Hello everyone,
At long last, following Jayde's resignation and happenings here over the last few days, our first formal admin meeting took place earlier today. In the name of transparency, I'd like to quickly get everyone up to speed on some changes we have and are actively making, as well as what the future will hold for you and this site at large.
First of all, both Arqmeister and Dan_c have had their original member ranks restored for the time being. Allow me to be the first to thank the two of you for your work over the last few years. It's appreciated, and should you at any time show interest in returning to the team we would be more than open to reconsideration.
Secondly, on account of their demonstrated competence, and also in order to speed up the process of unrestricting new users, Dgleks and Jack have both been elevated to the rank of administrator. I would typically be wary making a decision of this magnitude so early on, but it's nearly been six months since they were welcomed to the team, and they have both proven more than up to the task on multiple occasions.
So there is no confusion, the policy requiring a staff majority will remain in affect even though there are currently no moderators on the team. In other words, all proposals to enact a ban or the community failure clause will continue to be vetted by more than one person.
And finally, the elephant in the room. Our not all that popular stance on asset theft and unauthorized assets.
In the end, everyone seems to have their own viewpoint on how to remedy what I'd almost call a catch-22.
I believe I can speak for the rest of the team when I say we're tired. tired of running this one around in circles and circles, feeling like every step forward is two back and one off to the left. Torn on how to look out for the best interests of the community, actively condoning stolen assets while simultaneously not ripping our database to shreds. In reality, there is a far simpler, more practical course of action we should've taken a long time ago.
I will soon draft an open letter to the hosts (Richard and Sander) and with help clearly outline both sides of the copyright issue so that it may be deliberated upon by the very people who started and actively fund the site. The letter will be sent personally, and posted to a topic where anyone who wishes to be heard may do so. However, the final decision of course rests with them.
The benefits here will be twofold, in that I plan to mention the mounting bugs/DB errors and primitive functionality, among other setbacks. In particular, we're looking at a superior solution for keeping and storing off-sight backups, fixing the bugs that an increasing number of you have been reporting, access to the primary site support email address from which I'm sure many a message has been swallowed, improving the PM system, refactoring searches, allowing mods to unrestrict new users, and probably more that isn't coming to mind right now.
I'm not going to promise all of the above, but I think it's fair to say that we've been improvising and trying to work with inefficient systems for far too long and are honestly just fed up with it. We've been running since 2005. It's been a good run, but I think everyone will stand with us in saying that it's high time to modernize this place a bit.
PHP isn't my best, much less preferred language. I dabbled in it as well as database management and sysadmin for a time, so feel confident I'd be able to make a pretty dent. Thankfully I'm by no means the only team member who can lend a hand here.
Hopes and code aside, depending on the response we get from our communication with the hosts, we may continue our efforts to consult a lawyer, or at any rate someone far more knowledgeable than myself where applicable law is concerned.
None of this will happen over night of course, but it is my sincere hope that soon we can finally begin to chip at the ever increasing list of bugs, and more importantly ensure the longevity of this wonderful community. In the meantime, please hang tight. We're all here along for the same ride for the same purpose, to discuss and promote audiogames. Let's do our best to remember that and work alongside one another.