Speculative Zoo Design and Planning forum

As per my original post in this thread, the Fantasy Zoos forum has now been archived and no new threads may be created and no new posts made in threads there.

If there are threads in the Fantasy Zoo Archive which you believe meet the criteria to be included in the Speculative Zoo Design and Planning forum, but have not yet been moved - please feel free to report the first post in the thread to bring it to the attention of the moderation team. Be sure to include justification for why you feel it belongs in the new speculative forum.
 
Simon Hampel said:
ZooChat was started in 2003 to discuss zoos and animal conservation. I had three main goals when starting the site:
  1. a place to discuss news about zoos
  2. an opportunity to share knowledge and educate each other about zoos and animals
  3. building a community of like-minded people to share experiences and knowledge
If I was to condense the goals down to three words, they would be: news; education; community.

We've always had an element of speculative discussion that went beyond the factual and explored the "what-if" scenarios. This can still be educational - investigating how things might be done differently at a zoo; considering what species might work well in a mixed exhibit; how you might design your own exihibits or zoo features. These are all examples of topics which lead to interesting discussion that remains within the original intention for the site.

However, there are some topics which do not really fit within the intent of the site. Sharing works of fiction and short stories is one example we've already had to restrict due to the amount of work involved in ensuring they remain "family friendly" and avoid any NSFW content that could be unsuitable for our diverse community.

More recently, there have been a lot of new types of threads created in the Fantasy Zoo forum, focused around role playing games and challenges. This is not really what that part of the site was intended for and has been a source of friction amongst our members for some time now.

After an extensive review of the content being posted on ZooChat, we have decided to refocus and rename the fantasy forum to make it more clear what our intent is.

As such, I would like to introduce you to the Speculative Zoo Design and Planning forum.

We would encourage the following types of discussions here:
  • hypothetical discussions about developments or exhibits in existing zoos
  • ideas for specific theoretical collections - such as geographical or species themes
  • speculation about extinct species and how they might be exhibited in zoos
  • individual designs for a fictional zoo where you have thought out how you might design exhibits, choose species to keep and encourage visitors - where other members may critique your design and make suggestions for improvement. The key word here is "design" - we expect some thought and detail, not simply listing species of animals.
... while the following types of discussions do not belong in this forum, or on the site at all:
  • role playing games where participants assume the roles of zookeepers or characters in a fictional scenario and act out their decisions in the thread
  • animal breeding and exchange games where participants pretend to run a fictional zoo and breed/swap animals between their facilities
  • any other type of challenge which involves creating fictional exhibits or zoos
To be clear: we encourage the discussion about theoretical zoo and exhibit design - but don't make a game out of it. It should aim to be educational rather than pure fantasy.

Further to the above changes, we have also recently introduced restrictions on new members posting in this topic. We encourage new members to contribute to other parts of the forum when they first join and not simply hang out in the speculative design section. Once they have been a member for a while and posted enough in other topics, they will automatically be granted access to post in the Speculative Zoo Design and Planning topic.

I will note that these changes are not a sudden reaction to recent posts - this discussion amongst the moderation team has literally been going on for years now (since 2018!) and has been a source of ongoing debate between the mods as well. It's been a challenging process to identify types of content we feel fits with the goals of the site and to succinctly explain what we feel doesn't.

We hope that the change in focus for this specific part of the site helps us to continue growing the ZooChat community as the world's best resource for the discussion about zoos and animal conservation.

Note that the the existing Fantasy Zoos forum will be archived and made read-only in 1 week from now, to give existing threads a chance to wrap up any ongoing activity. The moderation team will assess existing threads to determine which fit the criteria to be moved to the new Speculative Zoo Design and Planning forum.

To summarise:
  • effective immediately, no new threads can be created in the Fantasy Zoos forum
  • existing threads in the Fantasy Zoo forums will remain open for new posts for one week from today at which time they will become read-only
  • the moderation team will decide which existing threads in the Fantasy Zoo forum meet the criteria for the new Speculative Zoo Design and Planning forum and will move them there, so they may continue to receive new posts beyond the next week
  • new members are not able to post in the Fantasy Zoo or Speculative Zoo Design and Planning forum until they have been registered for some time and contributed to other parts of the site - at which point they will automatically gain access to post in the new speculative forum.
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As a project that I have been working very hard on since November of this year, I do believe that the Rembrandt Park Zoo project should be considered a thread that would be able to follow up with the new standards that the moderators have been working on for quite sometime. In addition to being a speculative zoo design thread with a noticeable hint of realism, combined with an equal amount of my imagination; it also happens to be a thread that is still in a constant work in progress, with a detailed description of evey exhibit that I cover, a species list that will occasionally change with the times every now and then, as well as the slight details of some of the individual animals that will call this speculative zoo their home. If this previous description of mine doesn’t sound like the rembrandt park zoo thread should be a part of the somewhat newish speculative zoo design and planning forum at all, then I don’t know what it is with people these days. But regardless of what I have stated earlier. I do believe that the “Rembrandt Park Zoo” thread should be able to meet up with the criteria standards of this drastic change of dynamics, as well as to be relevant with the times from this point onward.

~ @Austin the Sengi
 
Austin the Sengi said:
As a project that I have been working very hard on since November of this year, I do believe that the Rembrandt Park Zoo project should be considered a thread that would be able to follow up with the new standards that the moderators have been working on for quite sometime. In addition to being a speculative zoo design thread with a noticeable hint of realism, combined with an equal amount of my imagination; it also happens to be a thread that is still in a constant work in progress, with a detailed description of evey exhibit that I cover, a species list that will occasionally change with the times every now and then, as well as the slight details of some of the individual animals that will call this speculative zoo their home. If this previous description of mine doesn’t sound like the rembrandt park zoo thread should be a part of the somewhat newish speculative zoo design and planning forum at all, then I don’t know what it is with people these days. But regardless of what I have stated earlier. I do believe that the “Rembrandt Park Zoo” thread should be able to meet up with the criteria standards of this drastic change of dynamics, as well as to be relevant with the times from this point onward.

~ @Austin the Sengi
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As per my instructions, can you please report the first post in your thread to bring it to the attention of the moderation team.
 
Well Simon, out all of the times that I have been here on ZooChat. I do admit that I have never properly used the report button without me accidentally clicking on it for no reason whatsoever.

[Edit] I just noticed the report button here on this post, and I will get back to work as soon I know on what I am supposed to be doing.
 
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I’ve had the same issue as @Austin the Sengi, my zoo meets the right requirements for being moved, but that has not been done. I reported the post with an explanation, but I was wondering if there are any procedures I will need to follow if it does get moved.
 
Austin the Sengi said:
As a project that I have been working very hard on since November of this year, I do believe that the Rembrandt Park Zoo project should be considered a thread that would be able to follow up with the new standards that the moderators have been working on for quite sometime. In addition to being a speculative zoo design thread with a noticeable hint of realism, combined with an equal amount of my imagination; it also happens to be a thread that is still in a constant work in progress, with a detailed description of evey exhibit that I cover, a species list that will occasionally change with the times every now and then, as well as the slight details of some of the individual animals that will call this speculative zoo their home. If this previous description of mine doesn’t sound like the rembrandt park zoo thread should be a part of the somewhat newish speculative zoo design and planning forum at all, then I don’t know what it is with people these days. But regardless of what I have stated earlier. I do believe that the “Rembrandt Park Zoo” thread should be able to meet up with the criteria standards of this drastic change of dynamics, as well as to be relevant with the times from this point onward.

~ @Austin the Sengi
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Bengal Tiger said:
I’ve had the same issue as @Austin the Sengi, my zoo meets the right requirements for being moved, but that has not been done. I reported the post with an explanation, but I was wondering if there are any procedures I will need to follow if it does get moved.
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Patience is a virtue: I would assume they're having to go through the 31 pages of threads one by one to check whether they meet the criteria to be moved. Simon already stated more than once that if it qualifies it will get moved.
 
Well everyone, since it seemed that I unintentionally ended myself by starting an off-topic conversation. I just wanted to apologize to you all for my seemingly impatient attitude lately when it came to responding everyone who replied after my request post was made. It’s just because that this December has so far been quite an emotionally turbulent month for me, and when you combine this with the daily hassles of life, the approaching holidays, and of course, the announcement of the aforementioned new forum. You could say that it all ends up into a little sengi’s mind that eventually results into a mental disarray that almost made me choose to quit ZooChat for good, (well it obviously didn’t happen, but you still get the point). Anyways, I was only under in this behavioral situation also due to the fact that I had been making some pretty good progress, and have also worked very hard to make my Rembrandt Park Zoo project to be more relevant, and exciting to everyone who also happened to be following it since I first began to properly showcase my project only a month ago. It was only when the new forum was first announced that I began to realize that I needed to create at least, one more new post, before the new rules started to take effect. But in all seriousness, I just wanted to say to all of you moderators and users out there an apology for the majority of the mental mishaps that I made in just one day.

~ @Austin the Sengi
 
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KevinB said:
I just noticed that the gallery for fantasy zoo media has not been changed.

So I suppose that fantasy zoo/speculative zoo design related media should still be posted in that place, if they are not posted as an attachment?

I just did with a design for my newest project, in case I had to do it differently I apologize.

https://www.zoochat.com/community/media/categories/fantasy-zoos.3253/
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I'm actually not sure about what the current status quo for that gallery is, off the top of my head :) but I am sure Simon will be able to clarify matters for you!
 
Bengal Tiger said:
Hate to be a bother @Simon Hampel, but my request to get my thread moved was not acknowledged, I have tried multiple times in hopes the moderators would notice, but to no avail, what should I do?
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If your thread hasn't been moved, then either we haven't had a chance to process it yet - or it does not meet the criteria. All reports are noticed and discussed - you can be sure that if something is reported that the moderators have seen it.

In this specific case, I will highlight the important phrase in the original post in this thread:

The key word here is "design" - we expect some thought and detail​

Your thread does not meet this criteria.
 
LionTamarin said:
I have a quick question. Why was the Fantasy Zoos forum removed? I loved that forum.
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I have a quick question; why did you not bother to read the multiple explanations in this thread before asking for us to explain matters to you again? :p

LionTamarin said:
it doesn't meet the rules, and when I tried to bring it back, replies were turned off
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And yet you act surprised about this despite acknowledging it doesn't meet the rules?
 
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