Route 29: Stay or Leave?

[these_balls]

As I am sure you are all aware of, Livejournal has undergone a good handful of changes that have made roleplaying here just a little more difficult. With how the staff of Livejournal and the ones in charge of the code have responded and interacted with the members, it looks as though these changes will be permanent

Comments

[urbaninja]

I admit I am reluctant to move. If the game does move I will move and if it stays I'll stay. But I am reluctant.

This is a partly monetary reason. My Roxas journal has a paid and well, I'd like to feel I got $35 worth out of it before having to leave.

I'm also concerned about how the move would go. This is a journal based game after all so it'd be a lot different than moving a comm based game. Especially if people have changed usernames, etc. It would take a lot of organization.

Thirdly, I want to hope that people are considering this move in the frame of mind that this action is the best move for the game. That it is going to help rather than hinder our growth as an RP. I don't know about anyone else but I feel like a lot of haste and pressure is being put on people to make a decision and that we need to move right fricking now so that we can make a statement. That really rubs me the wrong way and I feel that this is a big decision which deserves some thought and a clear head.

+1

[meatysoviet]

I second this sentiment. I also have paid accounts and packages, and have concerns with this being a journal based and not a community based game. While it's easier for most games to move over, Route will take an awful lot of organisation.

[eliciadaddy]

I'm also pretty reluctant to move, and feel the same way as you.

I may also be just... really shallow, but even with all the changes that LJ has made, I still prefer looking at it than I do any of the alternatives. I've played games on IJ and Scribbld before, and... maybe it's just me, but it just doesn't have the same feeling. (And, I can't really describe what this feeling is, but I've been told that I'm not the only one who feels this way.)

Not to say that what LJ is doing is necessarily right, just that, I don't feel like it is bad enough to warrant me wanting to make the huge effort to move out.

That said, I'm glad that the mods are giving until Jan 16 to think this over.

[homofuckiens]

Not bad enough to move?

I'm with this game whether it moves or not, but lj has gotten bad enough. The staff is rude and downright obnoxious. I, for one, really do not wish to pay for a service that allows for their staff members to act towards with paying members with disrespect. If I pay for something, I expect good customer service. LJ does not have that. If you wish to, then by all means. Just realize that the discomfort one feels towards moving might be the lesser evil in comparison to paying for this.

[newhero]

At the end of the day, what I really want is for us to do whatever is in the best interest of our players and the game itself. I don't really have an opinion on whether we stay or go.

If the game does move, however, I'll probably drop instead of following. There are a lot of different reasons why, most of them being time constraints and a lack of interest in learning my way around a new site-- I'll be sad if we do move, but like I said, I would rather do what's best for the game, no matter what it is.

[these_balls]

Well, if we decide to move in the end, we're going to do our best to make sure the players and everyone can get a good hang of how the chosen site works as well so no one's completely left in the dark. But if you choose not to follow a move, I'll continue to wish you all the best.

Buuuut hopefully we can keep you as long as we do have with you, though. Don't go anywhere on us just yet, Diane!

[usedkunai]

Offering a contrasting opinion to the one above. While I understand it, I've been looking at it from a different perspective this entire time.

I have paid time as well, but the usability of the site has gone done vastly for me; even our makeshift custom layout gives me headaches.

I'm of firm belief that no customer, paying or otherwise should have to jump through hoops to make a website work the way they need it to. With the planned changes (overall site interface, lack of nested threads, inability to credit icons?), I don't feel as is LJ is moving in a direction that is beneficial to LJRP on the whole. I think a lot of people's reluctance lies on a fear of change (not everyone or ANYONE in particular, just an observation I've made via all the talk EVERYWHERE). All it takes is a good amount of people willing to make the plunge and we could have major beneficial changes for the community.

I don't think the transition would be that difficult; all it takes is commenting on the taken lists with something like "usedkunai is now

+1

[homofuckiens]

Yeah, pretty much this. I have already imported a journal or two.

My concern isn't about aesthetics or the like, it's about the principle that guides customer service. I do not want to pay this site anymore if their idea of good customer service is a "deal with it" philosophy.

Question about DW

[meatysoviet]

How do you import accounts? I tried but I think I failed.

[homofuckiens]

It's under your tools options! There's a que for it, so don't worry if it doesn't show up right away. I think I had to wait like an hour or two for everything to show up.

[usedwaterpulse]

I'll repeat what I've said on Plurk and in my other main game's poll. My reasons for wanting to move have gone beyond just functionality and aesthetics. I don't know if anyone else in game has had this issue, but there've been users complaining about being billed for paid time when they cancelled their subs. already. I myself also have three charges on my card and no email notification to explain which accounts I'm paying for, and the dates are not adding up (I'm always notified the day the payment is taken, yet I have payments for the 19th and no notifications. Now my bank account has been overdrawn and I've been charged fees. :/). I'm honestly disgusted that a site that has had such loyal customers for so long, especially paying ones, would turn around and do this kind of crap, or let someone on staff get away with it. Not only the immaturity of Ingrick (or whatever his name is), but this business with the payments as well

+1

[thefourthtry]

Everything you've said is exactly how I feel.

Steph's account was also billed extra. As were several other accounts I have in different games.

Re: +1

[usedwaterpulse]

I don't even know what accounts were hit up, on my part, because 1.) They gave all of them extended paid time for free because of my "loyalty during the DDOS attacks", 2.) They didn't even send me GD email notifications that I was being billed, and 3.) Whatever accounts matched the charges were already paid and had been cancelled. The amounts were really vague.

It's absolutely ridiculous.

Keywords RELEVANT.

[usedwaterpulse]

I just needed to add an amendment to my previous statement. THIS< is the last straw for me.

I hate to admit it but I'm 99% sure I'll be dropping if Route doesn't move. This is nothing against anyone's opinions or the majority's decision, let me just say that up front. Please understand that I've just run out of patience for trying to deal with or support this site in even the most basic sense: Providing free patronage/being another number in favor of their popularity. Here's why:

It seems clear to me that they'll continue adding insult to injury with no regard for their userbases' feelings, and maybe that's their RIGHT in the simplest of terms, but I don't approve of it. It's insulting to simplify the heart of this issue as "just more LJ drama". In regards to integrity this ship is going down and no amount of backpedaling and free paid time (for the "DDOS" attacks, yeah right, LJ, most of those accounts weren't even paid at that time, and I'm not the only one that's noticed) is going to buy me off to stay. At this point the only

[phoenix_temple]

I'd like to add to the "con" list of livejournal that it is quite literally unusable for some people. Netbooks have trouble loading pages, and some older computers simply won't let the new comments page load at all. I know that my own computer, which is less than a year old, is constantly freezing if I try to use LJ with any other site, including Plurk and Gmail. I also have to refresh several times to get custom comment pages to load all the comments. The workarounds are fine for now, but as seen at SC, they do break. That's a big concern because I know there's at least a few people who will want to stay in the game but can't because LJ simply doesn't work. And it's not just comment pages that are going to get altered--they're planning to change the whole site. There have already been countless complaints of headaches from looking at the site scheme, and several occasions of panic attacks due to lacking the subject line in communities

[meatysoviet]

Geez hun, you've really had the short end of this shitty stick, haven't you?

[phoenix_temple]

I feel sort of bad because I'm actually complaining more than I should about LJ. I've had some really good times on the site, and I'll actually be pretty sad to leave. But as it is right now, I'm seeing way more issues with remaining here than benefits. 8(! Also I use I a lot to prevent from generalizing too much, this is just how I see it, and how things have been working for me. I just tend to have the worst luck possible....

I also just found out that I lost entire threads and entire posts to LJ deleting comments from users with deleted accounts. And I miss seeing icon keywords, too. And character names when I hover because spelling in different languages is not my forte.