On a different note, we've heard your complaints about the community, and even though only a handful of you have taken enough initiative to back your complaints with donations to help fix things around here, two community members have stepped up to develop a new iteration of Macristocracy. Zak Auerbach (zaksoup) and Harry Harrison (hareesun) are going to develop the site.

We don't have a new design yet, that's where you come in. We're not having a contest. We're merely pooling our resources to create the best design for our community by our community. You don't win anything. We'll give you credit, but we can't offer money (because most of you haven't given us any :-P ). I understand most folks are busy, so all we're asking for right now is a mock-up of the front page (/vanilla currently). Hack something together, send it off to info@macristocracy. The only parameters we have for the mock-ups are to please incorporate our new "mascot" the M*stache. Get a .psd of the M*stache.

Back to the changes.

We're changing our invite system. Conceptually, current members are going to be able to "nominate" non-members for invites. They'll get dropped into some sort of pool and be voted upon. The votes will be on a weighted point system. Staff votes count for 10, Resident Artists 5, and Members 1. When the nominee receives the required amount of votes (still debating this number) they will be sent a congratulatory email and will receive an invite.

We also plan to make a "repository" index where you can visit to download any of the packages released on Macristocracy. This will require the artist's cooperation, and will not be required of every release, but would keep things organized and simple.

Which I'm sure brings to mind how we're currently an "exclusive" community. Our stance on this is changing a bit. We will no longer support or police "NFR"-releases. We're not forbidding them, we just no longer believe such a thing can exist. For the bettering of the community, we will have less drama about "pirating" or "leaking" and more sharing. If you choose to release something exclusive, you are welcome. However, Macristocracy staff will tolerate no complaints about leaking, nor will it police the web for you.

We'll be making some changes to the organization of the site as well. Critique threads and release threads will merge. The only sections will be: Lounge, Desktop, and Mobile. There will be other small but helpful changes like users being shown the rules when they first access the site. The "Start a New Discussion" icon will be more prominent.

So. When will all this happen? I haven't the slightest clue. The sooner we start getting design ideas, the faster it gets to development. Our developers are working for free, so I don't expect them to fly through it. (If you want to donate to Zak and Harry to encourage them, please do! ) I'd like to have it done by the first of the new year, but that's probably unrealistic.

Feel free, as always, to discuss your frustrations below.

Oh, and donate. I mean, it's the right thing to do, after all. You use a service, pay for it every once and again. ;-)

Thanks for your time,
Klein Maetschke, co-founder of this here watering hole

Posted By: fernandolins

Long live Macristocracy! /twirls his m*stache/

This! *strokes his sadly bald upper lip*

Good luck Na!

And, save '70s pornos, what's classier than a nice moustache. (Original iterations had monocles and top hat.)

Edit: Also, I'm crazy.

Will donate sometime soon, when I afford to.

Please note, the finished design must match the M*2.0 design, however the layout and UX can be whatever you hoopy froods come up with so think of cool stuff! ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE :D:D

-Z

Personally, that is a reason why I am a regular visitor on these forum's. 99% of the time, all member's are respectful of each other, and show the utter most appreciation when commenting other designer's/developer's works.

I think the new invite system is a great idea, but only if it's implemented properly. I'd hate to see self-less members eventually sneak into these forum's. However, in comparison they're are a lot of valued possible member's who could really be of great benefit to this community.

I think the repository is a great idea :). It would mean that downloading works released on M* will be much more convenient. I do think that we need a single thread to keep all repository related issue's in the one spot. Or a possible way to report a repository error without users flooding the forums.

Overall though, great move forward with the site. I look forward to see how it turns out.

I did not fully understand the part about the users' complaints. What are they/we complaining about and why are they/we doing it?
Personally, I can't relate to this idea that Macristocracy is functioning so poorly that it ends up being targeted by its unsatisfied users. As a forum, and with all the hazards of being one, I think Macristocracy (and its staff) is doing much better than all the other forums I know of.
Bottom line, what I want to state here is that any kind of "mass dissatisfaction" movement towards Macristocracy (if there is one) doesn't have my support.

On the other hand, face-lifting and ad hoc changes are usually beneficial and revitalizing.

For instance, the all-new M*stache "mascot" is great. Gorgeous, humorous and metaphorically strong (as Klein explained recently). There's just something awesome about that "mascot"!

The changes in the invite system seem very well thought. In particular, involving the members in the voting process is a great way of sharing the responsibility.

I hope that the funeral of the "NFR"-releases policy really works out as expected. I have some reservations about this but feel like it's the smartest and hassle-free way to go for the community (and especially the staff).

About merging the critique and release threads, how should this be processed?
If members are just going to post directly in the new thread, shouldn't there be some kind of evaluation/voting system to filter what should remain or not in such thread? I feel like it should.

Finally, is "the right thing to do" only available through PayPal?
I am not a very big fan of this system, mainly because they steal around 2 dollars from me every time I input a new virtual credit card. The nonsense about returning those 2 dollars never happens.

I know it's underrated these days but: Klein, M* Staff, Zak, and Harry, THANKS!

Posted By: Lachlan

As I stated on twitter earlier, making ones work NFR to the general public does not mean that they are elitist in any way. It simply mean's that they're sharing they're work that they have spend so much time working on, with those whomactuallyappreciate it. For example, take a look at some of Andrea's work that he decided to release publicly at MTF. There are people who really couldn't care about the effort, and long hour's he had dedicated, especially in regards to Principum. When a user automatically asks 'plz retina version ?' without actually acknowledging the effort that has been implemented, then you know they're to focused on themselves.

Personally, that is a reason why I am a regular visitor on these forum's. 99% of the time, all member's are respectful of each other, and show the utter most appreciation when commenting other designer's/developer's works.

I think the new invite system is a great idea, but only if it's implemented properly. I'd hate to see self-less members eventually sneak into these forum's. However, in comparison they're are a lot of valued possible member's who could really be of great benefit to this community.

I think the repository is a great idea :). It would mean that downloading works released on M* will be much more convenient. I do think that we need a single thread to keep all repository related issue's in the one spot. Or a possible way to report a repository error without users flooding the forums.

Overall though, great move forward with the site. I look forward to see how it turns out.

NFR is dumb.

Posted By: Shawn Wilkins

NFR is dumb.

Could you be a little bit more mature about it, please? Rather than just telling me I'm wrong, give me a little more of an explanation ;). I don't agree with NFR, but it really irritates me when people don't show appreciation and gratitude for other peoples work, which is rather evident on completely public forums. Therefore, that is why I believe many user's kept their work NFR. Ultimately, it's not being elitist. It's just sharing your work with those that appreciate it.

If someone wants to go to the lengths of leaking something that's NFR then obviously its appreciated. So that's dumb. Also, not everyone here gives two shits about some of the 'exclusive' or 'NFR' work here. For example, the only thing I have that's exclusive or NFR is PricipiumHD. Ultimately, it is elitist. You release something NFR on a private forum to seem cool, not because you care about what people will think about it. If that were the case, it would stay in the critique thread, hence the name NFR. Hope that was mature enough.

Posted By: Shawn Wilkins

How is saying NFR is dumb immature?

No, It's just the way you went about it. Like I said, you quote my whole comment with a 3 word answer that didn't, in any way, explain your opinion. No, I was not talking about people ripping work because they appreciate it or whatever. I'm talking about, when they do actually release their work publicly, member's of the public don't really realise the effort that had been spent. I'm not the only one that shares this opinion;

Posted By: Shawn Wilkins

For example, the only thing I have that's exclusive or NFR is PricipiumHD. Ultimately, it is elitist.

Sorry but I tend to disagree. Being elitist would involve showing every man and his dog your device with Principum HD, generating a lot of exposure, to then tell each and every person to forget about Principum, because they're not aloud to have it. In other words, simply rubbing it in their faces. That would be elitist, that would be acting as if you're so much better than those without it.

That's where I don't understand how people have to show off everything that is NFR. I had proposed proposition's regarding M* member's to keep private release SS' within this forum or the site of release. You see too often that some member's run off to show off at MTF etc, and 'be cool' just to generate a buzz. Which then generates a public outcry.

Posted By: Shawn Wilkins

You release something NFR on a private forum to seem cool.

Again, I disagree. I don't think member's who have ever released NFR work simply do it to 'seem cool.' For example, Mattew Reakus wrote in the Principum HD thread that he was proposing a release of a template to select member's to conduct further completetion of Principum. But did Matt choose to do this because he wanted to 'seem cool?'

Posted By: mreakus

So I've been thinking a lot lately, and now that Andrea has granted me permission to let this beast loose in the wild I was actually gonna do something for us privately here as well. For starters, a GUI is a huge project and I just don't have a huge amount of time to dedicate to this for constant development. I do have my PSD's and was wondering if you guys would like them to help continue to theme the rest of the UI to make this as uniform as possible? I won't be sharing every little thing, because most isn't needed, but I've comprised a nice essential PSD that should cover the elements.

So it's up to you guys, and if this is done, the PSD remains here although you can post your created elements elsewhere.

No, he didn't. It was to ensure a high quality release was maintained. For the hard work and long hours he had spend on Principum HD.

Posted By: Shawn Wilkins

Hope that was mature enough.

Is there really any need for that?

-Z