Project Tranquility (Revising)

[Guardian]

"We grow, because we struggle. As we learn, we overcome. We all look back and know exactly why it had to happen when it happened."

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Hello everyone! I am happy to announce our detailed release of Project Tranquility with you guys! This has been passionately in discussion for some time now and we are beyond grateful to be able to share it with you all and be able to have you all involved with new beginnings for Wolfhome



We get it...Wolfhome for many of you has left scars and heavy feelings; We are thinking of all of you that were affected. There has been so many things that needed to be implemented or discussed that was never able to be discussed properly before, and we believe that time is now, we are truly wanting to move forward and grow from the burnt grounds of Wolfhome and rising within the ashes with new life, new ideas, new sense of comfort and positivity. Wolfhome is important to us, we spend heaps of time trying to come up with new ways to make sure all of you are safe and feel beyond welcomed, as you all are deeply cared for and adored by the administrative team. You are what matters most here and we WANT to make this place grow into something beautiful and inviting. We, on the administrative team are truly sorry that this is way overdue in the eyes of some of you that were deeply hurt by the events that transpired during the shutdown of Wolfhome; it should have never came down to that ever, but I am hoping that some of you (especially those that were present during that time) give us a chance to show you all that we all want the best for Wolfhome and we all just want to have a place where you all can come and feel welcome, make friends, share interests and much more. We want to show you that you will have a voice here, you are apart of Wolfhome, you matter to us and that you make us whole. You will never have to worry about being silenced again.



With that being said, we on the administrative team are happy to release a ton of new things and ideas for Wolfhome; Project Tranquility!
As always we are more than happy to hear any and all suggestions and positive constructive criticism for this project, as it is a work in progress and we want you to know your ideas are always wanted!

Our goal

We realize that Project Tranquility is coming much later than it was needed but we hope with it being a top priority for us that you all will stay and trust the passion we are putting forth into this. We really needed to take the time and think about what truly was the purpose of Wolfhome moving forward from such a traumatizing and detrimental set of events that took place with the shutdown. What was our vision for the future? What was Wolfhome's values exactly? We are hoping that this project answers all of the questions that were asked and more. We are seeking a strong presence within our community with more collaborative meetings, events, and rule making, and many more ways for all of us to be involved and build this site together. In doing so, we are also looking to streamline how the Administration works in it's efficiency with handling problem tickets, reports, and bans. We also are really trying to uphold ourselves as an Administrative team to stay organized, keep up with the things we plan to discuss and not make such a lengthy list of tasks for ourselves. As we look further into making the necessary adjustments to the Administration Team, we are also going to continue to remain transparent in everything that we're able to.

Our goals go above and beyond and we really hope you stick around or continue watching on the sidelines and see and feel the progress we are wanting to put forth into this site. We are actively pushing for a tranquil, peaceful, inviting site for you all to enjoy yourselves and make amazing connections with here. We sincerely hope to continue to build these goals and stick with them and continue looking forward and never backwards.

Our progress with Transparency

Our transparency is new, it is still being worked on and discussed for new ways we can be transparent anytime something arises or if someone has a suggestion for it. So far, we are really proud of how much we have implemented and our goal is to continue pushing out new things and ways for you all to be comfortable with what we are doing and have trust for us. We are always going to push for transparency and continue to grow and build onto this as time goes on. We thank our friends over at Baetyl for inspiring us to implement this.



Here are some links pertaining some things we have pushed forth so far
Administrative Demotions & Resignations
Masterlist of Community Requests
Official Wolfhome Trello
Our official announcement for transparency
Application tracking assistant (Inspired from our lovely sister site Baetyl)

Upcoming changes

Look out! We have tons of new things coming into works and being discussed. Funds are a little tight right now so keep in mind this may not be as fast as wanted, but it IS in progress or in the queue to be discussed! We really wanted to give you guys a complete overhaul in the cosmetic department of Wolfhome; give it a fresh new look and feel. We are beyond excited to share with you guys how we plan to implement and revamp what is listed!

We have started working on getting pose sets uploaded for you all to enjoy, some have been released already;
Sabretooth


Seal


Sneak peak of our new fox!


Viverrids

Thank you to some of our lovely community members for making these cute screenies happen!

There are so many more species that will be released, some of which, we have our lovely Alpha Ilos working on greyscaling and hex-coding them! Definitely come hop on to check them out, we really think they make Wolfhome more fun to allow everyone to express variety! Wolfhome is a home for all species, not just canids.

Most of you know from one of our recent polls, we also have a very lovely artist picked out for our brand new homepage! The sketch is INCREDIBLE and we cannot wait to show you guys the finished piece for that.

You may have also noticed that we have slimmed down a ton of rooms, best believe we are going to get some new exciting rooms for you all to lounge about in, we really are trying to freshen up on many new and fun things for you all. Stay tuned throughout forums and chat, to see these exciting changes and celebrate them with us!



Cosmetic changes:

❀ New pose sets
❀ New map
❀ New rooms
❀ Wolfhome forum overhaul
❀ Wolfhome homepage overhaul

Other changes:

⊳ Age change from 13+ to 16+
⊳ Community newsletters (Lunar Phases revamp)
⊳ Fixing entire freebie emporium, fixing those broken links/images so that we can all love them nostalgic poses again!
⊳ Unbanning unfair bans as well as of age members
⊳ Revamping any outdated topics (I.e. Art tutorials, Event treasure chest, Lunar phases)

Discussing

⊳ Community collaborative meetings (via chat and discord)
⊳ Rewarding Wolfhome fundraising (something like Ko-fi)
⊳ Rewording rules; lightening the harshness of some
⊳ Bullet points/logs from administrative meetings
⊳ More ways to come together as a community (Mediations and vent spaces, more variants of game nights, movie nights, more events, etc)



We are constantly discussing! We are always looking for ways to change and guide Wolfhome on the right path, with our community always involved.
If you haven't already join our Discord server and check out our Trello!

You all are apart of this community and we want you to know that we want you to be apart of our change, we are going to do more polls, more collaborations with you guys, we are also constantly asking for your thoughts via chats on different topics that are brought up. We can't do this alone, and we appreciate the insight from the community. Feel free to bring up ways and ideas for any of these topics; even add on to it if you wish!

Want to help out with some fun and exciting things? Have some lovely creative ideas up in that beautiful mind of yours? Build friendships and be more involved? Check out our community teams, our applications are open and we are always wanting to see what you can offer to help make this place fun and eventful!
Relations team; This amazing team handles all of our advertising on different platforms, it is a great way to express your creativity with graphic design and show us your collaborative skills, and how you handle coming up with new ways for us to get seen!
Event Committee; This team is ALL about being creative, you get to create your own events for people to have fun and enjoy, you get to learn about our forum coding to make topics look inviting and lovely, boost your collaborative and teamwork skills, show us what lovely ideas you have in store!

Any suggestions on what to discuss? What to possibly implement?
Thoughts on this project and how we are doing? Feel free to fill out this form!
Please be reminded that we are really trying to keep a tranquil environment for all; we would really appreciate any positive suggestions/criticism.
We are only human, we make mistakes, we need to be guided in the right direction too
Wolfhome feedback formWolfhome Suggestions Topic
Questions for the Administration Topic

You may also contact any one of us that you feel comfortable with, directly!
We are here for you and will get to your questions and concerns in a promptly manner
Administrative team and their availability



Thank you for everyone's patience and compassion during these times; to those who stuck around and came back. We sincerely hope you all will enjoy these changes and continue to make special and beautiful memories here at Wolfhome


Sylvah, Loki, Ghrimelda, Tau, Bressa, Rhea, Herb, Kata, CandyAutonomy


fontmeme
heart gif pixel @ starriichan
pixel divider @ pixelated-hearts
lilly pixel @ alyssdream

[MrLaPlaguea]

YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYY!!!! *celebration commences

[Refresh]

⊳ Bullet points/logs from administrative meetings

Confused. Isn't this already a thing. I used to take bullet point notes during our meetings and post them publicly. What happened to this?

EDIT: I went myself and found it.

viewtopic.php?f=100&t=211218

Using an archived idea and pretending it's new to try lure people back to the site... welp.

[Herb]

⊳ Bullet points/logs from administrative meetings

Confused. Isn't this already a thing. I used to take bullet point notes during our meetings and post them publicly. What happened to this?

EDIT: I went myself and found it.

viewtopic.php?f=100&t=211218

Using an archived idea and pretending it's new to try lure people back to the site... welp.

Not at all the case, but you are right about it was being a thing, a ton of things on this website need complete revamps and need a fresh new look. I am going back towards many many things that are outdated or just plain need a different look in terms of format on this forum. It was never stated that it was a new thing, but it is being discussed on how we can do this efficiently and make a topic in an efficient way to put forth this for you all. Things were archived just recently to lessen the HOARDS of topics we have to make way for new ways for people to not be overwhelmed with how much is on our forums and be able to find what they are looking for.

This will be created and put out there regardless again. So thank you.

I will make sure that this topic regarding these logs from meetings will be a thing, I wanted to present a WIP topic of this along with community meetings. We are having a meeting soon now that it is a new year and we have this project to start talking about, so I do like your idea about your bullet notes and I can definitely do that! I am trying my best here and I want you to know that, all of us on the team are doing our best and always are looking to be better. I have never been apart of the Administrative team until April 2022 and ever since I have been actively pushing for things and very passionate of making these changes, so yes I do understand where a lot of your frustration goes each and every time you hand us a reply, and I do appreciate that you even bother to take the time to give us a reply because it helps. Please understand that this WILL be a thing, you will get these bulleted meetings, I am actively making WIP topics to bring forth regarding a lot of things stated either here or just in general of things that need to be introduced or redone.

This project took the team and I so long to think of, to write up, to draft ideas, so understand this is something that I will not let fall short of in terms of what the goals are for this. I am tired, but I keep working for this because I enjoy being apart. I will make sure to update our trello to reflect more details within each section (which that is also a good way to see more in detail about our works, it is new so if you would like a detail or if you would like to know something just ask, that's all you need to do, i am only a little person, sometimes i do miss something crucial, but I never hesitate to add it when it needs to be added, i will make sure that a goal of mine for this project is to be consistent and to be thorough!) So again thank you for bringing this up about it being archived, perhaps we should have a topic with links to everything we archive that gives reasons why it is being archived, I just want to be transparent as possible on why it was archived, and it truly was to 1. lessen hoarding on the forums, because I'm sure you know by now, there is too much. and finally 2. It IS being planned to re-do this topic and re-format this to bring forth.

[Fayolah]

I haven't been on Wolfhome often as of late, but I'm really happy to see this being addressed and acknowledged. I'm looking forward to what you have in store for all of us.

[Bindigoat]

sounds exciting !! i am sad to see how many old rooms disappeared though. but maybe its just the nostalgia talking & i'll feel better about it once theyve been replaced

[SerXia]

Loving the fresh new coat of paint y'all are putting into the website and forums!
Been a member for awhile and it's so nice to see this place being revived and modernized in it's own way.

[Lorien]

sounds exciting !! i am sad to see how many old rooms disappeared though. but maybe its just the nostalgia talking & i'll feel better about it once theyve been replaced

We definitely understand ): We felt as though the amount of rooms were overwhelming since the majority of them never got used, but we are hoping to add more new ones to the list for you guys!

Loving the fresh new coat of paint y'all are putting into the website and forums!
Been a member for awhile and it's so nice to see this place being revived and modernized in it's own way.

Herb has really out done themselves with getting all of this together. I am very happy and excited to see YOU pop in again, and I hope you enjoy our much needed re-vamping of a lot of the old <3

[Takatia]

I can tell thought and care was put into this idea. At face value, I appreciate the effort and that you are all trying to change for the better. In theory this project is a nice idea and the only way Wolfhome could move forward at this point. But there are still several missing pieces not addressed. I am also giving the benefit of the doubt here, but you should know that some of this reads very strangely and off-putting. From an entirely outside perspective, even my partner who is not involved in Wolfhome, but knew of the shut down, thought this was strangely worded. Trying to make older ideas seem new, repeating or repackaging ideas, the wording suggests offloading responsibility back to the user base for the success or failure of this project, the majority of the introduction to the project / 'semi?-apology', and the idea of not wanting to look backwards all reads as a little misguided. Looking backwards would both help guide you as to what to avoid and what you can improve upon. And anyone who was negatively impacted by the shutdown last year would want you to look backwards because from that perspective, full accountability for certain actions was lacking or lopsided. As someone who was negatively impacted and traumatized by this site prior to the shut down, I would want the administration to learn from these shortcomings so history isn't repeated.

Back to the topic of moving forward from this. Were those who were wrongfully or maliciously treated during this time, banned, demoted/forced resignation, slandered by current and former administrators going to be issued direct apologies and those actions and/or records cleared? For anyone who is still permanently banned locally or across all sites because of this, are you still going to require an appeal from them or will you remove the ban and notify them in an apology message? I would also expect Underdog to make this same effort where applicable. Was he not involved in this project / is that why he’s not mentioned here? He was just as much a part to how things fell in place before, during and after the shut down period. I don’t want to be part of a community where the owner said everyone should be banned who disagrees with the current staff, no questions asked. I have since left the Wolfhome and Chatlands discord servers, but some statements that were made on behalf of the administration, specific administrators and Chatlands administrators in late 2021 / early 2022 were very off-putting and full accountability did not seem to be taken, and if it was, partially taken at best and not in a way that seemed productive or meaningful given how certain community members were treated behind closed doors after the fact. To clarify - specific examples of who was reached out to, if any, aren’t needed. It’s not my business. But knowing whether or not consideration was put into reaching out to those directly impacted to apologize is important. A simple 'yes, an attempt was made to reach out to those hurt by this directly' or 'no, there were no attempts made to reach out', would suffice. A general apology message to the public is not meaningful without it. We cannot move forward in a comfortable and positive way unless we as a community can see that your intentions are fully good, that you all understand and take full accountability for the part that the Wolfhome administration played in what transpired, and that this isn’t just a statement to try and save face.

[Sylvah]

I want to make a reply & mention that we really appreciate the feedback and responses in regards to our project. It is something we're working extremely hard on & we want to make a reply to all you've said specifically Tak, because you've brought up a lot of great points that I think a lot of people are also wondering! It's currently late for everyone at the moment, and I want to make sure what you said is addressed in depth properly tomorrow. We see you guys, & we do hear you. It means a lot to see a lot of you taking the time out of your day and wondering further with our project, so honestly thank you so much. We will gladly address what was mentioned <3

[Herb]

Spoiler! :

I can tell thought and care was put into this idea. At face value, I appreciate the effort and that you are all trying to change for the better. In theory this project is a nice idea and the only way Wolfhome could move forward at this point. But there are still several missing pieces not addressed. I am also giving the benefit of the doubt here, but you should know that some of this reads very strangely and off-putting. From an entirely outside perspective, even my partner who is not involved in Wolfhome, but knew of the shut down, thought this was strangely worded. Trying to make older ideas seem new, repeating or repackaging ideas, the wording suggests offloading responsibility back to the user base for the success or failure of this project, the majority of the introduction to the project / 'semi?-apology', and the idea of not wanting to look backwards all reads as a little misguided. Looking backwards would both help guide you as to what to avoid and what you can improve upon. And anyone who was negatively impacted by the shutdown last year would want you to look backwards because from that perspective, full accountability for certain actions was lacking or lopsided. As someone who was negatively impacted and traumatized by this site prior to the shut down, I would want the administration to learn from these shortcomings so history isn't repeated.

Back to the topic of moving forward from this. Were those who were wrongfully or maliciously treated during this time, banned, demoted/forced resignation, slandered by current and former administrators going to be issued direct apologies and those actions and/or records cleared? For anyone who is still permanently banned locally or across all sites because of this, are you still going to require an appeal from them or will you remove the ban and notify them in an apology message? I would also expect Underdog to make this same effort where applicable. Was he not involved in this project / is that why he’s not mentioned here? He was just as much a part to how things fell in place before, during and after the shut down period. I don’t want to be part of a community where the owner said everyone should be banned who disagrees with the current staff, no questions asked. I have since left the Wolfhome and Chatlands discord servers, but some statements that were made on behalf of the administration, specific administrators and Chatlands administrators in late 2021 / early 2022 were very off-putting and full accountability did not seem to be taken, and if it was, partially taken at best and not in a way that seemed productive or meaningful given how certain community members were treated behind closed doors after the fact. To clarify - specific examples of who was reached out to, if any, aren’t needed. It’s not my business. But knowing whether or not consideration was put into reaching out to those directly impacted to apologize is important. A simple 'yes, an attempt was made to reach out to those hurt by this directly' or 'no, there were no attempts made to reach out', would suffice. A general apology message to the public is not meaningful without it. We cannot move forward in a comfortable and positive way unless we as a community can see that your intentions are fully good, that you all understand and take full accountability for the part that the Wolfhome administration played in what transpired, and that this isn’t just a statement to try and save face.

Hi Takatia, I want to firstly thank you for your insight for our project. It is extremely helpful and you brought up really great points that I can totally see and understand! I am the one who composed this and wrote it up, to be very honest. I want to say that I am actually deeply sorry that this has caused you to have strange vibes about the wording of this; that it is misinterpreted as us looking forward and forgetting the past. This is something that we cannot do nor would we attempt to ignore it. The past is what creates a foundation for how things are, for who people are and for how changes can be made. The past is truly important to reflect on so that things do not repeat itself. I do not want anything from the past that has been traumatizing towards you, or any other member of the community, to repeat again at any time in the future.

You all are valid for voicing these concerns of this post, and like all things that we have been composing lately; they are things that can be edited, reworded, reworked in any way that it deems fit and valuable to the clarification to all. Ever since I have been a part of this team, I have stood my ground for so much change and good for Wolfhome. I would never ever want any one reading this project to believe that our intentions were to strangely write this up, not address shutdowns/apologies, repackage old ideas, and avoid the past. Everyone is more than welcome for their suggestions, concerns, and feedback. I benefit and learn from it all, which is something that I truly love about being a part of Wolfhome; being able to listen and take in what you guys want to see. I wanted to make light that any old idea that has been brought forth in the past, I want those ideas to be consistent and implemented, and not something that was put on a backburner or forgotten about, I understand these ideas were not new and they have been suggested before, but I wholeheartedly want them to stay up to date, as well as get the topics redone to be easy to read and understand.
My intentions for the introduction were to bring forth that we understand that our website has severely impacted tons of members who put their entire hearts into trying to make better changes and trying to voice their concerns, that we are thinking of them, that we want to do what is right. Now I do understand that it IS late and there will be backlash for it being late or not worth it due to the late timing, but I truly believe that it is worth taking these steps for. I don’t want this to be seen as a last resort effort to save ourselves, I want this to be seen as just passion for a website we genuinely love to be a part of. I have made so many lovely connections here and I want to continue doing so.

“. Looking backwards would both help guide you as to what to avoid and what you can improve upon. And anyone who was negatively impacted by the shutdown last year would want you to look backwards because from that perspective, full accountability for certain actions was lacking or lopsided. As someone who was negatively impacted and traumatized by this site prior to the shut down, I would want the administration to learn from these shortcomings so history isn't repeated.”

You are completely right and I respect you saying this. This might not be perfect, but we are most willing to put forth any and all effort to strive for something that is positive. I do apologize again for any misinterpretation by my wording, format and or anyway this project post could have made you feel, and I thank you so much for giving feedback on it all. I am still learning ways to construct my ideas in a clear and understandable manner and a tone that people can respect and every bit of criticism on anything that I do or the team does is extremely helpful in our journey for the goals that Wolfhome is working towards.

Were those who were wrongfully or maliciously treated during this time, banned, demoted/forced resignation, slandered by current and former administrators going to be issued direct apologies and those actions and/or records cleared? For anyone who is still permanently banned locally or across all sites because of this, are you still going to require an appeal from them or will you remove the ban and notify them in an apology message?

We, all of Wolfhome's Administration, would like to have a formal apology that will be viewable here on the forum and we are also going to be extending this out to each and every person who was in fact wrongfully banned and/or had wrongful actions taken against them. We have already been going through all of the Warnings and Bans & Permanent Bans sections, are reviewing each topic and have begun to release people from bans that were too harsh/not deserved/have come of age to return! Those being unbanned have been receiving email notifications of their ban release as well! This is over 500 pages (from over the many, many years Wolfhome has been around) of people the three Alphas have been working their way through, and they are only halfway done! Much more work is going into making sure these types of wrongful bans are not done moving forward but we would also like to attempt to remedy those who have been affected by these actions previously. Those members being released from a local ban (IE: Wolfhome) due to a wrongful ban/becoming of age are not required to submit an appeal for release. We of course cannot speak for other sites, nor the Guardians. I assume the Guardians will still require an appeal, though depending on the ban Wolfhome may be able to extend help.

I would also expect Underdog to make this same effort where applicable. Was he not involved in this project / is that why he’s not mentioned here? He was just as much a part to how things fell in place before, during and after the shut down period. I don’t want to be part of a community where the owner said everyone should be banned who disagrees with the current staff, no questions asked

Underdog has not been involved with the Wolfhome Administration, Project Tranquility, or any Rule changes since the shutdown. We really can't speak for him nor would we ever want to. UD has been deep in coding for not only all current Chatlands sites, but he is still very much working on both CL Horizons and Wizard Chat. We do not know the status of these things, but we do know that he has been testing and trying out codes whenever he is not helping with coding for the current Chatlands sites. We just want to clarify that UD is not going to be involved in the future of Wolfhome, unless we require some coding help.

[Hocus]

I want to start off by saying that I do not want to come off as antagonistic. I do agree with Refresh and Takatia though and want to touch on some things that I noticed.

Firstly, it is glaringly obvious that this post was not proofread. It seems like more effort was put into color coding than proper grammar. You all claim to have been working on this project for a long time but it seems that this post was written very quickly and haphazardly.

I also am not really sure how this is a project. I have to agree with Refresh that this just seems like repackaged ideas. It seems more like a checklist than a project.
Lunar Phases was revamped while I was on the Event Committee in 2021 and it unfortunately did not do well. I don’t see how it is going to do any better now that your userbase is significantly smaller than it was then.

Another thing I picked up on is the fundraising bit. I don’t believe fundraising for Wolfhome is a good idea. Chatlands Horizons made a good chunk of change off of the userbase and was originally marketed for 2020. It is now 2023 and there is nothing substantial to show for it. I don’t think asking your userbase for money is in your best interest at this time.

I personally was banned (wrongfully, in my opinion) during the shutdown and I have yet to receive an apology. I would also like to point out that I was denied an administrator position because of my impulsive resignation from the EC, but two admins that resigned during the shutdown were allowed to rejoin the team shortly after. One of these admins rejoined just DAYS after their resignation. This is a huge double standard.

Basically, it just seems like all of the new rules and changes that have been implemented are just bandaids to cover a bigger problem. I could go on and on but I will leave it at this.

[VESSEL]

Having this be brought to my attention by others has generated a lot of conflicting feelings in me. I left this place - as many people did - due to the events of December 2021, as well as events prior. That does not mean that others and I have not been watching from time to time or that people still here haven’t kept us up to date, however, and I feel like I can speak for many when I say the people Wolfhome and Chatlands at large have wronged often keep in touch about these things, and what our opinions are on it. I took it upon myself to ask several people, of whom I will keep anonymous unless they choose to talk about their experiences here, what they thought of Takatia’s response in particular and if they ever felt like any prior apologies given by the administration gave them closure or if they had been approached personally about the things that have happened to them by the team, and none of them could say yes. That is very sad to me. I understand that not all of the blame is solely on Wolfhome for the shortcomings of Chatlands as a whole, and I am not expecting apologies for the actions of other sites, or overseers. But it is very jarring to see such a prioritization of pushing forward instead of reflecting upon the past and what It’s done to people. I know that seems contradictory, but like Tak said, sometimes reflecting on the past is the best way to progress.

There’s also the matter of the opinions that some of the administration holds for these people who have been wronged and no longer actively involve themselves in Chatlands affairs. We are not boogeymen in the shadows who live to hate you. I have heard people try to claim that some past users I still directly associate have sent death treats, attempted to doxx, or otherwise bully and maim the administration and I have not been able to find any concrete evidence of this. If you want people to come forward and help you, you also need to not think the worst of others because their opinions do not compliment you. These are people who have been shown time and time again that their opinions do not matter or will be told that they do before they are inevitably ignored. It is a cycle. And I understand this cycle - it is hard to face criticism when you are trying to work on something. Progress is a fragile tumultuous thing, and it is hard to not feel discouraged. But you are representative of a system that has hurt people. This fact will never disappear no matter how much you move forward. Understanding this and the victims of this system is important for you moving forward. When approaching these people, it shouldn’t be to shut them down for their negativity but to uplift them and probe further into why they feel this way.
On this note, I do not think @Herb’s response was appropriate to target at Refresh. He has a form of valid commentary and criticism and the PA (and let’s be real, to most everyone it read very PA) was not necessary. I understand you wrote this and you want this to succeed, but I read it very much in a way that felt like it was meant to put Refresh down. Administrators are people, yes, but you are also meant to be held to a higher standard - to protect others, uplift them, act as a role model. It’s not often how admins want to be perceived, but when you step into the role people inevitably see you that way. Admins are the shepherds. I know for certain that if I were to ever make such a post as an admin, I would have been spoken to about it, which is why I say this.

Onto the repetitiveness of this topic. I think something that irritates me about this is, like how many have said, it feels repetitive. It reuses ideas. And there is no problem with this! It is important to reflect on the ideas of the past and how they can be reworked into something to benefit Wolfhome and its community. But I do not think you should have worded it as new. Besides prospects of new art, all of this has been discussed in the past to some degree. There is no shame in doing so - all of it is at your disposal for a reason - but having a project that has been hyped for months be this is a little disappointing to say the least. It’s meant to be a reveal of a culmination of effort and time, and it feels very rushed. I think it would have benefited greatly from a timeline of events and a statement on the usage of time by the team currently. How is the team managing their time with this project? Is it split into designated teams? Do people have specific projects they are in charge of? I think it would be useful to go through what your priorities are and workshop assignments for people. Having everyone just "pitch in as needed" is a very difficult project plan to manage and, while I know the team consists of volunteers, I think it would take off an immense amount of pressure and perceived initiative to just make goals for individuals that are manageable for their work flow. I know this sounds like a very basic fix but knowing what your soft and hard deadlines are and who specifically is working on what adds a lot more clarity and makes these goals feel more tangible.

Maybe it can go as follows:
1. Define the project subject.
Is it reused? Is it new? Whose idea was it, and can they be consulted for further information?
Define what the project is, and what it’s end goal is.
2. Define the resources needed for the project.
Money, time, art? What kind of manpower does it need? Does it need written policies and resources?
3. Tally volunteers.
Based on what is needing done, gather a team for this specific project. Refuse volunteer work from people who already have two projects, to prevent overworking and burnout.
4. Create working soft and hard deadlines.
What are the work schedules of these people? What are they able to contribute in a week’s time? What date do you want it done by, and what is the last possible date it should be finished by? Come up with a chain of events.
5. Begin the project.
6. Conclude the project.
7. Have the team proofread and give final input on the completed material.
8. Release the project.


I started writing this before Herb posted in response, so I will respond to that below:

I am glad that you have taken the time to thoroughly break down and respond to Takatia’s concerns. Takatia is a monolith within this community and has put in many years of effort and love here and her words are important to take to heart. It is not lost on me that you wish do do well, but I also caution you - things like this cannot be undone easily, if you are truly wanting to bring Wolfhome out of this. And people will not only notice who you apologize to and bring back, but also the quality and merit of those you bring back. Yes, people have been done wrong, but some were banned for good reason as well. For the safety of the community, I hope that this reflection is not an all-inclusive one, and that priors outside of ones resulting from unjust rules are taken seriously. Sometimes time will not undo the serious damage some people have done to the community and turning over a new leaf for them is not a viable option.

There’s also the matter that some people who were wronged didn’t necessarily face a ban or warning, but instead had their time and dedication directly sullied by admins. I hope these people are also taken into consideration as well. I know it’s hard to not feel vilified when people are not happy with what progress you’ve provided them, but I want emphasis here to be put on victims of Wolfhome’s past and the actions of admins. Humility and understanding go a long way.

[Loki]

I really appreciate all the responses so far and I’m hoping I can respond to some soon! I’m currently about to take a small hiatus due to my health, I do not want anyone to think I’m avoiding this topic! I am watching and appreciating all the comments.

[Lorien]

I don’t think you’re coming off as antagonist at all, and I am actually glad you posted. I have always loved your feedback and opinions.

We have had this written as a WIP topic for several months now, really trying to pick apart everything that was asked back on the shutdown topic. Some ideas were new, like the fundraising (I do agree that it’s not a great idea right now), but obviously a lot are old existing ones.

The goal here is to fix and work out the inefficiencies in those old ideas, which have been asked of the Admin team many times over. We also realize that these are all past requests, which is why we wanted to leave this topic unlocked for feedback. Really, that is why we labeled it a Project. We all really liked the idea of this new direction Wolfhome is going, to be a collaborative site between us all. We wanted to bring back Lunar Phases (a small newsletter version) and thought it would be a fun, proactive way to keep everyone in the loop, small community especially!

You were definitely wrongfully banned, and I do want to just mention here that personal apologies are in the works. We want them to be genuine and really take full responsibility for each person’s situation. So please hang tight! You should not have been denied an Administrative position with any of that being the reason, I am deeply sorry for that.

As for the Admins who resigned and then rejoined shortly after, I am not really sure about that situation. What I can say is that we have implemented rules surrounding resigned and those who wish to rejoin. There are time periods that are in place now to prevent those situations from happening, because I agree that it was a double standard.

I’d really like to hear more, if you have more! If there is anything we can add to work on, implement, or just get rid of I am always willing to listen and take it all in!

EDIT I DIDNT SEE YOUR REPLY UNTIL AFTER KAZ! I do want to say that I did read and have taken what you said to heart. I would like to reply but it is late for me and this child needs a bottle and sleep as well ):