Avatar and Signature?

[thedeadlyassassin]

How do I get my Avatar to appear and my signature appear? Or do they just not appear when you post a quick reply?

[minfootball]

i dont even see a place to edit signature at this point

so many buttons so little time

[minfootball]

i figured it out... disapointing
no siggys for non payers
no custom avitars for non payers
no edit abilities for non payers
no polls for non payers

so basically we lost more then we gained coming here (for the non payers)
we cant even play the games in the arcade... (even if it isnt for highscore)

i can't afford any of the subscriptions and prolly wont be able to for a long time

i'm sry but i feel ripped off...

[Sirex]

i'm sry but i feel ripped off...

I'm not being nasty here but, Cain HAS said

We still have bugs to work out, and stuff to tweak and fiddle with, so the site will continue to get more and more polished....

So I would not start building that fence until the wood arrives.

[Cain]

If $2.50 per month is too much for you to afford, then I apologize.

The new Forum software cost several hundred dollars, and all the other things with the new Forums are not FREE to me.

I will tweak and adjust things available to subscribers and to non-subscribers, but the folks who help pay for the things around here will always get perks that the others don't while everybody will have the same basic Forum access and posting capabilities.

-- Cain

[RobotBanana]

I can only hope that avatars and siggys are restored for non-subscribers. If not, this will officially be the first forum I've used where what is usually a basic, standard forum feature will require payment. Not only will it disappoint several people, but the forums will look bland. Avatars and signatures add some visual spice as you scroll through pages and pages of text.

Even editing is a fairly basic function that's really helpful. And no polls either?...

I think with such strict limits you'll see a decline in users. I know that I for one probably won't be as attracted to these forums if I can't actually use the forums without subscribing. New users will join up, create their welcome thread, notice they can't edit it or upload an avatar, complain in their thread, and leave. Denying features like these basically sucks the fun out of a forum, and it doesn't make Cain's Lair look like the friendly and welcoming place it is.

I understand running all of these servers costs money, but taking away what most consider standard features of a forum will just drive people away. There are other things you can do...

Most of the forums I've seen with a subscription system just add extra perks to avatars/signatures. For example, a little bar that gets placed under your name with a fancy graphic saying "Life Time Member" or something. Others bend the image rules a little for you; for example, subscribing allows you to have an avatar bigger than the 100x100 pixel limit, or you can use animated avatars, etc.

The arcade thing is a reasonable perk for subscribers. It's a pretty good one. Games obviously aren't a standard forum feature, so it doesn't take away from non-payers, but it adds some fun for those that do. And the little threads that pop up discussing games and high scores amongst the subscribers might just convince some people to pay up.

Increased file size is another good perk for payed users.

Overall, I have to agree with minfootball here. Unless the restrictions are drastically modified, the only people benefiting from this change are the admins who get a better backend to work with. I think a lot of the users here will feel duped...

[RobotBanana]

I don't mean to sound whiny. Those are just my suggestions to make the new forums better.

(This is where editing comes in handy... )

[Sirex]

There is still things to finish on the site, last night I was getting tired, and we wanted to get this place all setup but as you know, time and excersion takes it toll on you.

We had to call it a night, and did what we could to allow you access onto the site, seen as the forums had been down 2days already.

[AmazingRedd]

im feeling the same way as minfootball and robotbanana.

[GeneralSnake]

It makes me feel professional. Like a business man or something, I really don't mind it, also, I plan on donating.

[darth_nevus]

Give it time guys. as sirex said, this had to be done as fast as possbile so some folks didn't suffer from posting withdrawl. give the man a small break. if you SEE a problem, send him a private message.

[juneau]

I'd just like to point out again that this is the very early stages of our new forums. And as Cain and Sirex have stated, there are more tweaks to be done to make the forums a little more polished.

We have been up for less than 12 hours so it's early days yet.

[-Bar]

Lets give it a little growing room guys.

[BenKenobi]

im feeling the same way as minfootball and robotbanana.

Agreed

The rules say that subscribing lets you have an image in a signature, is it possible to have a signature without an image? That would be nice.

[Cain]

I don't mean to sound whiny. Those are just my suggestions to make the new forums better.

(This is where editing comes in handy... )

Nope you did not sound whiney at all to me, I appreciate the feedback....

I want to be certain folks realize they CAN use the 1500 avatars we have here, just you cannot use your own CUSTOM uploaded avatar unless a subscriber....

-- Cain