Is the revamp also going to do something about the current state of RHG and just the general community of animators of Stickpage? I feel like the site, as a website dedicated for stickfigure animations, isn't really doing anything much for animators other than giving them money for when their animations get featured, and it does very little to help gain new animators.

Like, I think it would be nice if there was some specific part of the website where maybe new or aspiring animators can go and learn a few basics or something like that. Sure there's the tutorial section, but I feel like it's just a big library for those who know what to look for, instead of something more comprehensive for those who don't know where to start. Not just a subforum, but really something that can present like maybe a program of sorts that give kind of like "internet courses" for beginning animators. Just something that guides learners in a logical progression, and also involves more experienced animators to kind of teach. I'm not talking about like just basic tutorials on YouTube or a list of tutorial for beginners, and I'm not talking about full-on mentorship, but maybe a combination of both where there's a program to follow. Like say for a complete beginner he should first learn about stickfigure construction. The first step would be to watch some tutorial videos and read some helpful stuff about stickfigure construction, and then step 2 would be for him to do some drawing drills, and then step 3 would be for him to upload a swf of what he's learned and upload it somewhere and someone (or a group of people) watches it and gives critique to try and help you improve. Then to be able to go on to the next step (like for example making poses or something), you should first get the approval of those who critiques the works, and if you're not ready yet you have to just keep practicing the drills and follow the critiques. I think it will help in getting more people into animating stickfigures, and that's always a plus for a website that makes money out of stickfigure animation.

There's also the matter of critiquing works. I feel like there are those who don't give impartial critiques because of the maker's reputation, or there are those who give kind of condescending comments because the creator lacks reputation. I think a good way to make critiquing better is to make a system where a creator can upload his work and this work will be shown publicly in a place where anyone can comment, but the creator is anonymous. I think this might increase the quality of critiques given by completely removing bias from the people who would want to critique. Maybe even an option to rate critics to discourage giving useless critiques or even discourage giving very harsh remarks.


These are just suggestions that I think would bring the focus of StickPage to animators instead of just the animations. Reading back, they kind of sound way too complicated but I think I should at least try to start the ball rolling.

Quote from Equinox Fox

True but it feels so out of the way...

you're joking, right? click your name and then click 'view forum posts', what's so difficult about that?

Quote from Exilement

you're joking, right? click your name and then click 'view forum posts', what's so difficult about that?

He sees no good reason why he should put up with one extra click. It is entirely unnecessary goddammit, and by jove, he is not going to stand for it.

Quote from Exilement

you're joking, right? click your name and then click 'view forum posts', what's so difficult about that?

I think he means that he wants to view his posts/threads that people have responded to and have it organized similar to the What's New tab, and that while you could technically manually do this using latest posts using just your memory, "it feels so out of the way." At least that's how I understood it.

Isn't there a "Subscribe to this thread..." function? Maybe you should give a try, it's at the upper part in the "Thread Tools".

After doing that, you can see it on your own profile setting at "Subscriptions" tab, as long as you activate this "Subscribe" function somewhere on General Settings.


For me, the only gripe I have around here - other than the ones already mentioned - is the lateness of the payment given after a competition's finished nowadays (maybe prior BSE a.k.a. Best Sequence Executioner V4, every payment business was still going well). In my perspective, it's kind of troublesome when we have to remind the host every single time to pay the winners instead of them paying the winners on the promised date by themselves, since it should be their duty.
Last time it happened on Haunted Mansion 2014 and people were starting to bump the thread, revealing that somehow there was a judge that didn't want to score the entries, which frustrated the competitors. It was kinda saddening to see it like that, even though finally the results had been announced and winners had already been paid. But it still doesn't hide the fact that the one who should pay the winner tend to give it late instead of on time. This can make people who are interested in future comps want to think twice in regards to join one due to this problem, so in my humble opinion this should be kept in mind as well.

P.S.: I was also having this issue on Film Tribute Competition but the difference between HM '14 is that the result has been announced. It's just the promised sponsored anim to SP Portal (not me though) was uploaded late than promised date. Though in the end I've been paid, but it was still 3 months late. Not that I lose faith in stone though, but an update should be at least given is all :o

Quote from Mustika

Not that I lose faith in stone though, but an update should be at least given is all :o

Stone is not the one managing the money though. But i know what you're saying, because it has been happening a lot.
This is also something i feel is more needed. More faces on Stickpage....no one knows what is happening behind screens of our guy in charge.
I think Stone has done a really great job involving people around here, and he is basicly the only face of Stickpage that i admire and enjoy working with.

He created The Stickpage Animation Crew, giving those who wanted to go that extra mile an opportunity, so we could join in on the work he is doing, and help us improve. That's not only a great idea, but also a big commitment for someone who is already with his hands full. And it's not to praise Stone alone, because you mods do a great job aswell, but my point is that, we need more people that can be an inspiration to us, someone who actually cares about the community, and doesn't check the numbers alone, but actually puts himself into our place. This is something that i put big interest in, because that is what drives me as an artist and animator.

And a bit here about our profiles. It's so very very boring to look at when you go to someones profile... it's very little customizable, and lacks personality. Again...personality

Also, a portal would totally change SP....it would be such a relief to have a portal. It has been mentioned.....but GOD plzzz.

The owners lack of presence and participation on the site.

who, crazy jay? jeff is the one to talk to if you need something and he's extremely accessible.

Jeff is all we need, besides crazy jay has many other things to tend to irl.
I don't see his presence making much of a difference.

Quote from Exilement

who, crazy jay? jeff is the one to talk to if you need something and he's extremely accessible.

He owns the site for gods sake, it's not a matter of needing him to fix something, just a hi from him every now and then would be nice.
I don't feel like he's even part of the community, let alone the leader of it.

Quote from Exilement

who, crazy jay? jeff is the one to talk to if you need something and he's extremely accessible.

Quote from Apex-Predator

Jeff is all we need, besides crazy jay has many other things to tend to irl.
I don't see his presence making much of a difference.

Please look at my post first, it's exactly what i want to point out.

The mods do a great job and all, but that's also a necessity for the site to run properly...but for the site to grow, this will take us nowhere.

He does though on the SE section. Pops his head in once in a while, updating the SE peeps about stuff. He has a lot of stuff going on, he's developing a new game atm.

Quote from X-treme

He owns the site for gods sake, it's not a matter of needing him to fix something, just a hi from him every now and then would be nice.
I don't feel like he's even part of the community, let alone the leader of it.

Why do you expect him to be either of those things? I don't get it. Jeff and Stone are the forum leaders and they're more than accessible, the guy who owns the site along with several others shouldn't be expected to personally interact with a bunch of teenagers on a regular basis.

Quote from X-treme

He owns the site for gods sake, it's not a matter of needing him to fix something, just a hi from him every now and then would be nice.
I don't feel like he's even part of the community, let alone the leader of it.

Just because you use Windows, it doesn't mean Bill Gates is going to be your buddy.

I appreciate the feedback, but I don't think that Jay needs to be active in this community as long as he's not hindering it and he hasn't been as long as I've been working on this project officially. The others have made good points already, and to add to those: from my perspective Stone and I have been placed in to community management roles specifically because Jay knows he cannot fulfill that role himself any more, which is probably the best thing he can do instead of ignoring this community outright. I've reached a point where I am now tasked with overhauling the site specifically because Jay wants me to do it FOR you guys. I definitely understand those gripes from a perspective of how things have been previously, but we're moving past that and I had hoped this thread is evidence of it.

Between Stone and I we are two of the most passionate members of this community and now we have explicit control over it's direction. I've mentioned previously that we are well aware of communication and timeliness issues that have caused problems in the past and we're working to fix those. We're rebuilding the site to deliver on features we've promised since the merge and more. Before we had to rely on people we didn't know and trust that they would get it done, but now it's BOTH of us working on it and both of us understand this community. I don't know what more you would want to fix the problems you're complaining about, but if you have any suggestions you should feel free to send them my way. I think a lot of this will start becoming more clear as my work progresses.