Fansite Support (Re-launch)

[das]

Also, I love how they keep saying it was worth selling out cause we'll be Platinum soon.

 

As if Gold or Platinum matters when you're discussing principles.

 

From what I can tell,

 

Selling out for Gold: Wrong :thumbdown:

 

Selling out for Platinum: A-Okay. :thumbup:

 

Or...

 

Selling out for Money: Wrong :thumbdown:

 

Selling out for Concept Art, Moderator Interviews, and other random perks: Also A-Okay :thumbup:

 

 

Tell me where I or for the matter anyone but you and a smattering of others if that ever said we ever sold out. It seems like you believe doing business with anyone is selling out and while i respect that simple look at the world, we believe in making ourselves better when the opportunity presents itself, Call us sell outs all day long, we will call ourselves buisnessmen and continue to make deals that we feel makes tip.it better. This was well researched and considered and we are firm in our standing, I' admire your simple idealistic view that makes everything so cut and dry but when it boils down to it, we have decisions to make and we are quite confident in this one.

 

Gold or Platinum, the main choice for us was to make sure people could say tif in game. We can - anything else is gravy, and to change the game rules to change our advertisements that affect nothing on our end. Fair trade so Jagex can feel secure that there players are so stupid that they will never heard of another game because the fansite they visit doesn't have advertisements for one. Whatever reasons they have to promote or nurture the community means nothing to me because at the end of the day we sacrificed nothing to gain something.

 

it's quite easy to point out the sell out finger when you have no opportunity to consider or even make a deal.

 

I enjoy business - it's fun - You should try it some time ;)

 

~Das

[Jard_Y_Dooku]

I think we are getting a little ahead of ourselves by complaining about not being at platinum level. There are MANY things that Tip.It lacks. Working to improve should be our focus, then we can be at Uranium (the special radioactive level for super awesome fansites) level. :)

[Pirate_Felix]

maybe we need a larger suggestions box.

[Llavada]

I think we are getting a little ahead of ourselves by complaining about not being at platinum level. There are MANY things that Tip.It lacks. Working to improve should be our focus, then we can be at Uranium (the special radioactive level for super awesome fansites) level. :)

Uranium?

 

The way Tip.It is going, more likely Uranus

[Pirate_Felix]

Maybe tipit lacks, but tif is awesome.

[das]

I think we are getting a little ahead of ourselves by complaining about not being at platinum level. There are MANY things that Tip.It lacks. Working to improve should be our focus, then we can be at Uranium (the special radioactive level for super awesome fansites) level. :)

'

We agree on this.

 

Has hell frozen over? :P

[Romy]

I don't think we sold out. Not even a tiny bit. Tip.It's decision is the best it could take.

[Wingless]

I think we are getting a little ahead of ourselves by complaining about not being at platinum level. There are MANY things that Tip.It lacks. Working to improve should be our focus, then we can be at Uranium (the special radioactive level for super awesome fansites) level. :)

Uranium?

 

The way Tip.It is going, more likely Uranus

 

Awesome, so we'll be a planet. Assuming you didn't mean 'Uranus' in the childish, immature, 5-year old joke - of course.If you did, well Derp Derp good sir.

[Pirate_Felix]

you mean yours :D?

[Sentry_Wolf]

I think we are getting a little ahead of ourselves by complaining about not being at platinum level. There are MANY things that Tip.It lacks. Working to improve should be our focus, then we can be at Uranium (the special radioactive level for super awesome fansites) level. :)

 

maybe we need a larger suggestions box.

 

I invite you both to the Forum Updates & Suggestions forum, where all suggestions are taken into consideration, no suggestion too small. :)

 

It's rather amusing that some people still think its some hidden conspiracy that Tip.it are sellouts or whatever the latest rumor is, this movement was to help the forum. It lets us say Tip.it in-game. (I can imagine people getting far more angry getting muted for saying tip.it then for a supposed evil change like this.) People have blown this far out of proportion and it seems a bit more limelight hogging to me at this moment in time instead of trying to be the wise preacher.

 

Enjoy Tip.it as you would and enjoy the game. ;) As far as I'm concerned - little has changed, if anything at all.

[Jard_Y_Dooku]

I think we are getting a little ahead of ourselves by complaining about not being at platinum level. There are MANY things that Tip.It lacks. Working to improve should be our focus, then we can be at Uranium (the special radioactive level for super awesome fansites) level. :)

'

We agree on this.

 

Has hell frozen over? :P

 

Lol, nice one. Getting along is always a good thing. ;)

 

If anyone is confused about the uranium thing... I just like chemical elements and I think uranium is awesome.

[Wingless]

you mean yours :D?

 

Why yes, would you pictures?

[mario_sunny]

The cospiracy theorists or those who are saying this is all part of some larger business scheme on this thread are basing their conclusions off no evidence. You conspiracy theorists say that the Tip.it admins are making underground deals with Jagex- like Tip.it is some puppet of Jagex. Why should we believe that when for nine years the administrators have loyally watched over tip.it and enacted polices that benefit the community? I've never seen any hint of Tip.it attempting to sell itself out in these nine years. The admins would never do such a thing; they realize that tip.it values its independence too much.

 

And for those who say Jagex is pulling some business scheme, why should we believe you? MMG has changed Jagex to a community-friendly company. Anyone who's familiar with Jagex knows they are not your usual company; Jagex has been trying to tell its players for years that they are not all about profit. I can't even list all the things they've recently done: J mod chats, J mod interviews, the Jagex Cup, Clan Submission Pages, Community Blogs, overhaul of P mod policy, J mod events, etc. They've been pratically screaming at their player base that they want to support us. Why would they suddenly change their policy and pull a dirty trick as you all are suggesting?

[Me_Hate_Libs]

Not, I'm not suggesting shady back room deals. I'm also not one to scream sell out either.

 

But when you allow a company to have influence over the decisions you make in, in this case what advertisements you run, in exchange for other benefits that to me is selling out.

 

Also don't forget my largest grievance in this whole matter is the treating of Zybez by Jagex.

[Carl]

Not, I'm not suggesting shady back room deals.

 

Okay then, tell me, what are you actually suggesting?

 

I'm seeing a lot of positive comments toward this with negative comments trying to disprove them, but those negative comments have no actual structure. They're just "Nah, not that." "Yeah, must be this."

 

Tell me what they are actually trying to do?

 

I think Mario Sunny hit the nail on the head perfectly.

 

I'm going to go out here on a whim, but I'm guessing this plan to take over Fansites is also part of their scheme for world domination?

 

...

[Tim]

I'm going to go out here on a whim, but I'm guessing this plan to take over Fansites is also part of their scheme for world domination?

...

CONSPIRACY!

[jimmy_jim]

I'm going to go out here on a whim, but I'm guessing this plan to take over Fansites is also part of their scheme for world domination?

...

CONSPIRACY!

Finally, all is revealed! :lol:

[gspbeetle]

Wow... all I could say is...

 

TETs... do something! Lets start something up :twisted: !!

 

20pages of HYTs awaiting your orders for world domination.

[Me_Hate_Libs]

Not, I'm not suggesting shady back room deals.

 

Okay then, tell me, what are you actually suggesting?

 

I'm seeing a lot of positive comments toward this with negative comments trying to disprove them, but those negative comments have no actual structure. They're just "Nah, not that." "Yeah, must be this."

 

Tell me what they are actually trying to do?

 

I think Mario Sunny hit the nail on the head perfectly.

 

I'm going to go out here on a whim, but I'm guessing this plan to take over Fansites is also part of their scheme for world domination?

 

...

 

I'm suggesting it would've been more ethical to retain complete independence from any outside forces and to rebuff any attempts at influencing Tip.it's decisions. Even if only for something that apparently is as low a priority as advetisements.

[Kalafai]

I'll say this. With the removal of Google ads, I will trial making an adblock exception for tip.it.

 

Google ads have been responsible for noise, spilling out of their frame, pop-ups, and even content so diabolical as the Norton Anti-virus virus (which was actually Norton, which I DO NOT WANT) as well as ethical problems such as denying a website's entire stippand for a month because one of their adds was dis-proportionally clicked by similar IPs.

 

And for everyone listing the gaming adverts on runescape.com, there is only one I have ever seen... AdventureQuest.

[mattonline]

I've been casually using tip.It for years, and I consider them the best fansite (I always check here first, and it's rare I have to check elsewhere), so the rating isn't too important as long as it remains the best in my eyes. It's good to know it will be platinum soon anyway :). I rarely click on ads, so I don't see it as a problem.

 

Jagex offered them the option of being platinum, and tip.it has decided to take them up on the offer. Tip.it could have declined, but if they did so I think they would have been worse of (in terms of not getting the platinum perks). If the cons outweighed the pros, then that's another thing altogether...

 

Although I may not be active on the TIF, I check the site most weeks for anything from the item database, quest guides and the tip.it times. Do I think the platinum rating will make the site better? Yes, in terms of the exclusive Jagex stuff, but I don't come here for that so it's neglible in my eyes. I don't come here to view adds either, so controlling them has very little impact on me.

 

As for the whole gaming ads being on RS, but not being allowed on fansites, it does seem to be contradictory, but the fact that they can be reported and removed

 

All in all, not much has changed. It's hard to improve some things simply because not everything needs improving.

[das]

I'm suggesting it would've been more ethical to retain complete independence from any outside forces and to rebuff any attempts at influencing Tip.it's decisions. Even if only for something that apparently is as low a priority as advetisements.

 

I can't tell if you are slamming Jagexs ethics or ours, but just incase people are still on the "Admins sold out train," here's a long speech that should settle any doubts about our actions

 

Ethics conceptually are a grey area that differ from person to person, philosophically do ethics not questions our morality on right and wrong which varries based on your culture? religion? upbringing? Anything deemed illegal, legal, sinful, traditional or any action we take as a human as an unethical manner depending on how it's seen by an individual.

 

As admins, our moral compass is to provide the best content and conditions to our users and thats what we did. now I don't see how that can be considered unethical. As for Jagex's ethics, I really don't care what drove them to make the rankings, we got our deal, it was quite favorable and we gave up so little for it. We gave up NOTHING. Thus whatever moral compass they use, doesn't really affect us as we are not bound to them should they make insane demands about our website, nor we will be.

 

Our users are and always will be why we make any changes around here and I do believe the majority of the users on this thread do not see it as "Selling out" so I doubt they question our ethics. Although it seems with your hammering of this point you are trying to make people doubt our ethical decision making perhaps.

 

I don't see whats do difficult about business to grasp. Clear cut business deal. End of story.

 

There is no conspiracy of Jagex forging one ring to rule them all, nor anything of the such.

 

As twisted and nonsensical as the absurd request was to remove gaming adverts may appear - and i'll admit, I find it absurd - I'm also convinced with the information I know that no big evil conspiracy are about.

 

The administration team we have cares about this site alot and always puts our users, nor ourselves ahead in making decisions. Why? we were all users once, still are - we all had a vision of what this site could be, and I believe that we can still get better, jagex rank of platinum be damned. we all believe that we can improve - and we have worked hard to make the right choices to do so. Some of us were more traditional users, some of us were idealistic idiots who went on damned crusades agaisnt perceived injustice - but we always and I do mean always make choices that reflect not for changes we want, but for changes we think our users can benefit from..

 

 

There is nothing unethical about that is there?

[PhaperPlane]

To be honest, I don't see how this could affect the majority of the users who browse Tip.It. As far as I'm aware, no content will be taken down and we will continue to function. At the end of the day, Tip.It is still the same site we use for guides, discussions, events etc even if it isn't Platinum or Gold or Silver or Bronze. I may not be active as I once was, but these are my thoughts on the entire situation.

[Hohbein]

Hey all,

 

Thanks for all of your responses since my last post - I thought I'd pop by to respond.

 

This is a business deal between Jagex and Tip.it

 

There aren't any contracts being signed here, and there's nothing sinister going on 'behind the scenes'. There are a few criteria that need to be met before we can offer our higher levels of support to a fansite - but that's all they are, criteria. I covered why we can't support fansites with gaming/RWT ads back on page 6, so I won't reiterate that here.

 

CONSPIRACY!

 

While I guess none of the conspiracy theorists will believe me when I say this - no, there's no big conspiracy going on and Jagex aren't out to gain control of our fansites.

 

In fact, we've always been very clear that we aren't interested in any form of editorial control. What's posted on a fansite is completely up to the fansite owners, admins, and community members. We actually like reading the sometimes brutally honest feedback that fansites can generate - this stuff really is incredibly helpful to us as a company. The absolute last thing we want is for fansites to lose their sense of identity and become blind followers of Jagex and everything we do.

 

Obviously we have a set of criteria that a fansite needs to meet before we'll be able to offer a great deal of support, but that's where it ends - once we start supporting a site we won't be contacting them and asking for edits to be made to the website. If a fansite starts doing something that goes against the criteria of being supported then the worst that'll happen is we'll move them to another tier of support and they'll lose out on some of the support they were previously receiving.

 

There are gaming ads/RWT ads appearing on the RS website - Jagex are being hypocritical!

 

The odd gaming ad may slip through to the RS website from time to time. If that does happen, we have a an entire team dedicated to watching our site for this sort of thing, and they remove any such advert very shortly after it appears. Ensuring that absolutely no gaming ad ever appears on a site is incredibly difficult - but we do react to them very quickly if/when they appear. The same goes for any other inappropriate advertising, such as RWT. If you ever notice a gaming ad, RWT ad, or otherwise inappropriate ad on the RS site, then we'd appreciate it if you could report it straight to us by clicking the '?' symbol next to the advert.

 

We realise that some ads might also slip through onto our Platinum/Gold sites, what's important is that those sites proactively remove any such ads should they appear (as we do).

 

Will Jagex be posting more on fansite forums now??

 

I'm happy to get a bit more involved on fansite forums where necessary. With that said though, I still think it's important to leave fansite communities to their own devices - by posting a lot I'd hate to think we'd have an effect on the fansite's identity/collective personality.

 

I also have no doubt that there are people that post on fansite forums because they are unofficial, and by posting regularly as a JMod we may start to have an affect on that 'unofficial' feel that many people embrace.

 

So in short - I'm happy to post from time to time, on topics that really need me to post on. But I won't be posting on every thread that's created.

 

I think they are the main points I wanted to cover but if I spot any more, I'll be sure to post.

 

Thanks all,

 

Hohbein :)

[Lunar_Drifter]

Good reply Hobhein.. I still don't think that's going to stop qeltar's (and those like him) ranting. Some people can never be satisfied and take things at face value, which is what this case is.