Freebie Bin Discussion Board!

Posted 8 years, 9 days ago (Edited 7 years, 2 days ago) by Carnatone

A thread to discuss anything related to the Freebie Bin, where Toyhouse users can give characters they no longer feel that spark towards to new homes!

The Bin has gotten such a good reception and several regular users, and I'm super thankful it's turned out this well! Thank you to everyone who's contributed their characters, and to the people that take these characters in!

What this board is for!

-Posting your questions, comments, and concerns about the Bin!
-Discussion of possible rules and general alterations of the main Bin.

-Sharing your freebies! If you've had a good experience with anything you've gotten this is a great place to share it!
-Getting to know some of your other Bin users.
-Anything else at all directly related to the Bin!

What it isn't for!

-Posting your freebies- that's what the bin is for!
-Addressing personal concerns with a specific user or characters.
     If the issue is severe enough, please contact me directly or go to the TH staff.

Carnatone

 

I definitely want this thread to become a lot more lighthearted too! In fact, when this issue was resolved I was going to ask what everyone thought about the temporary mascot! (The little redheaded character who appears in this and the other thread's main post) Like, if he should be kept, altered, or exchanged! And I wanted to host a couple of small events too-one has been in the works for a while and the other, while it doesn't have work done on it yet, promises to be a lot of fun if it goes through!

On a separate note, I'll state again that I am fairly firmly against having threadwide, required writing of any kind for freebies. I feel that since so few people have asked for writing in the past that it can put a damper on givers.

As for @Fehnryr 's posts, and part of @Araneko 's:
I am glad that you both want this to be an enjoyable experience!  It's in the interest of that very idea we're trying to find a solution that works best for everyone, and your input is important to the development of these ideas!

My thoughts are that I am by and large able to check the thread daily, and don't find monitoring the flow of characters a troublesome idea, so for the moment the moderation isn't a big issue. And Fehnryr is right when they say many of the higher-quality adopts come in much smaller batches if they're batched at all, with fair space between. I don't think shortening this waiting time will be beneficial for that reason, and that it would be more reasonable to lengthen it from the time it is now.

I also think that these posts suggest that the potential rule is going to be a hard line and in fact inhibitive. I believe this can be far from the case! Along the lines of what @Entropicteacups has said, it's meant to be a base guideline that can be easily deviated from. For this rule not to apply, the person posting freebies simply says that it doesn't. This places a level of control on the givers that might not have been considered before, and is specifically targeting the issue at hand. Any receivers who might slip on this aren't going to be demonized or anything of the like- they'll just be gently reminded in PMs that they should slow their intake and give everyone a fairer shot at getting a great character. As Fehnryr has pointed out the community so far is very respectful, and as this thread is showing so far incredibly civil, so this should be enough.

Regarding take-backs, while I agree that it can be a painful experience and might like to do something about the matter personally, I don't believe that is within the jurisdiction of the Bin as a whole. Toyhouse as a site has an extremely good bunch of people with comparatively low conflict from what I've seen, and their policy has been to allow users the maximum opportunity to resolve any issues among themselves. I also think that one-on-one conflict resolution without an audience is usually the least agressive, most courteous form of it. If you find you and the other person in a situation like this need a mediator, I would be happy to offer my services and be as impartial as I possibly can, and if that doesn't make you comfortable we can seek alternative methods. This also applies somewhat to this suggested politeness/kindness rule. If you find yourself discontent in any way with another user, you can contact me through PMs and I will do everything I can to help you and the other user reach an agreement. (Understand that when I do this, I will do my best to keep your identity hidden from the user you have grievances with. If for any reason that no longer becomes feasable I will ask you before proceeding with any identifying comments.)

The fourth of Fehnryr's suggestions is definitely something I'd be interested in considering- is anyone else in potential support of it?

I am all for reminding the givers that they have a choice about wether or not to give their freebies to anyone- and I do mean including me. I'd like to hear suggestions on how to put reminders like this in practice, but a wait period for givers seems like it could be counterproductive if they just want to move their characters out. Those who give freebies should have the most possible control over how they distribute their characters.

Fvhn

@twosecondslighter I have an idea about that, actually! I think that simply adding a "form" to post freebs with might help givers set guidelines more easily, and it would make it easier to identify "giving" posts as well, since they tend to get lost among the fast paced pages sometimes. My idea was something like a copy-paste form that you fill out when you have freebs. Ex:

Freebies!
Link(s): links to freebs or folders
Limits: 1 per person // 1 per person per 24hrs // unlimited, etc.
Requirements: short blurb of why you want it // three sentence story // none // must have less than 50 characters
Contact: TH ping // comment on sta.sh // pm

Of course it could be customized or changed however, but it would be a good way to make things easier, AND by filling out the form, it would consistantly remind givers that they have the right to set whatever guidelines they would like. Thoughts?

Fvhn

Also, as soon as we get all this sorted out, we should totally have a little character party to show off what we've done with freebs we've gotten :) It would be fun!

And maybe a little mascot character contest? We could ask around and see if anybody would donate some free characters, and the characters could be the prize for winning the art contest? Just tossing around ideas :'D

jetsetspy

@fehnryr, I love both those ideas!

Ansel

I like the form idea!

SpaceSheepy

I have finally posted some freebies to the been myself hahahah yass it feels nice to give back*^* I may post more if these are actually taken XD I have old unsold adopts on deviantart that could use homes lol XD also about the mascot I actually really like him tbh *^* also whoever the cute purple guy is who's with him on this one XD

SpaceSheepy

pax ahh thanks for saying that! And yeah with mine quite a few have stories that I haven't written on here yet because I'm trying to organize my characters fully first before I do all of that stuffXD and with the person taking back the character I cancelled the transfer request since they didn't accept yet and I've asked them to discuss it more first but they haven't been online yet so I'll have to hope all goes well XD I tend to get very stressed out pretty easily tbh and I have a lot of school work piling up right now so I was already quite stressed that day tbh, I'm feeling a bit better now about it and I'm hoping all goes well in discussing with the other person because I'm a bit nervous about that since I cancelled the request for the time being -w-'

Taters

I dont know if limits are a great idea, it would just be a way to create more drama I think? Its unneeded. Though if a user with many freebies for take says one a person then that is fine and dandy! It should be the person giving that decides, not anyone else. I do really like when people ask what you will use it for though, especially if they spent money to get the adopt and are then giving it out free. I dont think its ok to be upset if a person says no because they want you to have a plan so it wont sit around. I love what @fehnryr said about how if they adopt and dont use a freebie, they put it back in to the bin circulation. Sure it doesnt need to be a rule, but if you really arent going to do anything with it even just offsite in stories its a nice gesture to add it back in.

Its also weird to me how sad some people are with missing things because time zone. For me I see it as not having been meant to be if something pretty was grabbed while I was asleep/working. To try and moderate how many people get to try and have each of us with more chance based on times...it just sounds silly? They are free after all, so they will likely go fast. Sure it sucks to miss something, but a new one will come around as well. Im not sure how to explain exactly what I am thinking in this, but I just dont think limits other than those set by givers make much sense.

SpaceSheepy

Well things did not end well with that situation from before and I feel horrible right now. I hope everything on the thread gets sorted out and everything will be happy and fun. I really want to have fun with the thread. Oh and thanks for starting the bin in the first place, when I found it I never expected it to become such a big thing haha

Fvhn

Just throwing in one more thought about a potential contest: Perhaps @twosecondslighter could collect donations of free characters for the duration of the contest, and then the winner could pick three, and the runner up could pick two, the third could pick one, and the rest would be released back into the bin? I have a few characters I could donate for something like that...

Carnatone

Ohhhh man! @Fehnryr seems to have said the idea before I could- I was planning on an art contest for the mascot! (I also wanted to get him and his possible new companion in this thread header names.)
My first thought for prizes would have been to collect an artist or two to make a custom free adopt for the winner, but a collection of already-made freebies to choose from could be an interesting idea! Which does everyone prefer?

 

Discussion on the over-taking topic has slowed, and the general consensus there seems to be that a limit would be ideal. BUT just to be sure I have the majority vote on the decision I'm placing a poll here.
http://www.strawpoll.me/10076721

This poll will officially 'close' at midnight EST on Monday, May 2. At that point, I will count what it says and if a decision is reached, I will hold to it.
If an option leaves room for further talking, the decision will be held off again until we've clarified things.

SpaceSheepy

*ships mascots lol* ugh I was gonna vote on that poll but my iPad can't handle all the redirects -3-

Ansel

I voted!

Also on the contest and stuff, I wouldn't mind it all, it would be nice to great designs and characters second chances, but there may be a few people like me or so that in a way, just started, and does not have much to offer on it. Although I could whip and few designs in a way, some other people may not have art skills in a way to. (My skills are readable.. let's just say that :P )