Here's the original with screenshots!
About MyOtaku
MyOtaku is the old blogging system for TheOtaku; instead of Worlds, there are sites. New members can not join MyOtaku to make a site. I’m guessing that the reason for this restriction is that TheOtaku’s managers are hoping that eventually all of the old MyOtaku users will die, get lost, or switch to TheOtaku’s Worlds.
When VersionVibrant went up, MyOtaku lost some somewhat minor features. At first, MyOtaku lost the link to users’ inboxes, so users were forced to go to TheOtaku to check their messages. Now, MyOtaku users have got the PM link back, but it only says that there are 0 new PMs. Also, there was a comment/reply management system that was similar to the one that’s currently on TheOtaku, but the managers never gave that back to MyOtaku. The page that displayed members’ popularity based on the number of visits their sites received was never returned to MyOtaku, as well. That page would also display the usernames of new members and of members who recently updated their sites.
Another thing that MyOtaku lost was the old comment box, where avatars would appear next the user’s name, and font and colour options were available (for each comment, so you weren’t stuck with the same thing for all of your comments). When VersionVibrant was first put up, members couldn’t make paragraphs in their comments. Now, MyOtaku members have got the avatars and paragraphs back, but they still don’t have the font and colour options, or the new edit and reply features. However, the comment box on MyOtaku is still better than the comment box on TheOtaku, since users are able to move it around. Many users like to type their comments while reading the post or looking at the artwork, so they can type everything that comes to mind. The new comment boxes on TheOtaku stay in the centre of the screen and shade the rest of the page.
The guestbook on MyOtaku is much better, and signers still have font and colour options. Also, the guestbook is accessible from a member’s site, and it isn’t just another comment box; it’s a separate page on the site. Guestbooks are more for making friends and leaving comments that don’t always relate to art, so it makes more sense to have the guestbook located where its owner blogs. However, in this area the managers still haven’t given back the users’ avatars that would be next to their signing, after VersionVibrant’s installment.
By taking away the somewhat minor features mentioned above, forbidding new members from blogging on MyOtaku, and not improving MyOtaku at all while making all those changes with VersionVibrant, it is obvious that TheOtaku’s managers want to get rid of MyOtaku eventually. Maybe I’m getting a bit ahead of myself there; I should start telling y’all about the ways that MyOtaku’s sites are better than TheOtaku’s Worlds, and that forcing users to use the cruddier blogging system is unfair.
To start, sites are much more customizable than Worlds. Similarly to MySpace, if you or a friend has some knowledge of HTML, you can make your site look anyway that you’d like it to look. There is a 1500 character limit to the amount of text that can be used to customize a site, but that limit can be easily bypassed (hehe). To be honest, though, I don’t think people bypassing this limit has become a major problem, since a good amount of users also like to keep their sites simple (not coming close to exceeding the limit). Here are just a few examples of sites that have been customized:
Besides having no limits on the basic appearance of a site, there also isn’t a limit on the amount of pictures, music players, or videos that can be in a post (or in the introduction section). Also, members are not restricted to embedding only YouTube videos. And the amount of posts that are displayed on the main page of a user’s site can be changed. Not to mention, the quiz results page is pretty cool, since you can show off prettyful quiz results, and the results can come from any quiz website.
MyOtaku’s way of showing updates is superior to almost every website that I know; DeviantArt is pretty much even with its inbox-like way of showing updates. MyOtaku’s update system is a list of all your friends’ usernames with the dates of their last update next to them and the most recently updated are highlighted with a light blue. The new update system on TheOtaku only shows which members have recently updated and included in these recent updates are art updates as well. Since I don’t get on very often, I miss a lot of updates, so I like to go down the list of dates to find out who has updated since my last visit. Now, I have no idea how many of my friends are using Worlds or when they last updated anything, since I only see that a few of them updated in the past day or so! >.< It’s very frustrating and inconvenient. (Fun fact: MyOtaku’s update system was used for a short time on TheOtaku for art updates. I have no idea why the managers changed it.)
The best thing about MyOtaku is its friendly atmosphere, though. And I have yet to find another website with such a vast majority of nice members. Unfortunately, despite still having friendly members, the atmosphere on TheOtaku is no longer friendly. People definitely don’t comment on Worlds as much as they did on sites (possibly because of the update system problems), and sites are getting less comments than before because no new members have been coming and old members have been going. It’s getting lonely around here!
TheOtaku has become more art and profit-oriented. Well, TheOtaku was the art part of the MyOtaku/TheOtaku relationship. However, since Worlds are failing at being a good blogging system and MyOtaku has been abandoned, all that’s left is the art. Then there’s this Premium membership stuff. If TheOtaku’s staff members are getting a little tight for money, I’m sure that many members would be happy to DONATE, but restricting certain features from regular members is lousy. Where’s the love in that? Also, I thought that TheOtaku wouldn’t really need the money, since it was selling that artbook and art lessons…? So far I haven’t seen any major problems developing from the Premium membership stuff, but my experience with DeviantArt tells me that Premium memberships will probably lead to trouble in the future.
Anyways! Back to MyOtaku’s generally friendly atmosphere! ^.^ There was a way that older MyOtaku members would welcome new members and teach them how to make friends, develop good netiquette, and create snazzy sites; forgive me for not remembering the details exactly, but I remember that the teaching involved a level system in which new members who wanted to learn some stuff would start off as padawans, then become Jedi masters who have the option of becoming teachers.
Overall, the users on MyOtaku care about each other. They don’t just want subscribers and favourites; they want to become friends, so they can help each other through the hard times and share the good times. Most of the remaining MyOtaku users are still here for the friendship and the refuge from the real world. That’s what MyOtaku is: a place where everybody is the person that they want to become, thus the members have created their own perfect world to live in.
Areas of Improvement
Now, I didn’t post this to point out only the great things about MyOtaku. I also wanted to point out that there are parts of MyOtaku that still need improvement, and that the managers really have no reason to abandon the better blogging system for this new one. Also, I want y’all to know that I don’t totally hate the new changes made to TheOtaku, since some good ones were still made.
The main problem that comes with MyOtaku is the way that sites using the basic layout get all messed up on Firefox and versions of InternetExplorer over 6. I’ve heard that this problem has something to do with the HTML formatting. But I know some people who seem to know how to get the page back to normal, using HTML formatting, so I doubt that it would be very difficult for TheOtaku’s staff members to fix.
Also, I’ve had a couple friends whose profiles have just stopped working or their accounts have been deleted for no apparent reason. A better security system would be nice for sites, as well. Perhaps an optional security system that gives members the choice to block non-members from viewing their sites.
On MyOtaku, clubs have always seemed difficult to run and participate in. However, here’s where Worlds can actually be useful, if equipped with a better update system! Being able to have multiple Worlds and put them in categories is perfect for clubs; not to mention, having guest posters works well with running a clubl. Also, Worlds are good for users who want to post lots of their written artistic creations (poems, fanfics, reviews, etc.).
Gifts and the chat feature are nice, but I wish that the limit on the amount of gifts that a member could send out wasn’t so low. I have a lot of friends with a lot of birthdays! ^.^; Also, I like that more categories and a fanfiction section have been added, but I hate that the cosplay section was removed (shows how much the managers cared about TheOtaku’s cosplaying community)! But the fancomic section is the best fancomic section that I’ve seen so far.
So what I’m trying to say is that TheOtaku is a fantastic art website, but MyOtaku is a much better blog website. MyOtaku and the older members don’t deserve to be ditched like this, and all of TheOtaku’s members deserve to have the option of using the better blogging system.
Sorry for my lousy vocabulary; I hope that despite it, people are able to grasp the meaning behind the words and are willing to share their thoughts on the matter. Also, I didn’t state every way that TheOtaku could improve because this post is already far too long, and this post is meant to put focus on MyOtaku. Thanks for reading, and it would be even more appreciated if some action could be taken to remedy these issues. ^.^
