Random Huggles

[Gabi]

Shadrok gets a hug today!

[Amber Williams]

Quick note, and sorry that I am intruding on a long-running thread.

I've gotten message from a couple people who have been "randomly huggled" and they expressed a bit of unease over getting PMs from out of the blue from people they never really talked to "huggling" them.

I just wanted to make notice that not everyone is down with random huggles from random people.  I'm not sure how the system here works, but caution is advised.  While I realize the intent of this is to distribute good feelings, I would imagine none of you want to cause the opposite effect where people are creeped out.  However it has been happening and people have been commenting to me about it cause they are unsure of how to react.  I figured I should bring this to all your attention to let you be aware and maybe try to figure some way to avoid further awkwardness.

Cause I don't want to rain on your parade. But I can't ignore people telling me they were wierded out on the forum.  Either way, sorry for busting in like this.

[Gabi]

We were aware that some people might not like it, and have asked everyone who doesn't want to be hugged to let us know. So far only Zina has done so.

It's possible that these people haven't seen that post. I wonder if anything can be done to make it more noticeable. In any case, from now on whenever I give a random hug to someone who hasn't got one before I'll also tell him/her how to avoid further hugs if he/she wants to.

It would be good to know who has complained so far, so we can add them to the list and avoid hugging them again.

Thanks for letting us know.

[Amber Williams]

I think the main worry was they didn't want to come across as rude...or they were unsure of what to really do. When one gets a PM out of the blue and they dont really frequent the Villa section often, they might miss things.

I admit I dont feel comfortable dropping any names here. Not because I think it will put them on the spot or you guys will look down, but moreso since they PM'd me over it, I'm not sure if its allowable for me to post.  I'll PM them and ask if its cool to either PM you guys their names or just post them.

Sorry again though, I feel like a goob having to bust in your thread like this.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

No, no, please - break in. We're just here to generate good feelings, or, at least, that's the impression I've gathered over watching this thread. And I -am- watching. :-]

As I understand it, Gabi has been including a link to this thread, to the post in which the random hug strikes the person in question, along with a brief explanation of what the heck is going on here.

I can't say how everyone else is doing it (Gabi being the only one who's randomly hugged me) so it might be worth while confirming that everyone doing the hugging is using a standard template (with space for personalisation, of course) to cover all the bases, and make sure everyone is aware of the rules - to whit, hugs are completely random, as generated by a randomiser. Anyone who hasn't logged in for 30 days is excluded, and anyone who -wants- to be excluded is excused as well. Other than that, anyone is fair game, and nothing is implied by the hug other than that the huggee has a good day.


I might be a bit close to the trees to see the wood, of course. If anyone has any objections or suggestions, speak up. We're all friends here...

[Reese Tora]

Speaking of which, a list of people who have opted out in a prominent location in the thread would be very useful. (even if it is only one person long as of yet...) just for those people who want to start random hugging but don't read through the entire random hug thread.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

... so we ask HazMat nicely to edit his first post?

Perhaps we ought to provide something to put in there, then. :-]

[Faerie Alex]

Coulda been from me. I hide the link to this thread in a smiley. I'll move it out now, iffin it'll make anyone's life simpler.

BTW, I had a thought. What if some peeps would prefer a random handshake (or something similar) instead of a random huggle. Just a thought, ya' know.

[Aridas]

I don't think anyone should hide the link. People don't usually go looking for links.

[Faerie Alex]

Yeah. I kinda hoped that people would go looking for a link if they didn't get it, but...eh. For the record, all huggles from me up to this point looked like this:

*Randomly hugs*

(I found it to be clean looking, but I guess it's too confusing.)
Starting now, they're going to look like this:

*Randomly hugs*

>Click here for forum topic.<

The first recipient of huggle 2.0 is Nullcast.

As a final note, I'm considering rolling out something new and shiny for huggles. If I ever get around to it.

[Gabi]

Something like this?

(It uses LavaRand but gives a random number between 1 and 360). I tried to make it go even further, but the server's too slow.

[Cemalidor]

Well, my next random huggles goes to a fellow german (still being random)

Dard. 

[Gabi]

Today's hug goes to Wanderer.

[Faerie Alex]

Something like this?

(It uses LavaRand but gives a random number between 1 and 360). I tried to make it go even further, but the server's too slow.

Actually, I meant in terms of message body. Something a bit different than plain text & smiley. We'll see...

Meanwhile, Fresnor gets tonight's huggle.

[Gabi]

And Tycoon gets today's. First-time hugee. Here's the message I sent.

Hello. You're getting a random hug.

Random hugs come from this topic and are simply good wishes sent to random people. If you don't want to receive more hugs, please let us know.

[Tycoon]

Thank you very much. I should stop lurking in the comic forums and get out more, I suppose.

[Faerie Alex]

The peep that shall recieveth the random huggle this 'eve is Nekomancer. Thou art huggled.

In the nature of full disclosure, I'll mention that I've changed my huggle slightly too. (I like your idea, Gabi.)

*Randomly hugs*

>Clich here for forum topic.< If you do not want to receive random huggles, please let us know.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Clich? Is that like cliché, but shorter?

[Gabi]

Ladies and gentlemen, and whatever else may be out there, we have a new record! Alondro gets his 7th random hug today!

[Aridas]

Disqualify him

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

On what grounds, though? He's too popular?

[Gabi]

Maybe he has probability-altering powers and he's using them to get extra hugs?

[Aridas]

It's obvious, isn't it? He's the one pulling the strings.

[Faerie Alex]

Clich? Is that like cliché, but shorter?

No, that's what happens when I type-slur "click" and "here."

In other news, TKG gets a random huggle tonight.

[xHaZxMaTx]

Whoo, school's out!  Now, let's see, I owe...  13 hugs. 

Hug receivers:
insanekaosx
Alondro
computer nerd
Akisohida
Kaerou
Brunhidden da Muse
Sienna Maiu - M T
Ink
Stig Hemmer
Doraion
ShiningShadow
KarlOmega1
Mischa

Whew, all caught up.


Also...

For peeps I've hugged before:

*Randomly hugs.* (Insert smiley of choice)

For first time recipients:

*Randomly hugs.*

If you don't want any more hugs, just request it in the thread provided in the link above.

BTW, who all has requested no hugs?  Zina is the only person, as far as I know.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Zina is, indeed, the only one I know of.

We -have- had some people mentioning to Amber that they feel ... uneasy, about randomly getting hugged out of nowhere. So there's been some discussion about pointing people to here, standardising the contents of the hug, and putting a chunk in the first post, etc etc. Just in case you missed it all. :-]

[Gabi]

Boogeyman gets a hug today.

[xHaZxMaTx]

Yeah, I read all that, llearch, which is why I put what I did in my post.  I should probably go edit my first post, though...

[Faerie Alex]

Tonight's random huggle goes to Kogitsune.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Yeah, I read all that, llearch, which is why I put what I did in my post.  I should probably go edit my first post, though...

Right you are, sorry, etc. Wasn't sure if you'd skipped over all the drama or not. Figured I'd summarise :-]