Yeah you're welcome ^^

I've been with Mene for more than seven years. Now my account won't say that, but I can because I've had multiple accounts on here. Twice started over for a clean slate with everyone on here. And while everyone has stated their own opinions and whatnot, I feel it's okay to say mine safely.

I started part of my writing hobby on here. I mainly roleplayed. That's how I learned to write so much better than what I did before I joined. I was probably 13 or 14 at the time. Now going on 22, I have a job, family stuff, boyfriend stuff, and being an adult comes craving for more adult stuff like mature, serious discussions without people spewing hate everywhere. Also more mature roleplaying. What drove me away before I started over here as Junabelle, was the rating for roleplay. I had more mature interests that couldn't be met here. It was surely disappointing.

To add on to that, the cliques! For so many years I found it so hard to fit in here. I didn't really have any friends, and my shyness opted for me to skip out on trying on hangout threads. It wasn't till I started over at Junabelle, more mature and outgoing, that I finally felt apart of the community, but it was also a time when I was trying to get a job out of high school and just start to start a life around my first serious relationship, so I couldn't be as active as I liked to be...

It really is sad that this place has lost so much activity. There's so much going on here, I've always loved it. That's why I've kept coming back! I hated Gaia so much. So many annoying kids and the place had always been intimidating to me, to be honest. There was always too much to look through... Out of all avatar sites I've tried (can't even tell ya because there's been so many and none have left an impression big enough to remember the names of), this place has been the most welcoming. Easy as that.

Activity or none, I'd like to stay returned from Hiatus for quite a while...

Well i hope you can stay here off hiatus as well :]
we actually have a side site somewhere that when the roleplays get to a mature part you can take it off site to continue with the RP but not break the TOS... oh goodness. . . i'll have to see if I can dig that up again. i forget where it was and it was bookmarked on my old computer.

Originally Posted by Head Librarian

Menewsha Roleplay Forum Rules

[*] Please remember that Menewsha is a PG-13 site. If you would like to create a roleplay that oversteps those boundaries, you may do so at Menewsha's "cousin" site, WTF RPG.

Junabelle:
there you go. :]

Originally Posted by Shadami

Well i hope you can stay here off hiatus as well :]
we actually have a side site somewhere that when the roleplays get to a mature part you can take it off site to continue with the RP but not break the TOS... oh goodness. . . i'll have to see if I can dig that up again. i forget where it was and it was bookmarked on my old computer.



Junabelle:
there you go. :]

Thanks for digging it up! But i did try it out once and it flopped. I may or may not give it one more chance since it's been so long.

hopefully it works out and will help with the restrictions ^^

I must admit to being surprised at the lack of activity. Of the online communities I have been a member of, this is the one I am wanting to return to. I have fond memories from the few times I have been more active here. Especially when the Extended Discussion forum was quite active.

As for myself, I don't believe I had a full-time job when I was most active here. During my working week it can be a fair drain on me. Especially as my shift times can result in me falling behind in sleep. For instance last Friday night I finished a 13 hour shift at 11:30pm with my next shift starting at 8:00am.

I also study part time. That actually makes me want to be more active here again though. :P

As for posting, I can be quite self conscious of my writing. I need to get out of the habit of closing tabs without submitting my responses.

Originally Posted by Crimson Fang

I must admit to being surprised at the lack of activity. Of the online communities I have been a member of, this is the one I am wanting to return to. I have fond memories from the few times I have been more active here. Especially when the Extended Discussion forum was quite active.

As for myself, I don't believe I had a full-time job when I was most active here. During my working week it can be a fair drain on me. Especially as my shift times can result in me falling behind in sleep. For instance last Friday night I finished a 13 hour shift at 11:30pm with my next shift starting at 8:00am.

I also study part time. That actually makes me want to be more active here again though. :P

As for posting, I can be quite self conscious of my writing. I need to get out of the habit of closing tabs without submitting my responses.

that is a crazy shift schedule!
I do hope you live close to work =3

do post what you want
we won't be critical, honest *hugs*

It is mostly because of the nature of my job. Well also my own personality too. But my actual rostered time is Friday 10am to 6:30pm followed by the 8am Saturday start. However if they are short staffed I will stay on to cover.

I love Mene. I'd pop in and out and would check my account here and there but RL got in the way of my internet life for quite awhile. Good stuff & mixed stuff, plus this may sound weird, but I have social anxiety, and this place and other online forums/games were at one time my only way of connecting, and over the last year or so my anxiety has been so bad I felt I couldn't even connect on some level online. I've been doing a lot better with that, but yet not.

Mac - Seems to be a big factor really. Life gets in the way. I think that is something the staff will need to look into. As Menewsha is a place where the more you post the more gold you get, so if you only have 10 minutes to post that's 1 read and reply.

It would be nice if Mene had a chatroom where those of us too busy to post could still pop on. I wonder if a mene app would ever be made. I'd use it at work on my breaks.

All forums are hurting because of social media how come they are so popular and people are busier than ever? It's not because "life gets in the way".

Originally Posted by Guivre

All forums are hurting because of social media how come they are so popular and people are busier than ever? It's not because "life gets in the way".

hmm that is very interesting, Guivre :D

I do spend more time on facebook than on here

It is exactly because life gets in the way.

Social media takes 30 seconds to update. Forums require more thought out posts. Not "thinking of puppies"

I think social media is more popular because it reaches more people
you get all the 'likes' and retweets and feel like people see you.

Originally Posted by Guivre

All forums are hurting because of social media how come they are so popular and people are busier than ever? It's not because "life gets in the way".

That's actually a brilliant point. I hadn't even considered that. That definitely makes a lot of sense. I still think life can get in the way, but as The Wandering Poet highlighted it can take a lot less effort to interact with social media, so when one is more pressured for time/effort social media is easier to utilize.

Originally Posted by Crimson Fang

That's actually a brilliant point. I hadn't even considered that. That definitely makes a lot of sense. I still think life can get in the way, but as The Wandering Poet highlighted it can take a lot less effort to interact with social media, so when one is more pressured for time/effort social media is easier to utilize.

This is exactly why I feel Menewsha needs a way to make quick easy conversation. Especially given how many parents are on menewsha.

Also, perhaps investing in some coding to allow it to give gold as well for a short duration much like the games.

Even without that, imbedding a chatroom will help menewsha feel more active and boost morale by a lot.

I checked with our resident borker and he informed me that the chat system that we had in the past was a one on one system, not a chatroom so I'm not sure that would be possible.

I'm wondering if perhaps a Menewsha App could help.
If it could be connected to the accounts here, and allow us to chat with one another maybe it will be easier to keep people.

Many users have stated they are too busy for Menewsha, yet many of those same people will use facebook, twitter, tumblr, etc.
They are all things that take a few moments. For a mother, a student, etc, these are much more appealing because on Menewsha you have to sit, you have to read, you have to reply. This takes up too much of our time if we are busy.

Menewsha needs more accessibility for us to thrive.

Looking at the costs of hosting an app:
$17,600 to hire someone to make a basic app which connects to Menewshan's accounts.
$9,900 appears to be the bare bones for this calculator.

Another calculator states $8,550.
$5,850 for the bare minimum.

So this tells me we can't BUY it. But we may have users who Menewsha can work with who do have these skills.

If that option doesn't work, Menewsha could consider making a Discord Server, and invite Menewshans to it through social media and the like. Discord appears to be free to make a server.

Just a comment on the above:
I do love Discord myself. I have it on my destop and phone both. It is my favorite service for chatting and voice chatting.
Discord does get my vote. I could even help with making the different channels and adding Mene specific emojis.

My fear is that if all of the users go to chat on discord, then the forums will be left bare, which will leave us with the same problem we have now.

that's a very real fear.
it'd be cricket townie!

Yeah, I would much rather chat on here. More gold earning this way. ^_^

We could make a hang out in the hangouts as the designated "super awesome mene hangout for all" or something like that where people could chose to go to as their main hangout. But again we still need to boost activity all around the site if possible.

Oh, wait, wait! What if we make the Discord more of an announcement channel. You can make it so that only the select people (admins or mods) can post announcements or updates. I do tend to check Discord more than my email address.
This would let the other users know about upcoming events, hot topics that deserve attention, new CI releases and double gold earning days, etc. All without letting the general users actually post in the Discord server.

Zig - The forums are already bare...
The thing is, discord does not give gold. Posting in the forums is still ideal, but if people are busy or say I'm at work on my break, discord is ideal. This is especially true because Menewsha is VERY anti-mobile. Posting on my phone is a pain. This is your major flaw. In a mobile dominant world, we are obsolete.

The hangout would be nice and all, but if we aren't home, if we don't have access to regular computer access for reasons such as kids, school, work, etc. We need a way to be active with the community.

Dragoness - As nice as that is of an idea I wouldn't subscribe to it purely to read annoucements. Menewsha does not do nearly enough of those to be worthwhile. Also this does not give anyone a reason to download the discord app.