SS Patch Is Borked, Well, at least people can't *steal* the pillows :p Options

[Tsandra]

I don't know how long this has been the case, but the Silver Showcase patch has got a little bit confused, probably as of the update. The pillows (and the teddy) are unwalkable all of a sudden. Means people can't hoard the pillows (you know who you are), but it also means furres can't sit on them!

[Justin StinCoy]

With this mortuussermonovo, I summon this thread! (That sounds like a spell... )

Off and on for the past couple-three months since the last update, I've heard complaints about the borked up Silver Sponsor Showcase. From what I've heard from one of the concerned after he whispered Emmy, it's on Gar's to-do list. That's good enough for me since I figure Gar's to-do list is long and the Silver Sponsor Showcase Dream is probably not that important in the big picture. As such, I've counciled patience. Unfortunately, the grumbler doesn't seem to listen and has asked me to inquire.

Therefore, I'm asking for an official reason on why it hasn't been fixed yet, if may be so bold. Does fixing it require an update?

[Emerald Flame]

Nope, still on Gar's very long todo list. He just spent 6 weeks away, but he's back now and working. Though his top priority is 24-bit and some other things. We just don't have enough paid people to do all the jobs that need to be done.

[Justin StinCoy]

Okay, thank you. I hope Gar had a nice vacation.

As I said before, I figured such was the case (minus the vacation). I doubt this news will totally soothe my friend, but maybe it will help. Thanks again.

[Emerald Flame]

Okay, thank you. I hope Gar had a nice vacation.

As I said before, I figured such was the case (minus the vacation). I doubt this news will totally soothe my friend, but maybe it will help. Thanks again.

Wasn't really a vacation. He was helping his parents out for that time.

[Mino]

We just don't have enough paid people to do all the jobs that need to be done.

You don't have to pay me, you just have to board me!

[Emerald Flame]

You don't have to pay me, you just have to board me!

Ha, we've done that with more than once before too. I'm afraid that the motivation level of someone who isn't paid versus the amount of resources and management time they take up (not to mention the short time they usually stay) doesn't level out.

[Universal Father]

With all due respect, it sounds like a simple excuse for a 10 minute job that should have been done by someone 2 months ago, and could be done by most anyone. I'd be happy to do it for you. You're running a business here. I have 4 digos and I am not going to renew any of them as long as the Silver Showcase (think about that, it's your SHOWCASE!) is all messed up. No digos, less money for your business. As the Nike ad says, "Just do it." -Furantia, aka Universal Father

Nope, still on Gar's very long todo list. He just spent 6 weeks away, but he's back now and working. Though his top priority is 24-bit and some other things. We just don't have enough paid people to do all the jobs that need to be done.

[Justin StinCoy]

Quoth Emerald Flame:
Wasn't really a vacation. He was helping his parents out for that time.

He got away from us Furcadians. To me, that qualifies as a vacation of sorts.

Quoth Universal Father:
With all due respect, it sounds like a simple excuse for a 10 minute job that should have been done by someone 2 months ago, and could be done by most anyone. I'd be happy to do it for you. You're running a business here. I have 4 digos and I am not going to renew any of them as long as the Silver Showcase (think about that, it's your SHOWCASE!) is all messed up. No digos, less money for your business. As the Nike ad says, "Just do it." -Furantia, aka Universal Father

We all know you're frustrated, Furantia, but I still say patience is in order (there's still lots of Furcadia to wreak havoc across, after all). They'll get to it when they get to it. However, a big enough bribe might work better than a threat (which they'll ignore). How about a crate of their favorite chocolates sent to each member of DEP?

Actually, I still think it's better business for Gar to focus on the 24-bit and other BIG stuff rather than on one little-used dream. 24-bit and other BIG stuff affects all the thousands of Furcadians. The Silver Sponsor Showcase is one dream relatively few people enter. Of those few people, only a small minority are something other than zombie statues. Most of that minority explore, maybe ride the main turtle ride attraction (which still works), maybe sit around a bit trying to socialize with zombie statues or lightning bugs, then leave for more active dreams. A bare few will actually do something with the dream (cheese hide-and-seek anyone?) which they must wait to continue doing. I haven't seen any Silver Sponsors upload any dreams there for months, probably because they favor maps with higher traffic.

It may indeed take only ten minutes or less to find the glitch and fix it, but, for so little gain, why rush? It seems to me that, economically, it makes more sense for DEP's limited staff to focus on 24-bit and other BIG stuff instead of one dream with little traffic and barely any use. My guess is that the Showcase will probably be fixed sometime and then tossed into the queue to be uploaded during the next update.

As for volunteers helping with maps, programming, and other important stuff, Emmy's stated time and time again, in more diplomatic terms than this, that "Volunteers are often more trouble than they're worth." Beekins don't count as they're primarily meant to deal with players, not the inner workings of Furcadia.

I can't say that all volunteers are more trouble, however. Volunteers such as Artex and Kaelin'yFiae have proven themselves to DEP before the company asked them to help. You or I haven't proven ourselves to DEP so they don't know if we can be trusted to do things right without them checking over our work (because, assuming we actually finished our tasks, they would have to go through and make sure what we had done was not only compatible with the rest of Furcadia but was up to their standards, too). Checking unproven volunteers' work takes time away from other, more important projects.

They can't easily hire more employees because they lack the money to train them or pay them.



Now watch as Emmy tells me I'm not parroting official responses in these forums correctly. Can I have a cracker anyway?

[Dreamless Dancer]

make-cracker Justin StinCoy

[Universal Father]

I am somewhat surprised at you, Justin. I thought I knew you better than this. My error.

Labeling someone you don't agree with or who doesn't agree with you with a pejorative (the "grumbler" in this case) is a sure sign that you've lost the discussion. But isn't that the way of the world these days? Got an issue with someone? Just label them. Brush them off as a crank. "So and so is a [fill in the blank]." (Radical, malcontent, grumbler, elitist, etc.) Tsk, tsk. Do you imagine that you are immune to being labeled?

And it's an error in my opinion to make the amount of excuses that you make for DEP, and to buy into the excuses that you buy into. Furthermore it makes no sense to launch into a six month project before you take care of a simple ten minute fix job. I further disagree with all of your characterizations of what an unimportant dream the Silver Showcase is and therefor there's no real need to fix it anytime soon.

And last but not least, I have not "threatened" anything or anyone nor have I made any threats. I think the handling of this Silver Showcase issue shows bad judgment on someone's part at DEP, poor management, and I won't renew any of my digos under those circumstances and reward or support poor management. There's no threat to it, and that's another mischaracterization that you have made.

Who's in charge of Furcadia? Who's the boss? A committee? Felorin? Talzhemer? Does the "boss" know about this problem? Does Gar know about it? I can't believe such a simple, out-in-the-open embarrassment such as the Silver Showcase is now and has been for more than two months, is allowed to continue. It's bad management and bad policy.

I'm done with this discussion. I don't like Forums in the first place. I'd much prefer to just be able to send an email to Felorin and present my case but there doesn't seem to be any way to contact "the boss."

You can have the last word on this "Forum."

Furantia, aka the "grumbler"

We all know you're frustrated, Furantia, but I still say patience is in order (there's still lots of Furcadia to wreak havoc across, after all). They'll get to it when they get to it. However, a big enough bribe might work better than a threat (which they'll ignore). How about a crate of their favorite chocolates sent to each member of DEP?

Actually, I still think it's better business for Gar to focus on the 24-bit and other BIG stuff rather than on one little-used dream. 24-bit and other BIG stuff affects all the thousands of Furcadians. The Silver Sponsor Showcase is one dream relatively few people enter. Of those few people, only a small minority are something other than zombie statues. Most of that minority explore, maybe ride the main turtle ride attraction (which still works), maybe sit around a bit trying to socialize with zombie statues or lightning bugs, then leave for more active dreams. A bare few will actually do something with the dream (cheese hide-and-seek anyone?) which they must wait to continue doing. I haven't seen any Silver Sponsors upload any dreams there for months, probably because they favor maps with higher traffic.

It may indeed take only ten minutes or less to find the glitch and fix it, but, for so little gain, why rush? It seems to me that, economically, it makes more sense for DEP's limited staff to focus on 24-bit and other BIG stuff instead of one dream with little traffic and barely any use. My guess is that the Showcase will probably be fixed sometime and then tossed into the queue to be uploaded during the next update.

As for volunteers helping with maps, programming, and other important stuff, Emmy's stated time and time again, in more diplomatic terms than this, that "Volunteers are often more trouble than they're worth." Beekins don't count as they're primarily meant to deal with players, not the inner workings of Furcadia.

I can't say that all volunteers are more trouble, however. Volunteers such as Artex and Kaelin'yFiae have proven themselves to DEP before the company asked them to help. You or I haven't proven ourselves to DEP so they don't know if we can be trusted to do things right without them checking over our work (because, assuming we actually finished our tasks, they would have to go through and make sure what we had done was not only compatible with the rest of Furcadia but was up to their standards, too). Checking unproven volunteers' work takes time away from other, more important projects.

They can't easily hire more employees because they lack the money to train them or pay them.

Now watch as Emmy tells me I'm not parroting official responses in these forums correctly. Can I have a cracker anyway?

[Emerald Flame]

I am in charge of when something is done like this and you have let me know your displeasure already. ;) It will be fixed when our resources allow for it to be fixed. I am quite proud of our staff and the number of hours and amount of work they put in while being extremely underpaid and Gar very much deserved to have the time off that he did. Very sorry it has taken this long but there have been more important things on the list for staff to work on. We apologize that you were inconvienenced. I do have to say that no Silver Sponsors have complained about this issue to my knowledge.

[Justin StinCoy]

Emmie has spoken more eloquently than I ever can. Furantia, if you won't listen to me, please listen to her.

[Damadar]

When you're busy, you're busy. There are priorities assigned to various different activities. If you find a priority 5, (Advertising.) and a priority 20, (SS Patch.) And a priority 6, (Beekin Meetings) and a priority 2, updating artwork, and a priority 1, personal issues, and a priority 3 and 4, helping the other artists work on the new art they're doing, and such...


You start handing these priorities out, and you do the lower numbers first, (higher priority) and slowly work your way down.

If all you ever do is fix the "Small Things" like the SS Patch and such, then none of the big stuff gets done.