the generator flies out of the shop like hotcakes. So why stop something that sells like nobody's business? I do not advocate a random item generator here. But, it was a perfect example. :)

long post is long. :mail:

Insomniac: I have an idea that I don't really see mentioned. How about offering a gaming area. Like an online casino, for members only. Require a credit card access of course and make it a casino to earn gold and such. This will bring in online gamblers and also bring in a new crowd to the site. Offer new outfit for those kind of people and you won't be restricted to over 18 due to no money being paid out. Just give more gold to those who want to do that kind of thing.

I think quite a few people would detest the idea of throwback CIs, if only because it'll "destabilize" the Economy. Personally I wouldn't mind it, in limited amount, so that everyone could have an opportunity. But then there'd have to be contingency with such a thing. Such as you can only purchase a certain amount. Maybe 1 per user, and if you used your mule you'd get in trouble. And only 50 available. That would not create a disparity so huge even if everyone just bought the throwback to sell it on the exchange. That's how you get circulation, and it's not unappreciative of owning such an item. It's stimulating the economy in a way.

I also do not want to see Random Item Generators here, I feel those are just death of things.

I think Mene to expands with things rather than just stick with say the Victorian theme, it's a good one to keep, but one of the things that had me leave Zani was the fact that it was so niche and was stuck in this very meadevil theme. Was hard to keep interested. The items were nice but made for hard to expand and find more users on there.

I like the idea of different games and especially ones that get more users playing together. I do like the different games that exist on here though.

Silver~ The 1 per account, no mule idea is good! :3 I didn't think of that. You can't please everyone. Someone will squawk no matter what you do. XD:

Exactly, Snow. 'Sides, if you think about it, some of the items that would really work with throwback are Pirate's Booty and Ninja Arsenals, maybe even Pudao and Fan. Seriously, I paid about 28k cumulatively for the two Arsenals I got, one for me and one for my boyfriend. I understnad some items are more expensive, but with a steady influx of interest/users, we're just kind of...running out of old things. Especially since a lot of Menewshans I've seen--guiltily including myself--are not interested in selling back. I'm a clothes person, and a hoarder at that. ^^;

And in consideration, you might want to throwback MORE of NEWER CIs, rather than older CIs. *bolded for a reason* That would cause such a disparity that gold would lose value otherwise.

I like the no mule idea... but there would have to be a way to remove a user without hurting the site from thread deletion and stuff

@Inso: I am soo excited for the pet thing. :D
Two of my pre-vet friends joined this site after I pestered them, but they quit a long time ago now.
I'm sure a pets feature would help me suck them back into the site. ;D

As for the pictionary game, I was really just thinking something very similar to isketch as it is right now. It's just pictionary so you really can't change it much.

iSketch <--if you aren't banned for some reason, check it out

I don't know anything about coding games, but a lot of other sites have come up with almost the same exact format and layout. It works really well as is--we could just use our usernames for the chat. Let me load up my tablet and see if I can find a link to the pictionary site that I was using to replace isketch. It's really similar though.

EDIT: The other site I tried out was at OMGPop, called Draw My Thing (lol, funny, I know). xD;
Here's a link: http://www.allgamesallfree.com/games...-my-thing.html

If you want me to take down the links, please let me know and I can edit this post, or just feel free to edit it yourselves.

The conceptualization of Throwback CIs has never appealed to me... However, perhaps if a drastic limit of immensely rare CIs (let's say a limit of five, for example, for the King's Crown) will keep it to an all-time low. And it'd be limit 1 per IP/account. Also, you can put a time stamp on it for when it will be sellable. This'll keep the economy less... Chaotic. I play a few MMORPGs that time-stamp their subscription items just so there isn't a sudden influx of $RL pumping through the economy. Can be a loose ~1 to 3 month time period so the Crowns can ease their way in better into the economy. Just a suggestion.

Other than that, I love Snow's suggestions. Especially the Special Event item concept!! The site Habbo Hotel (which I used to frequent, although haven't in quite some time; but its success speaks for itself) has a monthly "rare," and during the holiday/event-y months they're usually based around that holiday/event. Similar structure can be applied here - basically offer an Event "Rare" that'll be purchased with $RL but fit into the whole EI set entirely. This would also boost interest in EIs overall, let me just tell you. To have that 5th/6th/7th item (depending on how big the EI set is, since they vary on here) be purchased for real world money is... Enticing. Events are the busiest times here, so why not capitalize on them? It'd also provide a healthy balance: once a user has all of the "free" event items, they'll want the one that costs $RL to complete the set fully. Especially if it is integrated into the set theme.

I ramble, but yeah. Listen to Snow. :heart: :P

:( now Iz gots a sad:(!

I don't think it's possible to do that sort of thing, Poet...plus I don't agree with removal of mules entirely. .x. It's not as if it's really hurting anything...is it?

I will bring up to all that suggested mule deletion. This would be a bad idea all together. 1. Coders have to remove them, which would cost them way to much. 2. There isn't really a reason to do this.

.. My poor mule! D: He's just insulted that you've even suggested removing him.
If my mule was deleted, I'd be out 200+ items that I keep in storage XD; Doubles of EIs that I don't want cluttering my main.

I do not like the removing of mules idea either. My mule is insulted as well.
I keep my extra EIs on him too, which take up a LOT of space, so I do not want them to clutter my main inventory. Especially with me questing almost every item.
I also give my mule his own appearance and personality.

*agrees with Yue*

@Facade: Well that right there would be a good contingency too. Or even stagger from the day it's bought, like 1 month from when the item is bought. That way, if it's bought a day or so after, it's still a bit of space between when a crown becomes unlocked for sale. Of course, that could still be circumvented by a sort of "layway" or "pay first, get later."

The EI thing...I think would cause more strife than good. People would complain that they can't complete a set unless they pay, and that it's coercive.

Plus I do believe the lowest we can go with Mennies is 250, or 2.50, due to the system Inso uses(?). I'm not certain people would want to value an EI that high.

LOL AT DRAGONESS. XD

EDIT: Also, I can kind of sympathize to that. My mule houses over 200k in items, and that's just counting the Pure Love Boa for his Sesshoumaru cosplay. :3 So I'd really rather hate losing him, I don't even use him for gold gain. Just for storage and appearance. ^^

I was once a mod on another vb site. It is very hard to remove people for one, and two deleting requires a coder to remove it. This would cost a lot of money.

I'm glad to see that everyone is coming together with ideas to help the site. I have to admit that when I heard about this announcement I expected to read this thread and see people arguing over membership fees. It warms my heart a little that with the 80k+ members(many of whom are artists or creative writers) we've managed to develop some creative ways to solve this problem. Moving away from the mushy stuff....

I agree with Snowflower on the idea of a Cash Shop (:heart:) and the idea of sponsors. Also I second the motion on more updated clothing like american eagle, hollister, etc.

I was also thinking at work about raising the price of the CIs to maybe $5 each or offering a third item each month. Perhaps more diversity will prompt people to pay. So I guess that's it except for a small apology. I'm guilty as charged when it comes to not donating but I'm going to try to make the payments because 1 I :heart: the donation items and 2 I'm getting more hourstherefore more money in my pocket.

Oh, also I know this site is a 'child of Gaia' but personally I've been to Gaia once and immediately missed it here. I like to think that I'm a Menewshan through and through and I want to do what ever is required of us to keep Mene alive. :)

Um, did anyone see my idea? :sweat: I thought it was pretty good. xD Or at least, I hadn't seen anyone suggest it yet.

Originally Posted by Kaema

I have an idea...not sure if it would work, but here it is!
What if Mene sold extra things, like things to put in your profile, or cool forum post borders? It wouldn't be a membership, but it wouldn't be creating new avatar items either. They could be different things that would appeal to different people. Some people might like art more, and would want a pretty border for their forum posts.
I hope you all get what I'm mean... :sweat:

p.s. I hope this hasn't already been suggested before. I read through a lot of pages, but not all of them.

Jelly explained the mule situation a month or two back, so I think that's been made clear. :yes:

@Kaema: I didn't see what you said, actually. But as far as things to spruce up your profile, it's a possibility. I just don't think the Menewshan structure allows for such editing, nor that people would want to pay if they have the personal skill to manipulate a profile themselves if only given the chance.

As far as posts go, that's extra coding to make everyone's post unique, and if you mean like flobs on Gaia, I make flobs there and I enjoy structuring them beautifully, but they're disallowed on Mene since you earn gold per character.

EDIT (fulla these, ain't I?): Also, I don't think the members particularly NEED to apologize for not supporting Mene in times of general economy loss. If you can't, you can't, y'know? Also, if it was thought about, money is losing value depending on where you live if your economy is effected, so depending where Inso lives, he might be feeling that as well.

This doesn't mean STOP donating. Just that it's not anyone's fault if they can't? =(

@Facade: I used to frequently go on Habbo Hotel too! I agree that that would be a good way of getting the most out of the events. Though I agree with Silver about the fact it will make users feel bad about not getting the 'full set' unless they pay. :\

This news is not nice, and it's terrible that this should happen to Menewsha.
Personally I would find having outside businesses advertise on menewsha by co-inciding with commons or any items a good thing. Surprisingly for me I would actually encourage this idea.

Excuse me for being so uneducated on this subject, I really wish I knew more about how everything works to have something productive to suggest.

I will restate what I said earlier to Insom, what about a multi user casino idea. Do it as a pay for tokens to play the different games. Like an online casino. Offer gold payouts, new limited ed clothing and stuff, and even other cool things to pull people in. This is just an idea, but it could also pull in new member who like casino games too, and it's outside the anime crowd. What do you all think of this idea?