Bobby Forever Missed Posted February 18, 2012 Report Posted February 18, 2012 that's not my fault but Frankly i'm sick of everything being for 2000+ fans how about something for us nostalgic fans? is that too much to ask?
(David) Posted February 18, 2012 Report Posted February 18, 2012 I still don't get it. Dan F, you literally wouldn't have to do anything. Let the members do it. If it dies, so be it, you will know you were right. I get your point but no one has asked you guys to run it.
Dan F Posted February 18, 2012 Report Posted February 18, 2012 about 50% of all the quiz questions were aimed at the 13-17 year olds on here I appreciate what you're saying, but the above percentage pretty much sums it up - we had to try and strike a fair balance when we could in order to make the quiz as accessible as possible to all members. We did try to include older questions, but at the same time we had to be 100% sure that those were accurate, and in the times when only working from memory, that can present difficulties (as I think beau_t pointed out in the EY threads, the memory can play tricks unless you have all the episodes right in front of you to watch through one at a time). I know I often added in questions when possible to try and mix things up a bit with the various eras of the show. If people thought the balance was unfairly skewed one way or another, and said so, then we would have tried to work on that fairly without alienating the younger viewers too much, but ultimately no-one really gave feedback on the mix of questions either way whilst the quiz was running.... that's not my fault but Frankly i'm sick of everything being for 2000+ fans how about something for us nostalgic fans? is that too much to ask? If you're talking solely about the quiz then just see above and disregard this comment, but if by everything you're talking about the site in general then we certainly don't cater only to the 2000+ fans. The main focus of our site is to provide a reference point for the whole history of the show, and as a nostalgic fan myself that is extremely important to me. Again, we can only do what we can with the resources available, we certainly couldn't write 1993 features from memory for the reasons stated above, but a lot of our updates in recent months have been Early Years related - character profiles, locations, scene counts and the '89 year summary being recent examples - and there's many more early episode summaries and profiles being worked on as we speak. If anything we've cut back on updates to do with recent episodes in order to maintain this balance.
ish_the_angel Posted February 18, 2012 Report Posted February 18, 2012 Would be nice if the members here were allowed to actually do something. Dan F, do u have no comment on the quotes i posted on the previous page where we were encouraged to offer contributions? You often mention that some things are not done here due to the amount of work and the time it would take, but you won't let us fans who are willing to help.
Bobby Forever Missed Posted February 18, 2012 Report Posted February 18, 2012 Hey there Ish I completely agree with you I mean i'm sure there are fans out there willing to help WHY have a suggestions thread if we're just going to get shut down every time?
MatildaHunterFan Posted February 18, 2012 Report Posted February 18, 2012 @Ryan: I started watching Home and Away in 2010, beginning with the episodes of 2008 and I think it's possible that you go through some pages and search the Internet to find the answers. I didn't always have all answers sometimes I had less than 50% of them. But it's possible, I just takes many hours of time to find out.
-Karen- Posted February 18, 2012 Report Posted February 18, 2012 I don't think that anyone has ever been 'shot down' as has been suggested in this thread. I also don't recall anyone being told that it is not their place to contribute or that they can't make suggestions. I feel that this is a little unfair. There wouldn't be a suggestions section if suggestions weren't welcome. However, that doesn't mean that all suggestions that members make must be pursued. Any suggestions are discussed and well considered and the appropriate people are provided with a response and explanation. In many cases, such as the quiz when it was originally suggested by Barbara, these ideas do turn into reality and prove to be successful. However, sometimes we don't run with some ideas for various reasons. In these cases nobody is ever just told 'no' and they are provided with honest reasons (whether you agree with them or not). Also, in a lot of cases suggestions for an alternative solution are provided. As Dan has said below: We've explained our reasons - it's easy for people to say they're interested now, but when we were running the quiz there wasn't much interest at all, hence why we stopped it after a couple of months warning. And now, despite it only 17 days since we announced it, other people are suddenly interested in wanting a form of quiz.... Not one person has posted in the existing quiz game, which can easily be adapted into the kind of thing you're suggesting, since the quiz ended (in fact no-one's even posted a question in there in over a year) so I'm not really convinced that genuine interest is there. If you want to post your own selection of questions within that thread to challenge each other, you're more than welcome to do so. If we see there is an actual sustained interest there from more than a few members, then we can look at other options within that forum in the future - of course that's not to say we'll look into it after only a couple of weeks of manic posting in there, we need to see the interest is genuine. I find that a fair compromise. I would say that this is a good compromise. As Dan has said if there is a sustained interest then it will be looked at again. This doesn't say 'no' to me. I think this forum runs like any organisation. There are people who run and contribute to the site who have to make decisions for various reasons whilst also listening to member's opinions and suggestions. If I use 'Apple' as an example... they are a huge organisation and I'm sure they listen to their customer's opinions and views about their products and services but it is impossible for them to take all of their opinions on board and expect the company the function successfully. What they do is evaluate everything and make a decision for the good of the company based on various factors, whilst prioritising and looking at things from a practical point of view. It is the same within the company. The 'Junior Designer' may come up with a good idea about a new product but it isn't viable financially or practically, he or she has to accept the decision and get on with their job. Even us staff have had ideas about certain things over the years but others don't agree so we have to not take it personally, accept it and move on and it doesn't stop us coming up with other ideas and suggestions.
Dan F Posted February 18, 2012 Report Posted February 18, 2012 @Ryan: I started watching Home and Away in 2010, beginning with the episodes of 2008 and I think it's possible that you go through some pages and search the Internet to find the answers. I didn't always have all answers sometimes I had less than 50% of them. But it's possible, I just takes many hours of time to find out. But from what I can see, you never entered.... We do take suggestions for new features into account, but when it's features that we have already tried and discontinued (where we've stated our reasons - not just due to lack of time), that's when we get problems. We try these things but when there isn't enough interest, that's when we decide to discontinue them and move onto new things. Of course we do get the few members who are interested, but sometimes the effort isn't worth it for half a dozen members when we can be concentrating on core reference materials for the site - which is what we feel is one of the main strengths of the site. Being one of the longest running and (I believe) last-remaining major fansites in existence, we must have been doing something right with our decisions on what has and hasn't worked over the years.... We've also explained our reasons for not just accepting features from every member. We have our own way of working and inviting people to submit content to our site and possibly become part of the team, which is based on a lot of things that we can see through forum posts, and this has worked well for us over the years. We don't want to put ourselves into a position where we are receiving dozens and dozens of submissions from members and having to turn some of those people down. On a related note, we're not looking to change our process into hiring staff, and indeed aren't looking to recruit at the moment with having another addition to the team in recent times anyway. HOWEVER, we do recognise that there is a desire for some form of interactivity for members. Obviously the quiz and other past things didn't work out, but what we are starting to look into, and we're only in the very first ideas stages, are other ways that we can involve members directly with various material within the site (other staff can back me up on this as I've suggested an idea to them this afternoon). But before we look into any new material, we are about to start evaluating all existing parts of the site to see what parts need our attention the most, which is our main priority at this moment in time with our wish for the site to be a one-stop reference point. Once that is sorted and we've got going, then we can start looking into how we may be able to implement member content into what we're working on, whether it be existing content or new content. The behind-the-scenes logistics of this will take a lot of discussion, so we do please ask for your patience over the coming months whilst we look into the various options. You will be informed when we eventually reach any decisions.
John Posted February 18, 2012 Report Posted February 18, 2012 The discussions among staff, of which I am a junior member, at the moment are extensive and will require some time to play out. We need to be allowed that time. Constant pressure regarding ideas that have tried and failed aren't really helping. Dan's suggestions for enhancing opportunities for members to interract on the Forum and Site are being worked through. At the end of the day he is the one who is responsible for the ongoing maintenance and development of the Site and Forum. Other staff assist him. As Karen points out it would be grossly unfair for Dan to be the one whose "head is on the block" without him having the power to evaluate and choose possible new contributors and other staff. He does consult with other experienced staff on this. Like any application for a "job" some will be successful and others not. If no job has been advertised that is usually an indication that an organisation is not hiring. Can I suggest that members continue to participate in the Forum in the areas which interest them and contribute to ongoing discussions. In my particular area of interest, Australian Discussion, daily contributions regarding developments in episodes are very welcome and much valued. I'm always value posts which value the opinions of others as well as presenting their own views. I find that "bossing people around" or becoming agressive or abrasive in the presenting of our own opinions only discourages others from contributing and wrecks the discussions.
ish_the_angel Posted February 19, 2012 Report Posted February 19, 2012 If i were applying for a job for which i would be paid i would happily accept that i might not be what the employer was looking for. if u want to make the comparison, i would think that my volunteering my time and effort without expectation of reward would be more like offering to help in a soup kitchen or charity organisation. I doubt they would ever knock back competant volunteers
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