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May 28, 2002, 7:49pm

The following is from the Beta NG about the eject thingy.
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No it's currently all automated. The eject feature ejects by every type of
ejection that it can for a particular user (i.e. always by IP, also by
computer ID if one is available, and also by citizen number if the user is a
citizen.) In theory world caretakers can add individual ejections of each
type manually from the world ejections dialog, but in practice there is no
way to look up the computer ID of a user, unless you have already ejected
them once and you take notice of the computer ID eject that was added to the
ejection database as a reult.

Yes, this mechanism could be better. What you see now is the minimum
changes necessary to accomodate AW mangement's requirement with the new
pricing/tourist access changes that we be able to eject troublemakers by
more than just IP address.

-Roland

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Now my question in.. does anyone really like the management, does roland? do
you? and more importantly do u think they are getting in the way or the
programmers?

I just thought id bring it up as a topic cause everything else seems dead in
ere.

-Mark

May 28, 2002, 8:26pm

Basically they wanted to make ejections permanent and the programmers do the
absolute minimum to accomplish it. This does result in fatly thought out
feature and I don't really think they care if its the quality that we
deserve as long as it works. Well I've learned that threes nothing I can do
to change this and it seems like the management isn't thinking to much about
us. I mean, they don't really care so why should I.

And I think Roland is getting sick of it. You can only work at a company
like this for so long then you cant stand them anymore. I could be wrong but
I can't blame him for leaving if that is his reason.

--
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A message from Zeo Toxion
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[View Quote]

May 28, 2002, 8:58pm

Notice: This post is in no way associated or agreed to by Roland,

Just to keep him outta trouble :)

-Mark

May 28, 2002, 11:45pm

Well, to tell you the truth, I would put these security features as #1 on
the list of the most needed feature since the introduction of AW itself.
Don't underestimate the importance of being able to eject by citizen number
or computer ID - it will dramatically cut down on the number of people who
disrupt the worlds consistently. At this point, I could care less if we
can't look up computer ID's, because the improvements are so drastic anyway
that they make a huge difference.

On this one, I'll actually have to side with ENZO. The time spent
implementing a lookup feature was much better put towards the other features
in 3.3, like the contact list improvements.

[View Quote]

May 28, 2002, 11:51pm

By the way, just a quick comment - if you haven't read
http://www.awnews.com, go take a look about the change in the board of
directors that's proposed. I'm shocked that so many commenters there have
such a negative view of this action. It's WAY past time for some new blood
to come into AW, and from what I've seen and heard of the blaxxun Contact
application, there are actually employees there hired to help out people
within its software. I'm not saying that the current directors are poor
businessmen - I can't judge that myself as I don't know them. What is clear
is that something needs to change to keep AW going, and this is certainly a
start.

This could be the start of some positive changes for AW. I'm looking
forward to see what the results are.

[View Quote]

May 29, 2002, 12:13am

I agree it seems AWCom is gettng better at programming and more features
we've needed.

[View Quote]

May 29, 2002, 2:06pm

in article 3cf3fb70 at server1.Activeworlds.com, strike rapier at
strike at rapiercom.freeserve.co.uk wrote on 5/28/02 5:49 PM:

>
> Now my question in.. does anyone really like the management, does roland? do
> you? and more importantly do u think they are getting in the way or the
> programmers?


The ActiveWorlds developer community is a starved, neglected, and uninformed
group of nomads... Not through any fault of their own.

I can't see why anyone would be enthusiastic about the Aladdin merger or
X3D. Have you been to the X3D website? It's just a Flash promo... Always a
symptom of know-nothing investors who think marketing and having a business
are the same thing.

Sure "X3D" as a post-VRML technology may be appealing (although I have my
reservations... using XML is obviously a novelty designed to make the spec
seem "strategic"), but really, what does X3D Technologies have to do with
X3D, the standard?

The only hope ActiveWorlds, Inc. has of surviving is to be bought out by
someone who gives a hoot about creating a high-quality online experience.

The total amount of cash at stake to the current owners is... Not much
unless you view it as a middle-class individual's life savings. Well, it
would be better invested in real estate. If they _could_ liquidate it, I'll
bet you a martini at the Red Eye that they would.


Ben

May 29, 2002, 3:28pm

Yes, the security features are a good thing :) But with people going to riot
if they dont get 3.3 soon, do we really NEED things like slide detection, Do
we really NEED 70 AWC test worlds and do we need Cryonics as a manager?

The answer is nope :P although the test woulds I supose are the art
departments so well let them off this time ^_^

What we could do with is Rick and JP on here though to give us kinda a
Corprate minded tech talk, lol

May 29, 2002, 5:51pm

> Yes, the security features are a good thing :) But with people going to
riot
> if they dont get 3.3 soon, do we really NEED things like slide detection,
Do
> we really NEED 70 AWC test worlds and do we need Cryonics as a manager?

We WILL be getting 3.3 soon. It will be released before the end of this
month. Thats like...2 days at the most.

Gand dosent need 70 worlds becuase he nees to keep different work seperate.
When 3.3 is released and the world list is now catagorised you wont see them
anyway.

JP although he has been a b******d at times is, infact the guy behind many
successful business ventures other than AW and must have dont somthing right
to get all the money he has. Why you even brough him into this I dont know.
If anything, you oughta be critisizing Rick, I've heard much worse about
him.

-Robbie

May 29, 2002, 5:52pm

> Gand dosent need 70 worlds becuase he nees to keep different work
seperate.
> When 3.3 is released and the world list is now catagorised you wont see
them
> anyway.

thats "Gand DOES need..."

May 29, 2002, 6:37pm

I know :) i thought thats what I said

May 29, 2002, 6:59pm

None of our business, that's what I think. And I don't see any reason why it
should be.

I really don't get what makes people here think that they're anything more
that the users of any other product. *boggle*



[View Quote]

May 29, 2002, 7:57pm

Because were the community that exists in this "product", thats why there
plan with the 600% price rise failed, they forgot about the community and
not just customers

May 29, 2002, 8:05pm

No ... it was a business decision. As was the subsequent drop in price.

[View Quote]

May 29, 2002, 8:08pm

Yes, cause the Community Ie: Customers decided that they were not gonna have
it and would rather leave

May 29, 2002, 8:40pm

The difference is that, whether AWC wants to admit it or not, AW is a
community-based product. As such, the community itself, whether *they*
want to admit it or not, becomes the product. Without the community, AW
would simply be a fancy way to view RWX files in an environment.
Therefore, it behooves the owners of the product (AWC) to maintain and
develop their product (the community) in order to stay competitive. And
just as a programmer would look for bugs in a program and fix them, so
too must AWC look for what's "bugging" the community and resolve those
issues swiftly and efficiently.

After all, no one wants to invest in a defective product...

[View Quote] > None of our business, that's what I think. And I don't see any reason why it
> should be.
>
> I really don't get what makes people here think that they're anything more
> that the users of any other product. *boggle*
>
>
>
[View Quote]
--
Goober King
Proof that Goobers ARE as dumb as they look.
rar1 at acsu.buffalo.edu

May 29, 2002, 11:11pm

Well, how can you say that the plan "failed?" If it had failed, prices
would be back where they were a year ago. Obviously, if the prices are
still the way they are, AW much be making some money off the change, even if
over half of AW's population has left.

I'm not saying that it was the best decision in terms of helping the
community, nor has it convinced me to stick around if tourists aren't
re-enabled within the next two months. But in terms of money, I have no
doubt that more money is being made on citizenships than before. The
question is whether it will be enough to sustain the loss in revenue from
"corporate partnerships."

[View Quote]

May 30, 2002, 12:54am

To add weight to what Goober has said (and my first post here in a month),
just compare what people are saying about "management" on these newsgroups
with the discussion boards at starwarsgalaxies.com.

Both products--Active Worlds and Galaxies--are community-based. At the
moment, only those genuinely interested in the game (not casual SW fans)
post there and comment on the decisions that their management does. The
management listens to them and implements many of their ideas, and so you
don't see the negative posts that you do here. The community there is
happy. And the end result is a better product.

In other words, when you're working with a community-based product like
Active Worlds or Galaxies, you can't go wrong to please your customers, i.e.
the community. Happy is profitable. :) Heck I'll go as far to say that
community-driven development is the future of software design.

SW Chris


[View Quote]

May 30, 2002, 10:57am

Kind of like the people who say that open source is the future :) But I can
somewhat agree with that. In a perfect world, that would be how everything
worked.

Unfortunately, this is an imperfect world, but I can still see room for
improvement. AW has been tied up in too many business matters for years.
From offering stock to persuing "corporate partnerships" to attempting
mergers and takeovers, the executives have little time to deal with the
matters of its citizens. I don't think it's intentional - they got
themselves into a mire of technicalities and legal problems and now need to
get themselves out of it. It makes me wonder what AW would have been like
if they had not made a public offering of their stock (at least in the
beginning) and had concentrated on the citizens immediately. I would have
been willing to pay the current price since I first discovered AW in 1998 if
there were employees that weren't overworked and were able to go out in the
community more often and tourists were (as they had been) enabled. Anyone
agree with me?

[View Quote]

May 30, 2002, 3:21pm

By failed i mean they would be bankcrupt by now if it wasnt changed back.

May 30, 2002, 3:22pm

Yep

[View Quote]

Jun 3, 2002, 5:20am

> In other words, when you're working with a community-based product like
> Active Worlds or Galaxies, you can't go wrong to please your customers,
i.e.
> the community. Happy is profitable. :) Heck I'll go as far to say that
> community-driven development is the future of software design.

Chris, those are words to live by. If I were to start an online community
business, that is exactly what I would do: I would put up a black and white
website (sort of like craigslist) and ask my potential customers how they
wanted _everything_.

Who knows? I might even get some subscriptions.

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