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Only Sandbox threads were deleted. There was almost *nothing* of value there. No threads were deleted in the top 3 categories.



Two months ago I revised how ratings were scored. Members no longer lost credit when a member they rated was deleted. This was a *huge* change. A person could easily max out their rating score and just 'sit pretty'.



Everyone got a boost. No one complained then. You outrage should be equal toward the extra in scoring that you recently received.



The fact is, the threads that were deleted deserved to be deleted. The Sandbox became a place for members to falsely increase their Status with nothing but fodder. That's not what Status is about. Status is not a game. It's a representation of your contribution to VR. It's a representation of what you've put into VR to better VR. Game threads and other such nonsense do not deserve to be a part of Status.



The top 3 categories will continue to heavily moderated. Only threads and posts of value will be left. These are reflected in Status.



The Sandbox will remain, but it won't really affect Status, as under the new policy all threads are eventually deleted. Those that want to engage in chatter threads can continue to do so.



This is about the betterment of VR. It is not about your Status. I take a much wider view when I make policy decisions.

On 01:26:30 Nov 28 2006 radu wrote:



Not the place for this send it to Cancer .But be ready for his answer.



WARNING! This message is from a Vampire Rave Acolyte. Acolyte's are regular Vampire Rave members who have agreed to assist newer Vampire Rave members. As such, the information they provide may not always be 100% accurate.



If an Acolyte treats you in what you feel to be an inappropriate manner, please report the situation to Cancer. Do not delete messages you have received from the Acoylte.



On Nov 27 2006 you submitted the following request for help:



Subject: recent Sandbox upheaval



Question: For your consideration- I am appalled by the recent upheaval that was perpetrated in the name of





On 01:30:14 Nov 28 2006 RedQueen wrote:



sent a copy to Cancer, Jason and Khay as heads of my house, and I sent one here just to make sure I had covered all my bases. And if Cancer can give me a legitimate reason for the wholesale reduction of people's status, then I shall most certainly give his answer the same consideration





On 01:33:01 Nov 28 2006 radu wrote:



The reason the sanbox was whiped is because people are useing fslsely raise status.The sandbox was and is a joke.I post in it for fun and fun alone.





On 01:39:28 Nov 28 2006 RedQueen wrote:



I agree- and most people have the same logic as you and I do...the Sandbox was specifically CREATED for things that didn't fit into the other three categories, ones that specifically pertained to vampires, vampirism, and VR. It seems rather pointless to now go through and wipe out a box because it is doing exactly what it was intended to do-be a home for unrelated threads. I mostly object to the wholesale reduction in status for everybody, indicating that the people who are legitimate contributors to a thread are punished along with the crap-mongers, for want of a better description-I realize it would have taken a bit more time and trouble, but Cancer has given certain people on this site the ability to police the site for him so that he has less crap to deal with, and so that things can be taken care of in a much more efficient manner- why not put those very people to work cleaning out useless threads and posts? why punish the many for the actions of a few? specifically people who have contributed financially, and in time and effort to expand and improve the site-in one move he has established just who hew thinks are important both to him and the site, and I fear that the site will lose a great many intelligent contributors because of one un-thought-out act. A bit more time and effort would have solved the same problem, and not have alienated as many people.



On 01:43:23 Nov 28 2006 radu wrote:



I see were you are comeing from.I quess it does notmatter to me much as I stayed were I was.



On 01:48:34 Nov 28 2006 RedQueen wrote:



I had not participated in the forums for weeks for the very reasons that Cancer decided to take this action- because too many people were using it simply as a way to lever up, rather than to contribute something substantial to a thread, or even create an intelligent thread. But that is why I have choice- I can choose to post or not to post in a certain thread as I see fit-and yet posts I had made ages ago have now wiped out weeks of hard work in accruing favor, doing research, spending time here, etc. I remember that you once spent an entire weekend on here just to level up, and you were doing lots of things to do so- but legitimate things that are here for that very purpose- imagine if after all that hard work, something just wiped it out for something that wasn't even your fault? I just object to being punished for the actions of people who don't get as much out of this site as I and others do. It just seems a bit thoughtless and unfair, and until it is proven otherwise to my satisfaction, I will hold to the belif that Cancer took the easy way out, and is about to pay for that decision with the amount of emails just like mine from people who are justifiably angry.



On 01:52:27 Nov 28 2006 radu wrote:



I have spent Whole weekends on VR to get the toime to level up on VR.So I understand what you are saying.But think cancer will do nothing to change things.





On 01:57:57 Nov 28 2006 RedQueen wrote:



And the problem is, that is what is going to cost him the most in this situation. His high handed journal entries and comments about making this site worthwhile will be shot down because he didn't take a few legitimate concerns into consideration. Many people, you and I included, have spent valuable time putting into this site, and this gives the appearance that it was all for nothing. If something that we have all worked so hard for can be carelessly tossed away on a whim, what is the point to contributing at all? We should just ride the clock around here, so to speak, and we will get out exactly what we put in. And that to me is the greatest loss of all- the fact that genuine and intelligent contributors will have no motivation to put in the time and effort here.



On 02:00:55 Nov 28 2006 radu wrote:



Never know maybe cancer will change it.





On 02:15:57 Nov 28 2006 RedQueen wrote:



we will see- I expect he will get quite a few posts like mine, but in the end he will do nothing because of the people who DID just use the forums to level up, and they will be the more strident and uncouth respondents to his action here. And in the end, the people who put the most in will be the biggest losers.



On 02:21:42 Nov 28 2006 radu wrote:



That is very true I lost hundreds of posts myself.



On 02:24:48 Nov 28 2006 RedQueen wrote:



I would be interested to know how many other people not only feel the way I do, but actually went to the trouble to say anything to Cancer about it? Did any of the Acolytes, Dominars, or Administrators say anything? Was the subject even discussed amongst anyone who had any pull or thought to contribute? And what kind of thought process did go into this? Surely Cancer was aware that this would cause a great deal of backlash from people who had a reasonable excuse for being angry and upset about this, was that ever taken into consideration?



On 02:37:37 Nov 28 2006 radu wrote:



Back





On 02:45:06 Nov 28 2006 RedQueen wrote:



I am sorry if my reaction to this has troubled you, or if I should not have posted it in the help section- I was just making sure I had covered all the necessary bases.



On 02:46:55 Nov 28 2006 radu wrote:



I am fine with what you have said but nothing will be done.





On 02:50:04 Nov 28 2006 RedQueen wrote:



maybe not-but I would much rather be the kind of person who voices my opinion reasonably and takes a legitimate stand against something I see as unjust, than to sit quietly and be run over- it isn't in my nature to see something unfair or wrong happen with no explanation, and just let it go-I didn't let it go when Nicnivian shut down a thread of mine for no justifiable reason, and I'm not going to do it now





Nov 28 2006 radu wrote:



I wish you the best and hope something is done



Nov 28 2006 RedQueen wrote:



duly noted and appreciated- thank you for your time and patience

For your consideration- I am appalled by the recent upheaval that was perpetrated in the name of "cleaning house" as far as the sandbox was concerned. I find it ludicrous that we are constantly being encouraged to post in the forum, and yet as soon as a little house cleaning is done, we lose. Good people like myself who have contributed time, effort and money to the maintanence of the site have been punished for all intents and purposes by this recent move. I spent weeks sitting at 58% Changeling, rating, writing, playing hangman to gain favor points, and researching things, only to have it not only taken away from me after achieving Viper (11%), but dropped to 27% changeling. I too had lost interest in posting in the forum because of inane threads and equally childish and pointless posts from people who posted a shoddy "me too", "I agree", or "this sucks". I agree that such simpleton antics on the parts of people just trying to level up, rather than to make a genuine contribution, were a waste of everybody's time. I do not, however, think that we should all be punished as a whole for the stupidity of a few. A good housecleaning is occasionally necessary to make a site run smoothly and to trim the detritus from the corners, but not at the expense of hardworking contributors to the site. While I lost a level +, I have heard of others who went from 3000 posts to less than 500, some people losing as much as 2 levels. I find this to be extremely unfair, and I doubt that in the future I will be contributing much if anything to the forums at all. It simply is not worth the risk of suddenly losing everything I have worked so hard for. I will be the first and the loudest (thank my southern heritage for that) to quote the oft-bantered phrase "it is just a site, people" but to have found a site as worth contributing to as this one, and to work as hard as some of us do, only to be penalized randomly by the very people who encouraged us to post is indefensible.

OHMIF******GOD. Do you people NEVER read profiles? Or do we all just blithely go around, stamping here and there, willy-nilly, without so much as a single thought for what we are rating? Now don't get me wrong- I will be the first to admit to haphazardly stamping people and rating them low when their profile shows absolutely NO constructive effort, thought or action whatsoever, especially when I am trying to get to the next level. But in my own defense, I do rate them accordingly, I do NOT just stamp give a 10 and go-to me that seems the height or arrogance and ignorance. These perks were put in place as benefits to premium members, and should not be taken as just a fast food-style attempt to move up the food chain.

Case in point. A new addition to the VR line up is a man going by the name LostMyForever. This man has been stalking and harrassing a woman on here who is soon to be his ex wife, primarily for the pure and simple reason that she did leave him. Now I am not in ANY position to judge either their marriage or their breakup, but I find it painfully hard to believe that out of 71 people who rated this poor excuse for a profile, only FOUR people even noticed the content and bothered to make a comment upon it, much less rate it accordingly. Journals are by their very nature meant to be personal and personalized, and I have read enough to know that many people use them as a form of venting, or ranting (as I am doing here) or just exploring parts of themselves that they feel more comfortable confronting in the written word more so than the spoken. I have seen countless arguments, dramas, and out right bullshit flow uphill and down around here from the newest member all the way to Cancer himself, and in the journal arena I see absolutely nothing wrong with that- if you don't approve or agree with the statements made herein, move along and read somewhere else-this is for me to release, not for you to judge.

However, as a general forum I resent the fact that some people seem determined to air their private battles, painful histories, and marital or otherwise arguments for the entire populace to see, either by way of their profiles, or on the forum, etc. And I also regret that most people tend to compound that error by turning a blind eye to what they are reading (if they do indeed read it at all) simply to stamp and run. Unfortunately intelligence is not a prerequisite for joining websites, and this one is no exception. I only wish that more people would stop and LOOK at what they are rating before blindly stamping every profile they come across.

*END TRANSMISSION*

*soapbox duly returned to dark corner*