Lady Vulpix has been promoted.

[Andrew]

Dear TPM,

Kevin has admined Lady Vulpix/Lady G/Gabi. There are now three admins. Suzie/Little Pikachu and Chris are the other two.

Post any congratulations, comments, etc in this topic.

Please commence discussion.

[SystematicRevolution]

Fine by me. I've never had any issues with her that really meant anything.

[Angel Blossom]

This just proves Kevin has no fucking idea what he's doing and needs to go away forever.

ZAK 4 ADMIN! ^_^;

[Kurosakura]

Congrats, I don't know her well enough to provide input. :P

[SystematicRevolution]

Right Kris, Kevin hasn't been doing web development for over ten years. He also hasn't been running this board for nearly as long.

I think whining about it is silly and pointless.

[Telume]

I already said congrats a bunch of times but I guess one more time wouldn't hurt.

[Jeff]

I already said congrats a bunch of times but I guess one more time wouldn't hurt.

Ditto.

Congrats Gabi!

[mr_pikachu]

Yes, congratulations, Gabi! You definitely earned this. :)

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

mr_pikachu just freaking posted!?!!

Well congratulations! Now I'm off to see the returning of mr_pikachu, so see you!

[Angel Blossom]

Right Kris, Kevin hasn't been doing web development for over ten years. He also hasn't been running this board for nearly as long.

I think whining about it is silly and pointless.
Yeah Nate, you're right! My apologies for posting my thoughts on Lady Vulpix's promotion and Kevin's impromptu decision; clearly I was wrong in assuming that was the purpose of this topic.

Idiot.

[Roy Karrde]

As some one who knows alot about what goes around in the back ground of the forum all I can say is its about time we have a new admin around. Although I am glad LP is back too! Now maybe we can get Zak and Andrew on there too... unless they do the drunk posties again, we don't need anymore drunk admins. ~.^

[The Blue Avenger]

Congrats, Gabi!

[SystematicRevolution]

Yeah Nate, you're right! My apologies for posting my thoughts on Lady Vulpix's promotion and Kevin's impromptu decision; clearly I was wrong in assuming that was the purpose of this topic.

Idiot.


What even makes you think that the decision was made without any kind of thought? Kevin is not stupid. He doesn't just admin people for the fun of it.

Why don't you stop trying to provoke flame wars by childishly tossing around insults? Really, take a moment to grow up, if you please. If I was an admin, you would probably be at the top of the list to be banned, considering the complete lack of finesse and integrity and all the trolling present in the majority of your posts since your return.

Incidentally, the comment I made saying that it was silly and pointless to whine about Gabi's position was NOT directed at you. And I apologise if it seemed so. It was a general statement.

[Angel Blossom]

WELL SUE ME FOR NOT WANTING TPM FORUMS TO BE RUN BY HITLER FEMALE #2 And yeah, expressing how I really feel sure is 'trolling'. Good one, Nate.

It's no wonder you and dashira make a perfect e-couple. :)

[Telume]

Come on let's keep this civil, this is a congratulations thread.

[Roy Karrde]

Angel seriously calm down, this is a congrats thread for Lady V, not a flame war thread. Seriously guys lets keep this a happy thread.

[Kurosakura]

I agree with Telume, this is getting out of hand. There's no need for a giant flame war anytime, anywhere, because it seems like you're trolling for the lulz.

[SystematicRevolution]

WELL SUE ME FOR NOT WANTING TPM FORUMS TO BE RUN BY HITLER FEMALE #2 And yeah, expressing how I really feel sure is 'trolling'. Good one, Nate.

It's no wonder you and dashira make a perfect e-couple. :)

Trolling is the act of purposefully antagonizing other people on the internet, generally on message boards.

Ashley and I being an e-couple is old news as of around five years ago. :)

Now if this topic may continue as its original purpose without needless trolling...

CONGRATS GABI!

[Angel Blossom]

Trolling is the act of purposefully antagonizing other people on the internet, generally on message boards.

Ashley and I being an e-couple is old news as of around five years ago. :)
If nobody sees eye-to-eye with me, then too bad, but I wouldn't call that 'trolling'. Sometimes the truth hurts. I also know there are quite a number of people who share my point of view, but are yet to post (or are too afraid, understandably so).

Most of the people who are praising Lady Vulpix right now are probably just seeking an e-promotion anyway.

[Kurosakura]

If nobody sees eye-to-eye with me, then too bad, but I wouldn't call that 'trolling'. Sometimes the truth hurts. I also know there are quite a number of people who share my point of view, but are yet to post (or are too afraid, understandably so).

Most of the people who are praising Lady Vulpix right now are probably just seeking an e-promotion anyway.

What's there to gain from a promotion on a half-dead Pokemon forum?

Anyways, people, don't feed this troll lady, it gives her more strength and she gets more lulz! Ignore her, don't respond to her trolling, and our problems are solved.

[SystematicRevolution]

I don't at all have a problem with your opinion on Gabi. I understand that there are people that have problems with her. Nobody in the history of the world has ever been 100% supported. I was just stating that Kevin didn't just pick her name out of a hat, that's all.

[Fett One]

Ditto.

Congrats Gabi!

I third that. Congrats LV.

[Zak]

If nobody sees eye-to-eye with me, then too bad, but I wouldn't call that 'trolling'. Sometimes the truth hurts. I also know there are quite a number of people who share my point of view, but are yet to post (or are too afraid, understandably so).

Most of the people who are praising Lady Vulpix right now are probably just seeking an e-promotion anyway.

I completely understand where you're coming from, Kris, I mean you certainly aren't the only one who feels this way about Gabi's position. But if you really want the best for TPM, as she might and I know I do, you could at least come up with some better arguments supporting your case. Not trying to be mean or anything, just a tip. You're more likely to get people on your side in the matter if you use a more convincing argument, like why exactly you have a problem with her. I am quite sure that would come across better than "Kevin has no clue what he's doing".

I'm still neutral on the matter, though. But I will say, I reeaally don't think Nate was going for an "e-promotion".

EDIT: Also I admit I'm a bit hammered right now so I'll probably post more about this matter tomorrow even though I gave a rather coherent response as far as I'm concered.

[Angel Blossom]

Okay, Zak. Here you go: http://www.pokemasters.net/forums/showpost.php?p=411223&postcount=230 - That post neatly sums up why I oppose this decision, in particular points #2 and #8. The forums will never move forward with Lady Vulpix as an admin. Of course, I'm assuming the other moderators had a major role to play in this (not just Kevin), but the majority of them are basically mini-Lady Vulpix's who are as clueless as Kevin as to what's best for the forum.

Major changes need to be made at TPM if we want to move forward and attract more people than simply 1-2 random ASB folk. In fact, take a look at the website revival project. It was a great idea, but Kevin is clearly in no rush to update http://www.pokemasters.net/ to reflect the hard work Jeff and company made. Newsflash: a .tk domain isn't going to improve activity around here, but hey, let's prolong the website update for as long as possible until it's too late to 'save' TPM. Actually, it might already be too late since the release of HGSS in Japan is just days away - that could've been TPM's golden opportunity lost right then and there. Instead, Kevin deemed it more important to admin somebody who would do nothing or very little to help TPM progress. It's like... what? Fabulous job there.

What other changes need to be made? I'm not sure, but I can tell you one thing: there's no point discussing that at the moment. With Lady Vulpix and Little_Pikachu both strongly resistant to any sort of change, and Kevin slapping everybody in the face who spent all that time and effort on the revival project, it's pretty much "gg" for the integrity and future of the website and forums.

Edit: I'm not trying to persuade people to accept my argument. I already know how hard that will be considering Lady Vulpix has nearly every moderator and member under her spell, but I'm just being honest and realistic here. The forums are already in a dreary state, and I just can't envisage her improving the forums because of her skepticism to change. And Kevin's first priority should've been to update the website, but instead, he prefers tossing shit at those who are trying their damned hardest to make TPM a better place. Don't tell me I'm the only person who finds that ludicrous. :/

[MeLoVeGhOsTs]

Congratulations Gabi.

[Gavin Luper]

Congrats for a second time, Gabi.

As far as I can follow, Kevin's rationale for creating another admin was to make mod-requested changes on the forum get actioned much, much quicker, so I think it's good we now have two active admins and Chris too (not sure how active he is at the moment).

So, I'm glad we have more active admins and I think Gabi is completely capable of the job. Whether or not the other Supermods should be adminned isn't up to me, but I think both Zak and Andrew have proven themselves capable during their tenure as Supermods.

[Rossymore]

Congrats LV. I actually knew about this since the 3rd and I immediately updated the Bulbapedia page.

Good luck in your admining thingy and are you done changing the emoticon list? :v

[Lady Vulpix]

Congrats LV. I actually knew about this since the 3rd and I immediately updated the Bulbapedia page.

Good luck in your admining thingy and are you done changing the emoticon list? :vHehe. I was wondering if anyone would notice. Nice spotting!

I was mostly doing some reordering to put smilies of the same kind together. I was surprised to notice that some are even repeated, but I haven't deleted any because I don't know which version people are using. Don't worry, all your emoticons are safe.

Thanks to everyone who congratulated me. As for Kris, I'll try to sort things out privately with her. In any case, Andrew's been spreading lies and slander about me for years, so don't take anything he says seriously (in particular, don't use his unfounded statements as an argument to support your opinions). If anyone disapproves of anything I have done, I'm willing to discuss it, and if I did make a mistake I will admit it, but please post real evidence (like a link to the actual post you're complaining about), not vague statements posted by someone else. And no name-calling please.

[Adrenaline]

a little late now but congrats!!!!!

[Chris 2.1]

Well done Gabi, congratulations.

[Knight of Time]

A couple of months ago when I was talking to Gabi on AIM, I knew she would be a great admin if she was given that big promotion.

Again, congratulations Gabi, and take your new job in stride, you deserved it.

[DarkestLight]

o.O Seriously, I'm the last to notice such things. But hey congrats LV.

[Zak]

Okay, Zak. Here you go: http://www.pokemasters.net/forums/showpost.php?p=411223&postcount=230 - That post neatly sums up why I oppose this decision, in particular points #2 and #8. The forums will never move forward with Lady Vulpix as an admin. Of course, I'm assuming the other moderators had a major role to play in this (not just Kevin), but the majority of them are basically mini-Lady Vulpix's who are as clueless as Kevin as to what's best for the forum.

Major changes need to be made at TPM if we want to move forward and attract more people than simply 1-2 random ASB folk. In fact, take a look at the website revival project. It was a great idea, but Kevin is clearly in no rush to update http://www.pokemasters.net/ to reflect the hard work Jeff and company made. Newsflash: a .tk domain isn't going to improve activity around here, but hey, let's prolong the website update for as long as possible until it's too late to 'save' TPM. Actually, it might already be too late since the release of HGSS in Japan is just days away - that could've been TPM's golden opportunity lost right then and there. Instead, Kevin deemed it more important to admin somebody who would do nothing or very little to help TPM progress. It's like... what? Fabulous job there.

What other changes need to be made? I'm not sure, but I can tell you one thing: there's no point discussing that at the moment. With Lady Vulpix and Little_Pikachu both strongly resistant to any sort of change, and Kevin slapping everybody in the face who spent all that time and effort on the revival project, it's pretty much "gg" for the integrity and future of the website and forums.

Edit: I'm not trying to persuade people to accept my argument. I already know how hard that will be considering Lady Vulpix has nearly every moderator and member under her spell, but I'm just being honest and realistic here. The forums are already in a dreary state, and I just can't envisage her improving the forums because of her skepticism to change. And Kevin's first priority should've been to update the website, but instead, he prefers tossing shit at those who are trying their damned hardest to make TPM a better place. Don't tell me I'm the only person who finds that ludicrous. :/

Erm, okay. Except for the part about other moderators being involved in this whole thing and her "having nearly every moderator under her spell". Absolutely nobody else was involved in this, it just randomly happened, shocking many of us in the process. You'd be surprised at who is opposed. XD
Unfortunately whoever was, it's their own business to tell you.

Meh, I'm used to the idea now I guess. See how it all unfolds.

[Lady Vulpix]

Zak, what I said holds for everyone, including you. If you think I'm doing something wrong, tell me what it is instead of posting about how bad I am without actually explaining anything. As far as I know the only thing you have against me is that I don't share your sense of humor and that's fine, we don't have to laugh at the same jokes in order to run a forum together. But you're making it sound like I'm an evil megalomaniac or something, and I honestly have no idea where you got that from.

Long story short, there was a technical problem with the forum that stopped us from doing some things that needed to be done. I spent months trying to contact Kevin and, when I finally reached him, I told him what the problem was and he fixed it and made me an admin so that I could finish doing all the pending jobs. Which are now done, by the way. Don't expect any big changes resulting from my promotion, the only difference is that now some tasks will be handled faster (and that is partly because I'll be doing them, and partly because the glitch is fixed so others can do them as well). The rules will still be discussed by the whole mod team as they always have, and input from regular members will still be welcome. I don't make the rules myself, I only edit the rules page once the changes have been decided.

The progress of TPM is in everyone's hands, not just the admins. I believe there will be some big changes in the future, especially now that the main site is up and running (thanks to everyone who put so much effort into it), and is now accessible through the forum banner. But that is up to all the members, not a single person.

Thanks for the congratulations, Adrenaline, Chris, Kyle and DarkestLight. :)

[Crystal Mew]

Congrats Gabi!

[shazza]

They already released the new card! :D

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/5494/125233731179675.png

[Weasel Overlord]

Whee, delayed! Congrats Gabiiii~ I think you'll be an awesome admin. :D

[Heald]

They already released the new card!

lol, over 9000 jokez

In all seriousness, congrats Gabi.

[Zak]

Zak, what I said holds for everyone, including you. If you think I'm doing something wrong, tell me what it is instead of posting about how bad I am without actually explaining anything. As far as I know the only thing you have against me is that I don't share your sense of humor and that's fine, we don't have to laugh at the same jokes in order to run a forum together. But you're making it sound like I'm an evil megalomaniac or something, and I honestly have no idea where you got that from.

Not too sure where you got the megalomaniac thing from, myself. But I congratulated you just like everyone else.

LOL shazza how long did it take to make that?

[Adrenaline]

I like how she has no weakneses and all resistences. :D

[Charles Legend]

Congratulations again Gabi.

Darkest if it makes you fell any better I only noticed Yesterday that she had been promoted.

~Charles Legend

[Lady Vulpix]

I got it from your "yes to everything except her having nearly every mod under her spell", but I may have misinterpreted that. In that case, sorry about the misunderstanding and thanks to you too.

And thanks to everyone else as well. :)

That card was funny, shazza. I'm saving it to my computer. I wish I really did have the power to turn sloppy posts into award-winning theses. Then I'd only have to make a sloppy post, transform it and submit it to the doctorate commission at university. I'd get my PhD by the end of the year! (I'm almost done with the subjects, my thesis is the only thing that's giving me trouble and I think it'll take at least 2 more years).

[Little_Pikachu]

Congrats again Gabi, I know with your new found power you can work towards making the forums better :) And thanks again for getting my stuff sorted out too!

[Lady Vulpix]

Congrats again Gabi, I know with your new found power you can work towards making the forums better :) And thanks again for getting my stuff sorted out too!
You're welcome. I'm glad that's finally fixed.

[Clark]

OMG liek congrats Gabi!!!!!111oneoneoenneneene.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v134/cloudmx/eb21dc5d.gif

[DarkestLight]

Yeah seriously, that's pretty damn fast shazza lol.

[Number1ChanseyFan]

Congrats Gabi!! I know that you will go a great job!! ^_~

[Zak]

I got it from your "yes to everything except her having nearly every mod under her spell", but I may have misinterpreted that. In that case, sorry about the misunderstanding and thanks to you too.

I was trying to say that's not true. >.>

[Gavin Luper]

shazza, that card was hilarious. Well done. :D

[Lady Vulpix]

Ah, OK, Zak. Sorry. And thanks, Clark and Christen.

[SystematicRevolution]

OMG liek congrats Gabi!!!!!111oneoneoenneneene.


Clark, I miss your orange 12pt Tahoma font on black background.

[Katie]

I can't help but be curious about the adminning process... Something needed to be done that only an admin can do, but rather than contact the other 2 admins you go to the webmaster who literally hasn't posted in like 7 years (who didn't respond to you for several months anyway) ... ?? What about LP and Chris? Where the hell is Chris anyway, I just looked and he had a grand total of 7 posts in 2008, and none in 2009. I dunno, I like Chris and all but it seems like based on what has happened a replacement would have made more sense. But it was more likely a "bah, eff it. here." response from Kevin which seems pretty in character for him.

I dunno what I'm rambling about, this is what happens when neopets goes down.

PS there is way too much pink font in this thread I'm getting confused.

[Indecent Exposure]

I like that I still recognize peoples names here. Well done to the one of them who has achieved this which has been done.

[SystematicRevolution]

Hi, Todd :wave:

[Magmar]

Congratulations, Gabi... a little late but.... better late than never!

But uhh... why are people acting like their very lives depend on this pokemon message board promotion...

[Indecent Exposure]

Hi, Todd :wave:

Hallo thar! Not sure who you are though :(

[Zak]

I can't help but be curious about the adminning process... Something needed to be done that only an admin can do, but rather than contact the other 2 admins you go to the webmaster who literally hasn't posted in like 7 years (who didn't respond to you for several months anyway) ... ?? What about LP and Chris? Where the hell is Chris anyway, I just looked and he had a grand total of 7 posts in 2008, and none in 2009. I dunno, I like Chris and all but it seems like based on what has happened a replacement would have made more sense. But it was more likely a "bah, eff it. here." response from Kevin which seems pretty in character for him.

I dunno what I'm rambling about, this is what happens when neopets goes down.

PS there is way too much pink font in this thread I'm getting confused.

It's not something an admin can do. The "something" that needed to be done was the admin control panel was messed up and broken, and Suzie was unable to do a lot of things. I mean, still able to ban people, but not able to change big things like modding/demodding people, as well as other things. That's why we've had so many inactive mods for a while lately, like who you were asking about the other day. I'd reckon Chris probably couldn't have done anything either even if he was around and/or active (he probably could have figured out the root of the problem), unless the problem was exclusive to Suzie's account.

So from what I understand, one day Gabi decided to contact Kevin on AIM (I think he was online for the first time in ages, I saw him online recently too and I remember it was weird seeing him on), so she explained the problem to him and he was able to fix it, and adminned her. I don't think she even asked or anything.

[abunaidesu]

Chris is actually quite active on a torrent site we both frequent although I really doubt he would have bothered had he been enlightened on the issue anyway

[Master Rudy]

PS there is way too much pink font in this thread I'm getting confused.

Then allow me to add to the problem ^_^
lol j/k


In any case grats to LV. Having an active, long time member become a new admin could be very helpful as far as getting things done. Chris hasn't been around for a long time and I myself have lost count on the number of inactive mods that really need to be shuffled around to make room for some folks that are more active.

In regard to the critics I fail to see the big problem here. I admit I myself have had little to no interaction with LV over the years but let's put it this way. On the extreme oppose side of things if Kev had every intent to give TPM a big fuck you as some of you are claiming he did then he could have looked at a list of banned members who enjoy chaos, reinstated them and then sent them a message saying "Go wild and have fun!" Not saying you guys can't have an opinion on the matter but I personally feel anyone making a fuss this big about it in public should just leave the site. Don't let the door hit you on the ass on your way out ^_~

On another note in regards to Shazza......
That avatar is creepy and is making me feel like I'm having a bad trip. Thanks for fueling my nightmare tonight. WTF IS THAT?!

In any case grats again!

[SystematicRevolution]

Congratulations, Gabi... a little late but.... better late than never!

But uhh... why are people acting like their very lives depend on this pokemon message board promotion...

Signed.

You know... I thought it but didn't say it. But I certainly agree. Besides, there is a lot of confusion, I think, regarding her opinions on certain things. I don't have the greatest memory on Earth (I think that title belongs to Zak) but I don't really recall a lot of the things that people have been saying about her. I remember her enforcing the "no one word posts" or whatever, but that's about it.

Aside from that, she was probably just enforcing rules that she had to enforce as a Moderator. I.e, doing her job.

[Zak]

Signed.

You know... I thought it but didn't say it. But I certainly agree. Besides, there is a lot of confusion, I think, regarding her opinions on certain things. I don't have the greatest memory on Earth (I think that title belongs to Zak) but I don't really recall a lot of the things that people have been saying about her. I remember her enforcing the "no one word posts" or whatever, but that's about it.

Aside from that, she was probably just enforcing rules that she had to enforce as a Moderator. I.e, doing her job.

The best I can offer is a possible explanation of some of the things being said that you don't recall, if you say specifically which things you mean.

Though I think that discussion is better for us to talk about off the board. If you're interested or whatever, you know where to find me.

[SystematicRevolution]

I'm not really concerned enough to bother, lol. It was just speculation on my part, anyway.

[The_Missing_Link]

To be honest, it's insanely pathetic to to be seeing anyone complaining about this whole thing. I was aware for a while that things weren't getting done around here because of activity/forum problems so her promotion doesn't surprise me at all but c'mon, aside from personal vendettas against Gabi, there is no basis to any of the complaints. She was the one who took the initiative to contact Kevin and he just happened to promote her. Go find him if you still have a problem. Maybe you'll get to him in a year

Grats Gabi. You've done your duties well over the years and you've been sufficiently rewarded

[SystematicRevolution]

...
Maybe you'll get to him in a year

...

That soon, eh? You must have a lot of faith in his online status! :lol:

[Angel Blossom]

She was the one who took the initiative to contact Kevin and he just happened to promote her. Go find him if you still have a problem. Maybe you'll get to him in a year
Gabi and I have already sorted this out in PM, so there's no need for anybody else to drag it on.

But apparently you missed the point of my last post here. It's all well and good that we have a new forum admin now, but how will Lady Vulpix's promotion attract more activity here? We desperately needed that website update to reflect Jeff's changes - the forum problems should've been secondary. Now we've missed our last opportunity to attract new people here. Well done.

Not like any of you care because you don't give a shit about Pokemon or this place anymore, and the people who want to make this place better are silenced. :/ That sounds like something Serebii would do.

[SystematicRevolution]

I can't really guarantee this statement but going by my best discernment: I don't think the world is ending any time soon. There's plenty of time to attract new people. It just may not be as easy.

Also, with the influx of older members, it may make things easier.

[Angel Blossom]

Nate, the old members here have been wanting an influx of new faces to sign up for a looooong time, even before I left in 2004. We have the new website up and running and all the tools necessary to start attracting new members. All Kevin needed to do was update http://www.pokemasters.net/ to show that TPM is alive and kicking (which wouldn't have taken much time at all), yet harassing him about pety forum problems was deemed a bigger priority? How do you figure that out?

On a final note, I like how not even Jeff cares enough to post his thoughts on this; perhaps he's too scared of upsetting Gabi. If I were him, I'd be pretty annoyed. What was the point in this project if not even Kevin was interested in bringing TPM back to prominence? Serious waste of time. :/

[SystematicRevolution]

Yeah, but one step at a time. Personally, I think fixing the problems with the mod/admin's control panel would be top priority. As a web developer, I would do that before anything else. A message board can't function without those tools, plain and simple. The forum problems aren't "petty" in the least. Glitching code is a huge issue that needs dealt with quickly.

I think your pessimism on this is ridiculous. And also the fact that you think everybody is afraid of Gabi, yet the TPM confessions thread has several people speaking their mind about her. Nobody is "afraid" of her, nobody is up her ass, and nobody is "trying to get a mod position" by congratulating her. Because nobody here is stupid enough to think that congratulating an admin is enough to get a mod position.

[Zak]

Gabi and I have already sorted this out in PM, so there's no need for anybody else to drag it on.

But apparently you missed the point of my last post here. It's all well and good that we have a new forum admin now, but how will Lady Vulpix's promotion attract more activity here? We desperately needed that website update to reflect Jeff's changes - the forum problems should've been secondary. Now we've missed our last opportunity to attract new people here. Well done.

Not like any of you care because you don't give a shit about Pokemon or this place anymore, and the people who want to make this place better are silenced. :/ That sounds like something Serebii would do.

Serebii's way past that stage now. By the way, hi Joe! If you still search your name here, that is. XD

Also, Gabi's promotion has nothing to do with activity, not sure where that's coming from. How would adding one admin increase activity on a forum, whoever it may be? Even if we adminned Chuck Norris that's not gonna have any impact on the activity of a forum.

One way we can benefit from it... well, I'm sure she's a lot more faster now, but I remember back when Suzie was the only active admin, it was a little bit hard to rely on her alone to get stuff done. I don't blame her, making decisions is hard, though I'm sure she's faster at it now, though it's hard to say really after being in this broken-CP stage for so long. I'm sure if Gabi was alone there'd be some problems as well. I don't care who, but it's good having at least two active admins. I remember her and HG got stuff done really fast together.

[Angel Blossom]

"Also, Gabi's promotion has nothing to do with activity, not sure where that's coming from. How would adding one admin increase activity on a forum, whoever it may be? Even if we adminned Chuck Norris that's not gonna have any impact on the activity of a forum."

You're right, her promotion has nothing to do with activity. That's my point. Shouldn't our focus be on increasing activity here? That's why I would've preferred it if Kevin fixed the website first, then the random forum problems and adminning Gabi.

As for Serebii, he hasn't changed, at least from what I've been told from some of his staff members recently. ^^;

[SystematicRevolution]

From a programmer's standpoint, it makes more sense to have everything working properly before beginning to attract new members. It wouldn't make much sense to open up a rollercoaster to the public without fixing the problem that was preventing the rollercoaster from stopping when it's supposed to. If the mods and admins can't do their job, there's no sense in bringing in new members. There are always people who thrive on spamming message boards (and spambots) and if they can't be properly dealt with, what makes you think that they couldn't just choke the life out of this place? I've seen it happen before. Careless mods/admins just let whomever post whatever he or she wants and eventually the whole board is spam because nobody with authority cares. Then the board dies and the serious members leave because there's nothing but spam. It could very easily happen if the mods/admins were unable to do their job.

I still don't really understand why you're treating this like it's the only opportunity TPM will ever have to be completely revived.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

I think at least SystematicRevolution is contributing rather well in reviving TPM right now. He has every second post in Misc! If only some other members could do the same, it's quite one-sided in the current situation.

[SystematicRevolution]

I am, indeed, attempting to do my part by being active. I do care about the life of this forum, as I've been here for nearly half of my life, so far. That's a significant portion. And I'm certainly not having any trouble staying up until the wee hours of the morning posting like I used to back then, haha. It's 4:42AM here. Thankfully I don't have work or any such thing in the morning. I would be in loads of trouble, otherwise.

I want to see this place thrive again. Even if it's only thriving with 50 members instead of nearly 6,000 members. Some is better than none. Sometimes you have to take what what you get.

[Jeff]

Angel Blossom, I share your sentiments about getting the .net domain back, but I still feel like fixing the forum issues was a priority here. Yeah, the site still uses that cheesy .tk domain, but at least it's better than nothing, unlike the situation we had at the forums. We had one active admin, but with no admin powers. The forums just couldn't function without an admin. People needed to be modded, links needed to be added to the site and IRC chat, not to mention various other things needed to be done that couldn't be done without one.

Had I realized Gabi was trying to contact Kevin, I would have told her to mention the .net domain to him. But, what's done is done. I'm not going to cry over it, and neither should anyone else.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

And I'm certainly not having any trouble staying up until the wee hours of the morning posting like I used to back then, haha. It's 4:42AM here.

Just a funny note, I woke up from a nightmare about the same time Finland time this morning. I went to Mielikkitalo (the place with my access to internet) right after taking a shower. But one warning, about the activity thingy, though. Pokemon Anime's active season ended after Hanada Tattsu had the every-second-post phase. The forum had grown so dependable on that kid and there was nobody to replace him. Of course, this is an entirely different situation. Misc is, in fact, the complete opposite of Pokemon Anime forum in TPM standards.

[firepokemon]

I'm not worried the main site doesn't have .net yet. Don't get me wrong a main site with .tk at the end and a site where the pages don't have proper links (in that they use the IP of the server etc) isn't ideal. But the main site isn't in a position to have a main link. Nor would it be likely to add people to this site. There are several issues. The main one is content or the lack of. Don't get me wrong Jeff and everyone else that have contributed have been amazing.But the site still lacks content and will do for a while.

Secondly we still don't have anything special to get people to follow the site anyway. The key is to have content and then offer something that makes people want to return to the site. Meaning we can't be a carbon copy of Serebii.net or Bulbagarden.net or Psypokes or anything like that. We can't be the main hacking site (Project Pokemon) or the competitive battling site (Smogon). We can't specialise in TCG (Pokebeach) or be a wiki (Bulbagarden). Eventually we'll have to find something that differentiates ourselves from everyone else.

I'm not giving up but we have to be realistic. We first need the content. We then need to find the something special and then we need to be patient and we'll get some people. We're unlikely to get hordes of people but I do think we'll get some. Personally I think we need everything done and that special something before the release of 5th gen in the United States.

[Heald]

I agree with you fp. We don't have nearly enough manpower, money or resources to be able to compete with any of the main sites at what they do. I say we concentrate on what the community actually does still have: Fanfiction, ASB and Fanart. I remember one thing that seemed to differentiate TPM from most of the other sites was the amount of content that was user-generated. Arguably our rivals are the green site and WPM's cackfest, and both of those are singularly run by two idiots with perhaps some others working with them, but the two webmasters behind those two sites are clearly the main drivers of content.

However, most of the newcomers we've had have been joining purely because of ASB. I say we make the user-generated content the focus of the site. We could have a section dedicated to ASB and have an attack-dex with pictures and Youtube videos of attacks and stuff.

Worth a thought.

[firepokemon]

Well I'm not sure we do agree about the same things. I've always believed mere content that other sites has is enough but neither do I believe user-generated content is enough either. ASB is great and can play a real role in attracting people. I don't disagree with that. Indeed I believe we need to start working towards having ASB attackdex, pokedex, contestdex and whatever ASB involves into the main site. I also believe we need to start incorporating Fanfics, Fanart, RPG and even PCG into the main site.

Where we differ is that I can't see that being the sole things to appear on the main site. I can't see that drawing that many people. Fanart isn't that strong. Other sites including Serebii and BMG etc do far better on that front. Even Fanfics and RPG which are great. There's still other pokemon sites with message boards that do such things as well if not better and certainly with more people.

Perhaps I am being selfish and being way too nostalgic about what the main site use to be. But it is my opinion that the Main Site needs to be several things. So yes user-content can be important and should be important. But that alone isn't enough. Hence we need content that all other sites have. Its a tedious task to start with but is necessary. Whilst also doing thinks sites don't really do anymore. Pokemon reports that this site use to do very well and other such things.

In regards to user generated content and its role on the site. I do have some real ideas to do it. Hopefully I can post that in a week or two.

[Zak]

If it makes you feel any better, Kris, whenever I'm browsing the forums, I and probably a lot of people (I guess not you though) click the big "The PokeMasters" banner/logo at the top of the page to go back to the main index rather than use the browser's back button or putting in the url all over again.
I guess you don't use that banner link, though, because while it's always taken me back to the main index before, you would have noticed that it now links to the site. AND that changed on the same day Gabi was adminned, so I can only assume it's the work of Kevin. Well, besides that, I don't think anyone besides the webmaster is capable of changing where the logo-banner at the top links to, so I'm pretty sure that it is him. I don't know about you but I'd say that's pretty important for a start, if a handful of people previously used that as a link back to the main index. I did and now I find myself "accidentally" going to the site a lot. XD (not that I wouldn't want to, I mean instead of the forums).

I'm sure changing the link definitely had to have tweaked the ratio of hits between the site and the forums.

[Angel Blossom]

Whenever I want to return to the forum index, I just click a link near the top of the page (where it says The PokeMasters Forums > The PokeMasters > Miscellaneous Stuff). Just a habit. I also adblock everything that I don't want on my screen, which includes forum banners as well usually. <3 Adblock!

We need to be discoverable through Google, Yahoo! and whatnot if we want to increase activity, and we can only really do that if the main website reflects these changes. I didn't know the banner redirected to the main website, and if I didn't know, how would new members know?

[Austrian ViceMaster Alex]

Well, what can I say beside congratulations.

[SystematicRevolution]

Kris - Well if you adblock the banner, how are you supposed to know?

[Angel Blossom]

How are new members expected to know that the banner leads to the website though? You can't expect them to just chance upon it; most people visiting this place for the first time would probably think that we're just a discussion forum and move along at first sight. -_-

Maybe adding a little message to the banner like "Click Here to Visit the Website" would help people see we're more than just a discussion forum, but that's only a short term remedy until most people start discovering the website first before the forum (rather than the other way around).

[Systematic Revolution]

Well, most people who are familiar with the internet know that banners typically lead somewhere when clicked upon.

I do agree that there should probably be something stating that the banner leads to the main site, though. Just for the sake of making it clear to everyone, not just those adventurous enough to go clicking around.

[Lady Vulpix]

I can't help but be curious about the adminning process... Something needed to be done that only an admin can do, but rather than contact the other 2 admins you go to the webmaster who literally hasn't posted in like 7 years (who didn't respond to you for several months anyway) ... ?? What about LP and Chris? Where the hell is Chris anyway, I just looked and he had a grand total of 7 posts in 2008, and none in 2009. I dunno, I like Chris and all but it seems like based on what has happened a replacement would have made more sense. But it was more likely a "bah, eff it. here." response from Kevin which seems pretty in character for him.

I dunno what I'm rambling about, this is what happens when neopets goes down.

PS there is way too much pink font in this thread I'm getting confused.
Why does pink font confuse you? I'll type my reply to you in white and then go back to pink.

Like Zak said, none of the admins could do the necessary modding and demodding until the bug was fixed, and fixing the bug was something only the webmaster could do. It required fixing some configuration files on the server. Suzie and Chris were both aware of the problem but couldn't do anything about it. And I don't know what Chris is doing right now, the last e-mail I got from him was in March (and all he said in that e-mail was that he couldn't fix the bug).

When I contacted Kevin about the problem, I was expecting he'd just fix the bug and let Suzie take care of the rest. He decided that I should do it instead, probably because I was already there talking to him and telling him what needed to be done. My promotion came as a surprise to me as well.

Now back to pink. Thanks, Zak, Becca, SR and Alex. I hope activity does pick up. Old members seem to be returning, so that's probably a good sign. Of course, their presence here isn't my doing and I'm not going to take credit for it, but I'll try to do my part to keep up the activity on the forum, and if everyone does the same things may start picking up.

I think that if Zak has made it to the main site through the banner, others may do the same. I think Jeff had a good idea. And I like how the chat has now become active. Oddly enough, no one seems to have followed the link on the navigation bar, but that link may have served to remind people that the chat existed, and then they started inviting others.

I think the main site could use some more content. I wish I could help more with that, but I don't even own the games. In any case, if there's anything I can do to help, please let me know.

[Telume]

Why does pink font confuse you? I'll type my reply to you in white and then go back to pink.

Like Zak said, none of the admins could do the necessary modding and demodding until the bug was fixed, and fixing the bug was something only the webmaster could do. It required fixing some configuration files on the server. Suzie and Chris were both aware of the problem but couldn't do anything about it. And I don't know what Chris is doing right now, the last e-mail I got from him was in March (and all he said in that e-mail was that he couldn't fix the bug).

When I contacted Kevin about the problem, I was expecting he'd just fix the bug and let Suzie take care of the rest. He decided that I should do it instead, probably because I was already there talking to him and telling him what needed to be done. My promotion came as a surprise to me as well.

Now back to pink. Thanks, Zak, Becca, SR and Alex. I hope activity does pick up. Old members seem to be returning, so that's probably a good sign. Of course, their presence here isn't my doing and I'm not going to take credit for it, but I'll try to do my part to keep up the activity on the forum, and if everyone does the same things may start picking up.

I think that if Zak has made it to the main site through the banner, others may do the same. I think Jeff had a good idea. And I like how the chat has now become active. Oddly enough, no one seems to have followed the link on the navigation bar, but that link may have served to remind people that the chat existed, and then they started inviting others.

I think the main site could use some more content. I wish I could help more with that, but I don't even own the games. In any case, if there's anything I can do to help, please let me know.

Oddly enough some of the people I invited followed that Navbar link :P. But Hey, don't be disappointed no one followed it. It helped.

[Lady Vulpix]

Maybe adding a little message to the banner like "Click Here to Visit the Website" would help people see we're more than just a discussion forum, but that's only a short term remedy until most people start discovering the website first before the forum (rather than the other way around).
Any ideas on where to put the message?

[The_Missing_Link]

Actually, I always click on the top banner to take me back to the main forums and honestly, I'm kind of pissed that it takes me to the main site now (only because I have to remember to click on the other link now)

[Lady Vulpix]

OK, apparently there's no way to please everyone. Shall we make a poll to decide what exactly should be on the top of the forum? (Banner/s, message/s, link/s...)

[Phoenixsong]

Actually, I always click on the top banner to take me back to the main forums and honestly, I'm kind of pissed that it takes me to the main site now (only because I have to remember to click on the other link now)

I find it a little annoying for the same reason. I mean, I agree that it's a nice way to draw attention to it, but I also know that some visitors just get annoyed if the link they click doesn't take them where they expect it to--and I'm pretty sure that most people would expect the banner at the top of the forum to link to the forum index.

I don't know if you have full access to all areas of the administration panel, but perhaps the link to the main site could be added to the navbar along with the chat? And there's a link down at the bottom of the forum that says "The PokéMasters" and currently links to the forum index; that sort of link, on the other hand, is generally one that leads back to the main site. (Technically it does point to pokemasters.net, but as that's still just a redirect...) An announcement can also be made that will draw people's attention to the main site... better yet, you should be able to create a new forum that acts as a redirect, place it above General Discussion for maximum visibility, and have the redirect point to the .tk site.

It is also possible to have a logo that links to more than one place like an image map. Pokécommunity does this with several of its forum skins, for example, though I don't know the first thing about skinning vB and so couldn't tell you how to go about doing that if you don't already know.

Anyway, congrats, Gabi.

[Jeff]

Good points Phoenixsong. I agree that the banner should be changed back to point to the forum index. It seemed like a good idea at the time to link it to the main site, but I just realized that's a pretty bad violation of the rule of least astonishment.

Having a forum redirect to the site is the way to go since it will actually be more visible.

[Zak]

Whenever I want to return to the forum index, I just click a link near the top of the page (where it says The PokeMasters Forums > The PokeMasters > Miscellaneous Stuff). Just a habit. I also adblock everything that I don't want on my screen, which includes forum banners as well usually. <3 Adblock!

We need to be discoverable through Google, Yahoo! and whatnot if we want to increase activity, and we can only really do that if the main website reflects these changes. I didn't know the banner redirected to the main website, and if I didn't know, how would new members know?

Yes, "The PokeMasters Forums" is what I click now, but you'd be surprised at how many regular forum-frequenters usually click the top banner (not just here, everywhere) to go to either the main index or site.

And like Becca said, it's gotten to be quite a habit for me clicking the banner I'm still not even used to it. But yes, for now we just have to rely on people to chance upon it which a lot of people will because of the banner thing. But you know the project is far from over, Kris, you can't exactly expect us to magically make ourselves be among the first ten Google results in one day or one button.

But as you see we have been getting a lot of new members coming to talk about HG/SS and Platinum and what not. It did surprise me as well at first cause I've gotten used to seeing this place as a hang-out for old members who are over Pokemon, but over the last year it has become more Pokemon-oriented. You'd be surprised if you frequented the Pokemon forums. I'd imagine you're not into it as much anymore, but have you even ventured into them since you've been back?

[shazza]

The amount of times I've clicked the banner by habit, only to be led to the main site...

FUCK!

[Angel Blossom]

Yes, "The PokeMasters Forums" is what I click now, but you'd be surprised at how many regular forum-frequenters usually click the top banner (not just here, everywhere) to go to either the main index or site.

And like Becca said, it's gotten to be quite a habit for me clicking the banner I'm still not even used to it. But yes, for now we just have to rely on people to chance upon it which a lot of people will because of the banner thing. But you know the project is far from over, Kris, you can't exactly expect us to magically make ourselves be among the first ten Google results in one day or one button.

But as you see we have been getting a lot of new members coming to talk about HG/SS and Platinum and what not. It did surprise me as well at first cause I've gotten used to seeing this place as a hang-out for old members who are over Pokemon, but over the last year it has become more Pokemon-oriented. You'd be surprised if you frequented the Pokemon forums. I'd imagine you're not into it as much anymore, but have you even ventured into them since you've been back?
I still think a small message to go with the banner couldn't hurt to show people that we actually have a website, don't you think?

If we're serious about this TPM revival project and manage to get all the content up sooner rather than later, then we can compete with WPM, Serebii and whoever else for hits. We don't have access to all the insider information they do, but that doesn't matter. As long as we make a serious attempt to compete with them, it wouldn't be hard at all to rank high in Google.

Also, I have played Pokemon Platinum until the end actually. I also intend on helping out with HGSS content, so nyah. XD

[abunaidesu]

it's pretty pathetic when your competition are subordinates such as spp and wpm :(

[Zak]

The amount of times I've clicked the banner by habit, only to be led to the main site...

FUCK!

^^^^^

Also while that's probably true about having to compete with WPM, it's really time to face the facts and admit that SPP is and has always been a hard site to compete with for anyone, except for when it's down and not by any means pathetic. Dislikable reputation, sure, but it's a joke to say that it's pathetic in competition. If it weren't for SPP having content first all the time, yes, it probably would be a pathetic slam-worthy site, but that's the important factor here. Not like anyone would expect kiyone to understand that, though :rolleyes:

[Lawrence III_Fanatic]

Although I haven't been here for the process, congrats!

And..

I agree very much with shazza and Zak on the banner. That thing has confused me nonstop the past few days. I always expect to return to the forum index, and it seems like a lot of others are feeling that way. I mean.. it's swell to have a quick link to the main site, but for convenient (lazy?) navigational purposes, a link back to the forum index just feels right. It makes forum browsing nice and.. smoooooth.

[Zak]

Although I haven't been here for the process, congrats!

And..

I agree very much with shazza and Zak on the banner. That thing has confused me nonstop the past few days. I always expect to return to the forum index, and it seems like a lot of others are feeling that way. I mean.. it's swell to have a quick link to the main site, but for convenient (lazy?) navigational purposes, a link back to the forum index just feels right. It makes forum browsing nice and.. smoooooth.

We have one, it's blue letters right under it that read "The PokeMasters Forums".

I'm still habitually clicking the banner sometimes, and I'm sure most of you are, but we'll get used to it eventually.

[Lawrence III_Fanatic]

We have one, it's blue letters right under it that read "The PokeMasters Forums".

Yes, that is what I have been using.. It's just a habit to click on a banner to get where I need to go. :D Not a big deal of course. Forum instinct can be adjusted.

[Systematic Revolution]

it's pretty pathetic when your competition are subordinates such as spp and wpm :(

WPM's existence makes me sad.

[Katie]

there's a main site?
*click*
there's a 12th movie?

[abunaidesu]

Does anyone remember when Joe said he was autistic?

[Zak]

I actually honestly don't. Remind me.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

I've got Asberger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome) so I'm surprisingly close to Bjarni, in a way. Kids suffering from Autism often have Asperger as well. So please understand Asberger!!

[Angel Blossom]

^^^^^

Also while that's probably true about having to compete with WPM, it's really time to face the facts and admit that SPP is and has always been a hard site to compete with for anyone, except for when it's down and not by any means pathetic. Dislikable reputation, sure, but it's a joke to say that it's pathetic in competition. If it weren't for SPP having content first all the time, yes, it probably would be a pathetic slam-worthy site, but that's the important factor here.
You'd be surprised how easy it is to compete with PokeBeach. I know for a fact that WPM rips all of the pre-release information from Joe. In fact, I have a screenshot that somebody showed me about an hour ago of PokeBeach copying a deliberate error made by Joe about a HGSS Gym Leader's Pokemon. :/ Also, have you seen how popular PokeBeach is lately? It's booming. And, for a website that does all of these shady things, it really makes you wonder... It can't be that hard to compete with them, can it?

I've also been told that Joe is having a difficult time finding a HGSS ROM, despite quite a few people in Japan having access to the game already. It wouldn't be hard at all finding somebody who really hates Serebii.net and wants its competitors to have a serious advantage.

The real obstacle, however, is finding enough people here who are dedicated enough to the new website to update it rather frequently. ^^; Don't get me wrong; Jeff, Telume and all the others who helped with the revival project did a great job, but finding people with long-term dedication is an obvious shortcoming.

I'm sorry. I've really sidetracked this topic, haven't I? XD

[Lady Vulpix]

OK, the link to the forum on the banner is back by popular demand, and now there's an admittedly ugly link to the main site next to it. If you have better ideas, please let me know.

And there's a new HG/SS forum. Thanks to mr_pikachu and Number1ChanseyFan for the idea.

[Systematic Revolution]

I say put the link beneath the banner rather than beside it. And it should say "Click here to go to the main site"

[Lady Vulpix]

Is it better now?

[Drago]

Works better for me. I was clicking that sucker without fail. :sweat:

[Lawrence III_Fanatic]

OK, the link to the forum on the banner is back by popular demand

Sweetness! :D :yes:

I'm enjoying the revised link format up there.

[Gavin Luper]

Works better for me. I was clicking that sucker without fail. :sweat:

Me too! Force of habit.

Thanks, Gabi!

[Houndoom_Lover]

Hot damn! *licks Lady Vulpix* Now we're cooking with fire. I like our little banner, I noticed it right away.

I swear on my future grave I'll get the card of the week up this week. *grumbles* I have a computer problem like seriouslly once a week anymore

[Systematic Revolution]

Hot damn! *licks Lady Vulpix*

Hey, whoa, there are children present.

[Lune the Guardian]

Congrats, Gabi!

(Oh no, I broke my lurking status.)

[Lady Vulpix]

Thanks, Karin!

And thanks for going out of 'lurk' mode on the "posting spree" day. :keke:

[Houndoom_Lover]

My tongue is child friendly! ^w^

[Blademaster]

I didn't say congrats yet, did I? I mean, it's not really big news for me at all, but it IS good to have an active Admin around again.

I just ended a sentence with 4 consecutive words beginning with the letter 'A.' I do believe that's a new record.

[Systematic Revolution]

It has been done, Blademaster.

[DarkestLight]

Damn, That's good enough to be double sigged. XD.

[Systematic Revolution]

:dance:

[Lady Vulpix]

OK, I think this topic has already served its purpose. Thanks, everyone.