Well I’m rude but that’s all the time Everyone else though has been respectful and dignified in their responses so I don’t see them as rude at all.

Personally didn't read anything you say as rude or blunt. It's pretty courteous.

We both had our moments where we lacked tact, but I don't think this thread is it.

Just popping in to say that I totally agree the lack of communication has been very frustrating. I get that nobody can do this job full time and be on 24/7 to address things in a timely manner..but days and weeks go by without a word. Even if there was a post saying 'hey, we don't have time to work on this now, but we're aware'..it'd feel -slightly- nicer than not hearing anything at all. I still enjoy playing casually but the ghosting is definitely a standout issue. Sometimes the communication is decent..just a lack of consistency. I feel for everyone in this situation honestly.

re: the actual topic, I'm also at a point where none of this bothers me. I come to the site every day because I like it, and I appreciate the efforts of staff to keep things running, even if in less than perfect conditions.

The Mysterious Melody items specifically were also weighed in on here. I understand if it's not the answer people wanted, but it was at least brought up.

". Even if there was a post saying 'hey, we don't have time to work on this now, but we're aware'..it'd feel -slightly- nicer than not hearing anything at all. I still enjoy playing casually but the ghosting is definitely a standout issue. Sometimes the communication is decent..just a lack of consistency. I feel for everyone in this situation honestly."

Weren't we told about the MM items like, this week from staff?

Like I can say that in its 18 years of life, Subeta has had communication issues, but considering that this was answered in Site Feedback a week ago, I don't think the missing MM item/feature is really one we were "ghosted" about.

I wasn't talking about MM. I've never participated, it was a general statement about communication.

this website has like 3 employees all with other life obligations. i get that it's frustrating when things fall through or we don't hear about something that has supposedly been in the works for a while but when the response has to consistently be "yes, we are aware of the situation and are doing our best with the resources we have but we can't give any more specific information because we don't want to make false promises or suggest certainty where there isn't any" then i fully understand not wanting/feeling the need to just... say the same thing over and over.

I'm not sure where the argument of 'im pay for csc' goes into 'where is mm?'. It seems like an argument made that you put money into the site and expected a certain result to happen when Subeta didn't promise such a thing. I don't believe Subeta has been lacking communication over MM because as stated from other users, they have spoken about it a week ago and that doesn't seem like ghosting to me.

I, personally, don't even think users NEED MM to have a joyful or pleasant Lumi experience, it's just an additional treat for people who like that sort of anonymity. I'm not invalidating that it isn't important, it just isn't a function you need to have a good time (to me at least). I haven't been on subeta for even 5 years so I can't speak as some old timer here with this vast knowledge over it. Though, I will speak as someone who's newer and hasn't been bothered with MM being gone. While I would have liked to see more updates regarding it I also understand that Subeta is indeed understaffed and the only available hands that can work on coding is Keith. Subeta has always been a labor of love then it has for profit over the years and I appreciate that staff here does everything they can to make it a pleasant stay.

This, through and through.

First and foremost, you need to re-frame your mindset—CSC purchases are not a “goods for services” exchange, it’s a donation to the site with intangible perks as a thank you. If you are unhappy with the perks, luckily Subeta does not require any real-world currency to play.

Many users have already iterated good points—the larger takeaway should be that if an individual thinks Subeta “owes” them for a $20-$100 CSC donation once a month, they are gravely out of touch with the monetary value of the features and services they are asking for.

You absolutely have the free will to take this position for yourself, however, the core concept of volunteering is donating your time or skills to a cause without expectation of personal gain or reward…it’s literally the point. There is definitely a difference between exploitation and willful volunteering.

I wouldn’t be in my current design field, being paid and making money, if it wasn’t for places like Subeta—they gave me creative outlets as a teen to design pet pages, learn, and pursue a passion that led to a career. If someone chooses to then turn around and say “thank you” to the site by donating their services in the capacity they choose, that’s not devaluing themselves or their profession. Not everything is about money.

I for one support discussion of the idea of opening up volunteering/submission for smaller growth areas (ex: finishing subetapedia entries) that could be a fun creative outlet. Granted, having someone to review all submissions for an open volunteering prompt does require additional time/support, so I can’t say if it would be truly feasible or helpful in the long run. But offering the users who have cherished this site a way to show appreciation or support outside of monetary donations is an interesting idea.

I don't expect MM this year. I was surprised to see it mentioned at the beginning of December in the News, so I got my hopes up, but up until now nothing related to that popped up.

I totally agree that the lack of communication is staggering, but coming from an other pet site, I am pretty sure even staff sometimes don't know what's going on and simply avoid mentioning it. Just wished it was communicated like that beforehand - just a simple - "it's planned but we're not sure whether we're able to do it this year" - would have been enough. This way, we could have expected it, but wouldn't be left wondering if it wasn't going to happen.

But who knows, there are still a few days left! Maybe we can hand out presents after actual Lumi?

I'd be less salty if we stopped getting promises that never seem to pan out/work/are endlessly delayed. Please, please, please don't promise, announce, or hint at anything that is not 100% ready to go.

I actually LOVE MM and it's the number 1 major thing I looked forward to each year as far as participating in it. I'm not a huge forum user, so I don't find enjoyment in that. Sure the Melody items are nice, but I usually grab them, and head off for the day. So it honestly doesn't feel like I'm getting to fully enjoy a holiday event on here. Unlike other events where you collect floating items to gift to other users to get event currency, Luminaire doesn't have anything like that. I also don't care for the snowball thing. So MM, collecting the Melody gifts, and putting gifts under the trees of my friends is pretty much it for me. I have participated a little in the gift the tree above you threads this year when I have time, but there isn't much that is making me want to spend a huge amount of time on here for this event. Whereas with MM, I'd be on for an hour or so, then come back later and spend further time gifting my MM. So, I seriously miss it and considering it has been one of the main features for the Luminaire season, it takes away from the spirit and fun.

I do agree that it would be nice if the staff could communicate with us a bit better. I also wish (as they probably still have the old coding), that they'd put the old way of doing MM back until they get their new version finalized and rolled out. That way we could at least participate. It's better than not at all, like it has been.

The fact that the site is still alive after all these years is impressive. I'm content with that, and I'm content with the notion that people still care enough. It's better than other projects that I've seen abandoned as soon as they stopped being profitable (and I'm still sad about what died so young).

I understand the grievances about promises and features. I only really come on for events at this point and mostly I keep to myself, work on my pets, and engage with the site as a place I can have creative endeavors together with my girlfriend. We have a buddy GA thing going on because it helps keep the lights on for us and others. It might never return to being the really interesting place that we originally met on and wrote on and developed our stories on, but it still performs the basic duties that we're here for.

But hey, that's all okay. I've made my peace with the fact that the past isn't the present and that we have a skeleton crew. It would be cool to see MM revamped for the current economy with a bit more intricacy and interest to it, I will admit, but sometimes you have to just accept that what few people we have are doing their best and "their best" is only so much.

If you don't feel like the site delivers for you and the dollar you give it, well...

I'm going to be completely honest. I don't need any new features at this point. This site has, like, a thousand things on it. And given the pings I get every time an event happens about forum threads where the site is creaking and groaning under its current weight, I get why new things aren't being made or old things that are just completely broken aren't being fixed even if they were planned to, because that's the cost of tech debt. All existing efforts seem to be to keep the site running at all, and in the light of that reality...yeah I'm fine with what we have.

Mind you, my context is that I myself am a programmer (albeit now professionally in QA test automation as opposed to my college-era PHP web dev), and I have my own personal projects that I have to spend time just...keeping alive because they explode when I look at them funny, and maybe I'll get the time to fix it, but actually it'd be better suited to just making a new version from the ground up (which is what I'm currently doing in my spare time!)... websites, programs, games I've learned are works of miracles. It takes so many factors lining up to get even basic things working, so much effort to exist and then continue existing...I can't get mad.

I second people that say they don't get how subeta can undervalue its customer base. I used to be angry about the site and its trajectory, but now I'm just accepting about it. Spending time on subeta still gives me joy or I wouldn't be here. Would MM returning or the Teahouse being up be great? Yeah. But -- There's already enough to do on the site, but it also depends on what you like doing.

I never heard of the teahouse thing for quite a few months after it was first announced, so I can say truly that it never really bothered me that it never came to pass. Unless I see a mention of it in topics like this, I don't even think about it. In any case, with the programming and coding being a constant battle for the staff, I'm not surprised that some things never came to pass. The promises were likely truly meant when they were made, but the way things shaped up (lack of time, so few people on hand to work on the ideas, or whoever came up with it is no longer around or was unable to make it work), they were no longer truly workable. Should there have been an announcement of some kind saying it could no longer be done and why? Likely. But for whatever reason it didn't happen, and being angry about it so many years later isn't going to change a thing. Real life doesn't usually care about what we want, by and large, and very often all one can do is deal with what they have and try to do it as best they can. One of those things is disappointments.

As for Mysterious Melody, I'm one of those who enjoyed it at first, but the novelty wore off very quickly. I've not used it in a couple years now., and haven't really missed it. I know there are others who feel the same way I do/did and others who did keep trying it. Either way, again, it's not something I spend my time worrying about. I had more than enough fun buying Lumi gifts for others and placing them under trees with the little time I had or sending them outright. I haven't really missed it since it has gone on hiatus.

I more come on for the social aspect, more specifically the Shoutbox, and I enjoy some of the holidays, too. While I do enjoy coming on to unwind a bit after a long day, my focus is more on quests and the Shoutbox when I do come on; leaving when I am finished with those particular visits.

Have I gotten frustrated with the site during my nearly 15 years here? Absolutely, I'd be lying to say otherwise. But at the end of the day,I still enjoy it here, and keep coming back regardless. It's a nice way to wrap up what has usually been a stressful day at work.

...We still have the shoutbox? I know the widget died but I could never find the page again.

This kind of reminds me of a "honey do list". It is so easy to ask for things, but have you considered the other side? While you are asking for something, the other person has to put his efforts into completing the tasks. It can be very time consuming and even difficult to do. I think the staff has done a lot to keep us busy on the site. Sure the teahouse would be nice, and the MM, but I think they are kind of short on staff right now and they are really doing the best they can. As has pointed out - after a stressful day it is nice to come to Subeta, in spite of its shortcomings.

Yeah, it's still around:

https://subeta.net/shoutbox_full.php

I bookmarked the link so I wouldn't lose track of it.