Gonna try something until the end of the year (All Members Read) - Page 3

SD is right, Chud is my mancave.  It's the only place I post  because there is no need to go anywhere else. 

Yeah, I'm pretty much the same. Movies are my addiction and this is the place where I get support for that. Nobody I know in my life is even close to as passionate and knowledgeable about movies as the folks here. Without this place, I'd go on a horrendous downward spiral of movie talk withdrawal. I'd be like that scene in "Ed Wood" where Bela Lugosi is screaming in a room in rehab. There's no movie rehab. I need you, CHUD.

First, I'd like to say CHUD has been a favorite of mine for years. There is an integrity and fun on here that no other movie site has and I hope it sticks around. I've given a lot of thought to why the site isn't more popular. After all the nonsense you guys went through with getting the "new" CHUD up and running I wanted to avoid sounding ungrateful by mentioning it but at this point any little bit helps though, so I'll just let it fly. 

Upon very first impression, there is no clear content on the main page until you scroll down. That's not very welcoming for anyone that isn't a regular.

"CHUD.COM" takes up a lot of the page... then there is an ad in the middle (understandable) and then there are photos that usually don't say anything  regarding the story they connect to. Below that you're on another big photo (the one that changes) that hopefully includes text regarding it's content but that's ONE story. Finally when one sips a little further there is an overload of text based content all at once. We go from having no idea what is on the site to an overwhelming amount of links. Too much too late. 

None of this is very welcoming. The title should be smaller, the channels raised up to the top and most importantly the news and reviews should all be in one very clear list on the left as soon as you enter the site with each link accompanied by a photo. A sidebar of what is being discussed in the forums should smaller and on the right, as that is what will get more people interested in the forums. 

That's it... the color is fine, the content is the goddamn best on the web and I hope it sticks around forever.

Lastly, no matter what happens PLEASE do the podcast more often and forever. It's my absolute favorite thing on the internet.

(Edited for clarity and to shorten it up.)

If CHUD ceases and Ain't It Cool continues, it will be the greatest miscarriage of justice since the 2000 Presidential election!

Nick,

I don't have a PAYPAL, but could I send $20 in the mail? Would it help or change anything?

I'll be here as long as I'm allowed.

Just realized I've been here for 7 years, and that's just the boards(9 if you add the main page). Yeah, I love this place.

I agree with the main page complaints, don't take those as simple bitching Nick, they're valid. Things do need to be simplified. You have a great site here that's tricky to navigate.

Agreed with Chaz above... CHUD is far more interesting than AiCN, but I have to admit AiCN's layout(which I feel is TOO basic) works in their favor.

If this site dies, the terrorists win. This place has informed and shaped my love of film for like a decade. Nowhere else comes close.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nexus-7 

CHUD is far more interesting than AiCN, but I have to admit AiCN's layout(which I feel is TOO basic) works in their favor.

I disagree.  AICN has WAY too many different columns of articles to pay attention too.

Their search engine is for shit as well.

to the bitterest of ends....

Quote:

Originally Posted by SAIRUS 

Love CHUD, really I do. Hope it doesn't die, so a few suggestions:

The Main Page
Too much text. Needs to be reorganized, with some graphics. I'm not saying I miss the old looks, but they had easy access to a lot of things. Possibly with small image previews next to each article, with tabbed content. Something like the layout of IGN meets The Verge.com. There are multiple graphic styles present here, and it should be pushed more towards one.

Articles
Really I like the comments, but for simplification, they need to be merged to the forums to unite the community. There have been some decent comments there, and you can't give a comments post a thumbs up. So just an idea of melting it all together.

Forum
No offense to Huddler, they got an excellent platform, but things need to be smoothed out quite a bit. Quoting somethings can be a bitch because HTML pops up.

Maybe a custom news section where Chewers post the articles you guys can't get to. Then just a click away its on the main site. It would save you guys time possibly.

Random thoughts:
Really though a lot of stuff needs to just be streamlined, and we all know work is money. Like an article uploaded would need to have its thumbnail generated automatically, posted to RSS feed, and create a thread in the forum for it all in one shot.

Chat room needs some purpose.

The site structure in terms of money needs an analysis. If per say, you are paying a certain company for hosting and not getting the returns you expect, then switch. Small overhead cuts could help, but don't touch the writers. Possibly look at ways to cut down bandwidth, or tied down fees. If you are paying for example one company for the forum, and another for hosting. Why not just install a standard forum, and cut out the forum company?

Writers need a wide range of opinions, even if it pisses someone off.

Possibly join in on a mini network of sites? I missed all the old sister sites.

Bring back the store. Hey its money? Doesn't need to be fancy. Start small, even having some tshirts on the side. Don't need to pay anyone for hosting it. Just a paypal link and stuff. Have auctions or something.


The most important:
Damn have fun and experiment with stuff. Really look at why you do this thing, and embrace it.

Oh and bring back that ambiance that made CHUD unique. I'm sorry to say something was lost on the last site makeover.


I appreciate the effort Nick, and I'm here to the end.
 

I agree with most of these suggestions, and just wanted to state that you could advertise on the main page chat events on specific subjects at specific times, or watch alongs, which would encourage people to join the community. I'd also buy the heck out of a T-Shirt if you wanted to sell one. Additionally, I think the site should move to a blog format, where you can read a paragraph of every news story, or so, just so it's not teeny little text. It would help make things simpler and probably get more hits

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick Nunziata 

OK, assemble a superteam to help Josh and Brad and I. I need folks great with graphics, Wordpress, and web design. Pros. If there are pros in this mix, hit me up and together we'll get this place right.

Here we go again!

Professionals get paid for their work. That's what makes them professionals.

If they wanted to design/maintain a website for free, they would have done so already. Why would they do it for you? What is Nick bringing to the table?

Here's hoping for the best; these forums and the site are pretty much my to go site for fun on the web.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug 

Here we go again!

Professionals get paid for their work. That's what makes them professionals.

If they wanted to design/maintain a website for free, they would have done so already. Why would they do it for you? What is Nick bringing to the table?

 

So really, there's a reason you have 17,000 posts and 14 rep, right? Why don't you go find a table leg to chew on or something?

I got a fukken table leg for ya ta chew on, Doug!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug 

Professionals get paid for their work. That's what makes them professionals.

If they wanted to design/maintain a website for free, they would have done so already. Why would they do it for you? What is Nick bringing to the table?

 

Nick is looking for help to revitalize the site and push on through some tough times.  I'm sure there are plenty of members who would (and will) gladly help out with the redesign and any other contributions that are necessary.  Way to be an ass.

Really, what is the point of a post like that? The thread is full of people saying "We'll do anything we can to keep this site (a community that we all enjoy) going, just let us know."

Why do you feel the need to step in and state your (reasonably idiotic) opinion like it's everybody's? If people don't want to help, clearly they don't have to. I didn't see a post anywhere strongarming us into providing free labor. It was a request.

Was it to get a reaction? It worked. Here's my reaction:

"Find a big bag of dicks. Pull one out. Choke on it. Love, Hybris"

I hope those paypal donations go to the people who are still owed money.

Dickson, why are you hanging around only to be a passive-aggressive jerk? Alex at least has a legitimate axe ta grind, and, y'know, GRINDS it. Stopping by to offer a wordless thumbs-up is petty and quite frankly beneath you.

Now's the time to tune out the bullshit and focus on the positive. Which is helping the site pull through a few low points. Don't give voice to the bullshit. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by S.D. Bob Plissken 

Nick is looking for help to revitalize the site and push on through some tough times.  I'm sure there are plenty of members who would (and will) gladly help out with the redesign and any other contributions that are necessary.  Way to be an ass.

You're talking so far out of your ass on this matter, that you might as well be wiping your mouth with Charmin.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hybris 

 

Why do you feel the need to step in and state your (reasonably idiotic) opinion like it's everybody's?

Sorry, FillionFan101, I didn't mean to fluster your gentle sensibilities. If you think I was trying to speak for everybody then your reading comprehension skills are a perfect fit for this place.

I watched CHUD gradually devolve from being a fun, smart place about film culture to being a meandering mess of halfbaked brain farts. Now that this burned out husk of a site is facing demolition, I thought I'd chime in one more time. Just for nostalgic purposes.

"If they wanted to design/maintain a website for free, they would have done so already. Why would they do it for you?"

That sounds an awful lot like putting words in peoples' mouths to me, chief.  As a whole, I think my reading comprehension is pretty fucking stellar.

Anyway, I'll leave you to your childish, petty game of posting derogatory comments on a "burned out husk of a site" that you don't enjoy. 

Happy to give you a boot in the ass for "nostalgic purposes", though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hybris 

"If they wanted to design/maintain a website for free, they would have done so already. Why would they do it for you?"

 

That sounds an awful lot like putting words in peoples' mouths to me, chief. 

 

What.

lol "chief"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil 

What.

 

Smells like hair burning in here. Work it out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by roboTimKelly 

Now's the time to tune out the bullshit and focus on the positive. Which is helping the site pull through a few low points. Don't give voice to the bullshit. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hybris 

"If they wanted to design/maintain a website for free, they would have done so already. Why would they do it for you?"

 

That sounds an awful lot like putting words in peoples' mouths to me, chief.  As a whole, I think my reading comprehension is pretty fucking stellar.

 

Anyway, I'll leave you to your childish, petty game of posting derogatory comments on a "burned out husk of a site" that you don't enjoy. 

 

Happy to give you a boot in the ass for "nostalgic purposes", though.

 

 

Oh, how little they know.

I thought you College Kids were all into the whole fuck the 1% thing? This is the best example of the 99 vs. the 1% that you're going to find online in between periods of sucking off Scott Pilgrim for little fanfare.

But, the 1%'s golden parachute in this case is anti-social nerds trying to hobble together malware prone ads, a broken chassis and piles upon piles of unearned creative content into a functioning site. Speaking of which, I never signed a contract with Kraken Heads or whatever. I want my shit back when this place goes tits up.

Oh man is this going to end badly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Merriweather 

Oh man is this going to end badly.

It already ended badly, the chicken's just realizing that its head was cut off.

Sorry, I was furiously masturbating and watching Scott Pilgrim, what?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anderson 

 

Oh, how little they know.

 

 

I thought you College Kids were all into the whole fuck the 1% thing? This is the best example of the 99 vs. the 1% that you're going to find online in between periods of sucking off Scott Pilgrim for little fanfare.

 

But, the 1%'s golden parachute in this case is anti-social nerds trying to hobble together malware prone ads, a broken chassis and piles upon piles of unearned creative content into a functioning site. Speaking of which, I never signed a contract with Kraken Heads or whatever. I want my shit back when this place goes tits up.

If your work was paid on quality alone, than deservedly you should be broke by now.

And I fucking loathe Scott Pilgrim. Don't put me in some box so you can grandstand. It's a movie website forum. Not your soapbox. We're here because we like CHUD. Why are you? It's not like you'll be missed or anything. It's not like you are missed. 
 

Is there really a need for people to pop in here and turn things into an AICN talkback?  'Cause that's the direction it is heading in, which is quite pathetic.  If you have a problem with the head honcho, that's what private messages are for.  Stop trying to shit on those who still care about this site.  Do people really have nothing better to do than troll around on a site they don't even like?  I'm sure there are countless films out there that you all haven't seen and would probably love.  Go watch one and quit wasting your time trying to piss people off.

I'm glad the anti-CHUD group has come into this thread to be adults about everything.

Embarrassing, dude.

I also wanted to examine the initial statement.

I'm going to retire from the web

Retire from the web? That just reads weird, but OK.

and either close the site,

Viable option.

hand it off to new folks,

Wasn't this what the whole Bigfoot endeavor was in theory?

or let it fester awhile and see what becomes of it.

Well, we've seen where this leads.

Many folks don't know what we've been dealing with behind the scenes but it has been very hard to keep things going

Shit goes bad, don't expect strangers to validate life choices and personal business dealings.

, and recently we shuttered GUY.com due to reasons totally beyond our control.

Money's a bitch.

As you many have noticed, we've started bringing some of those folks here to play.

They were already over here to begin with, moving one pile of people from one place to the other doesn't make it new people.

They're good people and though some of their content may not initially feel like CHUD... they're soulmates.

Oh...SOULMATES! That makes it better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by roboTimKelly 

 

If your work was paid on quality alone, than deservedly you should be broke by now.

 

And I fucking loathe Scott Pilgrim. Don't put me in some box so you can grandstand. It's a movie website forum. Not your soapbox. We're here because we like CHUD. Why are you? It's not like you'll be missed or anything. It's not like you are missed. 
 

 

The way it looks like, I'm fucking thriving in comparison.

This is still a movie website forum? I thought it was just a cage for Princess Kate.

What up, PK? How be dem earthquakes, dawg?!?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hybris 

So really, there's a reason you have 17,000 posts and 14 rep, right? Why don't you go find a table leg to chew on or something?

To be fair, he really hasn't been posting since they added rep back in.

I mean, he's still being a douche troll but your rep jab really doesn't work.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hybris 

Sorry, I was furiously masturbating and watching Scott Pilgrim, what?

You're a funny little cunt! How long until you get your own frontpage comic strip?

I don't usually get vocal about anything, but the left turn this is taking is utterly unnecessary and is only going to make circumstances worse. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it, and apparently that whole mantra is being disregarded.

I understand that some people may have been employees, but I also regard the fact that, above all, it is people like me who have found an opening in this site as a way to expound on my writing and be part of this community, and ever since the start of the B Movie Column earlier this year, it's helped me grow as well as make myself more outgoing by spreading the word about my talent. My communications major has a writing focus, and I'm now in my last semester, and CHUD has been, above all, the most important writing outlet for me in the past year. I've made countless great friends on this site and I can't picture my life without all of you.

Let's all stay strong, everyone, and to hell with the haters.

This is probably just going to piss everyone off, but hey ho.

Everyone, on all sides, is covering themselves in shit on this one. It's a constant cycle.

Nick, stuff NEEDS to change. The front page is a mess. It needs streamlining. But more than that, the relationships between staff members and the professionalism of how the site is run need to be watertight. I hate saying this because I'm obviously not privy to everything that goes on behind closed email accounts, but there's just too large a trail of angry, upset, seemingly shortchanged ex-writers. I've been reading this site since it opened its doors, and whilst Bob can be abrasive he's kind of right - the place has faltered to the point where the boards are the main draw for me rather than the content. It's not the fault of most of the new new writers - Josh and Renn in particular are GREAT at what they do - but something has gone awry.

Old guys, a lot of you have points. I'm not gonna sit here and chastise Alex for feeling gypped, or Bob and Anderson for being...well, Bob and Anderson. (I'll chastise Dickson, because that thumbs-up is so toadying.) But regardless of your feelings towards Nick, this place, these boards, don't deserve an ignominious end. Don't go off on these newer folk who've just found the place and are pissed that it could be gone soon. They ain't Nick, and CHUD.com ain't Nick either. The site is worthing fighting for, and saving, but constant back-and-forths of namecalling and handwringing and refusals to change the status quo aren't going to cut it.

I really, really hope that this site is around for years to come.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anderson 

The way it looks like, I'm fucking thriving in comparison.

 

This is still a movie website forum? I thought it was just a cage for Princess Kate.

 

What up, PK? How be dem earthquakes, dawg?!?

I'm sincerely sorry it didn't happen for you and things didn't go the way you hoped. It's a shock, given you seem charming enough. You're clearly "thriving." And by all means, what a big man you are for picking on PK. 

Nice work, you won internet today. Thriving is the new Winning.

I apologize. I'm passionate about this site, guy was a douche. I'll always defend this place. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by A-Pathetic 

To be fair, he really hasn't been posting since they added rep back in.

 

I mean, he's still being a douche troll but your rep jab really doesn't work.

 

Sure it does, I've been posting like a fucking week and a half. Most annoying thing about any forum, ever, is the guy that's been here forever and feels like that entitles him to be a bitter fucking jackass and receive no flak for it. 

I haven't been posting long at all, but with the exception of this thread, the discussions I've engaged in have been fairly enjoyable and friendly. Anyone complaining about the state of a website and then using that as an excuse to be a naysaying dick is a complete fucking hypocrite. "This site used to be great, now let me drag it down further by giving voice to my childish, petty opinions because I didn't get enough mommy hugs growing up". Yeah, that makes sense. 

There are no tangents that can get you around simple logic. If you don't like it, leave! Why waste your time in here telling people who want to help that they don't really want to help? Fucking childish.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anderson 

You're a funny little cunt! How long until you get your own frontpage comic strip?

I don't know, but given your huge font of irrational anger, I'd say it'll happen about the time you see your first vagina that's not on a computer screen.

Quote:

Originally Posted by roboTimKelly 

I'm sincerely sorry it didn't happen for you and things didn't go the way you hoped. It's a shock, given you seem charming enough. You're clearly "thriving." And by all means, what a big man you are for picking on PK. 

 

Nice work, you won internet today. Thriving is the new Winning.

I just want to make it clear. I'm not picking on PK. Princess Kate is a long-time buddy. I just rarely get to talk to her anymore when she's on XBOX Live. Assassin's Creed is coming out on the 15th, so I hope that changes.

Your entire first sentence makes no sense because you're coming from a place that only exists in your mind.