After a a few days to get used to everything, I'm growing to dislike the redesign less. The user pages have definately taken a nice leap and bound, the forums are prettymuch the same, and I like the new layered flash viewer better than the old pop-ups. My cam situation was MUCH improved, as many inactive users were removed and I was finally put on a page people might actually click, and that doesn't feature YoinK; though I'll miss the camjokes at his expense.

That being said, I miss animated gifs. We're an animation site and yes I have heard "they're working on it" but I think it's ridiculous that we can't use animations in our sigs and profiles anymore.

I'm also very unhappy with the whole chat situation. When I first came here, Chat was my home onsite. Granted, everyone was kind of surly and prone to victimizing the new users, but it was honestly no worse than the BBS.. Especially since back then, the BBS was a kingdom of goatse and other shock pics. I actually avoided the BBS because of it, so despite a few flamers, chat was a safe haven of sorts.

Over the years it became a better environment, mostly due to Dan and Josey's efforts to remove the people that victimized the new users and slung hate buzzwords around in pathetic efforts to look e-badass. Granted, it was still full of sarcastic assholes, but so is this entire site. The majority of the crew that called, and still calls that IRC channel home aren't bitter, elitist users like certain other channels/user cliques, but infact a good portion of the userbase that keeps the forums and all other non-portal elements of NG such a fun place to kill time online. Yes, many of us are jaded and some of us are infact bitter, but with politics the way they are on this site, that's bound to happen.

What was done when the chat was excommunicated, was not done in a manner that reflects well on this site. It also wasn't fair. I wasn't even there, and I actually did my part to keep the channel hospitable, and now I feel like I've been shunned and blacklisted when I did nothing wrong. There are several other ops that have also unfairly come into this position of limbo.

All I did was the job Josey asked me to do, and op the channel. I was trusted with a position of responsibility and that's not something I took I took too lightly. NG has been my home for the past 5 years and I was happy to have a role that let me contribute in some fashion, even if it wasn't as "glamorous" as a BBS modship. I had my @ and I wore it with pride. Still do, in a way, though it doesn't mean much now.

Tom, though I doubt you'll read this.. You're not the only one who feels unappreciated and often ignored. How ironic that in the very week you post about feeling these ways, you let your brother amplify that feeling in others tenfold.

I feel like I belong, or am welcome on NG less by the day.

This post has been sealed.