Post by: Imaginos on January 22, 2002, 06:11:00 PM
I have some questions I would like to ask everyone so that I can improve the BEA 100 fold. So here they are:
1) What would you change to make the BEA a better place.
2) What do you see as current problems at the BEA, if any?
3) What do you think can be done to solve current problems, if any?
4) What new stuff would you like to see?
And for the Non Members:
5) What would make you want to sign up for a membership?
And for the Members
6) If you were contemplating cancelling your account what would change your mind?
I am asking these questions to see if I have missed anything in my observations and to see if any of the ideas i have you will BE interested in.
There are new galleries coming and in a day or so I will have a new suprise, though its a small one. There are things that will BE happening in the near future that are very exciting, some that were in the works before i took over and I'm excited about them
Thank You for the time to answer these.
Imaginos
Webmaster
p.s. Please try to be reasonable or at least for the most part. Like IF i had more money then Bill Gates I could do something outrageous like Hire your favorite big bust star to give everyone lapdances but i;m not
Post by: Blake Isaac Gordon on January 22, 2002, 06:27:00 PM
With Webmaster stepping down just who now is charge of the set basic things of this Web-site?
Who’s responsible for the server?
Who gets all the $$$?
Just how much will this place change for the sake of change?
I would like to have the honor of being your first hardheaded skeptic.
So until I see some easily identifiable solid state of direction I’m not buying all of this fan-fare…
But All I really want is a place to view the simple act of of creative expression of my favorite fetish…BE.
And until I see it, Bah-Humbug…
Post by: rtpoe on January 22, 2002, 06:38:00 PM
Anyway:
1. You did mention that you'd try to contact the gallery owners and checking to see if they still are interested in keeping their gallery going. Perhaps the "inactive" galleries could be moved to a special section of the site? Keep the active stuff out in front - maybe put a blurb after each link saying when the site was last updated, or something like that.
2. No real significant problems, so..
3. No solutions needed!
4. What I'd like to see somewhere, ANYWHERE, is a grand calendar of which big bust entertainers will be appearing where. Few of them keep their schedule on their sites up to date, and I don't want to have to visit every single one to get the info I need. And I don't always remember to check the NY Daily News every Tuesday (when they have the ads for Flashdancers & Private Eyes). And not all the clubs advertise, anyway...
Congrats on the promotion!
rtpoe 
Post by: Sencho on January 22, 2002, 06:48:00 PM
2) Lack of contributions, lack of contact (biggest problem), general angry feelings with a lot of posters, did I mention the lack of contact?
3) Well the lack of contact is the easiest to fix. As for the contributions, I'm not sure how to get our contributors to be more a part of the archive. The angry feelings by a number are part of the problem, but the solution is in improving contributions.
4) Left empty for other posters.
6) The change from Webmaster to Imaginos has changed my mind. Give the Archive to see what will happen.
Post by: Imaginos on January 22, 2002, 06:56:00 PM
The calendar is a good idea.
Blake - no fanfare at all. I have taken over running the site. I don't have the hardware here of course but i do have contact with the "hardware guy"
I am here to make things run as smooth as possible.
I don't plan on changing anything just to change something. There should be a purpose behind every change.
So, i guess you will just be skeptical till things start changing for the better though i'd still like to hear your other feedback if you have any.
Imaginos
Webmaster
Post by: prinz on January 22, 2002, 07:06:00 PM
good luck Imaginos! cheers PE
Post by: macros on January 22, 2002, 07:10:00 PM
This would solve the problem of advertising in the UG, that's for sure (NOT that it's a bad thing.. Sometimes it gets a bit overwhelming, though)..
Anybody care to expand (pun definitely intended) on this idea? Feel free..
MTB
Post by: **DONOTDELETE** on January 22, 2002, 07:18:00 PM
Congrats on the promotion(now I see why it's hard to get a hold of you.) right now I don't think I would change any thing.
Though I do have a question. When you reply to a private message is it supposed to dissapear from your message box?
Post by: **DONOTDELETE** on January 22, 2002, 09:01:00 PM
-Munch "Ok, he's not so omnious, and not really in shadows, but you know what I mean" Wolf
Post by: Input_Jack on January 22, 2002, 09:30:00 PM
Congrats on becoming the new "head honcho"! As someone else said, it explains why you've been so darned hard to get ahold of.
As for the questionairre, I'll give it a whirl;
1)To make the BEA a better place, I think...I think it's just fine as it is. While some people don't get along with some others, that's going to be true of any large group. Not much can be done about that.
2)Current problems at the BEA, as far as I can tell, are mostly differences of opinion on what the site is "about", and what it's not. Again, this is largely subjective, and I'm not sure we can, or even want to, get everyone lined up with the same idea of what we're all about.
3)see above
4) What would I like to see done? Actually, making it aposible for an artist with a password to upload new art to his gallery as easily as it can be uploaded to the Members Gallery or User's Gallery would solve my big boggle. The reason I haven't done anything with my gallery is...I don't really know how to. I've gone through three computers since I started here (the first one was crap, and they've only gotten worse from there), and the software to upload through Cute FTP is loooooong gone.
6) As I understand it, my "account" only gets cancelled if you do it to me. Please dont!
Well, that's it for the Q&A. Again, congrats about the promotion! I'm glad someone I know is at the helm! (Meaning no offense to the original Webmaster, who always respondewd quickly and courteously to me on the one or two occasions where I had a problem. Thank you).
See ya later!
Input jack of Area 69
Post by: invisible pervert on January 23, 2002, 12:54:00 AM
You know me (oh boy that's asking for it).
Invis.
Post by: Aussie_Air on January 23, 2002, 01:13:00 AM
But i'd also like to help.
i have been messing around with shockwave flash for a while now and (in my humble opinion) i am sort of good at it.
So i was wondering if you would like some flash work done. like the front page. i think it would be cool the snazz up the **103** a bit. i could be really fancy or just an improvment. and once i get more practice i will make some BE animations (but only when i learn to draw 
)
Imaginos do you like this idea? Does anyone else like this idea? please let me know.
Aussie Air
Post by: Super Gish on January 23, 2002, 03:09:00 AM
-Gish
Post by: steveo on January 23, 2002, 04:01:00 AM
1.) Being able to search the MG would be nice. I understand that PHP (or maybe the way it was implemented) may be a problem. PHP is really powerful, so it is hard to imagine that it can't be done.
2.) In the forum, have a link that the poster includes, show up as a different color or underlined or both. It is hard, sometimes to tell that the poster included a link.
Thanks,
steveo
[ January 23, 2002: Message edited by: steveo ]
Post by: JustMeMike on January 23, 2002, 04:11:00 AM
I think one major problem is stagnant members only galleries. Having a huge list of single galleries is fine to attract new business but they can't see inside the galleries unless they join. But for the long time members or current contributors producing newer content, the old galleries don't offer much at all.
Yes I know, gallery contributions are in fact contributions. The authors of stories or morphed images receive not a penny in compensation. 50+ monthly editions of AOV haven't put a penny in my pocket. So I know.
But galleries that have been stagnant for a year should now be made public...and the complimentary memberships granted to those content providers should be revoked, unless new contributions are made.
Two reasons why - some would now contribute more new material to their existing galleries, to keep their memberships. And two - you'd have more to show to new prospects who are considering joining but aren't sure.
Post by: furryman on January 23, 2002, 04:50:00 AM
2. Update more
3. Update more
4. How about a special section for Gideon (Mark Parsons)
6. Update more!
Any questions? :}
Post by: Fret Pearson on January 23, 2002, 04:54:00 AM
Rtpoe's feature calendar is a great idea. With so many big names already visiting the site it might not be that hard to organize.
I'm currently not a member of the BEA, though I would consider being so if there were more BE fiction type updates and/or special content. However I don't want to see the story archive as a Member's Only area 
or even see the Member's Only stories section vastly expand...
Links should be a different color - yes, please.
Ah well, basically what I'd like to see change around here is only whatever has to be done to get more BE stories written and/or pictures of large breasted beauties fondling themselves onto my hard drive. And high quality movies.
Fret
Post by: ApesMa on January 23, 2002, 05:19:00 AM
I hate to bring up a controversial topic, but I'd like to see more frequent updates to the story archive as well.
If this weren't a pay site, I'd wouldn't give the matter much thought--after all, it's a function of people who are producing morphs and writing stories in their spare time. But a pay site ought to be doing something over and above just providing disk space; it ought to be going out and generating what people are presumably paying for, commissioning stories and morphs.
[ January 23, 2002: Message edited by: ApesMa ]
Post by: **DONOTDELETE** on January 23, 2002, 05:42:00 AM
how about "anthology pages" for BE authors who'd like to produce websites of their work? it could lead to more illustrated stories and more unique web design here at the BEA.
to correct the problem listed in Input Jack's #4, build a library of usable how-to documents and/or a list of knowledgeable people willing to assist new gallery curators in learning to do FTPing and other technical tasks. in the old days, the original webmaster often tried to train new FTPers personally, and things stalled completely when he wasn't available to help.
[ January 23, 2002: Message edited by: gonZo ]
Post by: steveo on January 23, 2002, 06:35:00 AM
One thing that was talked about for awhile was a free section and a members section in the galleries. That would be a nice touch.
steveo
Post by: **DONOTDELETE** on January 23, 2002, 08:34:00 AM
A private message alert for the forum.
And a chance to help once I learn more.
Post by: Vermillion on January 23, 2002, 09:10:00 AM
Post by: 3deroticer on January 23, 2002, 09:20:00 AM
A year ago a disturb employee started putting drugs into my drink while I was working and I kept having health problem and thought maybe that I was pushing myself to hard for working 70 hours a week. then my kidney rupture and it been trying to heal all year and it looks as if they are going to have to take it out. It boggles my mind that someone could do that to others, but it even boggles my mind that someone on the list has no afterthought about pushing drugs into the forum. Can we keep drug abuse outside this forum? Go to wired.com or something but not in here? Please! I dont care if the the person is a professional, if it is illegal ,I dont want to know about it! and beside it has nothing to do with BE!
Now if the person in question could understand that then I will hold no grudges against that person and be willing to be friend if that is possible? I think we could get along, and I would like to get along.
Post by: **DONOTDELETE** on January 23, 2002, 10:24:00 AM
-Munch "everything else is fine" Wolf
Post by: yzal on January 23, 2002, 12:09:00 PM
2. I've heard rumors of a big backlog of BE stories. Also, when I email you to ask where to send my personal check to become a member, no one answers. So, you've lost several opportunities to take my money.
3. Get someone to update the stories once a month or something. Track your emails and make sure they are replied to in a timely manner.
4. I'd tell you if I knew
5. Me having a job. I realize this is beyond your control. And getting someone to tell me where to send a check.
Keep up the good work!
Post by: **DONOTDELETE** on January 23, 2002, 04:05:00 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Imaginos:
1) What would you change to make the BEA a better place.I would reinstitute the videos/clips which disappeared over a few months ago and a replacement was promised but never arrived. I think either new videos/clips or live stripper chat WITH sound(where they actually get naked and dirty without 1-on-1 overcharge).
2) What do you see as current problems at the BEA, if any?
See Answer #1. Also know that the fact that this reinstitution of video was never done is as big a problem as there not being video currently.
3) What do you think can be done to solve current problems, if any?
Well, find a new video feeds place. And it should be larger women, larger breasts, etc. type feeds...since that is why most of us are here, I guess.
4) What new stuff would you like to see?
Well, more of the movies that have been posted to the forum would be pretty cool. A user/member movie gallery, for example?
And for the Non Members:
5) What would make you want to sign up for a membership?
$20/week...as in, you give me $20/week and I'll give it back to you for a membership. I'm lower than broke right now, but I guess that's not the only reason I quit my membership. I think the fact that I am not all that interested in paying for anything I see here is the biggest reason.
Post by: kalani on January 23, 2002, 07:57:00 PM
>1) What would you change to make the BEA a better place.
Already mentioned above: staff/member communication. Communication is all-important. Suggestion: post *realistic* customer support instructions; don't make the process sound rosy if it ain't gonna play out that way. If an individual problem will take some time to get to, an interim email letting the member know that fact will go a long way toward keeping him from getting anxious. Most folks will be patient if they know they aren't being ignored. Consider a support page just for announcements about technical issues of the moment, or a separate forum just for monitoring member queries and complaints. This last has the advantage of being public and eliminates the "never-got-your-email" excuse.
>4) What new stuff would you like to see?
Emphasis on the word "archive." Archiving suggests a cataloguing scheme that facilitates retrieval. I don't know whether this means databasing BEA content, so that each story, image, or video is a "field" entry that can be retrieved by searching on certain other fields, or whether it just means making optimum use of the META element to identify web document contents -- or both. If visitors can search and see a listing or thumbnails of what might be of interest to them, they may have an incentive to join. And it would be a boon to reprobates like me who, if they happen to feel on Tuesday that it's a cleavage kind of day, they could then spontanously produce a listing of all things cleavage at BEA, etc.
But the key idea is: searchability of the whole site. Even if it means different search mechanisms for different parts of the site.
>6) If you were contemplating cancelling your account what would change your mind?
Well, a faceful of big boobs would be sure-fire, but short of that, if the issue were the affordability of the membership, how about an opportunity to contribute? This could involve proofing META tags for keyword completeness, or adding such tags to existing pages in old galleries and archives. Such a task would not entail "knowing HTML," just how to use Notepad to edit specific lines for specific features. Or cataloguing images for a database, adding values to fields, etc. The archiving/searching concept, or some of the changes that you're already contemplating, might generate a lot of grunt work for those who are uncertain about how to satisfy their desire to contribute here.
Again, welcome to the wheel!
Aloha!
Post by: sheber on January 23, 2002, 10:39:00 PM
Post by: Imaginos on January 24, 2002, 01:02:00 AM
Sencho - I am working with a ton of artists i have backlogged (sorry but very very soon you will all be online. thank you for your patience) So new content and more frequent updates are forthcoming
Thank you for giving the BEA another chance.
Prinz - thanks it will be a little confusing when i switch you over but will be easy enough to adapt to. going to have to give you some simple update lessons in mirc if your willing.
Macros - we have some things in the works but i'm not sure i understand what you mean. can you please elaborate?
Splicer - thanks and i will try to get you and the others online very soon...god i hate saying that but i can only work so fast
not sure why your pm disappeared, it should stay till you delete it.
Munch - I am at the helm so to speak and can make more decisions and have more access then i used to by alot. I'm a webmaster not a baskin robbins!
Imput Jack - already mailed you on getting you up to speed. Don't worry i'm not going to wax your account for no reason.
Invisible Pervert - i'm sure we would all love to see real footage of real be but until the lgm come down and give me a be ray that probably wont happen only clip i have seen was that lady with the inflatable implants.
Aussie Air - I think flash is cool but I can't quite do a flash frontpage deal yet, though I would LOVE To see you do some BE animations. Perhaps a gallery of your own?
Super Gish - if the flash is done right its not a huge download. there are things you can do to optimize it.
steveo - will add that to my list for user/members gallery search function. I like that idea. PM alert. will see if ubb has a setting for that
not sure if i can change the link function for the forum but i'll look and see if i can.
JustMeMike - already have some ideas to do that. I will be changing some listings around soon and am looking into ideas similar to what you have posted.
furryman - did you want the BEA to update more? see above posts
Fret Pearson - noted on the stories and i dont have any plans to make them all MO. It is in Marks hands how he runs it and i will be mailing him to chat about stuff soon.
I like rt's idea too. its along the lines of others i have. keep an eye out for stuff coming up.
ApesMa - noted. see above posts
gonZo - heh links, ok i'll definatly have to dig out where they are hiding and change them. I hope its a universal setting and not per forum.
please mail me about this anthology page idea and go into more depth. thank you.
yeah i have been trying to train some and have only a rough page on Gallery Setup. I need to go into more depth or perhaps find some people willing to help me help the artists and write how to stuff.
Vermillion - send me an e-mail directly and i'll see why you have not been answered. I plan on changing that too. [email protected] for now.
3deroticer - thats terrible! I hope that your opperation goes well and that you are ok. We try to not censor stuff here at all but if it is off topic it should be in the off topic forum. If it is hostile its usually deleted to preserve everyones peacful visits.
yzal - please mail me directly at [email protected] and tell me what other addys you have mailed and not gotten replies from, that is if you still wish to join.
thank you and i will do my best.
Juggler - the streaming videos? never really watched them myself but i will see what happened and if we can reinstate them or something similar.
kalani - thanks. as to archiving its a cool idea making the whole site searchable but not something i could do right away. I will look into some sort of cataloguing option for the semi near future. I would like to see this feature myself. IF i can get to the point of implementing such a thing and need help you bet i will ask for it
Thanks again everyone for the responses. If I don't know what you all want then I only have my own ideas to go on
Imaginos
Webmaster
Post by: jayjay88 on January 24, 2002, 07:44:00 AM
First of all an overview: three years ago when i first discovered the 'BEar-chive', as I thought the name was pronounced, it was the morphs which blew me away...and of course the galleries were accessible at the time. The galleries are of course the backbone or 'body' of the BE. The e-zines have always been a vital part of the site, and the 'life-blood' is the daily goings-on in the Forum and the User gallery...that activity, energy, exchange and resource is what brings me back quite often several times a day.
Now, my first idea is that the 'face' of the site...the main page...could be a little more dynamic. By that i don't necessarily mean 'Flash' presentations, but if you look, there are no photos, graphic work of any kind. I assume that has been deliberate and have just accepted it for what it is, but it does mean for the first time visitors that they have to 'go behind closed doors', many of them locked which is ok, but not terribly inviting...i will say that there is a 'calmness' to the image of the site, and an orderliness which is appreciated. Nothing worse than sites which shout at you for attention. BUT...maybe a little PR work, such as a monthly gallery promotion, a little teaser of someone's work presented as 'open' images that one sees on the main page would entice more punters. Have a look at Renderosity.com, if you don't know it...the Poser artists here know it well, i'm sure. That site is maybe a little too busy, but there is immediate interest in the artists' work created by being able to see some of it. Just an idea...i'm not suggesting that things change radically here.
Then i'd like to offer some suggestions regarding the UG. So often there are individuals who out of ignorance or purpose post large numbers of pics and wipe out in a matter of minutes the morphs that some of us have worked on for hours and hours. Cannot there be a way of limiting uploads to an absolute maximum of 5??...I also wonder at times if there should be a separate UG for morphing and one for un-morphed pics. I do realise that the posts pass into the members gallery, and i appreciate that a near-constant source of new posts does give the gallery a vitality which is healthy and invites frequent re-visits.
I support the recent discussion of a re-vitalised techniques section to the Forum.
Another idea to enhance vitality is to re-introduce a weekly [or monthly] morphing contest like the one Chili use to run...nothing like competition and a bit of recogniton to set the place alight! eDD and I have exchanged e-mails on the subject only recently and wondered about approaching the 'powers that BE'...so here is the opportunity...WHAT DO THE OTHER MORPHERS THINK?
Another small thing...i've always wondered just how much this site is visited...and how many members there are here. Could those stats be active somewhere?
Membership?...i was a member for more than a year, and then the card ran out, no one tried to get me to re-join, so i got use to being an active 'visitor'. My word to you is to not let that happen in the future. Keep the ones you've got and entice new members when you can. Having said that, I feel at home here and want to support as best i can...and have been doing so with the posting of around a hundred of my 'Visions' morphs in the last few months. In order to support your newly inspired efforts i would be willing to renew my membership....alternatively, if you are interested, I would be glad to discuss creating a gallery here at the BE for my morphing work...we can discuss that by e-mail if the interest is there
I hope these comments are of interest...the passing on of a creation from the founder to new blood can be a very dynamic time in the life of of an organ...you have our blessings and we look forward to GREAT THINGS!
........good luck, jayjay
Post by: steveo on January 24, 2002, 08:14:00 AM
Also, I might be up for providing a tutorial or 2. I already did a mini-tutorial for JJ, in PSPro. I am kinda fluent in 3 tools - PSPro7, PS6, and gimp. I would really like to see Pacman and Magic do some tutorials - there is a lot we could learn from those guys!
steveo
[ January 24, 2002: Message edited by: steveo ]
Post by: **DONOTDELETE** on January 24, 2002, 09:14:00 AM
How about a request pictures gallery so people who can't morph or don't know how(don't have the software) can post a desired pic and one of us friendly morphers can morph it and give them a taste of what they're missing.
Post by: 3deroticer on January 24, 2002, 10:12:00 AM
Post by: Pacman on January 24, 2002, 10:12:00 AM
Though It's important that I get a chance to see The Surgeon's before I do this. The way I do things was flat out taught to me by him, and I don't want to recycle things that people can already view. I am sure I have added many other techniques and so on in time, and would even be willing to more in depth on some of the general things I do when I work with a photo.
As far as a morph contest goes, I like the idea. But the people judging the morphs should range from artists to people who just visit.
I haven't listed my idea's here because they are roughly 4 pages long. Those went to IM's mailbox. But I just wanted to point out that a lot of you have same ideas as I, and I think those common idea's should obviously be the ones looked at the closest.
It's nice to see people's gears churning away here. Keep thinking folks.
Everything starts from an idea.
Post by: Imaginos on January 24, 2002, 10:20:00 AM
IF someone posts to SELL / OBTAIN something illegal then that post will be deleted when it is found.
Advice given over the net should be taken with a grain of salt, as the saying goes, by anyone.
I'm only talking about free speech not the illegal use of drugs or anything else of that nature.
Imaginos
Webmaster
Post by: 3deroticer on January 24, 2002, 12:50:00 PM
I have never ask for censorship of the discussion of illegal drugs, and I would be guilty of talking about bizarre things myself and hope that it would not be censor. I am crazy! but not a dealer or a pusher.
Post by: **DONOTDELETE** on January 24, 2002, 12:56:00 PM
I've been a paying member of the BEA since its inception back in 1997. Imaginos, congrats on your assumption of 'Webmaster-age" for the site!
I'm looking forward to seeing a re-vitalization of the BEA.
I second the suggestions in Juggler's post. The Influx Streaming videos/movies were a major reason for my continuing membership and that ball was dropped a while ago ... never really addressed in a straightforward manner by the Webmaster. Updates never came very often and certainly not as were originally promised. It's a great added value/attraction for those of us who aren't necessarily into Morphing and such (not being critical, but hey, to each his own Also communication is really important part of customer service and that declined significantly here at the BEA over the past year or so. I recognize what it takes to run a large site such as this, so I know its going to take time. But please do look into getting SOME sort of streaming feeds/movies back on the BEA! To end on a positive note, it IS cool that a site such as this does exist ...and let me know that I was not alone in my love of huge breasts!!! cheers,
ferris
Post by: **DONOTDELETE** on January 24, 2002, 07:10:00 PM
The only thing you could do to get me to re-up on membership is alter time and space or just get RL to slow down. In other words, lack of time is the factor and that's out of both our control. I miss membership.
Post by: Subgirlie on January 24, 2002, 09:27:00 PM
What about some control in the user gallery? Banning Users/IPs that post copyrighted material that does not belong to them and banning people that use the gallery as a personal attacking mechanism.
Post by: Seelie on January 24, 2002, 10:54:00 PM
As much as I love this place, I could write a long, long list of changes I'd love to see. I'll limit myself to the biggest ones:
A. The first thing I'd really, really like to see is adding a slashdot/blog-stlye news page, possibly to the front page itself. Yes I know we have an announcements forum, I just prefer this method. Doesn't need to be updated daily, but, well, when a gallery updates, that's a great place to put the news and a great way to do it. When Lightfoot puts up the next installment of Pulse (for just one example), or when any given model updates her page, it's something many people would find useful. When a new animation viewer comes out and people in the community start using it, we could have a link to the download site, even if it's just cnet's download.com. Stuff like that. The forums are used now, have been forever, but sometimes it gets hard to find just the message you want, or the thread name's misleading so you don't read it, etc. A real news page would be very, very helpful. Plus, with either style suggested, it's easy to let the various gallery owners handle thier own announcements, takes work off your shoulders. Plus, for first-time visitors it really shows how much activity there is or isn't at that time.
B. I like the idea of making the old galleries free, but here's another take on it. Make one free gallery. Let the active contributors throw a few teaser images into it. I'm a real fan of the online comic format (visit keenspot to see what I mean). Imagine if a free image appeared on a regular basis, and the old ones were saved in an archive. Visitors could click through one image after another. Basically a nice guided tour, but also a great free gallery showing what the current crop of artists can do. It'd have a good repeat visit value as well, though not as much as the UG since stuff there comes and goes so fast.
C. The new forum has a great look to it. but it clashes with the older parts of the site. It'd be nice if the site had a unified look.
What do you see as current problems at the BEA, if any?
A. The links page needs cleaning, pruning, and dramatic reworking. Right now it's a big mess and while most links still work and all that, there's nothing to tell someone what any given site is about. You just gotta click one and hope for the best. And personally, I'd love to see a "uses popup ads and mouse trapping" (opens more ads when you close one) added to the description column. You know, where it tells you the site is free, for pay, amateur, etc. A lot of Japanese art sites and professional porn make little banners to promote themselves, and that gives you a little idea of what you're getting into, but then it makes a link page as long as ours a pain to load with all the images. Sorry I can't think of a great, and simple fix to this one.
B. Stagnation. I don't meen lack of updates. I mean new ideas in general. The BE games was one. BustArtist's NaviGirls were another. The Addventure was another. The e-zines were another. It's been a while. I'd love to see us move forward again with something new.
What do you think can be done to solve current problems, if any?
For the first, I really don't know. Perhaps break the list up, make false ads for several sites, give user ratings and reviews, I don't really know.
For the second, I'm at an even bigger loss. Illustrate the story contests? Morph contests are cool, but imagine how much cooler if the morphers grabbed their favorite stories and put visuals to their favorite scenes? Since it's unlikely that they'd pick the same stories, or even the same scenes, we'd get a huge benefit from each contest. I'd really love to see more people working on project's like Pulse and Milk Maid and BustArtist's Wishful Thinking. So many of these start and then die out. I'd love to see one that lasts, and is regular. Sigh. If only I could draw...
What new stuff would you like to see?
See above. Go to Keenspot. Read any given comic. Make one here but with girls having proportions like Pulse, Wishful Thinking, or Milk Maid. Update at least 1 3-panel strip per week. Prefferably M-W-F, but once per week would be cool too. Don't make it have each 3-panel strip be independent of the others (like in most newspapers), tell a continuing story, like Wishful Thinking. I guess I'm just thinking wishfully on this one myself .
What would make you want to sign up for a membership?
It's embarassing. I've been here since before the donations for the "new" server. I moderated the old forums for a couple years. And I've never been a member. I want to be, but I'm broke. Have been since high school. Unless you can get me a job, and clear my debts, I can't contribute except for the occasional donation, or in a way that's not monetary (like when I volunteered to help Mark T proofread the stories before they got posted, or while I was a forum moderator). But, alas, I'm a writer, and not good at erotica. I can proofread execlently (heh, sorry, couldn't resist), but I'm not much for creating my own erotica. I'd be glad to help out again if you can come up with a method...
[ January 24, 2002: Message edited by: Seelie ]
Post by: **DONOTDELETE** on January 25, 2002, 12:19:00 AM
Post by: Imaginos on January 25, 2002, 12:20:00 AM
ferris - Will do, hopefully i can work something out and get some streams back here. Thank you for your support
BypassCatch22 - Totally understandable. Here is hoping that RL becomes much better for you.
Subgirlie - That is definalty on my list of things to try and get implemented.
Seelie - Hmmm not sure how to go about that yet but will see if i can do that. As it is now I will be having all the gallery owners mail me so that i can start putting updates on the new frontpage asap AND will see about some sort of NEW icon so everyone knows whats been updated.
I agree on the links page and that also is on my to do list. I like the idea of pop up warnings. Pacman had a good free program for banner killing somewhere. I'll have to get a link to that also placed up.
No worries about stagnation. I will be looking into and implementing as many different and fun things as i can for everyone.
Seele - if you can update a personal story section semi often then i would be happy to give you and other writers their own site. Check the Anthologies Codex segment of the site. I remember you having been a mod for a long time. While giving memberships to everyone that visits is not a reality (must pay the bills) we do give it to helpers and content providers
Imaginos
Webmaster
Post by: Fret Pearson on January 25, 2002, 01:08:00 AM
quote:
Emphasis on the word "archive." Archiving suggests a cataloguing scheme that facilitates retrieval. I don't know whether this means databasing BEA content, so that each story, image, or video is a "field" entry that can be retrieved by searching on certain other fields, or whether it just means making optimum use of the META element to identify web document contents -- or both. If visitors can search and see a listing or thumbnails of what might be of interest to them, they may have an incentive to join. And it would be a boon to reprobates like me who, if they happen to feel on Tuesday that it's a cleavage kind of day, they could then spontanously produce a listing of all things cleavage at BEA, etc.But the key idea is: searchability of the whole site. Even if it means different search mechanisms for different parts of the site.
This is the best idea I've heard so far, and if it were implemented I would join the BEA in a hot second. If there was some kind of web access to a database comprised of all the content ever uploaded to the site, with searchable forms (model, pose, date, image type, morpher, video codec, whatever) then the site would truly be an archive. This would take some time, but it could be made mandatory for files uploaded to galleries to be described for the index... Many of us now have mini-archives on our own machines organized in crazy ways. It would be great to have the BEA be a central repository for all members to contribute to and access.
Fret
Post by: Input_Jack on January 25, 2002, 11:23:00 AM
Just so you all know, I am an artist with a "stagnant" gallery called "Area 69" (and if you read my earlier letter, you'll know why). Please, keep in mind that a free membership is the -only- compensation we artists and writers get for having a gallery here on the BEA. Originally, I wanted a gallery so that people could see my artwork for free. Then it changed to a pay site. Making the galleries of people who haven't "contributed" for a year or so free is a fine idea. please do! In fact, if I had my way, my gallery would have been free from the start. However, revoking the memberships of people who have not "contributed" for a year or more is just, well...mean. In that time, I have had fewer and fewer opportunities to put the hours of work into producing a drawing of sufficient caliber for the gallery. Plus, I've had "artist's block". But in the meantime, I have added several photo morphs to the UG and MG. I'd have added them to my gallery, if I had known how to, or had a section for it. The point of all this is that I'm sure I'm not the only one for whom life took an unexpected turn or seven, and found themself no longer having the time and/or inclination to regularly create new artwork or stories for the BEA, because everything we do is for free, and sometimes it's about paying the bills. It sucks, but there it is. Now, if we were allowed to advertise for comission work on our site, that would help. But apparently that had been banned by the previous owner, for (I believe I heard) legal reasons. So I would ask that, if people believe that something should be done, that it please not include ejecting people simply because they have not had the time to update their galleries.
BTW, who else would like their gallery to be free?
Post by: kalani on January 25, 2002, 02:01:00 PM
But let's run with Seelie's suggestion that the link feature could be better handled. At the risk of **73** this idea to death, I'd propose that the link function is just the sort of feature that would benefit from database treatment. Perhaps this would be a place to try out this idea on a small scale before tackling the larger pieces of the BEA. If each site were a record, a visitor could generate a fresh list based on his or her own search criteria. As for the record content, if BEAers were to let the link caretaker know what boobsite attributes they'd like to search on, perhaps a review form could be posted in the links section that we could use to review a site when we discover one we're enthusiastic about and submit the results for addition to the database. That would make building the nimbler, more informative link base that Seelie hints at a work-in-progress for all of us.
In fact, I'll volunteer right now to help with the review form and search for a cgi script for the database.
Post by: **DONOTDELETE** on January 25, 2002, 06:04:00 PM
Post by: Imaginos on January 25, 2002, 07:08:00 PM
please send me.
1) address you mailed to
2) how you mailed it
3) what you mailed
4) when you mailed
Thank you. I should be able to get this resolved asap once i get the details.
Imput Jack - already sent you an e-mail and am working out your gallery issues. As much as i would love to make everything free that is an impossibility. Bandwidth is not cheap nor is hardware that needs upgrading at times. Also who said i was going to revoke memberships though many of the artists have enjoyed memberships for about 1-2 years with no updates.. tell me do you think thats abusive? what would you suggest to get artists to update? =)
Splicer - thank you thats just the beginning.
Fret Pearson - will look into it but it wont be something that can just be slapped together in a month I like the idea alot though.
kalani - I have not e-mailed the links owner yet but will soon. I would like to see them reworked in some way but at least we have a links person Let me find out if runnign cgi is easy to do on the site, it should be and thanks for the offer.
Imaginos
webmaster
[ January 25, 2002: Message edited by: Imaginos ]
Post by: SAMU on January 26, 2002, 01:17:00 AM
The Breast Expansion Links page needs a lot of work. Especially seperating pay site links from free. Also a note of weather the site is browser friendly or a Java/flash party crasher.
Since it is the artists who make this site, some form of remuniration could go a long way to making this site much more attractive as a place to post pics. A weekly contest for image/manipulation, tutorial or writing that pays a cash award of say $20.00 could bring in more and better image, tutorial and writing posts if the method for determining the winner was fair and open. For example if several regulars are appointed monthly to vote on the 4 weekly winners. I wouldn't want open polling as that could invite some to register under several names to stuff the ballot box. Of course the judges and winners would have to be identified by their real names so a judge couldn't vote for themself under a different name. The idea is not to be a popularity contest but to reward those who post good stuff and to provide incentive to buy/find/get/produce more and better stuff. The criteria for award could even be those who make a seperate site linked to here like a yahoo club with new scans of hard to find or expensive magazines.
SAMU
[ January 26, 2002: Message edited by: SAMU ]
Post by: Pacman on January 26, 2002, 01:23:00 AM
I'd do it for free, but heck... cash is always good..
But a weekly contest for $20.00 seems pricey in the end.
I'd suggest having a contest each week, and allow the 4 winners from those contests be finalists.
Then vote on for the best of the 4 winners. Let that person take home whatever prize... even if it's just recognition.
Post by: Pacman on January 26, 2002, 01:30:00 AM
How about, do your best cheerleader morph, or one to do a vintage morph. Or a nurse, or ...... well you get the picture.
I'd personally suggest "morph a historical photo."
Post by: Dbot on January 26, 2002, 07:32:00 AM
I was a member of the BEA for about a year, then let my membership lapse when it seemed that the galleries hadn't been updated in a *very* long time. I felt like I wasn't getting much value for my money, and since I was going into grad school (read: reduced cash flow), I cut the BEA loose as an "unnecessary luxury."
Well, I still lurk here and page through the User Gallery. I'd like to sign up again and think these new developments in the BEA are very positive ones. I'll think about rejoining, seriously, and maybe I can make the money part of it work out.
In the meantime, good luck and congratulations!
later!
D
Post by: 2001 on January 26, 2002, 11:11:00 PM
Post by: Neo_Knight2000 on January 26, 2002, 11:54:00 PM
whoever came up with the phrase 'more than a handfull is just a waste' is an idiot.
Post by: Palomine on January 27, 2002, 12:27:00 AM
Personally, I'd suggest avoiding any move to Flash or anything else that consumes add'l bandwith/PC horsepower. Though I've got DSL, not every member/visitor does, and even w/DSL, I prefer that sites I visit frequently to be as lean and mean as possible... makes frequent visiting easy and fast.
Anything that can be done to increase the quantity and quality of content on the site is a plus. There are large parts of it that I don't really visit, so I can't comment on everything, but I do visit the MG and would appreciate a search function (on the MG enter page) that allows you to view all the pix posted since a specific date... this way you can be sure that you haven't missed anything since your last visit WITHOUT the usual hunting and pecking thru the gallery. Just a small suggestion, not a deal breaker but it'd be nice.
Personally, I think that the background color (light blue) is too light, and to be frank, I was one of the folks who longed for the previous interface... again, not a vital thing, but a darker blue would make the white and yellow text easier to read.
I'm sure this is probably not even remotely likely, but I think it was a crying shame that years worth of Forum posts got lost during the last big upgrade. All I remember is hearing something about database incompatibilities and that was that.... the searchable archive of forums, particularly the general forum (esp. years worth of people's opinions on actresses, models, movies, magazines, tv shows, etc...) to me represented a tremendous wealth of info, valuable to new members, visitors and old timers alike (you know, when you want to research something like which Andy Sidaris film featured the best shots of Roberta Vasquez or something equally esoteric like that). I was devestated to see it perish in the last big upgrade (and still don't really understand how it happened and why it's not salvagable) and not just because I had more than 1700 posts of my own inside... if it were possible to recover the lost data, and to reintegrate it into the forums built since that time w/o damage to either the old or new data, I'd strongly support such an effort.
I think that the contents of the old forum were as valuable as the gallery stuff IMHO.
Thanks for asking, best of luck, and let me know if I can be of assistance in any capacities other than those I'm already involved with.
PS: let me suggest something that makes those long nights in front of the keyboard much more pleasant:
http://www.jonessoda.com/
...these fine beverages are "simply delightful" and a welcome change from the boring big brands of pop. I was skeptical when I first saw them, due to the bright colors, clear bottles and funky labels and frankly I was ready to dismiss them as gimmicky. However, upon my first tastes of Crushed Melon and Happy I was hooked. You will be too. (this is not a self-serving plug, I've got no connection with the Jones Soda Co., tho' I wish I did).
Post by: **DONOTDELETE** on January 27, 2002, 02:07:00 PM
Post by: 3deroticer on January 27, 2002, 02:30:00 PM
Post by: **DONOTDELETE** on January 27, 2002, 04:00:00 PM
given that, it would be great to have as much flash content here as we can get, but we shouldn't be adding flash effects to the pages that we all have to use every day (home, forum, gallery, etc.).
Post by: dj-ohki on January 28, 2002, 04:00:00 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Palomine:
I'm sure this is probably not even remotely likely, but I think it was a crying shame that years worth of Forum posts got lost during the last big upgrade. All I remember is hearing something about database incompatibilities and that was that....
im current working with another (non pr0n) site in converting their forum from YaBB to phpBB2... i thought it was gonna be easy to pull off.. HA.. converting between forum backends is a total pain in the ass that requires a custom tayloered solution for each pair of systems. search systems, post methods, UBB (ARGH!!!) code diffrences between implementations, its almost not worth it. the current (almost finished) converter script takes almost 20 minutes to run on the site, and thats using all of my tricks for speed increases.
Post by: Lightfoot on January 28, 2002, 04:07:00 AM
Also, it would increase the amount of bandwidth used by the average person. This bandwidth would be better used by having more (or larger) free areas. The more bandwidth spent with graphics, the less for content.
2) What do you see as current problems at the BEA, if any?
Except for a few people (you probably know who you are), most of the site seems to be dead. It appears as if a majority of galleries only updated once and have then just been riding along with a free membership. Technical problems have been the cause of a few, but I suspect what I said is true for a lot of them.
I remember that "Maxx", used to have a gallery here. It was in the art section, but I have no idea what his drawings were like- his page consisted of a blue/purple HTML page with no text or images at all for possibly a year or longer.
3) What do you think can be done to solve current problems, if any?
I don't know. Paying the gallery owners almost doesn't seem fair. There are a lot of people with websites (however viewable by everyone) who have to pay web server costs, etc. And most of them make no money themselves.
4) What new stuff would you like to see?
Hmm, pictures of women with giant breasts
I think we should have a webzine. Either get together a team with Pac (if he wants) for Thanks, or talk with Al about moving R&D here.
It would be good if the links became a searchable database. There would be sections for art, models, yahoo clubs, etc. People would also have a form that they could fill out to add links.
Membership
I was a member for about a year. I left during one of the periods when very little seemed to be updating. I miss the MG, and considering my limited time to be online, I can only imagine the kinds of stuff I miss.
Personally though, I'd probably just open a gallery here than pay a membership again. I've never done it in the past because I wouldn't want a neglected gallery, and I'd want it to have a pecentage of exclusive material.
Post by: Pacman on January 28, 2002, 10:55:00 AM
Putting a good one together is about 20 times more difficult than just putting a team together.
Hence my open door policy at Thanks.
Post by: natis on January 29, 2002, 11:57:00 PM
Work on the cross-platform appearance. As a web designer and a mac user, this is something that irks me when I see simple things coded wrong. IE 5.1 is the most standards compliant browser and there are things that just don't work right, esp in the member and user gallery. The page ends, but you can keep on scrolling.
Also, I view the code of nearly every site that I visit and you can make your life so much easier if you implememented CSS as much as you can.
I already like the new look/feel of the front area and hope to see it carried further throughout the site.
--natis
Post by: Dr.Morpho on January 30, 2002, 07:58:00 PM
The most frequent topic lamented on in these forums over the years, is the lack of feedback to the artists. The general consensus being that with proper feedback artists would post more (in this thread some are sugesting money, which I doubt is called for by the artists), and conversly off-topic posters would post less.
My suggestion to address this issue is to show the number of hits each thumbnail receives next to the pic. I call it "Who's Hot and Who's Not". It can be a cruel revelation but in the entertainment industry, of which BEA is a part, its called 'Let the box office decide'. Currently, we use a "critic system" for feedback. No poster, operating from their computer knows how much or how little they are appreciated unless they get the rare feedback from the forum critics. Counting and displaying the number of hits per pic is not a perfect system and will never replace critics.
The second half of this suggestion is to then provide a 'sort' feature,(something computers are designed for) to rank and display thumbnails from most to least hits, and from least to most instead of simply displaying them chronologically as is now done. This would allow us to see what subjects and which artists are currently hot, relative to what is available to view. As with everyone, I wish you great success in your new undertaking and hope that with tender loving care and continuing sophistication the site will improve and grow. Who knows, maybe even I and others who have fallen by the wayside will be tempted to start morphing again.
Post by: jayjay88 on January 31, 2002, 08:06:00 AM
Imaginos, i like all the changes you've made so far...the little effect of SEEING the areas which have been updated makes a big difference! BTW you haven't responded to the suggestions i made to you by e-mail.
.........jayjay
Post by: Imaginos on January 31, 2002, 06:57:00 PM
I will see what can be done for the tips and tricks posting images section.
There are some plans I have for inspiring artists but they will have to wait a short bit. Good suggestion though.
Links page see above reply.
Dbot -
Thank you for supporting the BEA when you can and welcome aboard!
Let me know if you run into any problems.
2001 -
I agree a search function would be great but if and when I can get such a thing implemented that will be a ton of work just plugging every single gallery into whatever fields we come up with. Doable but time consuming so it won't be very soon, but i do like the idea.
As to gallery listings there are now pulsating arrows that point at the newwest updates seeing as its all done in html and a nightmare to reorganize gallerys for every single update...or at least till i get the whole site squared away.
Dancer's schedule is an interesting idea. I will look into it.
Neo_Knight2000 - see above
Palomine -
Yes bandwidth is always the issue. The more members we have the more bandwidth we can afford. An ugly but true part of running a site.
I will see what can be done about a search function to the members/user gallery
Once i get the whole site converted over I will see if a slightly darker blue is doable.
As to previous forum posts, I agree that it is a shame that they were lost and unfortunatly, I think the hard drive they were on is no longer even around.
sethjg -
IF i were as rich as Hugh Hefner then sure, I could afford to pay the bandwidth and all other site costs out of my own pocket for everyone to enjoy. Unforutnatly I am not anywhere as rich as Hugh and more on the opposite side of the scale so that is not really feasable.
Lightfoot -
Look for stuff to be alot less dead in the very near future.
Not sure what happened with Maxx's gallery.
BTW we did have a webzine it was called BEHavior. Perhaps it will burst back onto the scene.
natis -
Not really sure what to say. I have not learned the newer css and see too many sites that do not implement it correctly and therefore botch the site up. I will not do something like that to the BEA.
The script for the members gallery is probably its own case in the way it is executed. I'll look into it.
Dr.Morpho -
I will be looking into trying to get the artists feedback on their galleries via hits. First i have to get the site cleaned up and the artists in limbo online. It is a good idea though.
jayjay88 -
The coding of what you are suggesting would be vastly different then how renderosity handles everything. All the pics from what i understand are hosted on renderosity and controlled by one script. The BEA is made up of dozenes of different galleries each with its own html and not controlled by a main script....hence the ability for each gallery to look different.
I agree that feedback is tremendous inspiration.
Hmmm i thought i replied to you. Let me clean my mail out and see where yours is.
Thank you again everyone
Imaginos
Webmaster
Post by: Pacman on January 31, 2002, 08:59:00 PM
Tour stops to be announced soon.
Seriously, after working on Thanks for about 2 years I can really appreciate what went into BEhavior, obviously a far better publication than I could ever dream of. I will continue to wave your banner, with hopes of a return someday. I can't express how much I really appreciated you guys putting that much effort into it, and how overjoyed I was the first two times anything I typed was allowed inside of it.
Times are tough, and folks are busy... but some of us haven't forgotten those who came before us.
Sorry if I'm sappy, but sometimes I really am serious.
Post by: Input_Jack on February 03, 2002, 07:31:00 AM
I wasn't meaning to imply that you had threatened to cut off peoples' memberships. I was just trying to explain to the other people out there why the suggestion had gotten me worried.
As for how to motivate artists to keep updating their galleries, well...OK, I got no ideas. The $20.00 a week contest sounds cool, but in the long run, yes, it would be prohibitively expensive. Maybe an occasional "Hey artists! Update your galleries!" announcement at the top of the homepage might work, say, about once a month or so. You know, kind of like those reminders they send you from the doctor's office when you're about due for a checkup. Or an oil change. Whatever. You know what I mean!
Anyway, I think a semi-ocassional reminder is probably going to be the only way of prompting us artist and writer types to produce, that would be both simple for you to do, and economical.
There, that's what's in my brain for this installment. Later, folks!
Post by: Seelie on February 04, 2002, 12:34:00 AM