@Krissy: I can speak for shy_Ness since that is my mule and I made that post.
But like I said in my post, I do donate to help the site, and the CI are a bonus
Yes I sell back and make a profit, yes I hoard.... but who care what I do with the items?
Hell the exchange and the marketplace is how I make my gold here on mene
I hardly ever post unless its an event or in the exchange
I'm not saying I ONLY donate to help the site, I'm saying thats one reason why I do

So for everyone whos saying "I wont donate if you dont give me more for donating" is kinda missing the whole point of donating in the first place.

I try to stay away from the whole going back and froth thing, but its hard to see how everyone is like low blowing the staff... like we are all human here..... the fact that they said they are trying should be enough

I don't think there's anything wrong with questing very rare items. It's when someone is getting stressed or upset about it that makes me think they're missing the greater enjoyments of the site. :sweat:
True, this isn't real life and that's all the more reason to not get so worked up about it.
But like real life, there are going to be things you want that you can't easily obtain and new conditions that will alter your original plan as well as things you can't control.

Yes, feedback is important. But make sure that it doesn't become a rant because you're so frustrated and bitter. (You is generalizing.) It should make sense. What you're basically doing is trying to sell your idea (minus the shiesty feeling). And who wants to buy something from someone who's ranting? :lol:

I personally love the idea of new items popping up here and there like the Jelly head and the auctioneers items
Because it brings excitement back to the site

I love new items always. :drool:
Yes, there are items that have a very low chance of being used by me, but I'm not the only person on the site. And seeing something I don't use, get used by someone else is enough for me.

They took them away mainly because there was few of the super rares left on old banned accounts which was where the funds came from.

@Ikuto- see thats where we differ. Cora wants all the items because there is a high likelihood she will use them all at some point or another (or at least 95% of them)

Same here. I think adding items like the Jelly Head, new NPC items, and the Auctioneer's items gets people excited. I mean, what if you already had most, if not all, of the items you ever wanted to own on here? Other then the 2 CIs per month and EI sets when we have an event, there isn't much to spend the gold on. So then you might begin to lurk on the site and not add towards any conversation unless you have good friends on here that you like to talk to. Granted, not every member is like this.

One thing that I don't like with the rarity of the items is really how high some of the items are valued. I don't think 100k is too unreasonable for the Jelly Head. Do I wish it was lower so that I could afford it if I wanted to pay in all pure? Yeah, I would but even then, I'd need to work to earn the gold for it. I do hate when I go to see how much people will list newly released items at. Like the Mayor's Crafting Adventure. I have one but I had entertained the thought to get a second to give to a friend. Now, I'm not expecting it to be priced at a silly low price. But I wasn't expecting it to be listed at a 45k price. Is it worth it? I think that depends on the seller and the one who buys it. To me, I think 45k is a bit too high for my liking. :( I could see 10 to 20k being reasonable as this item is seemingly rare.

I read over the entire thread and I can see everyone's PoV on this. I think that it's a shame that no matter what direction is taken, not everyone will be happy. Coming to this site shouldn't be about gaining all the pixel items on here, it should be about being a community. I won't lie. I love when I get a new item (whether it's the newest CI or that elusive Hairpin that I quest for on and off) and can equip it for all to see. I'm a sucker for dress up and that is one thing about Mene I like: I get to dress up a small avatar that represents me, even if it doesn't have a literal likeness to my physical appearance.

I hardly doubt many users would donate to an avatar site as often if they did not get anything in return.

What you do with the item is on you and no one is judging you for that.

Truth be told, the topic started out with people requesting more options and items to be added to the cash shop, so it would help both the site and the users donating.

I never agreed no disagreed that people were in the right or wrong for choosing not to donate because they can or cannot obtain a few new items - as that wasn't my point. *shrugs* I never even talked about the staff, as I know it's not their fault for the supply and demand - except for the NPC items as they are where those items originate from.

However, now that you bring it up, it seems like that's why so many people leave Gaia and other avatar sites as one of the main reasons - because the items begin to get so overwhelming to quest for that it is hardly worth donating. Mene is a bit different, as your dollar goes further. However, it's not the first time someone has decided not to donate because they feel like their dollar is not going as far.

@Cora: I've used just about everything in my inventory at least once.
And I don't think there's anything wrong with questing. I'm just avoiding busting my balls to get items that I think would rarely get used by me is all. :lol:

@Ikuto- also a understandable goal.

Seems like your not understanding my point.... so I will leave it at that.
I never said YOU were low blowing the staff; I was just saying that this topic could have been a little more controlled
But what the hell do I know.....

You addressed it in your post in reply to me, and I thought I would address it as well. o.o

I was simply stating certain things, no more, no less. If you took it as an argument, I assure it, that was not the case so I do apologize. My point was that when it comes to avatar sites (Gaia, Soli, Mene, etc etc) - if people feel as though their money does not go as far as it used to, I can see why they would stop donating/contributing.

I gotta agree on this. Too many people make you feel guilty because your not donating to the site just because you should. If i were to do that, i'm sure i'd donate to a cause like the SPCA or cancer kids. I'm not saying i wouldn't donate if the site desperately needed it, just outta the goodness of my heart & because i enjoy the site. But in my opinion it's an avatar site, no one/thing is gonna die or suffer from it not existing. And if it wasn't around i'm sure i'll survive lol. So people who throw that line out contiguously in my opinion are not seeing the overall picture and the reason these sites exist in the first place.

But your absolutely right. It's an avatar site, it's main purpose is to collect items and dress up your avatar.

Yea I was explaining why I donate
And what I think is the reason for donating
I understand where everyone is coming from

At times I'm not about to donate, but when I can I do anyways
even if I dont really like the item
There is a hand full of CI since 10' to 11' I haven't used not even once
But thats not an issue for me
And thats speaking for myself not anyone else

All I care about is have a place like mene to come too everyday
and chat with friends that I made
And the thought of starting over kills me, seriously
I would hate that to happen, cause I did that once before with Gaia.... and mene is somewhere I can call my own.

Some people are on all other sites, but the only site I need is mene.
I have an Ernya, and havent been on there in a while, and when I do log in its to get the marble..... blah

I think Krissy does bring up a good point. It does seem a bit silly that we keep calling purchasing CI's 'donating'. I know some people would love to donate to Menewsha and get nothing in return and that is very admirable. But I think most people give money to the site in order to get something in return. That's definitely what I did.

Anyway, I know this didn't really add anything to the conversation, but I just wanted to agree with her. :)

--------

I haven't posted in a while since someone made a comment about 'ranting' and I don't want to seem like I'm just complaining. I want my opinions to be taken seriously or at least considered. And I don't want anyone to just blow me off or laugh at how obsessed I am with the site and its items. xD;

So I'm back with a few concise thoughts/comments. They're not all related to the topic of this thread, but still about rare items in general.

- Special staff items/gifts seem really unfair and alienating to me. They're unique items that the rest of the site is unable to use just because they aren't friends with the right people or part of the 'elite authority'. It seems condescending and hypocritical to be told that I should work harder for the items that I would like on the site, when the same people get the rarest items on the site for free/as a gift.

- I still do think some NPC items are too rare. I know it was mentioned that they are not unattainable, but I have seen more v-day hairpins sold than Channah's items. Lise's bear head was also impossible to get, until more of them were given out the last event. Yes, it devalued the one that I had in my inventory, but at least people aren't giving away 100k+ for it anymore. No new event item should ever be valued that high--especially when CI's sell for 2-3k a piece. It's like releasing a $40 cash shop item without actually getting any backlash for it, since it's just a 'special' item that technically anyone can get. More items should be released until the demand goes down to a reasonable amount (imho, of course).

- Auctioneer items don't add anything to the site, except that they function as a gold sink. But there are so few of them that the minute someone gets more than one of these items, they can artificially inflate them. I'm not proud of it, but I've done this while questing for some the NPC/EI items that I'm missing. I think this is going to be disastrous in the long-run, but thankfully someone (I think it was jelly) said that more would be released anyway. Either way, some people are going to pay ridiculous amounts for them right now, thinking that they're permanently retired if they haven't seen this thread. I think it would be nice to make an announcement or acknowledge that there actually will be more of these items in circulation so that everyone will know.

- I also think NPC items should be given out more objectively. I would rather have gaia gift boxes than chatting with NPCs or winning them through contests because there will always be a bias, whether we care to admit it or not. It would be neat to have them as prizes in a non-subjective contest (I'm thinking a dice-rolling game or a contest where all users get to vote on the winner). But please don't do a page prize again! That's how I won my first bear head and I didn't even feel too happy after I got it. Half of the people who posted on the winning page got slammed for spamming. It really put a damper on the celebrations when the people you spent talking to for hours were left hanging overnight as to whether or not they would win the prize they worked so hard for... (not that they should have spammed, but the bear head was expensive and they really wanted to make sure that they got their post in).

- For CI's, do you guys come up with ideas ahead of time and then have wishie pixel them? Or do you let the artists come up with whatever they would like... Haha, if it's the latter, I think I can see how I might have been insulting to wishie in the CI announcement when I said I don't like common-like sets in CIs. Would it be possible to have users vote on an idea for what they would like to see in a CI and then include the winning idea the following month? It wouldn't even spoil the surprise since there are multiple poses and you guys seem to put a 'twist' on a lot of the items that are released. I feel like that would ensure that most people will love the item that you guys bring out.

And... I'm not trying to be difficult or personally attack anyone. I really do just care about the site and I'm trying to give my feedback. 'Cause this is the feedback forum. Yes, I'm upset about some of the topics that I posted above, which is why they might be a bit scathing. But I'm not hating on wishie's pixels or upset with jelly and Facade (even though I hate how they said I was too entitled). Xb

Awesome. :heart:

EDIT: Sweet, 20g toward a channah head.

Yea I do see her point

I told myself I wasn't going to comment on this thread anymore because I didn't want to prolong a discussion where I felt what I needed to say had been said. But there were a few points brought up that I felt I did need to address, so I will.

I will admit to you outright that I have entirely mixed feelings about these unique items. I see both sides of the issue from a staff member's point of view and I even see what it would feel like from the point of view of a user. In the end, I have these thoughts that I will share with you and hope you understand how I see it:

1) I have been to other sites - not just avatar sites, but websites with collectable bonuses of some type - where staff members have done similar things. When it was done in a way I could accept, I accepted it. When it became an ego thing that was flaunted over the users to show their elite position, I got disgruntled and left. I know that there is no intention on the part of the people who have these unique items to 'flaunt' it. They have been given a gift and should be free to enjoy it without being made to feel bad. As for those who created the items - they were always created with one of two intentions: pure-hearted affection or with the attempt to cause fun in the forums with the reactions to the items. One of the reasons the users seem to enjoy being around here is that we don't take ourselves too seriously and do silly things and most unique items are as a result of the "silly" factor and to make the users a part of a staff in-joke.

2) These items were never meant to be put into the market for sale. Whether they exist or not ultimately doesn't matter. It's not much different (imho) from someone taking a copy of their Menewsha avatar and pixeling or pasting something special onto it, because it doesn't affect whether or not you can have it even if you wanted it.

I know that since you're on Mene and technically there's nothing stopping every user from having one since the copies can be reproduced and distributed in whatever fashion, it's hard to accept that there are a few items on the site that no one can have no matter how much they like them.

3) I know that both points 1 and 2 probably really don't change the fact that you feel it's unfair. And I acknowledge that and say you have the right to continue to feel that way. (Not that you need my 'permission' to feel that way - just that I'm saying I agree that it is reasonable to look at something you want and feel sad that you can't get it no matter how hard you work for it.)

tl;dr version is: Yeah, I can see that it sucks. I'm sorry it's upsetting to you.


I have taken this thread and most of the opinions presented in it very seriously. I have separated the wheat from the chafe, so to speak, and those opinions with weight have been taken into consideration. I'm hardly the only staff member to be reading this thread and be reading the thread with these thoughts.

There seems to be a lot of each side not quite understanding the other side's position going on, either because of miscommunication or simply not listening. So I'll just say this: the staff has heard the thoughts presented in this thread and, as I said early in the thread, since we attempt to correct imbalances, there will be a balance correction up-coming in the next few weeks/months.

Headworks: "Pirate Hat" for 700 gold each. The red/white hat was a recolor of one of the very first items on the site. ^^;


If there's another issue that hasn't been responded to that you are anxiously awaiting a response on, please say something and make it very clear that it's an issue you want a response on. Heck - ping me back to this thread to make sure I recognize it.

I will say that there are some suggestions that have been made we can't currently do, a few that we would never do, and others that might be considered. I may not be able to specify which is which for fear of the old staff trap of saying something and then being told by our boss or through reasoned discussion in the staff forum to change our stance on it. I hope you understand.

CK: Thank you so much for responding to my post, especially to the part about the special staff items, as it's the one that bothered me the most. Haha, I'm not too happy with the response though. Xb

I understand what you're saying and I don't believe that anyone on the staff is trying to 'flaunt' their special items. But, at the same time, it's can be somewhat difficult to not feel like the items are being shown off occasionally. I mean, if you're going to use them as a joke... it's obvious they're going to be equipped so everyone else will talk about them. And that fits my definition of 'showing off'.

This is one reason that the staff items can be alienating, and it's creating a tangible difference between them and regular users. I don't personally like joking around when I feel alienated. I wouldn't care if you gave special items to NPCs--I love Vicky's halo and Lise's hair, for instance. But they are special accounts and their special items don't belong to any one person. I have always felt like the staff accounts were different because they were users themselves. I know that wishie got the items she pixeled for free and I think that is completely understandable, because they wouldn't exist without her hard work. The thing is... I don't think any staff member with a special item is 'just another user' anymore because they don't have to abide by the same rules as the rest of the site's members.

But thank you for reading my comments. I wrote the one part that you quoted about 'taking my comments seriously' because of a post in the CI announcement thread. I looked for it again, but I think it's gone now (along with a few other posts, strangely enough). It wasn't directed at you, but the other post essentially said that it was difficult to take our comments seriously because some of us were posting so much that it seemed like we were ranting. I think long well-thought out posts help facilitate discussion, imho, even if there is a lot of reiteration to fully explain our main points.

Yeah - I understand your feelings, but I genuinely don't see a proper solution to what you're feeling right now.

Some of the items could be deleted without there being much fuss. I, for example, have a Chicken Little graphic sent to me by another AA because of a private thing between us. I don't use it, but I do have it. Deleting it wouldn't cause pain to me and probably not to the AA I mention, because the moment has passed.

However, more personal items being removed would cause pain, both on the part of the gift giver and gift receiver. The way I look at it is, I don't get upset when my friends get artwork gifted to them by another friend and this situation isn't much different: an artist I like has given an art gift to another friend. If it were put into someone's signature instead of on their avatar, it would be the same thing. They "have" an item that someone else doesn't and can't have. Someone with minor graphics skills could take whatever the item in question is and put it on any avatar they make. It's really not much different.

Anyway. I won't ramble about it anymore because I see your position and empathize with it, but from where I sit, I see no reason to change what has been done, but merely to think about what might be done in the future. You may look at what has been done and want for it to change to be more fair to the users. And if that's how you feel, I won't be able to convince you and you won't be able to convince me. But hopefully we can both respect each others' view points because we can see from the other's position enough to know why we feel that way. :x


Ah - yes. I don't know whose comment that was, but I think that was a user? Or a user said something similar, anyway. Whether I'm mistaken and it's a staff member or I'm correct, my response is really the same. It's someone's personal opinion and it's possible that the way they phrased things doesn't reflect their whole feelings but merely their frustration at the moment.

I know that if it's a staff member, you don't want to feel like they're frustrated at you, but it can be difficult for everyone to keep a professional attitude. Especially if they've never worked customer service type jobs before. Even more especially if someone they're friends with is hurt or upset because of what's being said.


In any case, I'm perfectly willing to address things, but on some of the topics I feel like I've already said enough that repeating myself would just cause frustration in itself. xD;

On the topic "staff alienating members & If your not part of a certain group or really close with staff members it's less likely you'll get an NPC/Special item". Now i could say i fit into this group, although a lot of people wouldn't know it. I know i've ruffled a few staff members feathers in the past, in fact had arguments with a few, said some stupid immature things out of anger, got myself in trouble etc etc. Had a few infractions and got pretty pissed over them xD. But i have never felt they've singled me out in any way, regardless of those past mistakes. I've gotten items from a variety of different npc's - which we all know are staff members. So i honestly don't think they single people out, or only give stuff to certain people. I just feel that the same people get them all the time, because those same people are always hanging out in staff event threads, and participating in the contests etc. I'm usually with the user on most things, but i dunno i think we got a pretty good bunch of mods, who are level headed, and very mature. So yeah i disagree with the fact that there are mods who only give npc/special items out to certain people. But that's me and my two cents xD.

I agree with this statement ^.^

Oh, I was just referencing to the special gifts, not NPC items in general. I feel like I've been pretty lucky with NPC items, having gotten most of them myself. :)

I don't feel alienated from other users who have other NPC items because I know that I stand a chance of obtaining them.

no reason to reply, CK ♥.
i do see the lusty, brown, black and white pirate hats and they are cute.
i was just hoping to get the colors of the new palete put up in the shoppe.
i absolutely love the TEAL and even the pirate color, ocean blue one as well.
i'm sure lots of other people have favorite colors from the amazing event commons.
i just thought the new colors might make it a bit easier for those who did not get a
'it totally IS a santa hat.'
but i am not sure how much work would be involved in re-coloring the santa hat.

thank you for addressing the concerns, suggestions and opinions.