You're very welcome, Eska! I believe that, if we keep this at the forefront, action will be inevitable.

You know, a so-far unspoken "no freakin' DUH" concept about this sparkle dog/unrealistic dog/unrelated dog phenomenon is that I FIRMLY believe that most of the kiddies and teenagers who are here submitting these works are not only engaged in shameless self-promotion and the seeking of attention and lauding, but seem to focus on posting the stuff here because it is a MUCH smaller community than deviantArt, probably than Sheezyart, etc. Thus granting them a greater likelihood of the attention and lauding they seem to be craving. In theory, they have a better chance of their works being spotted HERE, and sopped over, than on the art sites.

STILL doesn't validate what they are doing, or make it in any way appropriate FOR this particular site.

Thank you JC, for saying coherently all I couldn't say.

That right down there.

No, Megane. Steet is too weak and wishy-washy, caving in to whatever happens to get the most attention at the time. That doesn't equate with anything other than placating.

The fact is, this is a FAN SITE. Not an art gallery. I don't care how long you or anyone else has been here. The fact remains that the site is for fans, and should be (and has been in the past, and therefore needs to be again) structured for FAN creations, not random artwork, fictions, images and videos for those people who want to come here and show off creations unrelated (by varying degrees) to the movie in question. Period. Regardless of how good or bad those creations MIGHT be.

Anyone who stands by this site being put back into the hands of the fans, and the limitations restored, is clearly in the right here. Anyone who simply wants to allow this site to continue to spiral into chaos because of unrelated creations so they can show off their unrelated stuff and then fight tooth and nail to keep it here, against ALL reason, is dead WRONG.

I think you happen to forget that steet, after grey set up new rules told her off (at least from changing stuff on the site like rules, etc) so even if shed want to she wouldnt be allowed to help/change anything

Am I the only one that remembers that Steet gave his position to Grey Wolf? I mean honestly, do we all forget his post from February 2011? www.animationsource.org/balto/ [...] me_for_a_fresh_start/2911.html
If you want to make a bigger change, talk to Grey Wolf, at least she cares.

Megane: The way I se it there are a few options to solve the problems and keep everyone happy:
-Steet could put someone else in charge of Balto source, since he has no care of running it or listening to us members. That would solve a lot of problems
-He could make a seperate source for the non-related characters
-Like I and Sen said, make a sparkle limit or a related-char limit (how much sparkle is in the char and how many sparkles/non-related characters you are allowed to make [example, for every 5 related, you can make 1 non-related])

(And I may even make a petition myself, if anyone thinks it may be a good way to settle this)

Actually RJ, I've been on this site since 04 - 05, but had left.
As well, I was not aware of the tale spin source, just know that he was on there. Don't bother to check it as it is pointless to me personally, but it's his site, but I also know there was a point where he hasn't on there often.

And aswell, I never said a "popularity boom", just that the sites are still popular after so many years.
In all honestly, I have no care for other the sites. The English side of Balto source seems to cause the most problems. People want one thing, then another. We had sparkle, banned sparkle, and then allowed it again. People are too demanding on this site and want everything perfect for "balto fans", when in all honesty, there are more that enjoy the freedom of not having a relation to balto or having to render / draw anything related so often. So, if Steet bans the sparkles again, then people are going to demand it back. It's a never ending cycle and I'm sure that's the same reason Steet doesn't care about this site anymore. Balto fan, or not, the site is how it is.

I mean, there are actual characters with NOTHING to do with balto and un finished bios, but I never saw a single person get mad over it till recently. I've seen so many projects, images, drawings, ect of people trying to get the site to just be about Balto again, but no one paid attention. It seriously took an April fool's joke for people to actually start caring?

Pressuring him to ban sparkle dogs and unrelated characters won't do much in the long run. It's acting like a child. What I simply do not understand is why people can not use the character filters and simply NUDGE people into making more balto related stuff. Hecate did that and more people are doing balto related stuff.

As far as I've seen, not many people want this as ones who are opposed. Like I said before, never ending cycle and eventually the pressure won't do a thing, and who knows. Maybe it won't do anything now.

Megane - it is a shame you do not know Steet as well as the old members do. Yes, the man has a life - we all do - but look at the evidence.

- He apparently has time for Tailspin Source, even though it is dead in the water apart from him and a few members.
- He allows a new source to be put up every few months or so, increasing traffic and thus the amount of members he has to look out for. Why not stop the sources and maybe delete a few if things are that hard?
- He's a grown man and has ran this site since 2004. To say he wasn't aware of the responsibilities he was taking on is a pile of rubbish. This site didn't have a sudden popularity boom, the member count grew steadily and we didn't have these accounts back then either. You had FORUM accounts and that was it. So, things were easier back then.
- He publicly dismissed our issues with BS some time ago and people are rightfully angry that he ONLY cares for Talespin Source, even though most members do not. He says he no longer has any interest in Balto.
- Yet, he continues opening more sources (I believe we have about 8 now) and things are becoming messier every time he does so. A hub has to have a dedicated team behind it, not just one guy who only cares about one part of it.

Yes, he has a life. But he has responsibilities as a webmaster to hear the concerns of the members and ignoring them/dismissing them will not make them go away. Also, I believe this rule was put in to make hormonal teenagers quieten down about the 'lack of creativity' and to increase traffic, not because he actually agrees with the sparkledogs being here. He just doesn't care about it, period. Hence why people ARE emailing him and PMing him, so don't think they aren't.

Aiyana, See, I actually agree with that. But since the rules are still here, I will not throw in my view of whether or not they need to be here.

The part of action isn't so easy. Steet doesn't come on as much as only way to get his attention seems to be trolling / spamming tail spin source or email. Which, would be a very very dumb thing to do at this point. The man has a life and the fact this site has still so many people on a daily basis is something not many sites are used to. If I was Steet, I would do the same thing. He's a grown up and has to deal with childish things now because of this site, like this sparkle thing and now people threatening to troll. The fact he hasn't shut down the site yet or given up completely is a mystery to me.

Okay, I'll put in my two cents, even though I thought I'd try not to be a part of the debate/arguement, or whatever you want to call it.

Okay, I don't like sparkles that much, UNLESS they are well made. Example, a mostly brown char with bits of blue or purple is something I like sort of like my second fursona, Mayla ( http://www.animationsource.org/lion_king/en/chars/Mayla/25947.html ) Or a cream char with light green markings could go well together. But that doesn't mean bright, winged, vampre-wolves belong here. Of course, if you make a good, semi-sparkle that is Balto-related (which IS possible, just be creative) then it may have a place here, but as for the blinding, fluro-coloured, magic, "100% wolves", they shouldn't be here, especially since most of them have no relation to Balto in any way.

I also think that we shouldn't just stand around complaining and debating about this, we should ACTUALLY do something. Get people involved and aware about the situation, and see if they will join our side or remove their sparkes. We could even make a petition for everyone to sign if they want non-Balto-related, OVER-sparkled chars gone. I agree with SentheSilverFangWolf: "I think maybe instead of trying to get rid of them,maybe they should be limited in how sparkly they are and maybe limit how much sparkle characters a member could have." Exactly my opinion. Whats wrong with the well made semi-sparkles? The ones that actually have a place on BALTO Source. So come on people, don't just stand around argueing whether or not they should be here. Do something! Take action! Then all of this will be resolved.

If you have looked at the recent characters lately that are not wolf / dog, but related to balto, they have the same comments.
As much as there is a right to voice your view on something, there is also a thing about being mature about it and not acting like a 5 year old who didn't get the toy they wanted. The site is still allowing sparkle dogs and none related balto characters, thus telling them it doesn't belong here is pointless when it is still allowed. If people have such a big problem with this, why not spam email Steet instead of causing more drama on the sources? Half the people causing the drama were off saying how they hated all the drama not too long ago.

There is also a fine line between voicing your view and attacking someone. Telling someone that their character doesn't belong there when it's allowed and let's say, calling them names, as I've seen, is attacking.

It's all un-needed drama to get a point across, when you can simple email someone.

Now that's not true at all. There are plenty of balto related birds, moose, bears, ect. Welcome on this site. REALISTIC AND BALTO RELATED ANIMALS ARE WELCOME....Now why must you blow this all out of proportion...? That's just being silly ^^
No one is attacking characters here. We have a right to voice opinions/rules- otherwise there wouldn't be a comment box, now would there?

"Don't like long ranting comments about sparkle dogs? Here, I'll just throw some more at you."
That's how I feel about these comments.

I do however agree, people attacking other characters just to "pressure" Steet into making them not allowed is the most immature thing I've ever seen on here, but I guess that is just "taking action"for them.
It also seems like if any character is not a dog / wolf, it's automatically not allowed on here.

Very nice render, love the expression.

That quite sums up my thoughts RJ. I completely agree.

Sen - 'Banning sparkledogs will cause problems'? What problems exactly? Kids crying because this is THE only place on the internet where you can host your creations? All right, let me give you a list of the places where you can host your art and show it to people:

DeviantART
FurAffinity - If you dislike DA, this site has a much more welcoming and friendly community in terms of animal creations. This site is really about anthro/animal art so, yeah.
Photobucket - Yes, it has a limited space and yes, it isn't really 'public' but it is nifty in terms of getting links to show people your creations and technically 'publishing' your work.
Facebook - Wow, we're forgetting about a place where you can select your friends and have some privacy, aren't we? Believe it or not, there are people out there who do use Facebook as an art gallery. Don't want to upload it to your main account? Make an account for your art only. It isn't a crime.

The bottom line is that this is a fansite, made for Balto. Why waste your time and effort on a site that doesn't serve your purpose as a personal art gallery? When many people are clearly unhappy about it. I don't hate you all because you draw sparkledogs (I, for one, don't mind creative sparkledogs) but I am getting annoyed with your attitudes about it. Like it or not, the TRUE FANS of this franchise were here first, not you. So I think seeing a website that they are fond of and is the only active Balto website on the web getting turned into a hideous DA clone is far more upsetting than your precious sparkledog creations being relocated to the suggestions above. If every single one of you can find a flaw in my suggestions and why this place is so much superior for your work, then go ahead. I know what this site is for and it isn't this.

Imagine:That was pretty good ! Hmm..maybe.

From where I'm standing, there are far more serious and more dedicated and LONGER-registered members of this site who are sick to death of the sparkle dog thing (and the unrealistic dog thing) than there are those who seem to think this place ought to be solely intended for showcasing their unrelated and often pathetically-mediocre or even puke-inducing "art".

We shall see what comes of the pressure.

Remember the April fools prank? That was actually kind of a good idea? We can suggest something like that to him.

And thanks Sen

I'm just saying to leave it alone because if sparkledogs are banned it might cause more problems.

Imagine: absolutely. I like your reasonable thinking.

I also agree this isn't entirely steet's fault. He probably added sparkle dogs to either add more members or to stop the complaints given to him. We are as much to blame.

But now we need to get steet's attention so he can figure out a solution with us. And hopefully eventually he will respond.

I'm sure there are some who are willing to. I know I certainly would.

This is a passionate issue. People are upset. They're not going sit over a nice cup of tea and meekly trade emotionally-neutral comments back and forth. Let's be realistic here.

Insults (ACTUAL insults) and flaming are out of the question, and stupid. Impassioned postings? That's entirely different.

I agree with that but not all of these people are debating with respect. But you are absolutely right. It should be handled maturely and respectfully.

Oh, I see, Mini -- so now we blame steet entirely for the sparkle dog situation, right? I mean, none of the kids and teens who posted galleries worth of of sparkle dogs and entirely unrealistic, unrelated-to-Balto characters and art are to blame in any way. No! It's that steet guy who's to blame! Yeah yeah! Let's echo the current thinking in society -- I don't take personal responsibility, I blame the system! WOOO!!!



And Sen, as to the question that it will NEVER change? Ever heard the old term "the squeaky wheel gets the grease"? Hmm? I've been here long enough to see steet cave to pressure from a majority of members in the past. If he wants peace on his site, he WILL eventually act. It's come to that. This is NOT going to ease out any more or less than you and some other defenders of this totally irrelevant and unrelated art keep fussing and bawwwing about how we all OUGHT to leave it alone.

It's NOT.

I never said the debating was pointless, I think we should express our opinions on the matter, so as to figure out what we really need to do. Debating and fighting are two different things. I think fighting is debating with mean insults and comebacks. Debating is simply expressing your opinion and RESPECTING those who disagree with you.

And it's not gonna be over,it's just gonna keep on going in circles.

I'm not going to prove it by fighting.You won't accomplish anything by that.that's why I say it's pointless. Your effort will be futile. Like I said,theres gotta be a more reasonable way to end this feud that all fan members can agree to and I stick by that.

It isn't pointless, how many times must we express this is a fan site? If you're truly a fan, prove it. If you were you wouldn't be sending this stuff here, regardless of the site rules.

FYI: I won't stop fighting for the rights of this site till it's over.

Imagine said all. I think the fight is really stupid right now, even if the rules allow it. But I cant say more. I said all I thought in my last comments and I think Imagine put a final point. ^^