I believe this is the main cause for all the delays and fooling around. I created a thread in Site Enhancements to attempt to counter their lack of motivation, if they actually have it. They should be excited for this. Instead, they seem to consider it low priority. Here is the thread. Tell me what you think.
EDIT 1: It's been locked, but a response has been given basically stating that there are other higher priority things that need to be done that require Unions: Version 2 to be put on hold. So much for giving them motivation.
EDIT 2: The thread has been deleted.
EDIT 3: I can't believe I actually found a way to get my post back. After some searching, I went into my posting history and found all the posts I made in that thread. Clicking on the thread gives me an error, but to the right I noticed it gives a tiny quote of the post that I made, and I found the one that started off the thread. It only showed an excerpt of the quote though, soIwent to view the source code of the entire page and then found the entire first post. I'll post it below, but one thing is odd that I have to add. When I click on the thread title, instead of telling me that the topic doesn't exist, instead it tells me that I don't have access to the board. Does this mean that the admins didn't delete the thread afterall, and instead moved it to a secure location where they can keep it for whatever reason? Anyway, here it is...
"For some reason, I sense a lack of care or urgency from CNET and GameSpot to complete Unions: Version 2. I could be dead wrong, but that's just what I feel from some of the responses I've gotten from the staff. If the readers of this thread don't already know, the union enhancements were put on hold some time ago because of a lack of coders to finish the job. It's not known whether GameSpot has started up work on the project again.
But the real question is why is this development process taking so long. I created those union enhancement ideas back in 2006 and it's almost 2008 now. Delays, delays and more excuses. This is part of the reason why I get the feeling that there is a lack of motivation. Jody Robinson said that she and Bethany are pushing to get the project done, but why should they have to push so hard in the meeting room just to get CNET to budge?
Of course the obvious question coming from CNET and from a business perspective would be "How Does Unions: Version 2 Benefit Us?" If there is no benefit for the site and company, then there is no reason to drop a load of money for its creation. There is a large benefit though, in the form of these mini fan sites/unions drawing in even more viewers for GameSpot.....and More Viewers = More Ad Clicks. Imagine the amount of viewers these unions could pull in for GameSpot if they had Unions: Version 2 on their side. They would no longer be basic fan sites, but advanced ones capable of doing great things if given the chance. You guys have the opportunity to create the next big thing, the next MySpace or YouTube. You could make an entire unions site by itself and connected to other CNET sites. A site for easy creation of mini (But still advanced) sites.
Of course, the other option is something that union leaders might not like, but if it's a question about a big return for GameSpot and CNET in offering their resources to finish creating this, they could charge for this new union system. There could be certain levels of features for unions. For example, the Basic Level would be the union system we currently have and it would be free. There could be a Middle Level with half of the Unions: Version 2 features and that would have a regular price to pay. Then there would be the Advanced level, which includes all of the Unions: Version 2 enhancements for a higher price. There could even be another option of payment, which eliminates ads on a union for anyone that visits it, giving a union leader's members the best viewing experience possible. This higher payment could also include some advertisements for the unions somewhere on CNET's sites. More Money = More Features.
You see, there is money to be made off of unions if you really think about how to implement these ideas. Tell that to CNET. They have a good opportunity here that they should capitalize on. And the demand for these features is already there. Are you afraid that a union leader might not want to pay for what they can get for free? There's a solution to that too. Since this is a union afterall, setup a payment center where any member of the union can stop by to help with the fee of having more advanced features. With the payment option open to thousands of members, I'm sure the money to keep their union running won't be an issue.
What more motivation could you need for allowing GameSpot's developers to finish this project up and release it to the public? CNET should be excited for this. Instead, they seem to consider it a low priority project and are holding it back. To me and many others, that seems ludicrous. The opportunity is there CNET/GameSpot, you just need to realize the benefits and seize it."
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