Sunday, May 8, 2011

due to regrettable - and totally unnecessary - distractions on my end, i think i just lost all of April's posts...if ANYONE copied any, please let me know immediately...
UPDATE! due to a friend's quick wits (and we are embarrassed that we didn't think of it ourselves) in grabbing a cached page, we now have April's issue!

4/29/11...the site coders seem to be getting a handle on things,
kennelling (and presumably the care of Admin pets) is back on board -
and even the pets of those on the wrong side of the door are being
tended, yet another indication that the accounts themselves are normal
in all respects, with the addition of a new "door" the member must go
through to get in - and from what i've seen so far, the bonding drops
10% from its existing position and locks (now THAT is a neat
trick)...so that when the member returns, they have their original
level restored on the first feeding.
EDIT we take it back...bonding IS going down, if a bit more slowly than usual.
Pet Samaritans still MIA...or dispensed with, with most pets
(theoretically) inaccessible.

we note that the 4/26 Announcement thread has finally been locked,
sometime after noon CA time today...at a grand total of 396 pages. it
was getting kind of repetitive - although with the multiprofile
Announcement blocked to comment, it was still the only place to go for
answers...oh, well.

4/28/11...hmm. it seems that the glitch in kenneling may be
inadvertent - or at least unplanned - it seems that a lot of coding
operations are behaving other than normal, including (snicker) the bot
routines that tend Admin pets in their name...and no one has been by
to feed poor DrJane's animals...what happened to the admiration
society singing in harmony on her message board a while back? not so
happy with the "new" doctor - and the New Foo - any more?
Care Logs were not cleared on schedule last night - normally an
automated function - and we are running across other little oddities
here and there. it seems that recycling doesn't work as well
online...and the old code is having problems with the new tricks they
are trying to teach it.
Anybody noticing anything out of the norm - insofar as there is one,
any more - give us a shout.

4/27/11...so far they have found - and blocked - almost every loophole
we have been able to find in the Missing Friends Fiasco (4 out of 5,
at this point)...we DID tell you to bookmark links of all who might
need care...there IS one option still available (say it softly) - go
to mobile mode, click on "friends" at the foot of the page. in your
browser bar, erase "favorite", and hit "go to" (arrow whatsit at right
side of browser bar). you will get them all! BOOKMARK it so you'll
have it in place...and copy all the links you expect to need or want
to your profile before they find and shut down this one, too.

as far as the "tender care" the site is supposed to be providing for
the stranded pets...as nearly as we have been able to determine, the
Pet Samaritans have not been around for at least a week, and for those
who were incautious enough to pay to leave their pets in the hands of
the FooKennel...well, they're off-duty as well - but as they are
supposed to be tending (and, i have absolutely no doubt, charging for
the privilege), the pets are inaccessible to friends.
...nice, huh?
( images of these charming examples of the New Foo are in a clickable,
top right.)

4/26/11...well, the tsunami hit a bit early (11am CA time), but so far
the damage has not been quite as great as we feared...accounts are
still visible to friends (but you may want to copy/paste them FAST,
non-CFs are diappearing from Friends tabs), and are fully tendable, so
while the precaution of pasting all member links to the Share-To-Care
project turned out useful, our paranoia in recording and filing all
profiles and individual pet links has so far proved unnecessary. we
were able to offer logon capacity to over 100 members, who will access
the page info fron here or Lifeboat WordPress via this :


4/23/11...9 pm my time. Happy Easter and/or Passover, Equinox, and so
on, to all.
if it's not too sacriligious, i personally will be praying for a
resurrection of love and mercy on the part of those controlling the
site...though i can't say i have a lot of faith in that any more.

4/19/11...FooMojo has officially changed their name to Rivet Games -
we'll look into this more after 4/26. (reference "fluff" link, not
site home - http://
venturebeat.com/2011/04/20/rivet-games-raises-second-round-for-web-social-and-mobile-games-exclusive/?amp&)

the "concession" consisted of the minimal discount for a 6-month
commitment - which, considering how little is saved, and the removal
of the annual option, is no concession at all. (loud raspberry)
so, we are back to providing a group log-on for people to tend their
pets without ponying up for ClubPfeh...click the OperationLifeboat
link, right.

I've been doing some math...most of us with 20 or more pets on a given
profile have probably spent anywhere from $5 to $30 RL per pet, which
means around $200 RL per person, and that without counting accessories
- the equivalent of 4 years' worth of CF membership, in a period of a
little over two years or less, depending on join date.
Aside from the fact that that would leave us "paid up" for another two
years, by their lights - if that wasn't enough revenue to keep them
going, this new initiative isn't going to cut it either... so whatever
their real reasons for doing this, it AIN'T the money.

4/14/11...OUR FIRST CONCESSION! added to Corie's post : "We’ve also
updated the packages on the subscription info page to offer volume
discounts on ClubFoo and ClubFoo Plus."

Now to try for the budget package...cross your fingers!

4/10/11...we had a thought. our post on page 229 of the thread has
been transferred to Operation Lifeboat on WordPress (clickable right)
and amended.
go look...and let us know what you think.
there HAS to be a way out of this nightmare - we just have to stop
raging and/or panicking, and find something that will work - for
everyone, including, like it or not, the site management.
_________________________________________________________

4/8/11...those...unmitigated...BASTARDS. while the bulk of those
online were distracted yesterday by the CF Announcement, the dirty
sneaks crept into the FooShelter and exterminated virtually all pets
from 50000 to 11533000...a moment of silent rage and sorrow, please,
for
TEN MILLION SLAUGHTERED PETS
so - let's see. they've driven off those who enjoyed buying and
selling, those who bred for love of the breeds, the RPers, the item
collectors, those who enjoyed using links to decorate and inform,
priced kids out of the market (those whose parents didn't take one
look at the new TOS and run away screaming), and are now trying to
break the backs - and hearts - of the shelters, rescuers, and those on
fixed or limited incomes.

hmm. doesn't seem to leave much...for God's sake, Mojo : if you want
to shut it down and rebuild, have the courage - and the courtesy - to
just say so.
or are you just trying to get a quiet cash population - with all the
dormant accounts to dress it up pretty - so you can sell it for a fast
profit? i noticed weasel-words to that effect in the new TOS version.

don't know if i'd really MIND a change of execs...this has become more
pain than pleasure, and we're really getting tired of dying by
inches...
__________________________________________________

4/7/11...now, it's "Save Our Souls"...the hammer has fallen (see
right), and all accounts not subscribed to ClubFoo as of 4/26/11 are
to vanish. what, exactly, that entails, we are not yet certain - we
are praying that they will remain, blocked to the members, but able to
be accessed for care by CF'd friends, and leaving them the option of
subscribing as soon as they can (all the folks who only get money on
the first of the month, for example...) : worst case, we are trying to
make a list of all member numbers that cannot make the deadline in the
hopes we can tend via cache ...under the circumstances, trusting
FooMojo and the Samaritans to tend them does not strike us as a safe
option.

We were warned that something horrible was about to happen (and that
there would be absolutely NO recourse, so don't even bother trying to
appeal to FooMojo, Admins, etc. on the basis of ethics, fairness,
etc...they HAVE none) - we just didn't conceive HOW horrible. And just
to make it worse, Gifting has been killed off, as well. UPDATE:
Gifting is back...but for ClubFoo's only.

Anyone kind enough - and able financially - to sponsor others at least
temporarily, please post at Lifeboat/WordPress (FM can access this
blog too readily), and those with more pets, and love, than funding,
please put your names in, and we will try to match people up.

JUST IN...

your account will NOT be deleted. it wiill be frozen – bonding badge
and all – as of the 26th, and you can reinstate it at any time by
subscribing.

this was posted in response to my question, by an Admin in a position
to know. i an trying to find out if CF’d friends can tend your
pets…and will post that as soon as i know for sure.

just to cover those who will scream “You’re on THEIR side!” – i don’t
like this any better than you do, but it’s an unchangeable FACT.
period. no givesies-backsies. i have EIGHTEEN accounts – ONE has
ClubFoo. i am now looking at coming up with over $400 in real-life
money - every six months - to keep my well-loved pets….and it ain’t
going to be easy. will i do it? yes. will i like it? H--L no.

but i WILL do it, as and when i can. if nothing else, this will weed
out those who are here because they have nothing better to do…my heart
goes out to those who love their pets, but cannot afford this kind of
an investment, though. i shouldn't - i will have to do without a lot
of things i really need more than this – but i feel an obligation to
my pets.

THEY didn’t ask for this, either.
...and may God have mercy on us all - FooMojo certainly won't.
_________________________________________________________

WUXTRY! WUXTRY! S - O - S* !!! (Save Our Shelters!)

Born2CanaanCatHaven - relentless, stubborn 60's renegades that they
are - has found a way to defeat the attempt to shut down our member
shelters! Details can be found on their profile in the Adoption
Guidelines clickable, via profile link at right.

SAVE ~ AND SUPPORT!
MEMBER-RUN SHELTERS.
____________________________________________________

MISSING LINKS restores access to links from FooBA4U and
Born2CanaanCatHaven, as well as a chatblog (for fun and sharing) and a
rantblog (for venting)...and we will be hosting monthly activities
there to let us all enjoy our pets - and each other - in peace.
_________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT !!! IF YOU SEE ANYONE DROP OFF THE RADAR, FIND A CACHED PAGE
OF THEIR ACCOUNT IMMEDIATELY OR LET US KNOW AND WE WILL - THE PETS
MUST GO INTO FOSTERCARE, NOT THE FOOSHELTER!
_________________________________________________________
... NEWS DU JOUR ...

4/1/11...April Fools indeed...isn't it amazing, how now that the SITE
is making money on Legacies, they not only repokeyed all the ones in
their custody, but somehow managed to fix all those pesky little
problems with running them that were so insurmountable before...we
devoutly hope caring members are not being lulled by all the bribery
into looking the other way concerning the down side (and it's a doozy)
of the New Foo...

as was observed yesterday, all pets on public sale when the axe came
down are still available - which means they left the original coding
in place. hmmm...UPDATE - they found, and closed, that
loophole..though the ease suggests the coding is blocked, not gone.
_____________________________________________

3/31/11...(please visualise a black border around this post...)
somewhere between 9am and 2pm CA time, they finally, actually, went
and did it...the site is now officially destroyed as we all knew it up
until now.

not only have they successfully eliminated member-to-member sales, and
with them all the hardworking member-run shelters (other than as
caretakers of the pets we have been desperately trying to gather in as
we waited for the axe to fall), but as a little added morsel of
unannounced agony, have locked the door to tending any pets in
accounts not friended - i.e. virtually all foster pets, especially the
older abandons and pokeys. look for the "friendly" Pet Sams to get a
lot less friendly soon...and all the but the very "youngest" pets
gathered into the FooShelter by that method, and via the bounty, to be
deleted in fairly short order.

to stifle any remaining resistance - and to no doubt encourage CF
membership - the log-on reward is now doubled, and for the lazy, or
those who are here for everything BUT the pets, there is now one
button to tend all of your pets at once with a single click...blindly,
impersonally, and in seconds. there may be more - we are too heartsick
at the moment to look into it. we suppose the site is now officially
"kid-friendly"...it certainly is no longer pet-friendly.

They really ought to give some thought to changing the name...the word
"pets" does not belong - not anymore.


3/30/11...a passing reference in the FooPetter by "DrJane" (a suspect
source, at best) to the coming changes - but no mention of what is
being taken from us, only the supposed reduction in prices - and still
no real idea of WHEN whatever they are planning to do to us will
actually get DONE.

3/29/11...Tuesday the 29th, and the axe has not yet fallen...hm.

we hear that Good Cop EAB1 has posted "answers" to some of the
questions addressed to Bad Cop Corie's Announced changes -
unfortunately but unsurprisingly, none of the answers cover anything
we didn't already know or could figure out with a minimum of effort,
and fail to respond to the thing we REALLY need to know - WHEN.

perhaps in vain, we hope this suggests that they may be holding off
and reconsidering (and have prepared ourselves for the second-worst
options), but we wouldn't count on it.

it is stated that there will be "down time" (to be announced sometime
just prior, apparently) while the new stuff is shoehorned in...i hope
to kiss a duck - if they actually go through with this in full, it
will amount to practically rebuilding the site coding from scratch,
another point that suggests it may be implemented in somewhat
different (but no doubt equally unpalatable) form.

we'll do our best to keep you posted - and please check Lifeboat/WP,
right, as well - we access them from different sources, and one may be
updated sooner than the other, with no real control over which on our
part.