MC Community: Where is it going?

theprawncracker

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2004
Messages
13,202
Reaction score
534
I love this website. I love this forum. I love all of the people here. I'm not trying to start an argument. I'm not trying to be disrespectful. I just want to speak my mind.

Lately I've noticed that the "fan community" aspect of MC has gone down the drain. We've gone from being a community to being a bunch of people who argue all the time. I don't really know what the cause of this is, but I think I might have an inkling...

Not enough moderators work on the site, not enough people are allowed to contribute to the site, and the administrators hardly read or respond to people's questions or quandries.

I have a few prime examples of this...
A desperate cry for a lift on posting restrictions.
A serious plea for that same lift.
A member ASKING to contribute to the site.
An innocent plea to not be censored.

The only moderators that responded to these were The Count and Fozzie Bear. Phil, I understand that you're very busy, but when a thread is posted in the Feedback section of your forum, do you not think you should at least respond to the people's questions?

ESPECIALLY when it's a question the other moderators can't answer?

Again, I am NOT trying to cause trouble. You know me, Phil, I wouldn't do that on purpose. I just really want to see MC flourish. I'm merely a concerned citizen of this fan community and I want to help in whatever ways possible.

My suggestions would be to first and foremost appoint more moderators to the site. May I be the first to recommend Jamie (aka frogboy4) for this position? He has a knowledgable grasp of all things Henson AND all things MC. But the appointments should not stop at Jamie, he's simply my suggestion. If WE can't handle the problems on the forum ourselves, shouldn't we have more esteemed individuals who can?

Second would be to allow more people to contribute articles and reviews to the main site. MC STILL doesn't have a review of the Muppets' Grammy winning CD "A Green and Red Christmas" OR the "Fraggle Rockin'" set--two extremely awesome recent releases that didn't get a treatment. If more people were allowed to contribute to the site I think it would seem more approachable to casual fans wanting to help out. I, for one, would be thrilled to contribute an article or a review to MC, if ever given the opportunity.

Third... give people a chance to support MC! Sure, buying some Muppet items from Amazon will send some funds back to the site... but honestly, why not give people a direct way to help fund their home away from home? I had this idea here and it was again ignored by most of the administrative staff. Why NOT have official MC merchandise for people to buy? What harm could it possibly do? I would buy everything the site offered--one, to display my fandom, and two to support my favorite website on the internet!

I understand that to some I may just seem like a crazy teenager who's only goal on this site is to post fan-fiction and derail the topics of threads and send them on muffining rampages... but I'm a Muppet fan first, a Muppet Central fan second, and a crazy teenager who's goal on this site is to post fan-fiction and derail the topics of threads and send them on muffining rampages last (well... technically I'm a tuna fish last, but let's not get into math).

Again, I just want to help. That's all I want to do, and I'm pretty sure that's all most of us here want to do too. So c'mon Phil, give us a chance. :smirk:
 

Oscarfan

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 2, 2008
Messages
7,604
Reaction score
3,949
*pounds heart and signs peace* Powerful words man.
 

TogetherAgain

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2005
Messages
5,105
Reaction score
407
I SECOND THAT!

MC is all about the FUN, right? Or at least, MOSTLY about the fun. I do believe that the things Prawnie's suggesting here-- and a little ACKNOWLEDGEMENT from the higher-ups-- (Kev, Ed, you know we love you... But I mean a little higher...) would ultimately help improve the fun-level. It just feels better to post in a place where we know we're heard... It makes us feel more important. Just imagine how many people's self-esteem you could raise!
 

MrsPepper

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2004
Messages
4,333
Reaction score
75
Excellent post, Prawnie.

It's obvious that those of us who have stuck around really and truly care about the Muppet Central community. It may seem like complaining (to the two people who always have to handle these situations), but I think it's evidence that we want to be active, contributing members to something that we really care about.

I'm a strong advocate of more mods... Having more that two people handle problem situations eliminates any bias, since they would be handled by different people. It would also be easier to consult other mods and come to a general consensus of what the best idea for the greater good of the forum would be. A stronger team of mods also shows a united front and that there is indeed a TEAM of people who care and want to give back to the forum!

As for contributions, it's obvious that we have many talented writers on the forum, judging by the dozens of fanfictions. Who better to write reviews than our budding muppet writers? There are a number of people who would be fantastic at this (theprawncracker included, in my humble opinion) and I think it would be fair and good to give a few of them the opportunity to contribute.

The donating idea... another site I was on gave the forum members incentives for donating money (ie. larger avatars). Maybe if we set up a donation system to help Phil out, we could give a small reward to each person who donates, like a custom member rank. ((Since the topic of custom member ranks has been professionally brought up by numerous people at least 4 times, I think this would be an appropriate reward))

I hope that you don't think this is a personal thing towards you, Phil. It IS your site, you pay the bills and we're obviously grateful! But you shouldn't have to be relegated to just be the webmaster, and maybe if some of the load was shared, this place could really come alive again.
 

MrsPepper

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2004
Messages
4,333
Reaction score
75
*gasp!* YOU're a tuna fish last TOO? No way!

But seriously... I'm so glad to see people's possitive responses to this thread--and to see that the posts are intelligent and well thought out. Thank you guys.
Anytime, Prawnie... you're not the only one who cares, you know! And if we all band together and show how serious and earnest we are about this, I think it will make a difference.
 

D'Snowth

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2003
Messages
40,651
Reaction score
12,811
You know, I didn't want to say anything PUBLICALLY about this, a couple of people already know my feelings about this, but yeah, MC just doesn't have that same sparkle anymore.

It seems to that most people... well not most people, a few in particular, never really post actual, meaningful posts anymore; but rather, they just reply to every thread they can for the sake of posting SOMETHING (which is usually a simple "Yeah" or "I agree" or "Same here", etc).

Then there's all these cliques! You got cliques for people who write fanfics, you got cliques for people who do that whole Muppet Dorms thing; MC's too good to have cliques, this isn't middle or high school or anything, this is a COMMUNITY! There are no cliques in a community!

Then of course, there's the muffin OVERLOAD lately! All of those "I Love" threads suddenly grew more menacing than the real "I Love" mini-series on VH1; then of course, there's the excessive muffining in my retrospective thread, that Count never closed after I had asked him to, and other people began asking him to as well, FINALLY I had to go with the whole "if you can't beat them, join them", so now, the thread's pretty much ruined.

On the subject of appointing more moderators, if the floor is open for nominations, I nominate Beauregard! If you ask me, he certainly deserves to be a moderator around here, I do believe he would do an excellent job!
 

TogetherAgain

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2005
Messages
5,105
Reaction score
407
But seriously... I'm so glad to see people's possitive responses to this thread--and to see that the posts are intelligent and well thought out. Thank you guys.
You're welcome, and-- I second that! (Again. What can I say-- I'm Half Prawnie. I'm bound to agree with him at least half the time. :stick_out_tongue:) So many posts around here lately have felt so empty, with very little (if anything) to say. Now, sure, just about every member is bound to make a relatively pointless post once in a while... But most pointless posts should at least be fun, and I feel like I've seen more pointless... pointlessness, than pointless fun. Just a random observation.

So Prawnie, if you're part tuna, and I'm half you... Does that make me half-part tuna? Or part-half tuna? Or-- a fish egg? ...Or, since you are also half me... Maybe I'm part fourna?
 

theprawncracker

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2004
Messages
13,202
Reaction score
534
D'Snowth said:
It seems to that most people... well not most people, a few in particular, never really post actual, meaningful posts anymore; but rather, they just reply to every thread they can for the sake of posting SOMETHING (which is usually a simple "Yeah" or "I agree" or "Same here", etc).
Ugh, I know what ya mean. It seems those posts have been going around like the plague lately.

Snowth-Burger con Queso said:
...then of course, there's the excessive muffining in my retrospective thread, that Count never closed after I had asked him to, and other people began asking him to as well, FINALLY I had to go with the whole "if you can't beat them, join them", so now, the thread's pretty much ruined.
If you don't mind my saying so, Snowthy m'friend, I think that thread speaks to your five years here even MORE now that it's been muffined. After all, how many years in a row did you win Top Muffiner in the MC Awards? :wink:

Half Me said:
So Prawnie, if you're part tuna, and I'm half you... Does that make me half-part tuna? Or part-half tuna? Or-- a fish egg? ...Or, since you are also half me... Maybe I'm part fourna?
Whatever you is, it's confusing.
 

theprawncracker

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2004
Messages
13,202
Reaction score
534
EXACTLY! Prawnmeister, you've hit the nail on the head! Those posts ARE "The Great MC Plague of '08"!
Too true, too true! Just like we had all of those locusts in '07... *shudders*

Wait... wrong story. :crazy:

But seriously... I really don't know what, if anything, can be done about those posts... but I wish something could be.
 
Top