Essentially, the amount of points we get for things are the same except the took out the searches, the comparison, the add-to-wish-list points. And of course the amount we can use toward purchases.

But nothing else has changed. The forums are still the same, we can still write reviews, we can still participate in the proofreading program, the mentor program. All of that is the same.

Suggest the site to people, keep active on the forums, add to the community, keep writing your reviews. Like I said in another thread, this is just the leftovers of a bad breakup your friend is trying desperately to get out of.

And, honestly, at this point, if the points-toward-purchase s is that big of a deal (which, yes, I understand how much it sucks more than you know because I am far too poor to afford any of the toys I want), then maybe it is time to move on.

Because frankly, at the end of the day, this is just another website out there, another forum out there, trying to bring people together over the same, positive things, but the same negative things keep getting thrown back in our faces.

We just carry on like it's any other day at Eden. Things can only get better if we want them to. less

EF is one of the few sites that I consistently recommend to people. My orders are always filled correctly and shipped/received in a timely manner. I have never had issue with actual shop section of the site, the forum on the other hand. I saw lots of bullying, bashing and general immaturity that it forced me to rethink visiting here.

It may not be as active as before, but it is far less cliquish and volatile. less

Oh it was miserable...absolutely hostile. The definition of troll was completely blown out of the water...what they called trolls were just newbies trying to learn the ropes. They were pushed off tje site by all the snark and the "better do it this way" mentality. So much so that actual directives from admins were ignored in favor of what the top reviewers demanded. I don't miss it one single bit. less

Oh it was miserable...absolutely hostile. The definition of troll was completely blown out of the water...what they called trolls were just newbies trying to learn the ropes. They were pushed off tje site by all the snark and the "better do it this way" mentality. So much so that actual directives from admins were ignored in favor of what the top reviewers demanded. I don't miss it one single bit. less

All perfectly understandable, but you're absolutely correct we have to make profits. Though, I will kindly and respectfully disagree that someone needs additional incentive outside of free product to write reviews. ALL of the major vendors in the industry offer some sort of review program and most are quite successful -- the difference between those retailers and EF is that we give you a platform to host that information instead of making you shell out of pocket for a blog.

It's all about perspective.

I do appreciate you stating your opinion on the backlash everyone, not just me, received during that time. What I don't understand is why we're still talking about it 7 months later. It's done and it's not going to change any time soon. less

"What I don't understand is why we're still talking about it 7 months later. It's done and it's not going to change any time soon."

I think we continue to see talk of it is because there are always people returning to the site and for them, this is all shocking and new. To us, sure, it's old news, but that said, not everyone processes things at the same rate. Does it really hurt to discuss it? I just think honestly addressing things goes a long way toward resolving the concerns instead of leaving confusion and rumor. I know there is info scattered all over the forums that answers many of the questions, but nothing centrally located that explains everything officially. I have noticed many people do not search for this info or just do a cursory look for it, then they just start their own thread. Maybe it's time to write a 'letter to returning members' (or something like that, whatever you want to call it) which would just be a post somewhere easy to find that we could refer people to in order for them to catch up on what happened and how things are now? I know I have written some comments that I think quickly & fairly summarized what happened and you could use that, for example. People are going to continue to ask, so why not just say, "Hey, go read this, it'll answer most, if not all, of your questions"? It's just an idea I think might help cut down on you and us having to respond to the same questions over and over, which I know can get tiring to even the most patient person. less

I think WW's "Letter to Returning Members" suggestion is a really good idea to help returning members understand the changes -- the Announcements section will be a good place to display that letter.

And let's stop all the censuring -- I'm happy to see familiar faces trickle back -- so please, let's not chase some of those away. less

There was a window to turn in that form, and then a chunk of time where they were all evaluated and people were issues points in the form of gift cards if they were approved. To my knowledge, you were only able to submit for consideration during that window. So, the only way to use your points now is as 15% of your order. less

Just an aside I thought of...when I joined, I almost immediately was greeted by PropertyofPotter, Edeneve and LoriAndHubby. What a difference that was to Stormy's greeting upon joining! I find it interesting that PropertyofPotter & Edeneve are still here. Some of the most supportive and nicest people (XxFallenAngelxX, KyotoAngel, Charmedtomeetyou, Rossie and Kendra, just to name off the top of my head), are some of those still here which is telling. I agree that the overall tone on the forum has improved, so despite the lull, there's no reason it won't pick up again. less

Wow! Really?! All that work for nothing I just checked Alexa.com and it appears as if EF really is going down the drain as the number of visits over the past year has plummeted. Here's the graph that shows how EF ranking as dropped:

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