I think people leave because there isnt a quicker way to make gold on mene
Most of them dont want to work for it...

it's a shame too, they miss a great sight.
maybe we could give them an insentive to stay?
like a gold amount?
one to five hundred goldies when you make your first one hundred and then each consecutive posts up to five hundred posts?

Originally Posted by Omi

I feel that most of the issues brought up about the Fresh Meat Forum could be resolved if there was a more comprehensive yet easy to understand tutorial introduced upon sign up (sidenote: I haven't seen what's after the signup in a long time, it may have changed and have more information nowadays). It would educate newer users on where to find charities, hangouts, and other places of interest; introduce them to BBCode and where to find the help desk (where all the information and FAQ is already contained), tell them how to buy/wear clothing, and how to get started posting in the forums. Shyness and fear of messing something up (posting in the wrong forum, breaking a rule, etc.) really tends to trip a lot of people up just as much as feeling welcome or not.

And, yeah, reiterating that the Menewshan Achievements would also help in the educating new users area. Getting comfortable with how the system works is equally as good as feeling welcomed by the people you're posting to/with.


Also, not sure if word games would be permissible in a gold-earning forum (unless during an event). That's why the Word Games forum is its own deal in the forums (to disallow gold earning).

I agree that a tutorial would help a lot with giving direction to new users. I know that it pops up now saying to make a fresh meat thread I was unaware of this until recently as I am a three year old member and I know it wasnt around when I joined. So I believe that is a step in the right direction.

On the note of the game forum... I think that gold cap should be less in there but that it still has the ability to earn small amounts of gold per post to kind of give a simple start off to earning a little pocket change. I have seen it done like that on another site they have a limit of ten posts per day that you can earn from in the games type forum, a max of 10 gold or carrots in its case per post. After the ten post limit is hit no matter how much you post there it will not award gold. I thought it was a helpful yet regulated enough not to be abused system and could have potential.

Originally Posted by jellysundae

Changing the forum name

The name "Fresh Meat" being why people leave
Please excuse my bluntness, but that's a pretty ludicrous claim. People maybe give up on Mene because they don't get any responses in their FM thread, and draw inaccurate conclusions from that (the site's dead, we're all elitist bitches, etc.), but I can't imagine anyone getting their panties into such a bunch that they'd feel they had no choice but to leave, over the name of a forum, and if they did... :ninja: Unprofessional of me to say that we don't really want users who are that much of a flake?

Scrapping introductory threads
I think enough people have already said why that would be a bad idea. So I don't need to reiterate those reasons.

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I encouraged Carzeebear to make that hangout in FM, I don't know if any new users have ventured into it, or it any other people chat in there much, I don't have time myself. FM is like some tumbleweed laden ghost town, but that's because it's not relevant to the majority of the people on the site. Try as I might to encourage people to make threads in there, they don't.

Or, as incidents in the past have shown us, people with the wrong temperament and their own agendas make them. There used to be a newbie adoption agency, but the girl who ran it was a complete bitch to some new users. She was that obnoxious to one couple who signed up that they felt compelled to contact Support about their treatment from her, and they never visited the site ever again. This was a married 20 something couple who very likely would have been donators; driven away by someone with an attitude problem. This girl also felt that she deserved to be made a mod because she ran this thread. We consequently locked it and she left in a huff...and we've not allowed anyone to make anything similar since.

[COLOR="Silver"]

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I know the FM stickies need a revamp. Please, I'm not trying to sound like I'm all GRRR! at you or anything, but these kind of comments grate on me, I feel like you guys think we sit around doing nothing. These things don't get visibly done because; they're either already a WIP in the staff areas, or simply because we have a big ol' list of stuff to do, and these are not near the top of that list.

************************

I have every intention of creating a Thrift Shop account, that will work exactly like a thrift shop; people will give items to it and they will be resold very cheap. That I intend to live in a sticky in FM, because it will get lost otherwise. I'm fully aware that people on here WILL abuse it. Users with plenty of gold and items will buy stuff from it to either keep or sellback, because people are greedy, but the intent for this account is to give new users somewhere to get something better than a ragged shirt for their 50 gold first thread bonus.
Whether this account survives or fails will be a nice social experiment, and a pretty clear indication of the true greed levels of some of our users.

I agree that I do not think the name is why people leave. Its more of a "I didnt see it kind of thing. The name from my experience has thrown people off of what it is. I think it is a funny name as a lot of users do but I have met over my time here several new users who did not like it or who were confused by it. I third the adding of something like Welcome center to the forum name.


I dont believe individual introduction threads should be scrapped either. Its the first step in getting the post buttons down. And a great way to get to know a little about someone so you can possibly point them towards the forum with intrests to them.

I love that there is a hangout in there. Now that I know about it I will have to visit more. I guess at times it has been burried when I checked in to welcome people. I think some of us older users should post a link to it for new people or have a link in our sinitures for it to help spread the word. Not mandatory of course but those who like to welcome the new it could help spread the word around in other areas of the site.

This one is a personal opinion to Jelly.... I can not believe someone would be such a butt to new members! I am glad I didnt see that going on I can not understand rude people most of the time. >.< And I am sorry to hear that something intended to help actually made people quit!

On a stickies revamp, I know its not top priority and I am not in a hurry its more of throwing ideas out there in advance so when it is done you guys already have some user feedback. I know the staff has been crazy busy with everything on the site. And I have never nor will I ever think yall arent doing anything. Trust me I have been on some forums where the staff didnt do jack and well most of them are not around anymore as a result. The fact that we have little down time, new items, events, and activity at all shows that the staff is hard at work behind the scenes in that lovely mod only area. And We are grateful for that.

A thrift shop is an amazing idea! But I do agree that it could be easily abused. And will be a test to see the true nature of our users. But it will help with directing new users to items. I know as even an older member the shops sometimes make my head want to explode... (I do like the search feature now I discovered it during a recent shop adventure. :) )

Originally Posted by Soda

Problem number one, the current member base tends to forget about the Fresh Meat area. I really like the possibility of being alerted that there's a new thread created and it sounds like a viable and practical solution to that major problem.

Problem number two. Apon sign up there's very little direction for new user's. It's improved slightly but I remember having a fair amount of cases of people never seeing the welcome area of glazing over it. User's love Stick and "New User area" blindness. I haven't made a account recently so I'm not intimately familiar with the process, but I know it hasn't changed massively. I need not mention the massively successful site that put avatar sites on the map, their sign up system is more stream lined and very user friendly. Even though it's a marketing cluttered mess of a site. You customize your avatar, and you're pointed in the right direction, and given a rather intimate interactive experience. Menewsha's new user experience fall's a little.. Flat in my opinion. I don't recall seeing this issue mentioned anywhere ever, so there it is..

Soda Pop out! 8)

Again I agree that we as older users need to be more aware of the fresh meat area. I know when I joined I was overjoyed to be welcomed because so many sites dont welcome new people the way mene does. And I think it is a tradition here that should stay active. It really is the same handful of staff and users who pop in to welcome people And it is sad to see the whole first page with one name as the last poster. We need to get the word out to older members to get more diversity in there. Old members need new friends to is how I see it. I have met some awesome people from fresh meat and am still friends with them to this day from random visits to the forum.

Again with a tutorial. As I have said I think this is a great idea that could be elaborated on.. though I know to make such a thin would be a huge task on the staff... so patience is key here I think.

Originally Posted by Linnea

i love that there is one thread in the fresh meat forum that is a hang out and i wouldn't want to see any more cluttering it up and i wouldn't want to see it made into a sticky either

the idea of a sticky made thrift store is pretty neat too since i know that sometimes the shops can be a little overwhelming...

anyways... i guess i don't really see much of a problem, and i definitely don't see such a big problem that it needs to take precedent over everything else... change is good thing and making things better is fantastic but i am also a firm believer in that if it's not broke, don't fix it

I also think one hangout is enough so as to not complicate things there. We just have to get the word out there so more people see it.

Again the thrift store idea rocks in my opinion.

And agreed that its not a big enough issue to put all else on hold, just kicking around some ideas for the future since these things take time and resources. So In a way I guess Im of a mind to plan and over prepare so when or if it happens it is less of a scramble and users have made their views on it made so it is less of a hit or miss.

On the note of a charity there.. I think there should be a sticky with links to new user based charities in it. So if someone wants to go to a charity they have a point in the right direction.

I hope I have not tldr everyone again. And I love that we are getting so many diverse views. Another reason I love this site. The people work together and are honest and thats why I stay and why I tell people how amazing it is. :)

~Ivvy out~

I'm not sure if this has been done before or is currently being run...but another idea is that we could have a "newbie adoption" where older members volunteer to show new members the ropes: help them with the rules, point them to some awesome hangouts, give them an item or two to welcome them, etc.

@ Maria.... there was one and it went well for a while then the owner of it was terrible to a few new members and they reported it and left the site for good. Jelly touched on that in an earlier post. So we have not had one since as it was such a disaster in the end.

Originally Posted by Ivvy

@ Maria.... there was one and it went well for a while then the owner of it was terrible to a few new members and they reported it and left the site for good. Jelly touched on that in an earlier post. So we have not had one since as it was such a disaster in the end.

I didn't know that was what she was talking about. It's a cute idea but someone would have to be willing to coordinate it and it would have to be someone the admins on this site trust to keep it friendly.

I'm just spouting out ideas for now since I touched on the subjects brought up in the main post in my first post in this thread.

I agree something must be done but I don't agree that the name needs to change and the individual threads should be gone.

So I'm thinking of other ideas lol

I'll post more as I think of them XD

I don't think I ever ventured into fresh meat when I joined here...I think I went straight to the art shops and didn't come out of there for the longest time. So I don't know what went on there for the longest time XD I just know that every now and then I'll stop by freshmeat, greet some new members, and every now and then, hand out a free item or two XD

By all means throw those ideas out there. :) We love ideas..hehe and Ohh you vanished into the art threads.. I lurk there a lot but never have I dissolved into it >.<

And I like to go and hand out a thing or two as well when I make stops into the fresh meat. It is my happy random donating moments.

I think im speachless for once because ivvy replied superbly with what i was gonna say at every turn so ill just second all of it. Well actually ido have an idea that me and ivvy are working the kinks out of but until we do we dont want to post it just yet

@jellysundae The thrift shop sound fantastic and kinda like one of our first user post sugestions on page one.

Originally Posted by hummy

it's a shame too, they miss a great sight.
maybe we could give them an insentive to stay?
like a gold amount?
one to five hundred goldies when you make your first one hundred and then each consecutive posts up to five hundred posts?

I really disagree with this. Mainly because it goes against Mene's "work for what you want" outlook entirely.

Originally Posted by Cassette

I really disagree with this. Mainly because it goes against Mene's "work for what you want" outlook entirely.

I understand menewsha's 'work for what you want' ethic.
however, you are working for the reward.
and it's just a suggestion.
i think menewsha could bend a bit to intice people to stay.
more people, more donations.
it's just simple economics.

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one think i tend to do is to ping some new members to places i think might interest them.
i stopped greeting new members when someone said it was just a way to 'make easy gold',
i was kind of offended.
since the reason i was not active in 2007, when i joined, was due to the way i felt unwelcomed here.
and every time i did post i got a some what rude, 'we don't do it that way here!'
'if you don't like it then go back to gaia.'
which, i promptly did.
i don't think changing a few things would be a bad idea,
however, i think the staff has a lot on their plates.
i'm like, 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it.'
just saying.

We should vote for starter clothes
Thats what I think would help Newbies more
Sorry just throwing that out there

*takes cover*

A BIG thing I want to mention for the fresh meat thread revamp into stickies.
Don't throw everyone into just a single thread. Given the number of newbies that make threads there is a chance that a single thread for all the newbies could get a little overwhelming. Due to this, I would recommend at least 3 stickies (All the same) to help split up the flow of users whether they want slow chatting, or fast paced conversation. Why do I say this? During events you remember those super fast threads right? Well, throughout the day I would constantly see messages like "This is getting way too past for me I'll be back later" and such. This shows that a single thread could potentially become way too fast for an entire forum.

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Another piece of input, for anyone, is maybe as menewsha is a "sanctuary" so to speak. Maybe we could call the fresh meat the "Newbie Sanctuary" =3

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@ Jelly - :lol: The infamous bluntness XD
I have to agree though that some users (in their posts) have appeared to be rather uncomfortable with the title though. (Not really the best first impression right?)

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@ Vicky - Starter cloths? Why don't we just remove the rags from the store and make THEM the starter cloths.

-

Note I didn't read everything I'm sorry... I don't want to spend my entire library internet time reading XD

Hey why dont we
Its something
You have to see it this why
When they see that they have clothes and dont have to spend anything its like "yay free"
But when they see they have to spend there hard earning gold I think 30 gold to buy rags they will be like "but it took forever!"
"I want a pretty skirt!"

Hmmm you can never win
*smh*

Agreed... and jelly would be (somewhat) satisfied that it wont be in the shops anymore :lol: I remember her saying she wanted it out a while back. Granted... then it'd be on 80% of newbies and she would see it everywhere :lol:

lmao that would be funny
Its like there haunting her FOREVER!

I wonder if mene can make a "time sensitive" item. One that disappears after a month. Would be cool to give them a collection of basic items to dress with for a short time in order to encourage them to get real cloths.

lol at poofing clothing.
*waves to poet and dreamie*

Originally Posted by Maria-Minamino

I didn't know that was what she was talking about. It's a cute idea but someone would have to be willing to coordinate it and it would have to be someone the admins on this site trust to keep it friendly.

Just throwing my (non-moderated :lol:) opinion out there on this specifically and a few other things.

I don't think the staff would want to kind of.. endorse having someone run a newbie adoption thread. At least not in the sense that they're picking a user or users to do it. Because then it might show favoritism or lead to that person or group of people thinking they have special privileges because of it, as was the last scenario.
(And again, I'm stating this as an unknowing opinion of what the staff thinks about this. This is just what I think, not what I know.)

In a sense, I feel we kind of already have something similar anyway just not a thread set up for it. As stated, it's usually the same people going in and greeting new members. (A welcoming committee of sorts.) Honestly, I don't see anything wrong with this. I would rather our new members get greeted by the same people, than not greeted at all.

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Regarding giving starter clothing:

The main issue I have with this is... they wouldn't get used. Maybe for the first week or so, but then I feel like it would be junk. They would be worthless because everyone started out with them and I feel would give the users the wrong impression of us. Current members helping our new members out by donating gold and items (without the new member asking) is a much better representation of the community than new members starting out with clothing and then feeling like things are super easy here and they're entitled to them. We've all been naked and really, this is the best community I've seen that handles the whole nakedness thing. We don't mind that people are naked because we understand, because we've been there. And we remember the feeling of accomplishment to get our first outfit; it makes it that much sweeter. :drool:

Re: starter clothes. Yeah, those are a non-starter, to be honest. People from Gaia etc. complain about the lack of them, but people on those sites shun them! People just moan because they're used to getting something straight away and what they're complaining about is the lack of FREE, basically.

This is why I want to impliment a thrift shop account, where people can buy something they actually like for a small amount of gold, instead of some ugly rag that they'll ditch as soon as they've earnt enough for some items of their own choosing.

Originally Posted by jellysundae

Re: starter clothes. Yeah, those are a non-starter, to be honest. People from Gaia etc. complain about the lack of them, but people on those sites shun them! People just moan because they're used to getting something straight away and what they're complaining about is the lack of FREE, basically.

This is why I want to impliment a thrift shop account, where people can buy something they actually like for a small amount of gold, instead of some ugly rag that they'll ditch as soon as they've earnt enough for some items of their own choosing.

To solve the problem of some older members abusing the thrift shop - could you make a cap on it? Either a membership time cap (say, after 1 month old on the site you no longer are allowed to purchase items from it) OR a number cap (say, after 3 items bought, you are no longer allowed to purchase items from it)?

No, there's be no way to do that. This would be no different to any other marketplace shop.

It would rely entirely on the honesty and generosity of the users themselves. Firstly in people donating items to it, and secondly in others not buying all the stock up themselves just because it meant a profit for them.

Originally Posted by hummy

I understand menewsha's 'work for what you want' ethic.
however, you are working for the reward.
and it's just a suggestion.
i think menewsha could bend a bit to intice people to stay.
more people, more donations.
it's just simple economics.

Sorry if I came off sounding rude in my last post (and this one for a matter of fact), I tend to be a pretty blunt person most of the time. ^^;

To be perfectly honest, I actually do think that Mene is already pretty decent with the way gold is earned. You can earn up to 500 a day just by playing games, so in theory you don't even have to post. Not to mention there is no cap on post gold and depending on what you type, you can make a killing. RP threads are a prime example of this, as the majority of posts there will be near the 30g mark. This is even better on the first and fifteenth of each month when the gold earning is doubled to celebrate the new CIs being released.

I also feel that there are more things that a site can do to entice people to stay, rather than just hand out gold or free things all the time. In fact, the easy gold was the main reason that I left Ernya, it just wasn't fun.

Another thing that I've noticed is that users on sites who feel the need to get things handed to them, be that in the form of extra currency or items, tend to be the least grateful. As they get so much for free, when a new item is released that they do have to pay for, they moan about it. They also tend to be the least likely to donate. I mean, what's the point of spending real cash on items if you can easily get them with site-specific currency? More users doesn't always equate to more donations. A lot of the time, more users simply means that there are more users.

a lot of people aren't gamers, though.
i have been trying to play and max out the gold cap each day to accomplish that acheivement.
attack of the fan girls is my game of choice since i stink at most others and don't even get one gold.
before that, with my laggie laptop, i hardly ever played any games.
i'm a poster by nature.
also when somoene first comes to a site they don't necessarily go to the games.
i feel, most people come to avatar sites, or any site for that matter, for compainionship.
i was unaware that the double bubble bonus goldies days of the fifteenth was an addition to the first for each month.
i thought last month's fifteenth bonus goldies day was because of menwsha's down time and late release of the contribution item.
that's great that we will have two days to earn more goldies for each post!
i'm not one to argue or try to get my point across and i don't see it being something that would happen here.
i was just trying to point out that a lot of sites do this and it does tend to keep their users.
and as you say, more users do not make more donators, but it does give menewsha the opportunity to perhaps get more donations.
and to me, that is a good thing.
when i came back to menewsha i was in no way going to be a donater.
but then i got to know the menewshain staff members and really wanted to help when i could.
however they choose to do anything is fine by me.
i just wanted to voice my opinion,
even if it is poo-poo'd.
before i would have just let it go and said nothing in response.
but now, knowing how much i love being on menewsha, i felt i should express myself a bit better.

i love the fesh meat forum's title!
it made me giggle when i first saw it,
and it stands out from other sites.

I'm not a gamer either. In fact, I hate the games. I have nothing against how they were made, and I can see why people like them, they're just not my cup of tea. I only played them for a few days so I could get my gold faster for Roachi, since she was holding items for me. I was just pointing out that the games were there and there is the ability to earn an extra 500g a day on top of everything you can earn from posting. This is assuming you play on your mule as well as your main, if you have one.

I thought that CIs were getting released on the first and the fifteenth as standard now, to take the pressure of Wishie? That was what I got from the announcement anyway. I might be wrong though, so I would double check.

There's a difference between arguing and discussing or debating. On Menewsha it tends to be more discussion/debate, which shows the maturity of users on the site. I realise what you're saying, and I'm afraid that I disagree with that. Many sites offer free clothes or bonus currency, but just because they do this doesn't mean people will stay. The site actually has to be able to function well without added incentive. I know a lot of sites that have done this and it -hasn't- helped them keep users. Like I said before, Ernya has easy to earn currency and offers a lot of free items and currency (as does Terrasus) and I didn't stick around on either site, just like a lot of my friends.

I like the staff here too, and it's always nice to help. However I wouldn't go as far to say whatever they decided to do is fine with me. Obviously, what I say has very little impact, but if I disagree I will usually say something. I'm not one to keep quiet haha.

Originally Posted by Cassette

Not to mention there is no cap on post gold and depending on what you type, you can make a killing. RP threads are a prime example of this, as the majority of posts there will be near the 30g mark.

There is a cap. :ninja:


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Whenever I join a site, I go to the games first. XDD
Because usually those are the quickest ways to earn gold with the least amount of work (ie. interaction with other users).

Once I get more comfortable in the site though, I end up playing less just because it can get monotonous. :lol:

Regardless of if people play the games or not, the option is still there to earn easy gold!