Now that we've all had a chance to get our feet under us under the breath-of-fresh-air new regime, it's time to do a little constructive thinking...so we pose the question to all :
What do YOU think needs to be changed / added / removed / improved ?
We are looking for serious, well-thought-out, and hopefully practical (for instance, unless there is another concrete source of revenue to take its place, they CAN'T suspend pay-to-play yet) suggestions to make FooPets a better, happier place. Please briefly state your idea first, then why you think it is (a) good for Foo, and (b) practical to do. Now that we finally have a team ready and willing to work with a devoted membership, let's step up and give them all the help we can.
(I, by the way, will be keeping my big mouth shut other than maybe offering refinements to ideas posted.)
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Editor's Note - in response to some of the comments (and, well, digs) I have seen on the last few posts, I have generated a Statement of Purpose, clickable top right, that presents what the Foop is and why it does what it does. Always thought it was kind of self-evident, but apparently not.
It has its own Comment section, so if you wish to respond to it in some way, please do so there rather than in the main Comment section here - thanks!
About Me
- GOLD RUSH
- Tabby Road, New Furrsey, Foo S. A.
- i am a seven-year-old virtual Cream Persian FooCat (born on Little Christmas, 1/5/10), the mascot and spokesfurson for FooBA4U, the FooPets members' cooperative service site.
First and foremost I think the glitches need to be fixed. There are many.
ReplyDeleteMAIN SITE
1)The silly glitch with page break HTML code on pet profile
2)Message/gift icon glitch ( does not show up when you have a new message, shows up after you have read the message and stays up there for approx 20 minutes after that, same with gift icon )
3) Would love the option of making my message wall private.( aka not visible for other members but only Admins,if needed ) Since some of the discussions are on private matters, between friends.
4) Would like to see user-to-user sales to make a return.
5) The option to set our own price when selling our pets, unless one is selling the pet back to the Mart.
6) Fully functional FooMart. The idea of rotating items was one of the silliest things ever. It is so difficult to find items for decorating.
7) Revamp the scene system. Perhaps consider bringing back the old Scene tab. Which makes it much easier to decorate and put pets to the scenes. As well as browse other people's scenes for items.
8)I'd love even the friends with frozen accounts to be visible on my friends list. The fact that they are not active, does not mean they do not exist.
9) Actual option of WORKING for FD. Very much like Fashion shows were. I am yet to come up with a good idea on that field. But Arcade gives so little FD back it's ridiculous.
10) Would love to see a tab with all the litters I have bred on that certain account. It does not have to bring out each litter separately. Link to the litter's page would be sufficient. Would help to keep things neat and in order.
11) INVENTORY - one of my biggest pet peeve. Perhaps it is possible to use tagging system in Mart on items aka "old fashioned wooden table" , could be tagged with "old";"fashioned";"wooden"; "table" so we can actually use one of those tags in our inventory to find an item. Some items are named with ridiculous names and it is impossible to find them. And I'd have to flip through about 50 pages of items to find that one table.
12) Decorator - Fix glitches. Flipping through inventory too fast gives a glitch(numbers disappear) Clicking on item on a scene, gives a glitch(the mouse pointer refuses to grab anything in the scene or refuses to let place more items )
13) INVENTORY ON DECORATOR - impossibly unhandy. To flip through billions of pages of items to find that one item only to realize it does not fit the scene and start all over again.
14) Walk around in the scene activity - more pain in my backside than fun. The pets have never walked smoothly for me. No matter which computer I use. Their movements are jerky and it takes ages to grab a picture because the pet keeps wandering around in the wrong places.
15) Taking a photo - Please do consider bringing back an option to pet the pet through the camera. It was such a shame that the option was lost.
16)Make the bonding bar of the pets you have bred green after they have been weaned. I have never understood why does the bonding bar start from 0, when the pets have been raised until the end of weaning in a loving home, with an owner. And yet, when you buy a pet from another owner, without even spending time with the pet, the bar is automatically full. Makes no sense.
TBC
FORUMS
ReplyDelete1) Lose the power for members to delete the posts with inappropriate flags. It has been abused so many times, simply because people are trolling other people
2) Perhaps consider decoding the forums completely and start from scratch or use another forum host as an extension from the main site. The forum layout right now, is glitchy ( the whole jumping on the wrong page thing, which happens with longer threads ).
3) Use a fully functional search option on the forums. A lot of threads would not have to be created over and over again, if the search option would be fully functional.
4) Use a automatic thread deletion option to keep the forums under control. If the thread has not been updated for 30 days it gets automatically deleted.
5) I, personally, would LOVE to see area for people 18 and older. Where it is possible to discuss more complicated matters. ( Couple of weeks ago, I found myself on the fence, on discussing latest republican party decisions, which involve contraception and abortion, in the Sanctuary. Simply because I did not want to scare kids.) There is really no place for us to discuss those matters ( which all affect people in their everyday lives ), unless outside the site. Also, many older members just sit in the shadows, because their topics of discussion are overrun by kids.
I guess that's it for now. I am sure there are many areas I did not touch. But that's all I can come up with from the top of my head. ;) ( Sorry for all the grammar and spelling mistakes, I have to run, no time to reread this )
My suggestions have to do with player "discipline"
ReplyDeleteGiving the ambassadors some standard verbiage to use that is non threatening and non confrontational, sometimes they just don't say things in the best way;
Giving them a method to talk to someone (preferably in private) rather than a public reprimand. I work as a counselor and what we find with angry people is that most of the time they just want somebody to listen to them. Once you listen, they calm down a lot.
Limiting the size and number of posts (like getting an allotment of text for the month), this needs to be a website function, not a "rule" , please lets limit the rules
Dumping the forums on a regular basis, what if any thread that was 30 days old was dumped?
Taking out all the rules that are not necessary for child safety, there are insane rules out there like you cannot even tell someone thank you because it doesn't add value to the thread.
Remove the flagging, that causes more problems than it fixes. Maybe a click on "inappropriate" alerts an ambassador (like a call button for a nurse)?? but otherwise no player flags. Don't allow regular players to make posts disappear with inappropriate flags, a monitor needs to do that
Have the ambassadors just "poof" child damaging posts (but not just negativity posts, only ones that are seriously damaging to children, like bullies, cursing, hate, etc) not come into a thread and argue with the poster. Then if the person becomes a "troll" lock up their ability to post with a computer generated message (not a public reprimand)
In fact as many computer generated message that the ambassador could activate for discipline rather than such personal discipline the better. That would take the personal embarrassment out and the offender would know that they were blocked by a "computer" and not a person.
I think the best role for the Ambassadors is to be helpful. If that was their public persona rather than a disciplinarian then their job would be easier and the drama factor would go down.
But, I don't want standard support replies, having a real person is wonderful. I just mean for the daily "discipline" issues so that we can take the personal fight and argument out of the game
I agree with Karlia, first and foremost, fix the glitches. There are too many affecting both site performance and members basic use and enjoyment of the site. Some that Karlia missed out but one's which I know many members are still experiencing now and one's I have seen a lot of complaints about recently in the forums.
ReplyDeleteSite slowness and server errors. Still being experienced now.
Instacare. Whether Instacare All or individual Instacare, it is still not working correctly on a consistant basis. Site slowness and server errors seem to play a large factor in that.
Ledger, along with the points and gems system. Members are not getting the correct amount of either. Ledger appears to lag and just repeats transactions instead of increasing as they should, resulting in an under payment of the correct amount.
A clear set of rules for both members and Fas to follow, and with the correct wording too please. For example: It is 'discouraged' for members to share accounts, yet is a suspendable offence. 'Discouraged'? Discouraged does not mean not allowed, it means to deter. If it is not allowed, then for goodness sake why not simply say that? I really do not see why it is so difficult. So wording needs to correctly reflect what they mean. If adults have difficulty following some of these loosely defined rules how can they expect children to?
And particularly a clear and definitive ruling on glitch exploitment and cheating please. At the moment the door appears to be left open on that, and after the recent glitches that have happened, two in the very short time that this company has been in charge, this has left a lot of members very unhappy. If Foo are not careful, more will go through that open door next time such a glitch presents itself if there are no recriminations of such actions, resulting in only more dissatisfied customers.
It is often said that the law is an ass, I particularly feel this is the case where Foo's rulings are concerned. It seems to have become a site when it is okay to scam and cheat without fear of any repercussion but mention the scammers name and you are immediately suspended. What message does that send out to the Foo community as a whole? When cheaters are benefitting while honest members lose. How many honest members are going to stay around while this continues, less and less I would imagine. Does Foo really want their site left to only the cheaters and scammers? Because that's the way it seems to be heading.
Continued:
ReplyDeleteMore communication. While the communication has been much improved on site updates, there was absolutely no communication when asked on either occasion about the exploits and cheating that took place. I know many have personally expressed to me that they feel their concern is simply being ignored, and when a member directly asked about this, was then told to say no more about it. That came across as far too reminiscent of the Rivet days, and I personally feel reflected badly on the new supposedly transparent company.
I feel it's about time the company got control of the site, but without the dictorial attitude we have been subjected to for far too long. Locking that announcement of the new owners thread was so typical of what we have already seen far too much of. It seems no lessons have been learnt. When Rivet stopped any negative feedback on the site, what happened? All that negative feedback bled out onto other sites. Just look at the awful reviews FooPets has. If I were a potential member or more importantly, a potential investor, I wouldn't touch Foo with a bargepole. I always check out reviews of any site or product before parting with hard earned cash, as do many others. Do they think those reviews are doing them any favours? They are there because members weren't allowed to openly express themselves within the site confines. So pushing that negativity onto other sites is more beneficial? I think not.
Choose Fas with far more care and not based on popularity or how much they 'suck up', but based on whether they actually have the ability, capability and just as importantly, the right attitude to do the job that is required of them. There are many keen to do the job but not all are capable of it I feel. Someone who always feels the need to be right, or to have the last word does not necessarily make for a good Fa.
to meow or not to meow...that is the question.
ReplyDeleteLOL!
Deletefoo should again open up the possiblity of being able to care for pets on accounts that are not on friendslist. i've some old friends now gone that i wasn't able to "friend" before their departure and i miss being able to visit them.
ReplyDeleteI think that everyone hit most of the things I would like to see, especially about the FooMart, Decorator, Inventory Search Engine, and forums.
ReplyDeleteHere are two more things I would like to see:
1) The return of Annual Membership
2) Fix the glitch on Flea Treatment so that we can access all our flea treatment inventory. This little glitch drives me nuts. LOL!
Thanks for the opportunity to make suggestions.
I will have to agree with the flea treatment glitch.
ReplyDelete1. I hate never knowing how far I have to go down to find one that will work. It is never the same and it is very annoying.
2.I too would like to see the annual membership come back.
3. As for the others I agree with revamping the forums totally and completely. Unfortunately there are so many options I can't say right now what I prefer or do not prefer.
a. And it would be nice to be able to use the foto shop. I have not been able to take pics of my pet for 2 years - yes 2 years. And yes I have cleared my cache and changed browsers etc and submitted many many tickets to support. And this leads me to what I think is the most important need at Foo.
4. Definitely change the Ambassador/ambassador system.
I never got an answer on any of the tickets I submitted or anything fixed on my main account. I was later told I had been black balled. It took almost a year to get defamatory and vile statements on another persons profile removed and it took another members submitting the screen shots to get that done. So I would like to see an impartial support desk.
replace the much-missed member-to-member item and pet sales and the (recently hacked) gifting system with a double-sided trading protocol similar to that on MagiStream (Tristan would almost certainly be willing to share the coding for little or nothing).
ReplyDeletein this system, Person A indicates what pet(s), item(s) and/or site tender they are offering, Person B adds their side of the transaction and approves it as it stands, then Person A looks it over and approves from their end, completing the trade. this is a simple, bulletproof way to facilitate both gifting and member sales, and would remove the opportunities for hacking, scamming, and cheating that plagued the original sales and gifting systems in the past.
additionally, restoring member-to-member sales of pets and items could be an important factor in rebalancing the site economy as well, as well as increasing short and long term revenue for the site.
I really like this idea, if I'm reading it right. Neither player gets the items/pets till both parties have sent their agreed upon trade??
DeleteA lot of members here are mentioning things I would love to see, some of them are things I suggested to admins in the past.
Are these things you are going to make a suggestion of in the forums??
Hi Y'all,
ReplyDeleteJust thought I'd mention that new Rules of Conduct have been posted in Announcements by Parrotlady. :) Let's see if this link works:
http://www.foopets.com/topics/show/2310198?forum_id=6&post_count=1
Any way you can C/P the content? I am not signing back up just to read a post that seems to be largely aggravating, lol!
Deletedoing so...sounds like this will be interesting - and distressing - reading.
DeleteFor anyone interested...
Deletehttp://www.foopets.com/topics/show/2310582?forum_id=28&post_count=6
This after I had made a post in USS. Some of the ideas I've seen expressed on here about the RoC are things I have felt as well. SoI wanted to invite you guys over if there's anything you want to add. I know a lot of changes can't be made until the fix but some small wording changes I wouldn't think would take more than a second to approve.
I know it's not what a lot of you want, but it may help a little. Idk.
I notice that there are no protections for members from any attacks, or abuse on FooPets part. All suspensions are final and no recourse. Nice - real nice. Just when I thought it was safe to go out into the water. Ha. Fat chance.
ReplyDeleteI know, right?
DeleteSo after reading the new rules I think the honeymoon is over. It reads like a hammer coming down on us all. If this is their idea of a new attitude I do not know where they have been for the last few years. Oh well, it was a happy pipe dream. And to come from the one person we all trusted is the biggest betrayal of all.
ReplyDeleteAnd they could at least waited until the blankity blank site worked worth a crap before letting us know it was back to Gestapo time. I think this thread is a big waste of our time now. So it is back to the caves for me. Ta ta all. Have fun dealing with all the trolls and traveling packs of spiteful wanna be a's.
Yuppers, I feel exactly the same way. What a shame. I'm glad I didn't allow myself to get too high on the prospect of a better run Foo. The come down would have spun me into DTs.
DeleteMe
idk I think it is still temporary till The "New" Owners work through everything. PL is doing her best to make order of what we know to be the current rules and until the Fa's are told otherwise that is the course of action. I know they have plans for change once they fix the glitches. With smaller servers it makes a huge issue with all the site, so tweaking is the most I see them being able to do for now and there is a lot to do in all area's of foo. I hope they are able to add another server soon, that would I think, fix most the issues.
DeleteI'm almost positive there is going to be changes as soon as they have the time to do them, remember there is only 4 people and PL working on site right now as far as we were told. That is nothing compared to the how many before to keep the site going??
Time will tell.
Well, since it seems that one can post a clutch of ideas, these are the ones that I would most like to see:
ReplyDeleteGifting allowed once more. This really is an important part of the site for many.
Opening of foster-care again. Yes, I know we have the widget but at any time that could be removed or cease to work. An acknowledgement that it is OK to foster non-friends would be good.
Remove the "cap" on Foogems for feeding. I don't care about the Karma, but we need gems generated so that we can continue to buy enough food. currently, you only have to feed about 5 full profiles to reach the point where Gems are no longer generated.
Bring the "ghost" dogs' profiles back from behind "madkitty"
Bring the Scenes tab back to the profile page, as it was an easier way to get pets into scenes and to choose the scenes for editing.
Forums -- either remove flagging or change the "inappropriate" one to do something other than delete the message; whichever is easiest.
And, a "forlorn hope" one LOL -- let us have the option to have the old, square format play-screen back again. The Beta/Widescreen version has too many complexities and I loathe that "pick up pet" function. I use non-wide backgrounds whenever possible, but the whole screen with all the extras that load are still there. Surely, an option to have a simpler-loading screen would be better.
Bring back the yearly membership, For the price we have to pay, It should be good for a year, Not every 6 months,This would make it better for the paid mambers knowing the membership is due once a year, Instead of every 6 months. Other paid sites the membership is good for a year. If you do bring back free membership, Make it for new members only,The free members can only have 1 pet. If they want to breed they must buy the LL, If they want more than 1 pet, They must pay to join. Let the ones that was locked out of there accounts caome back. Maybe if you have yearly paid membership maybe alot of them would pay to join. Bring back the member to member sales. I never had any trouble doing this. I understand alot of members did. If we do get scamed. We can report that person,And tell other members not to buy anything from them. Foo Mart, Bring back all of the stuff the foo mart dont have anymore, There was alot of stuff I wanted, and now I cant get because they dont have it anymore.
ReplyDeleteI do not know where I am supposed to put this. But all I really want from FooPets right now is to be able to trust IC All. Now I have to check every one every time. I have never been able to trust it. And I have found several starving skipped pets when I have been foolish enough to do so. I was stupid enough to pay the extra money thinking it would be up and running by now.
ReplyDeleteMy life is hectic right now and I wanted to make sure I could keep the pets fed and my bonding badge safe. Well between the slow response and the hit and miss feeding of ICAll I am spending way to much time doing this than I have paid for. And any response from support sounds vaguely familar "we are working on it". It is getting old and irritating.
I have an idea for foopets. Ok so re-open the free adoption center-thing so more people can join, but, here's the catch, if they actually want to do something, they have to work at the adoption center for 2-3 months, miss a day and you start over. That would encourage determination to young kids that want to play and ensure that you don't get random people that just want to sit there and neglect their foopet. Or you could make it so all the accounts that were suspended are re-opened...
ReplyDeleteplease,please,please do one of my ideas... It would help get rid of some of the negativity towards the site, i'm sure that if even some of the negativity went away more people would come and pay to be there...
i actually had a different angle on new/revived accounts...have a one-time fee to OPEN/activate an account, rather than paying every six months, at a "basic" level, without foodollar and other perks. this would seem far more justifiable/fair/reasonable to those who had "free" accounts for an extended period prior t0 4/25/11, and i believe a lot of the dormant members might return if it were a single investment to restore their accounts (and once on, they would no doubt spend more voluntarily), plus the site economy would be better off with fewer CF-discounted foodollars flowing in.
ReplyDelete