Ernya.com

I think it's become quite clear that there is no real reason to trust this site with donations anymore. I'm not saying that to be inflammatory, although I suppose it is regardless of intent. The fact is that this is the second time in a month that items have been re-released, and the fourth time overall that I can recall. Who knows what other times I may have missed it.

This is a great site. After I lost my interest in the avatar community scene, I still kept coming back to Ernya for its cozy environment and friendly exchange community. I have a great deal of admiration for Emy as an admin who actually cares about the exchange, as well as being reasonable and level-headed in the face of negative criticism. What I'm trying to say here is that despite more than a dozen competing sites, Ernya is the one I felt was worth staying on.

I don't feel that way anymore.

I've talked extensively on how the covenant between site and user is sacred, about how limited items need to be limited in order to keep the site alive and healthy. I supported the increased prices of spells, and even before then I was pointing out how lucky we as users were for even having spells, since they had to be a huge drain of money and rescources on the site. I've tried to explain to people how the market is supposed to work, and why it's bad to try and persecute hoarders and exchangers, because they actually keep the site vibrant and going. Most importantly, I spoke only a month ago to Emy herself about how the limited nature of items was crucial to the site's survival, and I felt like I was heard. I thought that the covenant had been reaffirmed. That seems a bit hollow now.

I am not blaming anyone if they want to recieve a ragdoll skin as their prize for being in the top 50. Hell, I think that anyone not doing so is doing themselves a disfavor. It is currently priced around 200-250k, and the second most expensive EI is at 45k. No matter what item you really want, you'd be better off getting and selling a ragdoll skin and then buying what you wanted. Even if you sell it at as little as 100k, you still make ~60k more than the second best item. It's complete lunacy to not do this. But again, I don't blame any user, because they are just doing what has been offered to them.

There were so many different, and frankly, better ways to reward people for their dedication. Rather than an arbitrary item, they could have been given an exclusive sticker for their profile, or a special winner's nametag for showing off. So far, the site has treated these nametags as little more than trash to hastily throw out there for an extra buck. This could cement them as prestige items, something that you only get for dedicated work. It'd be something you could always wear, no matter your avatar, and it could be given out annually every time the winter event rolls around. It would be something to be proud of, something to show for your dedication. Instead, they're given an item which already exists, and which will only decrease in price the moment they decide they want it.

In my eyes, this is a pathology that the site administration has entered into because of its easy-to-pull-off nature, and because of the excessively popular response it has. But the problem is that a lot of people fail to realize why items must, necessarily, be rare and valuable and hard to get. I thought that Emy was aware that what the public wants is not always what is best for a community. There is a reason that we, in real life, have people whose jobs are to think situations through and plan out the public facilities and abilities of the government. We have houses of parliament who discuss the major issues. I am not claiming to be anything close to a counselor for the site administration, but I had hoped that what I was doing was providing a counterpoint to all those who clamored for more free or cheap stuff, to show that that was not the only opinion out there. I always feared that the reason so many sites went under or awry was because the administration gave in to the demands of the masses.

This latest re-release of items has proven to be the straw breaking the camel's back for some. I know a few exchangers who have decided, or are thinking very seriously about, quitting the site for good. It's difficult, because there really is no site that compares to this, but as I also talked about last time, the issue is trust. And frankly, we just don't trust you anymore.

This is not a debate. People are free to provide their input, but my issues are not up for discussion. This is a way of trying to portray the frustration that a small group of people are feeling. What is done is done. I realize nothing I say will change anything, and I do not harbor any ill feelings towards the winners of the event. I wish them the best and congratulate them for their hard work.

EDIT Because there seems to be a bit of an issue with reading comprehension.
I am not here to discuss the declining prices of items in the market. I am not here to discuss "artificial inflation" or how 50 items won't affect a market that much. I am not here to invalidate the people who worked hard on the event, or to say that the event is bad. I want to discuss a trust issue. A problem where we see continuous re-releasing of items which in turn cannibalizes the site. If you don't want to discuss this, don't. I am not forcing you to. I wanted Emy to see this, and she has. I leave it open for people to consider, and talk about if they want. But focus on the issue. That's all I ask.

Made sense as far as I am concerned. Thank you for your input.

Let me first say that I am, as always, impressed at your level-headedness. I had slight trepidations while writing this, because I was afraid it would come off as a personal attack at you. It was never meant that way. Also, thank you for the prompt response. I really appreciate it.

As I already mentioned, I just think it's a pity that you went with this, rather than the other options afforded to you. Personally I would have loved to see name tags develop into something that could be worn as a kind of medal, something to show off because only a small handful of people earned it. There is no doubt that a lot of people put a lot of effort into this event, and I think they should be rewarded in kind. I also know that releasing "winner-items" for their avatar would cause a large outcry (we already saw that happening when it was just baseless guessings), but I think that people would respond well to certain "medals" as nametags. It would tie in well with the innovative streak that has always defined this site, and would probably feel a bit more significant for the owners. Maybe that's just my own sentiments and isn't reflected in the general populace, but it might be worth mulling over.

As far as the real issue, trust, I don't know what to say. The biggest problem is probably that there is nothing that you as an admin can do to invert or "make better" what has already transpired. Also, I don't think anyone wants to strong-arm you into doing anything - you have proven to be great at your job, and we trust you to do it. I just think it's one of those cardinal sins of a site admin - rereleasing, as well as stifling free speech or unjustly banning people for being disagreeable. When it happens, it puts a permanent blemish on the site. Ultimately, it's up to the individual to decide how much that blemish means to them. For some, it means practically nothing. For others, it's a big deal. I suppose I surround myself with the latter part.

I was hoping to keep this from dragging down the festivities by posting this as a seperate thread in a different subforum rather than in the announcements thread. And I know that it's a drag having to deal with angry users after having put a lot of work into something. Trust me, I know that feeling very well. Still, I think, and I think you will agree with me, that it's better for me to speak my mind openly, and have a rational discussion with you, rather than keeping silent and then leaving in a huff of drama. Even if there is nothing to truly discuss, it at least gives you an opportunity to learn what a minority thinks. I don't harbor any illusions that you could, or would, magically make everything better. It's just important to be heard.

On a last note, I know that a different part of it is that, to some exchangers, this feels increasingly like the administration regulating market price. While that probably isn't the intent, this will invariably decrease market price of expensive items. I already covered why it would be in every winner's best interest to pick the ragdoll skin regardless of actual want. This intervening makes it that much more difficult to predict the market, which may make a lot of the big "movers" hesitant about buying anything.

Flutter Shy wrote:A name tag and a sticker would not had been worth what some people put into the battles.

Why not? Seems rather arbitrary to me that only the monetary value means anything. It's kind of like saying that a gold medal from the Olympics is only good because the gold is expensive. Maybe I am just missing the scope here, but it seems to me that if people only put the amount of work into this that they did because they expected to get something expensive, it would have been better for them to simply post or play the games on here for that period of time. As far as I know, the event was intended as a pseudo-gold sink, which would suggest that people actually put a lot of their own money into it. Seems somewhat counter-productive to simply give them something expensive in return, rather than something they could feel proud about. Plenty of people have ragdoll skins, or whatever EI they want to pick, but no one else would have that tag/sticker. That would make it mean so much more. At least in my book.

Sephy:
Possibly. I never actually stated it in my OP, but I didn't really attend the event at all. I barely discussed it with anyone before this all happened. So maybe I am missing the scope of what people have put into it, and thus the scope of their relief/happiness/triumph. Still, I thought I was being at least somewhat considerate by not posting this in the announcement thread as I had originally intended. And as I already said, I am happy for the people who won this, and I harbor no ill will towards them getting what they do. At the same time, I expect them to, if nothing else, accept that I, and others, feel this way, and that we want to be heard. I am not crashing anyone's party here, I am writing about an issue that dates back to before this event even began. And I am not advertising this or spreading bile in other threads.

Scarling: I'd rather leave discussing the event itself to a different thread.

Alexia: As I already said, I don't care about the price of items. This isn't about that. To be perfectly frank, they could make every item free for all I care. The issue is the trust between user and administration. If we are told items are limited, we expect them to be limited. To violate that is to violate the foundation that the site is built on.

Xerxies: You make a lot of points, most of which I disagree with. Still, I don't want this to turn into a debate of anything but the trust issue, so I'm not going to adress it beyond this.
I realize, both from this and from your posts in the event thread, that you view EIs as less "important" in the context of re-releasing. I understand that, and acknowledge that that is how most users feel. Still, two points. One, it's not about the individual item, but about it being symptomatic of a larger pathology of re-releasing. Second, I don't know if you remember the event where the ragdolls were given out. They were extremely difficult to get, and most never got that far. By re-releasing them now, we're basically told that the hard work of the people back then is worth literally nothing, but that the hard work of the people of this event is worth a lot. Worth thinking about.

Queen H: Then I suggest you re-read my thread, and take a stance on the issue I actually wanted to discuss.

Far be it for me to discern why you bothered to post, then, if you truly are indifferent. Unless what you are saying is that you actually support re-releasing. Either way is fine, we have nothing to talk about, but your motivations puzzle me.