Two classic cases of how NOT TO

[Tracy]

control a thread

XF 2.3 ?

Just thought I'd be the first to ask .... when can we expect XF 2.3 ? :ROFLMAO::X3: - Ok, I'm outta here lol Keep up the good work XenForo :D

xenforo.com

Not to go off-topic, but this is the off-topic area (dependence on 3rd party to do basic stuff)

Has anyone else noticed the ridiculous prices some 3rd party add-on developers are charging... and in many cases for aspects that SHOULD be included in the base forum script currently. It simply proves my outlook on society now..... it's ALL about "show us the money" than the "I want to help...

xenforo.com

Of course, both threads probably made the XenForo developers VERY uncomfortable... but instead of the closing of the threads (which benefitted them) they could have EASILY used the moderation tools available.
A classic case of "what not to do because the topic makes you uncomfortable".

There's a third one headed the same way.. amazingly.. all three primarily have issues caused by one user.
If you had similar issues.. would you simply close the thread... or take managerial pursuits against those that caused the issue?

 

[Cedric]

Honestly I don’t know what’s up with XF. Clearly they are avoiding the whole situation. It got more out of hand between members than it should’ve. They didn’t even interfered until they closed it. Well Brogan closed it, he once again saves the day I guess.

Many clients are getting worried about the lack of communication and development. As they should.

 

[Tracy]

he once again saves the day I guess.

No, he simply avoided confrontation about a VALID weakness in the current XF ecosphere... choosing to "blame" an idiot instead of the staff/developers addressing the REAL issue.

 

[Cedric]

No, he simply avoided confrontation about a VALID weakness in the current XF ecosphere... choosing to "blame" an idiot instead of the staff/developers addressing the REAL issue.

Yeah, it’s quite sad. I was hoping we’d get their attention but it’s clearly being avoided. I honestly wonder what’s going on. We can only speculate but one thing is for sure, the moment your customers talk about your company the way we did on XF, is the moment you’re lost.

They need to come with a statement, not today but yesterday. If they want to save themselves from the underground, then they’ll need to act fast. Like, at least we talk on the support forums, but there are more lurking clients that won’t speak and just handle according to the situation. Not to mention if any future customer reads those topics, most will search for the next best thing.

 

[Tracy]

If they want to save themselves from the underground, then they’ll need to act fast.

The REALLY sad point is... I've been a licensed user for over a decade... and a VERY strong proponent for the script... and when I start showing concerns... it may be time for others to start showing some interest.
The only thing that keeps me on XF currently is NOT their "fantastic script"... but the add-ons a certain fantastic developer produces.
If that developer went to IPS or WoltLab... I'd be following closely along behind,

 

[Tracy]

It's bad enough over there.. I'm out for a week or two... maybe (doubtful) the XF developers can deign to start helping their license holders in the forums instead of the majority of the support being done by other license holders.
You'd figure if they were having that much of the load taken off of them, it would give them that much more time to code the next version... guess not.
I've still got to decide what script I want to take my other domain to.

 

[Tracy]

It's bad enough over there I'm checking out for a week or two.. maybe those illustrious XenForo developers and support staff can start doing more support in the forum.. otherwise, if others take up my attitude, their ticket load is going to go WAY up.
I'll probably only log back in if I decide to use XF on that alternative domain.. I'm still crunching numbers.

 

[joelr]

Someone please tell me the backstory of aussiefooty.

I need to know the drama LOL.

 

[joelr]

To the OP in regards to your second topic (about mods getting more expensive):
- I think that's a (partially) healthy sign of a maturing market. The ones who develop for free tend to strongly be hobbyists, and will stop support whenever it becomes too hard to keep up with pace of development. We saw this in the IPS Marketplace, where there used to be both a larger variety and cheaper plugins in the early days of 4.0 and 4.1. Now that we are on 4.7, it's a much more limited pool of consistent developers.
- I used to like a bunch of free plugins. But as my community has matured, I've discovered that less but higher quality is more important.

 

[Cedric]

Someone please tell me the backstory of aussiefooty.

I need to know the drama LOL.

Where to start... He's constantly contradicting himself, changing his opinion as the wind turns, playing a victim, knowing it better, giving advice to others where he shouldn't. Has a list on his forum about people he doesn't like from XF. Has 20 years experience yet his forum only has 4 members.

 

[Ravenfreak]

In the case of both threads going off topic I do agree the staff could have easily taken the time to move all off topic posts and send them to the trash. Especially since that aussiefooty guy was causing issues. Honestly I would ban him if I were staff, he's been causing too many issues from what I've read in those threads.

 

[Tracy]

I think that's a (partially) healthy sign of a maturing market. The ones who develop for free tend to strongly be hobbyists, and will stop support whenever it becomes too hard to keep up with pace of development.

Yeah, and for decent mods that's not a big deal.... but for minor stuff... especially for stuff that should be (by now) core as they are simply reasonable extensions of what already exist it is rather frustrating. That was one of the major issues. I had no problems dropping the money for a groups add-on.... but it to extend ES beyond the basics that it does was somewhat aggravating.

 

[Tracy]

Honestly I would ban him if I were staff, he's been causing too many issues from what I've read in those threads.

He's one of the reasons I am not visiting there for a week or so (voluntarily) and I'm going to pull WAY back on the assistance I give on the forum when I do come back. I'll simply become a consumer.

 

[Tracy]

Is it bad when you actually have to push developers to the point that they "ban" you from certain threads to get a response... seems that with XF, until the recent shit storm REALLY got stirred up... the license holders were still treated like mushrooms being fed the lowest level of shite.

Yes, I'm proud to say I'm one of the shit-stirrers over there (and I actually had to work hard at it)... and honestly.. for XenForo license holders.. if not for a few of us that were willing to bite the bullet and stir it up as much as possible and deal with the consequences... you would NOT even have the marginal updates that you have now. In the long run... it simply shows that XenForo SERIOUSLY needs some PR staff on hand, as their developers all appear to be typical developers (somewhat anti-social) and their moderators aren't much better.

 

[Tracy]

And now comes the fun of wearing the XF staff out on ticket support questions... unless they want to refund me a substantial amount of monies.
Seems their SMF importer that I was told "should be fine" actually took me digging into the code to get it to import 2.1. Then I had to go in and clean up some areas that it imported SMF fields in with brackets around them for user location/sex (funny, that first is what the import crapped out on).
But in the mean time.. it's up and running in basic mode while I tweak the default XF style to what colors I want.

.