I think many of the issues stated in this thread are elements of a version upgrade. With the transfer of a site the caliber of Althanas to a version upgrade, comes anxiety and frustration, not only within a community, but within staff too. Member numbers take a hit as does participation. It’s normal, and I’m sure it has been seen in past version upgrades. I think every single person involved has done an amazing job with reinforcing the foundation of Althanas 4.0 for growth. I mean everyone. Community and staff. Subjects like the Workshop, content and the AP system will improve as member numbers and participation rises. These things will even out, and I don’t think separating writers that enjoy writing what people call “smut” and penalizing rewards is needed. There is a fan base for it, those writers are participating withing the confines of Althanas, and most of them are being tagged a “Rated Mature”, or whatever for those that don’t wish to indulge in that genre. Do I enjoy that sort of thing, no, but there is a member base for it. Live and let live, I say.
The subject of the Wiki is an entirely different thing. A lot goes into that that people may not realize. Back a year before finding Althanas, I was looking into hosting a forum based on a medieval fantasy world my wife and I created. When purchasing a version of a forum, you only get the core forum itself, not to mention all of the fees involved such as hosting and whatever. Many of the forum perks we take for granted, these things are separate programs that need to be purchased and installed into the core forum. None of it is cheap, folks. None of us can assume the software used for 3.1 is compatible with 4.0. Some may be, but I imagine, not all. Hell, vBulletin and Dragonbyte need to make money on software some how, right? Donations help a lot, and all of us cheap bastards can get off our wallets, purses and pockets and donate. Plus, I imagine the coding alone for transferring something the size of the 3.1 Wiki to 4.0 is mind numbing, eye crossing, and carpal tunnel inducting. Oi.
With the participation thing, I think you’ve done a great job with the monthly events, hosting threads and posting Tavern stuff, Lye. It has been effective and enjoyed within the community. I think anything more could have been overwhelming for the new version of Althanas over the past few months. I think the community has done a great job on their parts too. *I just seen the Gisela is firing up. Nice!
Althanas 4.0 is growing, and numbers don’t lie. I just think a little patience, understanding, common courtesy, gratefulness and generosity go a long way. Things will get better in time.