Question or Suggestion

[Kristen.NewCreation]

Hey All,

I was talking with my buddy recently and we were discussing the abandoned pets. She brought up an interesting point and I think it sounds good.

When she looked at her list, most of her pets' owners had not been online in over a year. She asked why we don't pull the pets from those accounts and put them back up for adoption for new members to adopt.

Of course, I have no clue, and thought it was a great idea.

So I'll ask.. why don't we put the long time gone members' pets back up for adoption? Even if it was only 10 pets a month, seems like it would slowly reduce the number of lonely pets.

 

[CFfosterANGEL4]

Yes, please help us!!!

We have asked repeatedly for this from Erwin and even Lee Maybe with yet another voice of reason ...

 

[CFpetRESCUER18]

That's what I've been screamin' since I join the pet team. I completely agree. Those members are obviously not coming back. Or they may have already but forgot their password and just made a new account! I've seen several people do that. So how can we get the word out and make this happen?

I even propose that if a member hasn't been online in "how ever many years they decide" that the whole account should be deleted. It is getting really difficult to make user names now cuz so many have already been used and aren't available even though they joined years ago, logged on once and never came back. (Like Sushi that I tried to get when I started!)

 

[Ainuhina]

the reason is that we had people come back even after a year or more in the past and they were really happy to find their pet still alive....that's the reason why we aren't allowed to take members pets away

 

[CFfosterANGEL4]

I wonder if these owners were gone over a year though...guess we wouldn't have any record of that.

They would be quite few in comparrison I'm sure, and I truely do understand and even appreciate the theroy, Really.

It is way out of hand though, and will only be getting worse as time goes on. When I started 1 year ago now we were at 90 A-pets, now we have over 250...someone please do the numbers here Something in time Will have to be done, or we just won't have the manpower.

 

[Kristen.NewCreation]

A simple policy would cover this issue... if you have not been active in X months, your pet will be put up for adoption. If you intend to be gone for an extended period, please use the day care.

 

[CFFosterAngel43]

I have raised this same question before also not only for the pets but also the armor of God inventory items that are being held on these abandoned accounts which should go back to the armory to be available to new members.

I believe the administration should have an email address on account for each member and if we decide to change policy, they could simply send a mass email to any former account that would be affectecd giving say a 30 day warning to either sign back in and take care of thier own affaris or have the account terminated.

the other thing though is that there are so many sock accounts that perhaps the owner is feeding from one account and not signing in to the other account(s) that these also need to be 'warned' that the sock account is in jeopardy of being closed if they do not log in and in some way let us know that they are still maintaining responsibility for the pets/blessings/inventory on those accounts.

policy changes can be tricky in dealing with accounts that may sit idel for a long time and then the members return, but these also can be dealt with responsibly by simply sending this email to these members. if they do not respond, it is not up to us as a site to cover thier bases, we can only do so much, but out of courtesy I think a team should be erected for this 'cleaning house' purpose. too many accounts having been left behind may just clog up the system in ways I am sure we may not all even see, even just server space. I agree something needs to be done, and can be handled responsibly with preset measures taken.

there may even be some accounts where the member has passed on. these may be known accounts to some members and may be handled differently if it is in fact known that they are deceased and not returning - such as an archived section of former members in memorium.

these are just a few thoughts. please respond anyone with any further ideas. with all the changes and disgruntled members that may have left with all the policy changes last year, a simple email sent to them, even letting them know that LeeD has taken over new management can either draw these members back or relieve the current management of duties or policies that were or were not set in place prior to all the changes last year. we are still in a transitoning stage of change in ownership that would be easily allow for these changes and purges to be made if done in the first year of new management, without causing a lot of undue obligation.

 

[CFpetRESCUER18]

That sounds good! There must be a way to send people an email. How long has this site been going? Several years right? There are thousands of members but a lot of them are inactive. If they were cleared out (especially old sock accounts) I bet the bugs we've been having would decrease and the site would run much better and wouldn't be bogged down. Of course Site Supporter account won't not be affected, cuz they paid to have it, ya know.

 

[Angeldove97]

Hi all,
A Pet member asked me to pop in here and see what you all were discussing. I understand that you all are very dedicated to taking care of these pets here, but I'm unsure about how Lee and Staff would feel about making a change to a person's account without their prior consent. It is their pet and should they ever come back to CF (as small of a chance as it is), they might be insulted and hurt about their pet being taken away without them being aware.

We could possibly send out a mass pm to those who haven't been around the site for awhile and have a pet, but some do have their accounts set to private and do not wish to be contacted via email by Staff or Members.

I will bring up the suggestion to Lee and his Advisors and we'll see what they have to say. I just wanted to share my thoughts on it ahead of time.

As for clearing out old sock accounts, we don't ever delete an account because if we did somebody else could register under that name and cause alot of confusion. Most of the issues that are going on at the site are not caused by too many members, but by coding changes that don't work properly or interfere with another feature or by an overload of members posting too fast/too often.

I'll present the pm tonight to Lee, mnphysicist, and Constance and hopefully hear from them soon. Please be patient--- we're going through some staffing changes and working out the kinks in them over the next couple of days.

God bless!

 

[CFfosterANGEL4]

Thank you all for your thougts on the subject at hand

Was thinking, like Kristen had mentioned above, a simple policy change. Or more directly, a simple statement added into the area where the pets are created...like after one year (or whatever) of inactivity on your account your pet will automatically be put up for Adoption. (Or added to, like Erwin's personal pet, a state of "perpetual bliss", all stats will stop and the pet will still remain by the owner's side.

Just another thought that's been tossed around, and asked for here

 

[CFFosterAngel43]

Thank you all for your thougts on the subject at hand

Was thinking, like Kristen had mentioned above, a simple policy change. Or more directly, a simple statement added into the area where the pets are created...like after one year (or whatever) of inactivity on your account your pet will automatically be put up for Adoption. (Or added to, like Erwin's personal pet, a state of "perpetual bliss", all stats will stop and the pet will still remain by the owner's side.

Just another thought that's been tossed around, and asked for here

this would be ideal (stopping the stats from progressing as they do in day care while still staying on the profile) - but there would have to also be a command for the system to cease this status if ever they returned, or else they would be unable to feed or play with the pet if they do return. this should be a simple command for those that right programming I would think. I dont know a lot about proggramming but seems like a direct if/then situation..... if member logs back in....then reactivate pet......just as it does when returning the pet to the profile out of day care.

I still think that by using policy changes we can begin to be able to purge some of the clutter of abandoned profiles, and even release the inventory items and pets by adding policy, even if those accounts now idle are left as is and 'grandfathered in' to be left unattended unless said person returns and then leaves again. there could be a beginning date stating that as of this date anyone not active and not a SS will find that inactivity in excess of one year is suseptible to being purged, unless other arrangements have been made (thinking military deployments may take more than a year or sabatacals or whatever - these individuals can write staff ahead of time and these accounts held for them)

just a fe more thoughts....

 

[Angeldove97]

Hi all,
This is the pm I would like to present to LeeD, mnphysicist, and Constance. Please let me know what you think and if anything should be changed or added.

Thanks!!

Dear Lee, Ron, & Kate,
I hope you all are doing well. I was asked to put forth a suggestion from the CF Pet Workers Ministry about the welfare of pets on accounts that have been abandoned for a long time. The Pet Workers are very dedicated in helping to feed these virtual animals and make sure they’re kept in perfect health, while the members are away from their account. However, every month more pets are being added to the Abandoned List and its starting to get difficult for the Pet Workers to handle. They started the Abandoned List with only 90 pets (which is still a lot), now a year later they have over 250 pets on just this list--- while still looking after all the other pets that have members who visit the site regularly. So this community of members is looking for a change in way things are handled.

It has been suggested that perhaps a policy or feature could be made to help assist the Pet Workers in order to be sure that pets that have been abandoned for a long period of time (~1 year or so) would not die from not being fed or for health reasons. Two ideas have been put forth by the pet members:

(1) After a year of not signing into their accounts, the pet on that account would be taken away from the member and be put up for adoption by the Pet Workers. The member would be notified by email and/or pm of this before it would happen and with plenty of time (1-2 weeks) to act on it before it occurs. It would also be suggested to the member that they can stop in at CF and put their pet into day care for an extended period of time--- I’m sure that the CF Pet Workers would be even willing to provide the blessings to the member in order for their pet to be in the daycare should the member not have enough blessings to do so.

I know that the Staff at CF does not touch accounts unless we really have to for some reason, so I know this may be met with some opposition. Still these are God’s creatures, even if they are virtual, and it should be seen as a responsibility of the member.

Pet information could easily be transferred over from one account to another (simply have to find the info on the member’s profile and input it onto another account) so it wouldn’t require any coding changes, just have to edit the profile via the AdminCP. The Pet Workers have foster accounts opened where the pet could be transferred onto and then put into the Adoption Center.

Also, with any new pets being made, this change could be posted for the member to read before accepting that they want to make a new pet. It was suggested that this be added into it: “If you have not been active in 12 months, your pet will be put up for adoption.”

I also offer my help, as the Community Tech Liaison, in assisting the CF Pet Workers with the contacting of members and transferring of pets over for adoption should you all decide this would be the best method.

(2) Once the member has not returned for a long period of time (once again around 1 year was suggested), perhaps it could be coded that the pets live in “perpetual bliss” with perfect health, hunger, and happiness. I believe that Erwin’s pet has been set to this type of “perpetual bliss” so perhaps it could be applied to other pets as well. The Pet Workers could design a list under which pets fall into this category and then contact a Staff member who could set the pets into that state.

We’re lucky enough to have members here at CF who are willing to take care of these pets and dedicate hours every week to making sure every pet is cared for. I think they deserve a little bit of extra help from Staff and by helping them set up a policy or feature to help deal with abandoned pets, it will be a great and highly appreciated blessing to the members.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this matter. Take care and God bless.

~Tatiana
Community Tech Liaison

 

[CFfosterANGEL4]

 

[Kristen.NewCreation]

Hi Tati,

Great! Awesome job. Thank you.

Kristen

 

[CFFosterAngel43]

very good, but would they really need to be transferred to a foster account and then set into day care for adoption or can they by default go directly to day care and listed in adoption center for say 300 or 350 blessings?

 

[CFfosterANGEL4]

Going over our monthly up-dating to ensure that no pets have been Cyberspaced/Corrupted accounts, in the Abandoned Room Care area, or that no owner has returned to regularly feed their pet. Thought I'd take some notes and found this interesting, I'll share it a bit more organized at a glance, it may be helpful to someone

A-pets that has owners that have been a year out.

118-Cat-Alex
412-Spider-Charlotte
459-Cat-Sparkle Kit Kat
610-Turtle-Louie
674-Snake-Psych
698-Dog-Schroodles
938-Dog-Dandin
956-Dog-Alphonse
957-Snail-Chameleon
981-Horse-marey
1000-Turtle-Speed bump
1012-Fish-Chomper
1056-Dog-Zykanive
1075-Tutle-Persephone
1107-Cat-callie
1129-Turtle-Terry Turtle
1133-Monkey-monkey doo
1135-Snail-cindy
1178-Turtle-Cardinal Cajetan
1243-Chicken-Zazu
1328-Cat-Luna
1345-Monkey-Jennifer
1349-Monkey-loopy
1351-Monkey-cutie
1359-Frog-Charlay
1372-Dog-Cisco
1382-Cat-Reese

1310-Monkey-Jango=2/10
1010-Dog-Mattie=2/15
1408-Monkey-Barney=2/20
1330-Fish-Bob=2/28


Up and Coming in the next few months

1459-Dog-Charlie=3/2
952-Pet Rock-Iggy=3/7
1261-Dog-Buster=3/23
1412-Pet Rock-Olive=3/27
847-Snail-Monsieur Sheldon=3/30
1185-Fish-Bananas=3/31

1077-Dog-Ringo=4/2
1456-Turtle-Marbles=4/2
799-Dog-Benji=4/8
1016-Dog-Jude=4/8
1364-Rabbit-Pai=4/10
940-Cat-Ellora=4/24
1308-Spider-Punkin=4/28

985-Dog-Church=5/3
1360-Monkey-mitsy=5/4
1541-Pet Rock-Max=5/4
1377-Turtle-krissy=5/5
1545-Pet Rock-Amalthea=5/10
1008-Dog-Killer=5/17
1479-Spider-Wacky Ponga=5/19
1299-Cat-Precious=5/21
1505-Horse-Misty=5/24
1405-Dog-Smokey=5/28
988-Fish-Oliver=5/29
1402-Dog-Maggie Mae=5/29
1361-Snake-Cornflakes=5/31

 

[Angeldove97]

very good, but would they really need to be transferred to a foster account and then set into day care for adoption or can they by default go directly to day care and listed in adoption center for say 300 or 350 blessings?

As far as I know, there's no way for one of us to edit an account and put the pet into adoption. We'd have to literally change the password, go into the account, and put the pet up for adoption. Because of that, that's why I suggested that the pet info simply be transferred over to a foster account and then put into the adoption center. The blessings that are earned could then be blessed back to the original owner.

 

[Angeldove97]

Okay so right now we have 31 pets that would be on that list--- and it would be basically doubling within the next couple of months.

This would just be a small percentage of the Abandoned pets it seems but I'm sure even getting a few pets taken care of would be a great help to you all.

 

[CFfosterANGEL4]

Yes, lol!

I stopped at May, but coming up in June-August we'd be looking at about the same amount of #'s as far as I could guess to venture without actually counting them and so on.

Shoot, we used to lose an average of 18ish pets per month to Kill-night, now we're down to more like 6ish, so somethings working Good good there! If you could work it out where this was done at the beginning of the month, say the last months go in at month's beginning that would give them all a decent chance to be Adopted before deletion came Or, if we're just looking to delete them (instead of "bliss") that could be, obviously, easily worked out too.

 

[Angeldove97]

Shoot, we used to lose an average of 18ish pets per month to Kill-night, now we're down to more like 6ish, so somethings working Good good there! If you could work it out where this was done at the beginning of the month, say the last months go in at month's beginning that would give them all a decent chance to be Adopted before deletion came Or, if we're just looking to delete them (instead of "bliss") that could be, obviously, easily worked out too.

Yes, something like that could be figured out once we get an okay on something from the Advisors and Lee about the situation. We wouldn't be putting adoptions up the night before Kill-Night--- that would just be horrible.

I would like to send this out this evening if possible, so any more suggestions before I do that would be appreciated