Your Thoughts: New Muppet Central Forum Features

[Bannanasketch]

Hey, I know that this new forum is really hard to use for some people but it works just fine for the rest of us and I think Phillip is trying his best to fix things to make it more usable for everybody. So, I agree with beauregard on this. Don't keep complaining...

 

[D'Snowth]

Again, I'm on the list of those who aren't exactly fond of the new forum, persay, but Beauregard is right, Phil did put a lot of hard work into providing us with the best possible forum experience, so there's really no real business to complain.

Again, I agree with you DW, but I just have to say you have more guts than most of us, including me, to actually not only complain, but rant about the new forum... but honestly, it's not going to change anything, look at all these other sites that changed layouts, profiles, appearances, etc, without users' approval: Yahoo!, YouTube, MySpace, deviantART, IMDb, eBay, Photobucket, the list goes on. The only difference is, those sites DIDN'T do it for the people, they did it for themselves; Phil did this for us.

 

[MartyMuppets]

I'll get used to it in due time. My only question is are our personal conversations really as private as they can be? I'm assuming they'll be invisible to everybody who looks at our profile pages although they have the appearance of being posted in plain general view.

Also I'd like my PMs retrieved please Phil.

 

[Phillip]

My only question is are our personal conversations really as private as they can be? I'm assuming they'll be invisible to everybody who looks at our profile pages although they have the appearance of being posted in plain general view.

Yes, they are private. The only members who can see them are those you've invited to your conversation.

Also I'd like my PMs retrieved please Phil.

Check your e-mail please.

 

[Beakerfan]

I'm really loving the change. I was totally thrown off at first, but now I think it's great.

 

[beakerboy12]

I agree with Beakerfan, I like the new forum too! Although, it will take some getting used to! Nice job, Phil!

 

[frogboy4]

My Take on the Muppet Central's "Improvements"
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This is what I've taken issue with for a long time at Muppet Central. I am here because of most of the lovely forum members and not because it's Muppet Central Forum. We have managed to cultivate a sense of community here regardless of who's running (or absently running) the show.This place doesn't exist without us fans.

The fact that we weren't notified about this abrupt change sends a message to me this place isn't really ours. This after-the-fact "concern" doesn't fool me. We all contributed to making this forum's content what it has been. We've helped build revenue by posting in the advertising-heavy place, but when it comes down to it - we don't really matter to the webmaster. Our efforts mean little to him and that's why I quit creating graphics for this place. Don't worry. I'll go elsewhere and I encourage creative people here to do the same. I know that Ryan at the Mindset would be ecstatic to have more contributors and that is what these sorts of places should be about. I feel used at MC. We're all being used.


If any of our MC suggestions were taken into account, the forum would be one of the last things on the list after fresh website updates, a cards section, new fan reviews, more op-ed pieces and other such practical improvements that many of us tried to contribute but were ignored!!

While some of these improvements are nice, the ones that many people wanted on the forum included free usage of punctuation, maybe some more smilies and maybe a themed-looking page.

And what's with all this activity now? A Muppet fan is a fan all year round, but MC finally gets around to making these improvements when there's a movie coming out? That, my fellow forum members, is the precise definition of a fair-weathered friend. This is not really a forum or a community. It is a business for this webmaster to get sent free marketing goodies and to make revenue from the ad space. To make bank off of us! That is the frog's-honest-truth! Don't be led to believe otherwise. After 10 years on staff here - I'm disappointed.

Can this be mended? Well people rarely change so MC will operate how it always does and hope that we fall into a complacency and overlook the shady way things are handled. Where do we go from here? That's up to each MC member. I wish we had an alternative place to go with a rich history that includes all of us, but we don't. We will probably keep posting here and hope that something better comes along.

 

[D'Snowth]

The fact that we weren't notified about this abrupt change sends a message to me this place isn't really ours.

Um, we WERE notified Jamie, Phil made the announcement a few days beforehand, so it's not like we didn't know this was going to happen.

 

[MuppetCaper]

Wow, that pretty heavy frogboy. As long as I have known you on MC, I have never seen you this upset. But, I understand how you feel on your stance with MC. Maybe they will work something out between you. I wish you the best and all your contributions to MC. You do such an awesome job and I have seen so much of your work. Their is always someone out there that is looking for someone with your talent. So always keep your chin up!

 

[frogboy4]

Um, we WERE notified Jamie, Phil made the announcement a few days beforehand, so it's not like we didn't know this was going to happen.

We weren't notified that the change would be this radical. So actually nopers, we weren't notified. If anything most of us assumed this would be one of the many times the forum went offline for a day to come back looking and acting relatively the same.

Wow, that pretty heavy frogboy. As long as I have known you on MC, I have never seen you this upset. But, I understand how you feel on your stance with MC. Maybe they will work something out between you. I wish you the best and all your contributions to MC. You do such an awesome job and I have seen so much of your work. Their is always someone out there that is looking for someone with your talent. So always keep your chin up!

I'm not as upset as I am disappointed. I am faithful to a fault and have been here at Muppet Central.

Thanks. It's always nice to know the hard work I and others once put into Muppet Central is appreciated. I was warned by many defecting MCers, now TPers, of this exact conflict when I took the graphic design reigns here a decade ago, but I hoped things would get better. Everyone's head would explode if they knew how many fantastic, free proposals that I and other fans submitted over the years that were completely dismissed by Phillip because he wouldn't be bothered with them or even allow a team of people to take that bit over and maintain a fan area on MC independently. Unfortunately, he wouldn't allow for that. Have you ever had a friend that only talks to you when they want something and is nowhere to be found whenever you need them? That's the MC webmaster.

Just to let you know, I was planning on designing interactive, animated Flash e-cards with name and message input content and possibly even gaming options. I got ignored, an ambiguous reply and then the infamous "we're planning something great later" response that's been the company line here for like 6 years now! I have no time or budget to make these items now so that was basically a missed opportunity.

I'll keep enjoying my friends here and the Muppet fan community at large and will still submit things to other sites. My issues with MC staff won't be mended. When a person tells you who they really are - it's best to believe them the first time. The webmaster has made it clear that he very much wants to control all aspects of Muppet Central and he doesn't care that the website has fallen into disrepair. He doesn't care if he upsets people. So many people have worked so hard for this place in the past. I don't predict it has another decade in it, but I'll chat with my MC friends wherever we go.