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I am subscribed to the Update Thread. https://www.feldoncentral.com/forums...ead.php?t=4385

According to the "Update" thread:

Beta 11o was released yesterday (June 12th) at 12:26 AM (CDT). In other words, about 38 hours ago.

I'm not getting email notification of updates any more, it seems.

Me too.

Seems like a "glitch".

With the last few versions, I've just been updating the text in existing messages on the Announcements thread. I don't know how to get it to send emails.

Simply posting a new item will trigger the emails.

Evidently, editing the last post does not.

Perhaps you could add the new post and then delete the prior one?

Oh. That also explains:

"Beta 11o was released yesterday (June 12th) at 12:26 AM (CDT). In other words, about 38 hours ago."

Editing the text of an item doesn't change when it says it was posted.

Nor does it change the "Last Post" date/time on the forum main index page.

I guess I should have noticed the tiny "Last edited by Jim Sachs; Today at 01:00 PM.", but the point was really the lack of email notification.

I'll add a new post for the next one.

Jim,

Creating a new post sends a notification e-mail. Also, I've gone back and cleaned up the thread.


Once 3.1 is released, I'll be doing some substantial archiving and cleanup of this forum. Going forward, Michael and I will be working together to improve how future Betas are handled. Beta testing is a privilege and has the goal of producing a product that meets the needs of customers. We've strayed from those goals.

The FAQ discussion of Sleep could be revised.

Agreed. (Not that you need my agreement.)

Believe I tried to portray that in this t h r e a d.


I'm curious, in what way(s)?

I believe that those Forum members who downloaded and installed the various betas have provided a lot of very valuable feedback to Jim which has done exactly what I would assume he hoped - provide "a product that meets the needs of customers" with a variety of new features that have been tested including a few minor "clean ups" of the user interface of Marine Aquarium 3.

Some members have even gone so far as to completely remove all traces of previous versions of MA3 in order to facilitate their contribution to the beta testing.

I feel both honored and privileged to have had the opportunity to work with these board members on this.

Worked just fine.

It takes 5 seconds to download and run MA3Remove.reg.

:)

Does it delete all the files in all the directories that have been produced by the various installations of all of the versions of Marine Aquarium or is it only a registry clean-up?

Either way, this isn't something that should be contentious. The fact that some users have been willing to wipe out any tank/fish settings, background color sets, music lists, and logo/image playlists, each of which takes a bit of time to create, to contribute to the beta testing should be appreciated.


Also, you didn't answer my question above regarding "straying from goals" with betas.

You're right, I didn't.

Well, in the words of Jar-Jar Binks:

"How wrude!"


I have learned over the years, that when a Forum or Board owner starts being rude and curt to a member, it is time to leave.

Think I'll take a time out.

When I try to guide the forums in the direction I think they should be run, people quit.

When I ignore the forums and let them run themselves, people quit.


Maybe it's time to choose the path of least resistance and just let people do what they want.

I could appoint Dale, Cliff, and you as moderators and let the sparks fly.


This forum is 10 years old and has about 10 active members. That is a failure rivaled only by British Petroleum.

That is clearly a flame and an attack, and clearly violates the forum rules.

Of much more importance, it is a statement that JohnWho, Cliff, and I have not each made net significant contributions to "the goal of producing a product that meets the needs of customers."

Yeah, Cliff and I often disagree. The result has invariably been a decision regarding product improvement.

I personally consider your statement to be insulting.

That does not mean that I have decided (yet) to quit participating.

So should I quit and turn over the site to you and John?

I find it interesting that some of the posters in this thread do not have an avatar or profile pic.

They've already taken over, haven't they?
Whatever I may be considered to be, I am now enjoying MA less and less as each day goes by.
This used to be my favourite forum to visit..... Not any more!

Spare me throwing the forum rules in my own face. You've been getting away with murder. I get PMs all the time from people asking why I'm not doing anything about it.

I don't know about those. You've never PM'd me about complaints. [Nor have I ever heard back from the Moderators when I've done "Report Post"]

I do understand that you own the forum, pay the bills, make the rules, and are absolutely entitled.

The top page says:
"Active Members: 272"
"Most users ever online was 979, 07-03-2009 at 08:36 AM."
Which I assume (avoiding any more discussion of dates) was less than a year ago.
So it's not doing too bad for something so specific.
I get a bit annoyed by things several people say, or just some arguments, I'm sure I annoy people some times. I still think it's not all that bad.
I deleted the rest of my message, since people seem to be getting a bit too excited about stuff...
John

Interesting. What would you attribute this failure to? Jim's darn "G" rated rules? :)

Personally, I think it's because the novelty has worn off. When MA first came out, it was groundbreaking, but now, even with MA3, it's just another virtual aquarium. The graphics and code rewrite are groundbreaking for Jim, but nothing special compared to what 3D games, apps, etc... are out there, especially 10 years on.

Or it could be that Forums are for nerds! :)

Active members includes dozens of spammers.

There are 58 users who have posted at least once in the last month.

We have about 25 people actively posting on a weekly basis. I think that qualifies as a small to very small forum, activity wise.

Jim pays the bills.

Thank you for adding an avatar. It's nice to see who I'm talking to.

I personally find avatars and profile pictures to be distracting and unimportant. However, I have now complied. Thanks for the reminder.

Hmmm, you're much younger than I thought.

Check my profile. But that is an actual picture of me. Background photoshopped.

No, really Morgan, I'd like to know what you attribute this failure too?

The response that new posters to this forum get is not one of Customer Service. They're immediately questioned and assumptions made. I think most new members of this forum are immediately intimidated by the strong personalities and lack of respect that certain members show to others.

I don't think people stay long enough to find out that we have other parts to the forum other than the Aquarium.

If we were posting frequently on compelling topics, and treated new members right, we'd attract an audience that would stick around.


A Google search for "Aquarium Screen Savers" shows SereneScreen.com as the #3 result. And this forum is 1 link away from SereneScreen.com.

I've thought about doing away with, or reducing the "fan site" per se and folding all of that into the Forum as special topics. But it's hard to get motivated to do anything these days.

Ditto!

It is interesting to compare this forum with that of Dream Aquarium (the other forum in which I lurk). The later is virtually moribund, though the product it supports is advancing at no slower pace than MA in the simulation sense.

From the viewpoint of this interested spectator, it appears that the 'inmates are taking over the asylum' in the MA forum. Jim Sachs and feldon34 must have the patience of Job.

Nevertheless, I still look forward to that sense of excitement when Jim Sachs (or spidermonkey2001 in the other place) announce a new 'simulation' feature in their wonderful products.

I hope that such an announcement will not be drowned out by the sheer volume of less important verbage in this place.

I took a brief look at the Dream Aquarium forum, and easily see what you mean. I hope you don't mind a question.

As someone who has been there a while, to what do you attribute that difference?

Enough already !! Dale.

Don’t these comments ring a bell to you?? Or you simply just chose to ignore?? Frankly, I haven't seen you participate on other non-serene screen saver topics but questioning on its trivia and nonsense.

I'm going to be brutally honest here -

Jim Sachs asks us to pick apart the betas he posts in order to ascertain bugs and other aspects regarding useability and appearance of the program that would improve it.

A few of us do exactly that and at the conclusion of the process Jim thanks us for our valluable participation, but now we have to put up with rude insults from other members and even some of the board staff!

My advice to my fellow participants in the recent beta process:

Illegitimi non carborundum


Meanwhile, MA 3.1 is out! I recommend folks download and enjoy it and chill out.

Are you implying I am bastard having said that?? JohnWho. If you did,just said so,I don't mind,really.

It's Dale I am disagree with, not you. And, honestly, I even take no heed what you have done, of course, I don't care either. Please quit justifying yourself with "Jim asked for bugs and I just did that, Jim appreciated that." Which it's not an excuse giving all the privilege without rein by admins. If you not happy what the admins have implemented, just leaved, there’ll be other zealous yet, cordial members testing the bugs and helping Jim improved the program. And without doubt respect admins. Without You?? It doesn’t matter.

Does anyone besides Dale and JohnWho feel that I have been unfair or insulting? I'd like to know. I will not take action based on your posts in this thread. If you don't feel comfortable, send a PM to Jim Sachs.

Also in the interest of public disclosure, I did advise JohnWho a few weeks ago that he could be helpful to this site without falling into lockstep with Dale. There is no reason for him to get painted with the same brush.

bozpool -

I said, "My advice to my fellow participants in the recent beta process:", so, if you are one of those participants, it follows that you are not one of the "grinding down" folks.

I didn't keep track (and don't think anyone has) of who downloaded any of the betas and who participated in the threads to help Jim "troubleshoot" the improvements. It does seem a bit improper, to me, that folks who did not participate would now belittle those who did.

But, that's just me.

Just an observation.

I have been lurking here a long times, and keep seeing Dale start a thread and then ignited unnecessary debates. I have seen another admin explicitly told Dale umpteen times about personal issue, besides giving advice to improve Jim’s work. The farce must be ended at someday.

Sure,it's your opinions,how can I object with that?!

I was hoping this situation would not spiral out of control, and I may regret saying this, but...

Feldon, you should have no regrets about how you have administered this website. As far as I can tell you have been very fair and patient.

Dale and JohnWho have contributed a great amount of assistance to Jim towards a better product. However, their recent fanaticism towards finding bugs and/or adding/changing features to MA3 that usually lead to other tangents has become distracting to the point that others are not participating as much anymore.

I don't have an answer to this situation except hopefully Dale and JohnWho will relax, smell the roses, relish in their accomplishments, and give others a chance to get more involved.