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Takeover Good or Bad

(30) I do not think the SH changing hands will have any benefit to the community
(15) I do think the SH changing hands will be beneficial to the community
(80) Im sitting on the fence and waiting.

Total Votes : 125

westerrossGodlike

Joined:: 29 Mar 2004
Posts:: 9526
Location:: God's Country

st3v3 wrote:

cybershine wrote:

A gain i ask please keep the mods on .............. DONT JUST FOB THEM OFF AND SAY................. ITS THERE DICISION!!............. you have to work at keep them here

what effort have you made?

The mods and chat room ops have done and continue to do an incredible job on SH, we are talking to them and have no intentions of fobbing them off, we want to work with them.

Debs,

Don't have any misconceptions. The Mods you have seen so far are dedicated selfless people who wanted to help 'Mark' out. It is unlikely that they will want to continue to offer their services free for what will inevitably become a profit making enterprise. So, they may take the shilling and continue, but will then be under the direction of the Management or they will say 'No thanks'. Either way it ain't gonna be the same!

ElliotSite Admin

Joined:: 18 Nov 2005
Posts:: 502
Location:: test

Amber12 - Wow, huge post! I also have had an extensive time on irc in previous years, and have been very close with online friends. As ive said a few times in this thread, we will do everything we can to keep the community alive, and there will be no reason what so ever for it so drift apart. With regards to the webcams and voice - without getting to technical, there are various forms of transport mechinisms that video and audio can take, im afriad you cannot simply state they require ports openining and that represents a threat, you have port 80 open for http, is that a threat? Well the cam and video protocals are no more or no less. Infact, in 99.9% of circimstances, no port changes are required, because the ports are already open for other apps, or because it employs http tunneling should it not get through on the standard ports. Secondly, there will be non video, couples only, and private rooms on the chatroom, this means that any form of privicy can be gained for anyone at any level.

Pay to enter - The years free is a minimum, this could extend further if the site is doing well enough, coupled with the fact that as ive said in the first post you will not be paying for anything you have already - for a free member the facilities will be as they are now on the site.

debz4u - i agree that is what it says, but those are the words of Mark, not ours. Please remember the site and its facilities as you know it will remain free.

wirral_guy - All changes will be cleared with the mods, and major changes aird on the forum. We wont change it without feedback. I will also be adding a 'suggestions' thread on monday, so we can get an idea of what people want to see on SH in the future.

Osmosis - We will see regarding the larger av's. i think we should take a poll on it as some people may get increably annoyed at the longer download times

Fabio groovrider - I already have hit the stash of beers and am going through them in aim for the bottle of southern comfort sitting on the shelf

dargento - im slightly confused by your post, if by adam you mean me, then i think i understand, must say i think your jumping to conclusions, SH will be here for a long time yet, and will go from strength to strength.

redgirlmanc - we have no intention into turning this into a standard run of the mill site, you can expect new featurers on the site to help you, not cause problems, that is our aim.

Fred aka Medic 1 - The reason i said that is because i don't want you to think i have been slyly making my way around the site talking to people in an effort to take it over. Everyone at our company new what SH was like, and the web presence and community it has. We wouldnt have blindly taken over the site, we spoke to Mark often, and made a decision from there. In reality we have been following SH for around a year (at least) we just didnt venture into the chatroom, forums etc etc.

debbiwebs - i have been on the phone to Mal, and we are having lengthy discussions in the mods and ops areas, i woudl love for all mods to stay and things to carry on as they are, but we cannot force people to stay.

FInially - im sorry im having to reply like this all the way through the thread, but there are so many questions being asked i need to do a 'list' reply so to speak, when things slow down a bit ill get to replying normally, please don't think im being rude

Shireen_MidsGodlike

Joined:: 21 Jan 2004
Posts:: 6034
Location:: Wolverhampton

westerross wrote:

Don't have any misconceptions. The Mods you have seen so far are dedicated selfless people who wanted to help 'Mark' out. It is unlikely that they will want to continue to offer their services free for what will inevitably become a profit making enterprise. So, they may take the shilling and continue, but will then be under the direction of the Management or they will say 'No thanks'. Either way it ain't gonna be the same!

Sorry TE but have you honestly seen any of the Mods/OP's saying that they are handing their badges back??

I for one am not!

Shireen

Medic_1Godlike

Joined:: 30 Oct 2003
Posts:: 3820
Location:: Keeper of SH Keys

Elliot wrote:

FInially - im sorry im having to reply like this all the way through the thread, but there are so many questions being asked i need to do a 'list' reply so to speak, when things slow down a bit ill get to replying normally, please don't think im being rude

Elliot I may seem to be picking on you, I am not and your post above (partly quoted by me) in no way appears rude.

BUT I will continue to question you if I think it is needed.

Thank you for your reply.

Fred (the hole picker, lol)

OsmosisGodlike

Joined:: 8 Apr 2005
Posts:: 2027
Location:: Hiding behind your
monitor

I think SH will be here for a while yet. Welcome the new lads (and lasses), please persuade them to join

. As numerous people on here have said before, people don't like change. Privacy and discretion is utmost too.

The people who generally say "Go away" or "it's the end" (myself included) are those who're pessimistic or have either been in a similar situation or are applying a general model to this site. Ignore their comments, listen to the positive ones and soon you'll have everyone lauding your work and commitment. A change in management and ownership is always a period of uncertainty, but I would focus on advertisement and cheaper membership than other sites as a primary means of income from here.

If you add certain options like other sites have, such as paying membership to contact people, paying membership to view larger photos or even paying membership to view profiles, this site will go down faster than insert name here at a GG party.

P.S. A business plan or similar would be nice to see, if that's possible.

P.P.S. I can see someone's Christmas tree across the road from my flat, I'm going to go and shoot them

P.P.P.S. I'm not the pessimist any more

westerrossGodlike

Joined:: 29 Mar 2004
Posts:: 9526
Location:: God's Country

Shireen_Mids wrote:

westerross wrote:

Don't have any misconceptions. The Mods you have seen so far are dedicated selfless people who wanted to help 'Mark' out. It is unlikely that they will want to continue to offer their services free for what will inevitably become a profit making enterprise. So, they may take the shilling and continue, but will then be under the direction of the Management or they will say 'No thanks'. Either way it ain't gonna be the same!

Sorry TE but have you honestly seen any of the Mods/OP's saying that they are handing their badges back??

I for one am not!

Shireen

Not yet, no. And it is entirely up to the individual as to whether they want to devote their time for nothing to making money for someone else.

Clare and SteveGodlike

Joined:: 6 Apr 2004
Posts:: 4575
Location:: -

Ok after digesting this since ive been home there are possible benefits to the site being taken over.
As most of you know me and Clare have hed very good ups and some downs here on SH.We had our time of absolutely loving it and being post whores and we have had our times of being disilusioned with it.Maybe this is the kick up the backside this site needs and maybe things will turn out for the better for the majority on here.
Of course this is a maybe and possibly a big maybe,depending on what the new owners have in mind for the site.Maybe though they will do the best by us and keep it free for us and offer more features.If all of this happens then we'll be more than happy and maybe ill get back to posting more often.
All this of course will only happen if it remains on the whole free for all coz if it doesnt there will be a shed load of people leaving.

Steve xxx

MadMaxSite Admin

Joined:: 18 Nov 2005
Posts:: 886
Location:: Sunny South

HI All

Martin here the CEO of the company that has the pleasure in working with this community our company is called "Symbios Group" have a look on the net for us, we wanted to tell members of our other sites about you before you all did. So sorry about the delay on the company details bit, everything happened so fast that we just could not keep up with events. The handover was only completed late yesterday. Here are a few points that I have picked up on that might help a little.

1. We love you all just give us a chance to proove it!!!

2. You will all get free "Premium Memberships when they are launched"
3. After a year you will either drop to the features that you have here now, or we will extend or review it. What might happen is that people who contribute to the community, and post articles, or write reviews, or storys (active members of this community!!) will continue to get free premium membership for ever.....
4. People who are not an integral part of this site and this community would still have all the features that you have now after a year, and then they would need to top up to premium membership.
5. Details for 4 could be based on say 48 forum posts in a year etc etc, I am not sure of more than that at the moment but we have over a year (by the time we make the initial changes) to work together on it.
6. Worst case that you come here and never post, or write, or get involved then you will have a full 12 months with all the new bells and whistles then after that you go back to what you have now.
7. We will make this the best site of this nature in the world, by doing it properly we will work together to ensure that it conforms to all legal issues and has every feature that you ever wanted.
8. As a company we have spent a lot of time and effort to work with you all.
9. This site was previously owned by a company (just a little bit smaller) so this site has always been commercially owned!!
10. I completely understand how you feel, I can tell you the beating I just got in the chat room was severe to start with!!.
11. The first changes will be as follows in around 2-4 Weeks

Here are the changes that you will see

1. A central log in with a site mail account, this is to reduce spam and offer some discretion to people (BTW we will never spam you thats a promise). The only mail you will get from us in there will be to get your input on matters or inform you of updates. You will be able to select if you want notes forwarded to your e-mail etc or just have site mail.
2. You will get to choose what user name you keep from your existing ones when this goes live.
3. A new chat room, this will be video enabled, as well as audio etc. These have prooved to be really useful as some men pretend to be women etc. They can also be a lot of fun later in the evening. The one now has really nice people using it but it is difficult to get in and requires a seperate log in. We believe that we can improve what we have here by having the ops help us make the best experience possible
4. A location based search that will give you the distance between area etc, this will also have a wider range of search criteria to ensure that it is targeted towards your prefrences.
5. Forum as is except for a few bugs that need fixing like the need to put a space after the word for the Emoticons to work.
6. A facility to send other peeps pics that are not available for public view, if you like a private gallery for your profiles that you give and remove access to.
7. A video facility so you can e-mail or have a video on your profile, this goes a long way towards maybe getting noticed or delivering a personal message to other peeps.
8. A system so you can leave other users comments on their profiles, (these are friendly and will be reviewed at submission) they can also be removed by profile owner. This is a great way to show other members how genuine people are.

Stuff you will not see

1. The slow picture loading
2. The site loading problems
3. A new MOD and OPS area filled with anything that will make their lives easier
4. New hosting arrangements to ensure that the site is backed up regularly
5. Us dealing with all the mods and oops

we promise

1. We will not spam, or sell any data
2. We will not sell anything that you submit on the site
3. We will not be selling you ringtones
4. There will be no pop ups

Wait and see.... thats all..... give us a try......

If you have any other questions then PM me and I will try and get a completed list posted. We do think that all these changes will genuinely aid the community. Can I please just ask one thing. Can you please just stop accusing us of all sorts of stuff that we have not done or will not do. If we break any of the above then feel free but please remember that we take the shape of the human form as well, and we get hurt if insulted, and frustrated if not believed.

The Mods and OOPS have done a great job with this site so far!!!, We want them involved in its future, we want there voice and their views. There will be a munch at our office for them in the next few weeks to work out the details.

Anything else drop me a PM

Thanks

Martin

kazswallowsGodlike

Joined:: 29 Aug 2004
Posts:: 1724
Location:: Yorkshire

Elliot wrote:

2) Should the site do well enough financially, then the mods and ops will benifit.

This is going to get me slated, but I have to say it anyway.

Some of the mods/ops I know slighty, some not and I am not saying ANY of them would
BUT does that mean that in the future we may get mod/op decisions based purely on financial gain unjust, unfair and not in the interest of our community

westerrossGodlike

Joined:: 29 Mar 2004
Posts:: 9526
Location:: God's Country

Martin_M wrote:

HI All

Martin here the CEO of the company that has the pleasure in working with this community our company is called "Symbios Group" have a look on the net for us, we wanted to tell members of our other sites about you before you all did. So sorry about the delay on the company details bit, everything happened so fast that we just could not keep up with events. The handover was only completed late yesterday. Here are a few points that I have picked up on that might help a little.

1. We love you all just give us a chance to proove it!!!

2. You will all get free "Premium Memberships when they are launched"
3. After a year you will either drop to the features that you have here now, or we will extend or review it. What might happen is that people who contribute to the community, and post articles, or write reviews, or storys (active members of this community!!) will continue to get free premium membership for ever.....
4. People who are not an integral part of this site and this community would still have all the features that you have now after a year, and then they would need to top up to premium membership.
5. Details for 4 could be based on say 48 forum posts in a year etc etc, I am not sure of more than that at the moment but we have over a year (by the time we make the initial changes) to work together on it.
6. Worst case that you come here and never post, or write, or get involved then you will have a full 12 months with all the new bells and whistles then after that you go back to what you have now.
7. We will make this the best site of this nature in the world, by doing it properly we will work together to ensure that it conforms to all legal issues and has every feature that you ever wanted.
8. As a company we have spent a lot of time and effort to work with you all.
9. This site was previously owned by a company (just a little bit smaller) so this site has always been commercially owned!!
10. I completely understand how you feel, I can tell you the beating I just got in the chat room was severe to start with!!.
11. The first changes will be as follows in around 2-4 Weeks

Here are the changes that you will see

1. A central log in with a site mail account, this is to reduce spam and offer some discretion to people (BTW we will never spam you thats a promise). The only mail you will get from us in there will be to get your input on matters or inform you of updates. You will be able to select if you want notes forwarded to your e-mail etc or just have site mail.
2. You will get to choose what user name you keep from your existing ones when this goes live.
3. A new chat room, this will be video enabled, as well as audio etc. These have prooved to be really useful as some men pretend to be women etc. They can also be a lot of fun later in the evening. The one now has really nice people using it but it is difficult to get in and requires a seperate log in. We believe that we can improve what we have here by having the oops help us make the best experience possible
4. A location based search that will give you the distance between area etc, this will also have a wider range of search criteria to ensure that it is targeted towards your prefrences.
5. Forum as is except for a few bugs that need fixing like the need to put a space after the word for the Emoticons to work.
6. A facility to send other peeps pics that are not available for public view, if you like a private gallery for your profiles that you give and remove access to.
7. A video facility so you can e-mail or have a video on your profile, this goes a long way towards maybe getting noticed or delivering a personal message to other peeps.
8. A system so you can leave other users comments on their profiles, (these are friendly and will be reviewed at submission) they can also be removed by profile owner. This is a great way to show other members how genuine people are.

Stuff you will not see

1. The slow picture loading
2. The site loading problems
3. A new MOD and OOPS area filled with anything that will make their lives easier
4. New hosting arrangements to ensure that the site is backed up regularly
5. Us dealing with all the mods and oops

we promise

1. We will not spam, or sell any data
2. We will not sell anything that you submit on the site
3. We will not be selling you ringtones
4. There will be no pop ups

Wait and see.... thats all..... give us a try......

If you have any other questions then PM me and I will try and get a completed list posted. We do think that all these changes will genuinely aid the community. Can I please just ask one thing. Can you please just stop accusing us of all sorts of stuff that we have not done or will not do. If we break any of the above then feel free but please remember that we take the shape of the human form as well, and we get hurt if insulted, and frustrated if not believed.

The Mods and OOPS have done a great job with this site so far!!!, We want them involved in its future, we want there voice and their views. There will be a munch at our office for them in the next few weeks to work out the details.

Anything else drop me a PM

Thanks

Martin

Hmmmmm - that's the way I behave in the office!!

Do you really want a PM??

Ice PieGodlike

Joined:: 4 Mar 2004
Posts:: 5567
Location:: London

Martin_M wrote:

7. We will make this the best site of this nature in the world,

I have excellent news for you. You have been saved the effort.
It already IS the best.

Devon1Super human rambling

Joined:: 21 Jan 2004
Posts:: 862
Location:: Devon

What martin has said, sounds reasonable, but what has worried me, was what Elliot has said a bit earlier.

Elliot said:
'Pay to enter - The years free is a minimum, this could extend further if the site is doing well enough, coupled with the fact that as ive said in the first post you will not be paying for anything you have already - for a free member the facilities will be as they are now on the site.'

I was just wondering, in the worst case scenario, if the site is not doing well enough, what would happen then

Shireen_MidsGodlike

Joined:: 21 Jan 2004
Posts:: 6034
Location:: Wolverhampton

Martin_M wrote:

3. A new chat room, this will be video enabled, as well as audio etc. These have prooved to be really useful as some men pretend to be women etc. They can also be a lot of fun later in the evening. The one now has really nice people using it but it is difficult to get in and requires a seperate log in. We believe that we can improve what we have here by having the ops help us make the best experience possible

So you lied to the Chatroom OP's then??

We have been told that there will be 2 rooms run side by side, one video enabled and one not..... I have just spent my spare time assuring people in the chatroom that there will be no changes to the chatroom at all and they will still be able to chat as they do now, yet you are now saying that they wont!

Access to the chatroom is so easy it takes me less than a minute to register a new nick..... It is simple to use and works very well thank you very much....

I only got this far in your post and launched on the quote button so I may well have more to add..... But so far I am not impressed

Shireen

stephGodlike

Joined:: 3 May 2004
Posts:: 4390
Location:: Carer Central

westerross wrote:

Martin_M wrote:

HI All

Martin here the CEO of the company that has the pleasure in working with this community our company is called "Symbios Group" have a look on the net for us, we wanted to tell members of our other sites about you before you all did. So sorry about the delay on the company details bit, everything happened so fast that we just could not keep up with events. The handover was only completed late yesterday. Here are a few points that I have picked up on that might help a little.

1. We love you all just give us a chance to proove it!!!

2. You will all get free "Premium Memberships when they are launched"
3. After a year you will either drop to the features that you have here now, or we will extend or review it. What might happen is that people who contribute to the community, and post articles, or write reviews, or storys (active members of this community!!) will continue to get free premium membership for ever.....
4. People who are not an integral part of this site and this community would still have all the features that you have now after a year, and then they would need to top up to premium membership.
5. Details for 4 could be based on say 48 forum posts in a year etc etc, I am not sure of more than that at the moment but we have over a year (by the time we make the initial changes) to work together on it.
6. Worst case that you come here and never post, or write, or get involved then you will have a full 12 months with all the new bells and whistles then after that you go back to what you have now.
7. We will make this the best site of this nature in the world, by doing it properly we will work together to ensure that it conforms to all legal issues and has every feature that you ever wanted.
8. As a company we have spent a lot of time and effort to work with you all.
9. This site was previously owned by a company (just a little bit smaller) so this site has always been commercially owned!!
10. I completely understand how you feel, I can tell you the beating I just got in the chat room was severe to start with!!.
11. The first changes will be as follows in around 2-4 Weeks

Here are the changes that you will see

1. A central log in with a site mail account, this is to reduce spam and offer some discretion to people (BTW we will never spam you thats a promise). The only mail you will get from us in there will be to get your input on matters or inform you of updates. You will be able to select if you want notes forwarded to your e-mail etc or just have site mail.
2. You will get to choose what user name you keep from your existing ones when this goes live.
3. A new chat room, this will be video enabled, as well as audio etc. These have prooved to be really useful as some men pretend to be women etc. They can also be a lot of fun later in the evening. The one now has really nice people using it but it is difficult to get in and requires a seperate log in. We believe that we can improve what we have here by having the oops help us make the best experience possible
4. A location based search that will give you the distance between area etc, this will also have a wider range of search criteria to ensure that it is targeted towards your prefrences.
5. Forum as is except for a few bugs that need fixing like the need to put a space after the word for the Emoticons to work.
6. A facility to send other peeps pics that are not available for public view, if you like a private gallery for your profiles that you give and remove access to.
7. A video facility so you can e-mail or have a video on your profile, this goes a long way towards maybe getting noticed or delivering a personal message to other peeps.
8. A system so you can leave other users comments on their profiles, (these are friendly and will be reviewed at submission) they can also be removed by profile owner. This is a great way to show other members how genuine people are.

Stuff you will not see

1. The slow picture loading
2. The site loading problems
3. A new MOD and OOPS area filled with anything that will make their lives easier
4. New hosting arrangements to ensure that the site is backed up regularly
5. Us dealing with all the mods and oops

we promise

1. We will not spam, or sell any data
2. We will not sell anything that you submit on the site
3. We will not be selling you ringtones
4. There will be no pop ups

Wait and see.... thats all..... give us a try......

If you have any other questions then PM me and I will try and get a completed list posted. We do think that all these changes will genuinely aid the community. Can I please just ask one thing. Can you please just stop accusing us of all sorts of stuff that we have not done or will not do. If we break any of the above then feel free but please remember that we take the shape of the human form as well, and we get hurt if insulted, and frustrated if not believed.

The Mods and OOPS have done a great job with this site so far!!!, We want them involved in its future, we want there voice and their views. There will be a munch at our office for them in the next few weeks to work out the details.

Anything else drop me a PM

Thanks

Martin

Hmmmmm - that's the way I behave in the office!!

Do you really want a PM??

Too late Tune he got one from me

fabioGodlike

Joined:: 9 Jun 2004
Posts:: 4561
Location:: a galaxy far far
away....spartyville

Martin_M wrote:

Here are the changes that you will see

8. A system so you can leave other users comments on their profiles, (these are friendly and will be reviewed at submission) they can also be removed by profile owner. This is a great way to show other members how genuine people are.

I picked up on this one..... if you think this one is going to go down well, you may be in for a surprise.......

please don't open that pandora's box again.........i am sure others will point you in the direction of why this may well turn into something very contentious......

Shireen_MidsGodlike

Joined:: 21 Jan 2004
Posts:: 6034
Location:: Wolverhampton

kazswallows wrote:

Elliot wrote:

2) Should the site do well enough financially, then the mods and ops will benifit.

This is going to get me slated, but I have to say it anyway.

Some of the mods/ops I know slighty, some not and I am not saying ANY of them would
BUT does that mean that in the future we may get mod/op decisions based purely on financial gain unjust, unfair and not in the interest of our community

I bluddy hope not Kaz

Shireen
xxx

stephGodlike

Joined:: 3 May 2004
Posts:: 4390
Location:: Carer Central

fabio grooverider wrote:

Martin_M wrote:

Here are the changes that you will see

8. A system so you can leave other users comments on their profiles, (these are friendly and will be reviewed at submission) they can also be removed by profile owner. This is a great way to show other members how genuine people are.

I picked up on this one..... if you think this one is going to go down well, you may be in for a surprise.......

please don't open that pandora's box again.........i am sure others will point you in the direction of why this may well turn into something very contentious......

Do you really want them to read this Sean

http://www.swingingheaven.co.uk/swingers-forum/viewtopic/27234.html

Honestly guys word from the wise - Sean is right, Verification lasted a week in the chatroom, it was hated. How will it work if it can be removed by the profile user, how can you prevent revenge bad feedback - fact of life people fall out.

Steph

The thread needs to be read start to finish for full impact

Medic_1Godlike

Joined:: 30 Oct 2003
Posts:: 3820
Location:: Keeper of SH Keys

fabio grooverider wrote:

Martin_M wrote:

Here are the changes that you will see

8. A system so you can leave other users comments on their profiles, (these are friendly and will be reviewed at submission) they can also be removed by profile owner. This is a great way to show other members how genuine people are.

I picked up on this one..... if you think this one is going to go down well, you may be in for a surprise.......

please don't open that pandora's box again.........i am sure others will point you in the direction of why this may well turn into something very contentious......

I am brave enough to say it :-

do you mean "VERIFICATION"

I should effingwell hope not.

Elliot = Please say honestly that this will NEVER happen.

Phredd

Ice PieGodlike

Joined:: 4 Mar 2004
Posts:: 5567
Location:: London

Elliot wrote:

There is no big secret, the company name will be known as soon as i am given the ok to let it out, this is for legal reasons.

Martin_M wrote:

our company is called "Symbios Group" have a look on the net for us, we wanted to tell members of our other sites about you before you all did. So sorry about the delay on the company details bit, everything happened so fast that we just could not keep up with events.

Jesus, you people can't even agree with each other on what lies to tell.

That's two I've exposed on your first day!. Wanna try for a third?

HuxleyNSusieI need to get out more

Joined:: 26 Jun 2005
Posts:: 238
Location:: WEST YORKS

From my experience of sites with cam chat enabled it attracts exhibitionists not swingers

As for paid ops and mods I for one dont have a problem with that. Although it isnt obvious on this site at the moment it does remove any personal favours being granted or grievances being vented .

But if the ops are to be paid and not volunteers they should be employees of the company and totally impartial prob not a viable financial proposition in the beggining.

Anyway the deed is done it remains to be seen what you do with the site I for one will stay but I am a consumer and the choice is wide and varied if you want my custom and I dont expect it for free you must work to keep it .

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