*hugsquishes Sapphy* ; u ; <3

I remember what I wanted to say! I completely forgot to mention it on the survey because I was being rushed out the door when I was doing it. CURSE YOU, FAMILY. D:< Not really, ilu all. <3

It’s not really important or anything, but… I’d really like to be able to delete echos. My inbox is so messy and I can’t staaaand it. D: I dunno if this would be considered something that needs to be improved, but I figured I’d bring it up. I do believe it’s been addressed in the past though, too. So I’m kinda beating a dead horse here. XD

What might seem polite to one person could be incredibly rude to someone else (perfect example earlier in this thread). Which, I know this will come off as offensive to some because I am being blunt, but I am trying to be polite while getting how I see things out there.

Despite being a member of Digis for a couple years, and now Mycena, I am solidly introverted unless speaking to the right people. This is because my Digis experience was less than pleasant when attempting to express opinions or suggestions. The community was already so solidly based and everyone had their own groupthinks that it seemed to me like I was being ganged up on and belittled for the smallest things. Even such a small thing as private RP plot and character influence seemed to draw fire, veiled or not. It’s sometimes hard to remember that emotion and tone get lost in translation when just reading words because your mood influences how you interpret those words and how others will interpret them (which happens often when you’re bipolar, so I am speaking about myself as well as others).

On Mycena I am still a lurker outside of one or two people because it seems from my perspective that the Digis base has just shifted. There is less overt conflict and hostility, but sometimes it seems like the tone is still there beneath the surface. It would be better if more newer members participated to break up the perceived tone, but it seems that a lot of new members are also introverts due to the existing close-knit community. Even online people tend to pick up on cliques and not want to try getting involved because more often than not cliques ignore the newbie. It’s not a new concept for big sites or small sites, even if Mycena is more welcoming the expectation is still there. It’s 1000x worse for natural inverts or those prone to social anxiety because it sets the implication that they are interrupting something or disrupting the status quo by posting to someone else’s thread.

Now, some actual feedback:

I would love a forum game section. It would give people an option for connecting in a silly or fun environment. People like to banter and chat sometimes, which opens the door for further communication in other aspects.

Making forum rules, guidelines, and general suggestions for participating accessible in the Help section might be a good way of encouraging people to jump right in. Suggestions like: “Things might seem intimidating at first, but participating in Mycena Cave or Real Life discussions is a good way to start getting a feel for the community”. Some way of giving people a direction to start in.

The nugget increase will be divine. I have missed 3 months of monthly pets and items because of increased college workload. I cannot dedicate 25-28 days in a row to capping Cave-In. At most lately I have only had time to click fishing consistently before bed. Without the income to buy gems with real money it’s incredibly difficult and disheartening trying to snag that “MUST HAVE!!!” item or pet.

I would fully support developing single-person options. Mentoring might be a good idea if it’s something lurkers or new players want, but in no context should it be imposed. Some people just do not like participating in group activities. While single player options should be developed, I think it’s important to keep a focus on the creative aspect of the site when it comes to events. Maybe have two different sign up options: One for the RP/Art event and One for a pure Clicking or Guessing game. That way players would have the choice of which one to participate in and the prizes would be relatively equal (I think the RP/Art should get bigger prizes because it takes more work, but I agree that people shouldn’t feel left out because they feel obligated to pour hours and hours into an event or because they lack experience in the medium).

I agree with the forum based games and that it would be nice to have the option of excluding it in the recent posts just like the trading forums.  On the flip side, I can see the potential of spam like games, and I don’t mean that in a negative way. I’d love to see an intelligent game forum where people think about the answers. That’s my two cents.

In addition, I’d love to see a forum for user run events and raffles. On Digis, I used to run a few small raffles and in the future, I’d love to run some here.

I’ve assimilated into the role of the lurker on this site, though I have posted on the boards a little and chatted in the live chat several times. I suffer from pretty bad social anxiety though so I haven’t been on chat or posted in the forums more than a few times for awhile ^^;

First off, I’d like to thank Glitch for the apology about the gender-exclusive options. I’m a cisgendered female myself, but I really care about trans and nonbinary issues and seeing you openly apologizing for your mishaps and making an effort to learn is very encouraging and makes me happy!

I can’t wait for the new game! I get on every day to max out my nuggets in Cave In and it’s become a pretty repetitive activity after a couple months. It’ll be great to see some variation to the site (and also great to be able to earn more nuggets everyday without having to post on the forums, lol).

A single player aspect would be great, though for me not having one wouldn’t be a dealbreaker. I think it’s because at some point I do want to try diving back into the community again at some point, but I’ve yet to psych myself up for it. I dunno, I always have a really hard time feeling comfortable in a community that’s as tightly knit as this one (that’s the same reason I eventually became a lurker in Digis way back when I still played it), because I always feel like I’m intruding or something. That’s not to say anybody actually made me feel that way when I was in the chat; it’s just an automatic thought that comes up whenever I encounter these kinds of communities. I feel like the members of Mycena that I’ve met have been very welcoming to me when I was still new, but I never really did shake the feeling that I was just some new kid trying to poke her nose into other people’s business.

That being said, I can’t wait for the eventual changes and new things! It’s one of my favorite things to see a new site grow and I’m glad I joined Mycena so early on. :>

I identify myself as a lurker.

Aside from one on one RPs (and even then those being only with people I know well enough to be pretty dang comfortable with) I lurk the forums a lot but I tend to avoid posting most of the time. 

I’m also one who tends to avoid welcome threads, and hide away by myself on new sites.
So I LOVE the idea of a “single player” mode of sorts.  /social anxiety even online.  =/

*disappears back into the shadows*

Just wanted to return to add that I mentioned being behind a mentorship program, but I don’t see it as a mandatory thing but rather user-organized and voluntary. I wouldn’t want anyone feeling forced into a mentorship, whether they be new or old. Rather it would be something to suggest and for either party to seek out, although I’m not sure which is better. Some newbies might feel too timid to ask for a mentor, but some might rather ask for themselves than have the suggestion imposed on them. I guess maybe there would be a thread for organizing it or something? Not sure :S

I agree with some things that Roan brought up, though. There should be a balance with creativity and stuff, with a certain allowance for fairness. I am an artist but I don’t always have the confidence in my own creativity, so writing or drawing events feel a bit out of reach sometimes. I wouldn’t mind there being smaller prizes for clicking/guessing though. Regardless of skill, doing creative things is an endeavor that should be rewarded proportionately.

I have often felt the same way with regards to the community, which is why a certain openness should be encouraged, allowing new people and new feedback in. It feels different from digis here somewhat though. It’s a good different. I feel like it’s going in a good direction. It’s hard to explain how though, just a feeling. I don’t feel the need to stay silent as often as I did before because of it. Still a bit lurky, but hoping that can change.

Personally I don’t get the apology, if you ever take a company survey that’s what they ask: What is your gender: Male, Female, prefer not to answer xD. So, I find it rather interesting anyone would get annoyed or offended by it. But oh well.

I was glad you guys did the survey, after all it’s hard to always see things that can be improved upon when it’s your own stuff. So much easier for an outsider to say: Well if you do this or that, it would be better.

I just wanted to pop in and say that I, too, am a lurker.

I actually frequent discussion posts and intro posts and was around for quite some time on digis, so I recognize many of you by name (hi, hello!) and do find most everyone wonderfully friendly. However, I have some pretty wicked social anxiety and am intensely shy on top of that so interacting in forums is fairly stressful. I even have some personal friends onsite but rarely interact with them in the forum because it feels a lot like intruding or, worse, raising my hand to speak in front of many, many people I don’t know personally. Something that was mentioned before and I highly identify with was that the Halloween event was really disappointing simply because it was heavily forum interactive. It was something I just couldn’t muster the courage to participate in, even though there were some pretty fabulous prizes. That made me feel excluded in something site wide far more than anything else. Granted, it was fun to watch!  So… yes, a single player mode would be a blessing, especially when it comes to events and the like.

.

I’m glad to read this message and I’m so excited now ! :D I didn’t write much as I want (I didn’t find my words in fact because of I’m French) but those 3 points were what I suggest. So yay, so happy ‘cause now I know that it will be “better” y’know. (This site is pretty good but with these features it will be better !) I’m kind of luker, I’m shy and fell some stress to post there. I want to try RPG but maybe my English isn’t this good. :c

I feel I should chime in about the games. My job has really kicked into gear over the last few months and coupled with some major life changes that are coming, I haven’t been able to get as much work done on them as I hoped. The other admins have be really understanding about all of this and glitch has been working hard on some games to help out, but I am sorry to you all that we’re still on just the two games. Hopefully things will settle down and we’ll get more out to you soon.

I’m not sure if I qualify as a lurker, but I might be one not sure haha.  There is only one thing I want this site to develop but it’s very low priority/ I am the only one wanting it probably.  All the same I will come here from time to time hoping to see it.  Sorry I missed your survey. 

I can’t remember what I put on the survey, but all those changes and ideas sound great! :D

Also, I’m a non-lurker here. :3 I chat EVERYWHERE. But I can understand how people would be uncomfortable with it so the single-player ideas seem like a nice idea. ^^

I’m definitely a lurker here, I’ll post here to let you know, Glitch. I’m pretty reclusive on nearly all sites I go on, with the exception of one site (subeta).

I’ll be honest, I never felt welcomed by this particular community. I was a member on Digis, and I had made several attempts to socialize with the member base. At first the site seemed friendly when I first joined, but it wasn’t too long before members preferred to talk to people they already knew rather than a newbie. I don’t blame anybody though, but it certainly didn’t make me want to be too active on the site. I’m only here now since a friend convinced me. Even though I created a thread that lasted until Digi’s dying days, I wouldn’t be surprised if nobody knew who I was. (Remember the “Digis you would like to see?” thread? Yeah, I made that topic.)

I’ll leave it at that. I do appreciate you taking the time to get the user base’s opinion on things, rarely do I see a site that shows concern for the less social members on their site. And I greatly look forward to doing things that aren’t community orientated.

I’m sorry you feel that way, Dove.
I DO know who you are, though, and I do remember your thread c:
(I won’t reveal your username just in case you’d like it to not be said.)

Personally I do talk to people I know and I talk to newbies when given the opportunity.
I had some friends that were purely lurkers as well (and have met some on this site too) that I soley message or talk to off site. I actually fell I continually meet new people, for the most part.

I think I can speak for *most* users that I think it’s hard to notice if someone feels excluded at times (especially since there is no silent body language, so you have to rely on someone speaking up), but it’s definitely not on purpose. But I would reply to anything that catches my attention, regardless of user. I also answered all my messages as well. I admit I’m bad at initiating conversation and a potential friendship, but something simple as “Hi, how are you?” message for the first time sparks the relationship because I’m always excited to meet new people.  I think I just don’t want to invade anyone’s space because some people can get nervous about that type of thing. Like right now, I’m telling you to feel free to message me anytime, but I’m hesitant to send you anything since I’m don’t know you on a personal level so I’m not sure if you like that type of thing ;;

I tend to ramble A LOT, and no one wants to read through a wall of text, so I’ll try my best to condense this:

I think this spring event is an opportunity for the less social people to get involved with the community.

On the event discussion thread… the first thing I posted was a question that I asked in chat. And I asked in chat because I was afraid to post on the event discussion thread. After posting my introduction thread, I was trying to avoid the forums like a plague, mostly because I was hesitant to socialize, but also because I felt like I wasn’t allowed to post anything because I didn’t know anyone and I couldn’t relate to anything (or most anything). Then I realized, if I continued to avoid the forums, no one’s going to know I even exist (since I found MC myself, I don’t have a friend on here to chat to ^^;), so I went ahead and posted my question.

Then someone answered it! And I gained some confidence. Pretty soon, I found myself posting a lot (or semi-a lot) in the event thread, and while people weren’t exactly chatting up a storm with me, it did get me used to using the forum.

What I’m saying is that even though it might be a hassle to run events like these, I wish there would be much, much more in the future. Some people don’t like socializing at all and I understand that, because I feel like that sometimes too. But for those who try to but don’t know where to start/are awkward/scared/etc, this sort of stuff is perfect, at least for me. It can be done and enjoyed solo, but it also encourages community interaction, which is cool. I don’t ever think an event should force people to socialize, because some simply don’t want to. Or can’t.

And that’s my two cents (that are still stupidly long).

One more thing: I’m sorry if this makes it sound like not socializing is bad, because I don’t think it really is. A lot of people enjoy solitude and so do I. I just feel like people with no link to MycenaCave should have some sort of bridge to cross over rather than just some stepping stones in a cold river.

that was a bad metaphor i’m sorry

edit: I consider myself a semi-lurker. During this event, I don’t think I’m a lurker. But once it’s over/before the event, I was/am going to be. And I’m sure that’s alright. ;v;

I’m fairly excited to see more stuff for lurkers, too.  And I concur with Dove that it can be difficult to make friends or conversation here without feeling intimidated by the cliques that already exist.

I was a huge player on Digis, and I thoroughly enjoy interacting and being social, but Digis was different than here.  It’s in my past, and I wanted to use here to ‘start anew’ in many senses.  Ideally I would like to be sociable here, but sometimes I feel like there’s still social ‘threads’ from the other site that linger and make me feel unsure.  I know for a fact there’s plenty of nice people here though, just telling from the faces I do see around.  And that’s the thing — I want to get to know people, but how do you start in a tightly-knit community?  You can post an introduction thread, but sometimes that’s as far as it goes.  It sometimes feels like being the new kid in school, and you don’t have a table to sit at in the lunchroom.

For single-player: roleplaying events can be fun, but maybe also have just separate writing events, or character-building events, that way a user can do something more singular and show it off rather than have to participate in a group.  Like those ‘continue a story’ type games where you can submit the next part of a story once instead of having to back and forth write with others.  Or a ‘develop your pet’ type event where you create a developed character for your Ineki, for example.

There’s a lot of things I enjoy on other sites that I do singularly outside of just plain games, but Lycan mentioned quests and that would be fabulous to see.  Maybe even a ‘choose your own adventure’ mini-RPG game thing where you can play your pet and just click pages to get through a ‘maze’ storyline in the caves or something?

I dunno, rambling here.  I’d like to see the site grow a lot more, it has massive potential and sparks interest for me, but I’m at times at a loss for where to start actively participating.

I wasn’t going to reply at all (I know, I know, sorry glitch ^^;;) until I saw November’s post. I wholeheartedly agree with everything November said - this spring event has really helped gem me out of my shell. As a highly introverted very new newbie, I had no clue what to do here. I was behind everyone else on money (since I was so new), I had no outside resources (I’d never joined a petsite before in my life [other than Neopets of course xD]), I’m not a writer or an RP-er (never done it before and, though I’d be willing to give it a spin, school eats up so much time and energy), I sucked at Cave-In…yeah. I saw no way I could possibly get anything I wanted in the shops. All in all, my situation seemed so hopeless that I was considering quitting Mycena.

Then this spring event happened, and it’s been glorious. Its mix of solitary flower-collecting and social bouquet-gifting has been really great; I really felt like I could participate in the community without requiring close friends. Made me go on chat a few times, even. Plus now I’ve got a stabler financial foundation thanks to a lovely spring items trade (thanks Shizuo! \^o^).

Sooo basically I’m sticking with Mycena :).

Anyway, other than this event, I think the idea of forum games is great! Or individual quests, like others have said. The former would be a great way for more solitary individuals like me to get to know the relatively tight-knit community here in a low-pressure setting, and the latter would help even the most lonerly of loners (myself included haha) to actively participate in and enjoy Mycena.

TL;DR: I’m a staunch lurker and I approve this event (and others like it). *thumbs up*