Wedge

Funny how this thread's turned into an SMF slag-fest.

Pity, really, because it rather detracts from what my original post was about.

I felt pretty strongly about the ol' "Paid-for support" thing and I was hoping to see whether my opinions were total bollox, tiz all...

For the record, though, I was (Maybe even still am!) Vice-President of SMF. Even I didn't have the ability to change people's avatars and all that shit.

Support team members and even the lead(s) can't either. Unless, of course, something pretty dramatic has changed, there, since I left. Which I, somehow, doubt.

Yeah, I had hassles with Opera, there, too. Session timeouts and connection refused bollox, if I remember rightly.

In some ways, I think the SMF setup would benefit from having a "Top Dog", as you put it.

Someone, who, when the plebs can't come to a decision, can make that decision.

Trouble with any democracy, is that people are more likely to do things in a way that will get them votes, rather than what they actually believe to be right.

For an "e.g.", Obama may be a div. He may not be. But, to me, he seems to be doing what he believes to be right, even though it's unpopular.

Angel... Please take this in the way it's intended...

I don't have a problem, with that, mate. Don't forget that I'm one of the "Get it all out in the open" advocates and always have been.

Let me reiterate, though...

These aren't complaints, although I know some have taken them that way. They were more me trying to find out if I'd made some HUGE mistakes.
 
I'm not so proud that I can't admit it, when I've made mistakes.
 
But, unless you know you've made mistakes, you can't try to put them right, can you?
 
Please, trust me, with this. "Drama" was the least of my intentions.

Now, don't get me wrong, here. Although it kinda goes against the grain, for me, I don't, really, have a problem with "Paid-for" mods and themes. If people want to pay for that kinda stuff, that's their problem.
 
It's the support.
 
Advertising from teamies, for that, is like them saying "SMF's support team's crap. You'll need to pay for PROPER support!"
 
It feels like they're slapping the other support team members, a bit. Like they're saying that they're not good enough.
 
Plus, certain members (We all know who they are) spend so much time doing the paid stuff, that they rarely even go to the forum and do the usual support stuff. They're blatantly using (abusing) their team position to make some money. That's not working, voluntarily, for SMF! That's working for themselves!
 
Also, the fact that they're making money from it makes the "normal" support team members feel like they're being taken the piss out of, because they're doing it in the true "Volunteer" way.
 
The problem with that kinda thing going on, from where I'm seeing it, is that it's going to cause rivalry between team members.
 
Rather than them all pulling in the same direction, it's going to create (Already has created) competition, suspicion and animosity.
 
Teams thrive on togetherness and unity and that's being lost, sadly. (Unless me throwing my toys out of my pram has helped, with that. In which case, I'm kinda happy, oddly enough)

If it was down to me, I think I'd try to nip this in the bud and put a stop to it, completely.

But, obviously, it's not down to me.

Bloc.... That means a lot, to me. I'm grateful. :)

When I first joined, you WERE SMF, for me, rightly or wrongly.

Now, it would appear that some, at SMF, are seeing my posts, here, as "Complaining".

I hope that, if they re-read what I've said, that they'll reconsider and see that what I've done is ask for opinions.

I'm humble enough to realise that I'm about a far from "Perfect" as it's possible for a person to be.

I was curious as to what others felt, about things. I've never been too proud to admit it, when I'm wrong, or misguided.

THAT IS ALL.

Yeah, I can agree with that.

As I said, though, mods and themes are a totally different animal to support.

At least, they are, for me.

Maybe I'm just odd.