XENOPHONZ, someone that has been here for a while and knows a lot more than me once answered a question I asked. Why are there so many folks here, especially when the numbers of online people just don't match up? He told me it also counts sessions or how many windows members may have open at once. Apparently there are some that browse with twenty or more windows open on this site at once, darn I wish what they all look at?? Perhaps that explains why poser 6 has such memory problems if too many folks have so many windows open here that they use up all their ram browsing here while rendering, LOL!! Never know, it's a possibility? Another rumor is that sessions never die once a member visits until they actually log out or something resets itself on the servers, therefore the membership grows and grows and grows till it falls back again. One thing I have noticed though; whenever XENOPHONZ is on, notice the membership increases in size tenfold?? Some people just attract the masses!! One evening there were over four thousand attracted, biggest number I've seen here in some time!!

Lorna, Just for the record I want to state that the site membership has grown by leaps and bounds over the 3 years I have been here. There is a continual steady increase of new members. Even taking away clones or any other factors, the increase is still dramatic. If you go to the drop down menu that says Renderosity Info and click on the "about us", it shows a lot of good statistics on Renderosity and this page is updated quite frequently. There will always be some members that for various reasons leave and always new members joining. Overall the growth is very very good. In a community this size its impossible to keep every member happy with every decision/change and we realize that. But contrary to what some people think, we only want the best for all members of this community. Its a very hard balance but we do the best we can. Thanks, Stacey Community Manager

I won't underestimate the growth here, seen that myself, and that's good, but the number does fluctuate largely at times which is confusing if I let it bother me. It doesn't. I have no problem with this site growing. I don't have no problem with a few troublemakers being kept in line to allow the more to be here in comfort and ease. What bothers me is that it seems far too often that the more need to conform to a few here and I have seen times when some troublemakers can trouble all they want while others either get chopped up quickly or just disappear. Rumor has it they get swooped up by internet aliens and are experimented upon and then squished up and made into 3d putty and sold at turbosquid as 'allsorts.' Kidding!! Speaking of aliens, ever watch Star Trek? I liked the idea of that Mr. Spock and those Vulcans. Was a real nice different side to all that emotional stuff among those humans and such. But would I as a human being want to live among a bunch of vulcans only? Yikes, no way!! This place is starting to remind me of a site full of strict vulcan types, because the emotions are/have been taken away and are disallowed; and with artistic, creative people, how can that help any 'art site' develop?? But, even vulcanites had creative sides and musical stimulie on that show, so perhaps I should compare this more to the Romulans..they are really cold and bold.

The borg, the borg!! Almost forgot about that bunch! No, I won't say it..

Thanks for the response regarding that product. It surely did look like that thread was locked because of that, though, and I'm not the only one who "read" it that way. I'm pleasantly surprised to see that this thread is still unlocked, though... bonni

"I'm pleasantly surprised to see that this thread is still unlocked, though..." Me too. Finally I'm relaxed enough to do my nails while responding here at ease. Maybe next time I can even do my toenails too, lol! So while we're still here, let's have some fun? How many Renderositans does it take to make up a forum? None; there's lots of empty or near empty forums on the net. It takes a forum to attract a bunch of Renderositans and give them reasons to stay and keep more coming to make it and keep it the succesfully inhabited forum it is.

but the number does fluctuate largely at times

I believe that this phenomenon has a lot to do with time zones.

When it's daylight in Southeast Asia, it's the middle of the night in the US. And even across the contiguous 48 states there's a three hour time difference from coast to coast.

I suspect that a plurality of Renderosity's members live on the East Coast of the United States. While I am a night owl -- and I might post something in here at 2:30 in the morning my time (EST) -- most people are in bed at that hour. And 2:30AM for me is only 11:30PM on the West Coast.

So -- at certain time periods GMT 65% or more of Renderosity's membership is likely asleep.

And even us forumites don't spend all of our time hanging around here..........

It's not really surprising that the number of members/visitors online at any given time will fluctuate.

The migraine was especially bad this morning and I couldn't sleep... so went over to PoserPros and watched the train wreckage mount up in the Coop until Cin put a temporary blanket over the smoldering fumes. If you wonder why the threads were locked here... just go over there and read the posts. "Nature red in tooth and claw" isn't as foul and vituperative as the concepts expressed when attacking each other. And for what? Nothing that any of them says will affect the matter at hand... but people will remember what was said and by whom and how often. Wounds fester. Moderating is a delicate balancing act, and each forum has to choose what is allowed. Unless you have moderated, or run your own website, you really don't know what is involved with each decision. We are actually fortunate here to have so many reasonable people on staff. As to those people complaining that the old-timers aren't around being helpful... huh? It isn't just Dr Geep! Little Dragon, Ockham, Ajax, Anton, Steve, Jim, etc., all are fixing things, writing scripts, answering questions, pointing to resources, or explaining mysteries as they uncover them. The wealth of this community IS the shared knowledge base! Carolly

Moderating is a delicate balancing act

hauksdottir --

You and I disagree on a lot of stuff.

We also agree on a lot of stuff.

Odd sort of synergy, that.

The migraine was especially bad this morning and I couldn't sleep... so went over to PoserPros and watched the train wreckage mount up in the Coop until Cin put a temporary blanket over the smoldering fumes

I'm not sure that I would want to spend my time watching a bout of "eXtreme Fighting" if I was suffering from a migrane.

BTW -- my sister gets migranes. She says that she can feel them coming on.

She's found that she can head them off by immediately going to bed when she senses the approach of a migrane. "Sleeping it away" has proven to be the best cure for her.

I hope that you feel better soon.

*"The borg, the borg!!
Almost forgot about that bunch!

No, I won't say it.."*

I won't either. :)

I know not everyone ignores the helpfullness but I'm not the only one to notice it. It is happening more and more to the point where I don't like to offer anything and when I do I know what to expect. Nothing, the majority of the time.

And the changes can't be blamed comletely on the individuals. There is no more community spirit when any conversations not related to poser are not allowed where they previously were. Threads are getting locked on the assumption that they will turn into something not because they turned into something.
I know a lot of people can't handle the way poserpros operates but if they paid attention, Keith asked for a 24 hour time out in two threads and guess what... he's getting it... and without having to lock them. This is because they let conversations take their course and the members respect that and can respect his wishes. (a point certain people might want to consider)

It's a lot more too. It's mods making mistakes and not owning up to them, that has been happening more and more in the last year alone. It was a surprise when a contest entry that shouldn't have been deleted was re-instated so there is hope that we're in for a turn-around. It's members getting warnings for "personal attacks" while certain members do the same damn thing only more subtle and have been doing it for years.

And yes, the marketplace does need some cleaning up. I don't know one merchant, even at the top of the list, who couldn't use some improvement. If people would stop and actually listen to what's being said they may just find the marketplace, all of them, in better condition. I know I'm listening.

It isn't just Dr Geep! You are 100% correct -- there are many. But I wouldn't want to attempt to formulate a comprehensive list. There's always the possibility of leaving someone out. This is a very big field here. Big enough for anyone to play in. And I am grateful to them all.

Hmmmmm..... I'm going to take a little side trip over to PP. You've gotten my curiosity up.

Keith asked for a 24 hour time out in two threads and guess what... he's getting it... and without having to lock them

shrug

During wartime, there are occasional cease-fires called by both sides.

That doesn't make it any less of a war.

Peace at all cost doesn't work. Sometimes people need to shout to be heard and while it may be messy, like I said, if people would listen more there is some good to be gleaned from it all.

if people would listen more there is some good to be gleaned from it all.

Ain't it the truth?

It's virtually impossible to hear what someone else is saying when you are shouting.

And when you are in the middle of a crowd where everyone is shouting.........you can't hear them.

And they can't hear you, either.

We can call it a rose if we like.

But it is what it is. Not what we wish for it to be.

As has been mentioned already: people hold grudges.

A locked/deleted thread works.

It's allowing members to commit virtual manslaughter against one another -- or to engage in vicious personal assaults -- that doesn't work in the long term.

It's a system that eventually tears itself apart. And eats it's own. And what goes around, comes around. As we've seen.

PPS -- whatever happened to the early-on comments about how the opening thread at Renderosity was heated; while the threads at other sites were "professional" and "intelligent" discussions?

I have a radical suggestion: perhaps the admins here at Rendo know EXACTLY what they are doing, and they fully realize how their actions apply to the long-term stability of this website. What a novel thought............

"I'm pleasantly surprised to see that this thread is still unlocked" Just put some keywords and EUREKA!.....

"This community is for artist and we would rather spend the time helping them then spending all our time breaking up fights." Evidently those artists aren't supposed to have any intelligence or opinions, or if they do, they're not to be allowed to express them.

I know poserpros, been there, and as entertaining as it can be being able to say whatever we want there, it may be a bit too far off the edge, way too axe grinding and harsh and very low blow too many times. Where as this place is extreme one way, there you have the far off other extreme. Going back to my old star trek way of looking at it, no one wants to be a bunch of vulcans or the borg, but no one wants to be a bunch of ferengi's or klingons either. Well, I'm sure some do, but hey? Happy medium?? Lol!! Maybe there's an in between somewhere so that people can be allowed to be passionate enough, and communicate without killing each other at the same time?? We need a nice toilet place here or else the crap just builds up and builds up and eventually we just lose it all over, and that's not good at all. So why not let us have a toilet for silly sake??! We know there will always be someone that won't flush the toilet after taking their crap, always, always, and someone will always dribble all over, that's inevitable, and that stuff then causes others a real problem, sure. Perhaps only open that toilet when there's a plunger and cleaner handy, at certain time intervals?? There's an idea? Have you ever tried a time sensitive venting forum?? Maybe announce that at such and such a time Renderosity will allow folks to commnicate whatever may be on their minds as peacefully as possible, and then make that forum dissapear again till that same time again? Or just have it occasionally?? It's a start and far better and hopeful than nothing at all?!! And it has to be better all around than this? Now your getting nothing but disoriented pooper folks blathering all over and one locked moment after another, hey, it would keep it in a much better place then, no? Just a thought. And XENOPHONZ, the best headache medicine is bed and a dark room, but even better is a very relaxing place to be able to unwind and sometimes just knowing others have problems too and being able to relate to other folks can make us feel a little better in life and have easier headaches. Excuse me, I'm off to get dressed and run off to work before I'm late, and still have no make up on, yikes!

The idea that the defunct OT forum was full of attacks isn't correct. There existed some posts with personal attacks and other uncivilizated behaviours, but this posts were not so common.
The problem is that many threads, with a civilizated discussion performed in a educated way without any need of moderators intervention, were locked only due the theme of the discussion!
The personal attacks arguments are used only as an excuse for not allowing discussion of some "forbiden" affairs!

Message edited on: 05/03/2005 05:41

Message edited on: 05/03/2005 05:43

How about if the mods and admins just randomly and arbitrarily lock threads, regardless of what the topic is, etc., and then people will just get so used to it, when they lock the threads for some actual reason, no one will complain! bonni

As to those people complaining that the old-timers aren't around being helpful... huh? It isn't just Dr Geep! Little Dragon, Ockham, Ajax, Anton, Steve, Jim, etc., all are fixing things, writing scripts, answering questions, pointing to resources, or explaining mysteries as they uncover them. The wealth of this community IS the shared knowledge base! I've seen a little of Anton, but no Little Dragon, no Ajax, a tad of Jim....when he puts out a new supermodel....Where dmentia, Syyd, Traveler, (an occasional Blackhearted,Xena, Prime, Ironbear, Calypso, Rio, Picky, Steffyzz, DebbieM, Helen, ....and, on and on and on....i'm talking poser greats...in forum help, free stuff, market stuff....and, most importantly INSPIRATION. i am sorry, but i find little inspiration in the galleries, these days.....i first came here because of the free stuff...a long while back. i stayed because of the inspiration factor, and the learning factor. i don't want rosity to die....but, i really dislike the direction it is going. ALL OF US who come here should be able to find something of interest and appeal on any given day...shoot this place is certainly big enough....sadly, the the poser "greats" no longer find anything of interest here and have ceased to participate....so those of us "not so greats, but wanna be" folks are getting less and less of interest ourselves. sure, if i was 6 months into poser this place would rock....but, i've been there, done that and need a little more. i agree...Dr. Geep is a treasure....almost the only treasure that remains.

ScottA: "Can someone find the off switch for TerraScreamer please." Pure class. ...and XENO's too? Think of the bandwidth saving.

This is to funny :)

...and XENO's too? Think of the bandwidth saving. Too true, too true. Apply for an admin's job, lundqvist. Then you could ban me! And you'd only have to hear from people with whom you agree!

LornaW: "Talk about popping you just made my boobs pop out with laughing at your pops! I really do have to get a new bra." errr... great image... Okay. Back in the corner I go... kmw

......of course, we're all about the ideal of total "free speech", right? So long as it's speech that we want to hear. And that doesn't make us uncomfortable with our assumptions.

Great sheep image, Caly. I'm hungry...........

Don't mind me...I'm just looking for the off switch to the ebot notifications.

LornaW: "One thing I have noticed though; whenever XENOPHONZ is on, notice the membership increases in size tenfold??" Hmmmm... fascinating. Just let me find Scully and I'll start looking into this... fox

LornaW: "We need a nice toilet place here or else the crap just builds up and builds up and eventually we just lose it all over, and that's not good at all. So why not let us have a toilet for silly sake??! We know there will always be someone that won't flush the toilet after taking their crap, always, always, and someone will always dribble all over, that's inevitable, and that stuff then causes others a real problem, sure. Perhaps only open that toilet when there's a plunger and cleaner handy, at certain time intervals?? There's an idea?" Great. You've killed that other great image I had of you. Just murdered the damned thing into a bloody pulp. thanx kmw

Attached Link: http://www.panikon.com/phurba/alteng/x.html

Keep in mind that "XENO".......

Xen-, Xeno- - "Foreign or Strange." This takes the form of "xeno-" before a consonant and "xen-" before a vowel. It derives from the Greek "xen-" and "xeno-," combining forms of "xenos" = "foreigner, stranger."

"Xeno" can also be interpreted as "alien".

Just a thought.

;)

And of course, "PHONZ" was a really cool dude on an old sitcom. He always got the girls.

Of course, the name has absolutely nothing to do with an ancient Greek warrior/philosopher named Xenophon.

So after my time at work I come back to find myself at awe; Someone has a picture of me with my giggling boobs popping outta my bra and likes that, but they don't like dirty toilets. XENO is enjoying his bandwidth space with a passion and enjoying his noteriety of several hundred folks coming to this forum just to read his answers even more. Poor dialyn doesn't want to hear anything anymore. Bonnie thinks it's all too funny all around and recommends an uncontrolled locking spree. Poppi makes some sense amidst her popping but no one bothers to listen to her pops or otherwise. I wasn't being sarcastic, I actually thought my time sensitive venting forum idea might be or lead to some sort of solution, or a start to an answer, an idea, and I could take it further, but something tells me no one is taking me serious here. In my silly way I'm trying to be a part of a solution here and certainly not a problem. I believe that if there could be some opportunity for compromise regarding all this, it could mean only good for this forum and more comfort to people growing here. I'm hoping that a part of the reason this thread has not been locked as yet is because maybe someone is listening with an open mind? Anyways, pardon me, gotta throw on some leftover chicken and vegetables, haven't eaten yet and my mouth is just watering..keyboard is a mess now..

XENO is enjoying his bandwidth space with a passion and enjoying his noteriety of several hundred folks coming to this forum just to read his answers even more.

YES! YES!

We'll be holding the next meeting of my fan club in the phone booth at the neighborhood 7-11 down the steet......

I think that they sell cheap fried chicken at the 7-11. So the get-together will be catered.

But you might have to settle for a hot dog. Or a package of cheese crackers.

Oh com'on, how about serving some vegetables too?! Maybe some nice salad?? I watch my health you know, and cheap fried chicken only goes to my boobs and my waist. Wouldn't want that now, I have enough trouble keeping abreast of things as it is! LOL!!

Time alloted threads might work, but a better idea would to only post ONCE. If you had to marshall your arguments into one coherent post, it might slow the back&forth bickering. You might also wait to post until others had, so you could do a proper refutation. If there is code in place to only allow one gallery upload within 24 hours, it shouldn't be too hard to have only 1 forum post in the same interval. Some people might wait until close to midnight in order to get 2 posts into a thread... but then they'd have to wait almost 2 days to post again. Some people might also make a bunch of clone accounts in order to argue with themselves, but they can already do that. Carolly

Some people might also make a bunch of clone accounts in order to argue with themselves, but they can already do that.

Why would anyone do a thing like that?

And who's that other guy, using my nick that way?

Hey! I saw it first!

Oh, NO, now there's two XENOPHONZES! Get set for a heavy load of membership increases now! There's about to be ten thousand people here at once, can this forum handle that kind of immigration??! ******************************************************** Hopefully they read fast and leave before this place locks up under the weight of the internet fury of XENOPHONZ fan mayhem!!

Well how nice...blatent clone accounts..I was under the impression that RR frowned on that sort of behavior, unless a merchant used one account name for his store, and one for his public profile.. And wouldn't it be nice if we could all post what we wanted to say in 'one textbox' instead of stretching it out across 2 or 3 at a time? And Lorna, I'd give up if I were you..RR isn't about 'people' its about 'money'...and people having a place to chat about anything other than what they can sell here so RR profits, is not likely going to happen. Grumpy? Yea...that'd be me.

Grumpy? Yea...that'd be me.

Yep.

I can stretch this post out to two or three text boxes -- if you like.

Occasionally, one might think of something that one had failed to mention in a prior post. Such things are known to occur.......

Perhaps I'll even get that other guy to chime in.

LornaW comes across as genuine.

She's able to play this game without rancor. That's a rare talent.

Yes, exactly seeing it like I'm saying it..uummph!! Hmmmmppph!!!??? ..mmnnng!...mnnnng!!...nnnnnnnng!!!

Throw away the key!!!!!!

Lemurtek, That's positively delightful! :)

"Poppi makes some sense amidst her popping but no one bothers to listen to her pops or otherwise." and, this, i think is the root of many problems. i truly think that if people tried to make sense, and, to think, logically before posting we might be able to have some sort of "general discussion" forum. it seems to me, folks are so hung up on just getting their opinions up on the board that they forget everything else. it is much easier to flame and call names than it is to try and make some logical sense to someone who may oppose our point of view. if we treated these threads more like actual debates, and, less like "look ma...i've got 87 posts in that thread, 'n am willing to call anyone i think is a lout a d****bg" we might be allowed a bit more fun on this site. doin' it again... Pop...Pop...Poppi!!!

Lemertek --

In that case, I don't expect that we'll be hearing from you again.

After all, you aren't allowed to post what you think -- so you can't post anything like what you just posted.

Right.........? There's some irony in there somewhere -- if only we could find it.........

Message edited on: 05/04/2005 11:00

it is much easier to flame and call names than it is to try and make some logical sense to someone who may oppose our point of view. if we treated these threads more like actual debates, and, less like "look ma...i've got 87 posts in that thread, 'n am willing to call anyone i think is a lout a d**bg" we might be allowed a bit more fun on this site.

True.

There's a dichotomy between 'free speech' in the forums -- and allowing anybody to say anything to anyone.

There are websites that allow the latter.

Such sites can be interesting places to visit -- sort of like visiting a 3rd-world warzone -- but I wouldn't want to live there.

One tends to see the absolute worst in people there. And that isn't a good thing. In spite of the strained reasoning used to attempt to indicate otherwise -- and to label it something wonderful.

Xeno, I may have missed some fine nuances from the forum mavens here, but are they saying you and Lorna are clones? I guess it would explain alot, but I don't believe it myself.