I'm Not Happy With Some Things Here

[JakAngelescu]

I don't want the mods to come at me or anything. I'm just vocalizing my frustration and I know some of the mods may even have the same feeling as I do.

I am not happy on this site. It's not even about the lessons being down because that can't be helped.

But the social aspect has completely flat-lined. Posting stuff on here usually just gets the support and interaction from the Mod team, which I'm very grateful for to have that.

But I tried to get involved in the discord side of things and I swear to God all they talk about is gear and post a7x covers.

One student on discord got fired up about finding out I use to do contests and everyone ignored that conversation. I tried to get people pumped up about something other than gear talk and the messages are completely ignored.

So many senior students have left the site. All of my closest friends are gone and aren't active anymore. And that's okay, as I understand even i left for a while but I just miss it.

I'm not trying to come from a place of malice or hate. I love the fact that those who are here are still keeping the place up and going. I just hate that discord channel.

The social aspect here was so fun. I just miss it.
I don't mean to press anyone's buttons I just had to vocalize my frustrations as a student.

I would love to see this school making money for Syn and to keep the school funded but I don't see the purpose of anyone buying memberships when streams are limited and the social aspect has been directed to discord.

Another school I signed up for has its own discord with a bunch of sub categories that makes it super helpful to not have to read about other people's guitars all day. Maybe Synner could do that?

Is there anything I can do to help?

 

[Rad Synner]

Everything you said is very fair and things we have thought about. I've already communicated with Audentio about bringing some aspects of discord.
As for the Synner discord itself on the DBC, I know what you are talking about and we already communicated our feedback and observations with Syn.

All and all, I know that Syn's plan was to keep everything here so it's very unlikely that we will have an official Synner discord.

I am bummed as well about the lessons and I completely understand the frustrations that you and many other people feel about Synner in general. I miss the old Synner too. For the moment, there isn't much I or anyone from the mod team can say because we did what we had to do and the rest is pretty much out of our hands.

But we remain ready for whatever is to come next from the marvellous brain of PG and Syn!

- Rad

 

[John Robinson]

I don't want the mods to come at me or anything. I'm just vocalizing my frustration and I know some of the mods may even have the same feeling as I do.

I am not happy on this site. It's not even about the lessons being down because that can't be helped.

But the social aspect has completely flat-lined. Posting stuff on here usually just gets the support and interaction from the Mod team, which I'm very grateful for to have that.

But I tried to get involved in the discord side of things and I swear to God all they talk about is gear and post a7x covers.

One student on discord got fired up about finding out I use to do contests and everyone ignored that conversation. I tried to get people pumped up about something other than gear talk and the messages are completely ignored.

So many senior students have left the site. All of my closest friends are gone and aren't active anymore. And that's okay, as I understand even i left for a while but I just miss it.

I'm not trying to come from a place of malice or hate. I love the fact that those who are here are still keeping the place up and going. I just hate that discord channel.

The social aspect here was so fun. I just miss it.
I don't mean to press anyone's buttons I just had to vocalize my frustrations as a student.

I would love to see this school making money for Syn and to keep the school funded but I don't see the purpose of anyone buying memberships when streams are limited and the social aspect has been directed to discord.

Another school I signed up for has its own discord with a bunch of sub categories that makes it super helpful to not have to read about other people's guitars all day. Maybe Synner could do that?

Is there anything I can do to help?

i feel the same way,i posted a question and got one answer and a question,i dont come here much anymore,the family feeling is gone

 

[Gabby Heafy]

Same feeling. I agree with you on many things. I have been in this community for 3 years, this year I have not felt comfortable or part of it.I have always tried to help, support and be positive in everything, I do it because it makes me very happy. But this place as a community has become different, where you feel like you want to help or be a part, it's hard, it all seems so disconnected. I always want the best for this community and for Syn, his Father and everyone involved in Synner.

The Discord thing, I don't like it at all, I'm not active or participate.

I always try to express myself with all the respect and affection for each one of you and yes, many have left, but we must value all of us who are still here, trying to bet and help in everything that can improve this place and its community. . . Eternally grateful to all of you! All My Love!

Whatever I can help, here I am.

 

[John Goodman]

I don't want the mods to come at me or anything. I'm just vocalizing my frustration and I know some of the mods may even have the same feeling as I do.

I am not happy on this site. It's not even about the lessons being down because that can't be helped.

But the social aspect has completely flat-lined. Posting stuff on here usually just gets the support and interaction from the Mod team, which I'm very grateful for to have that.

But I tried to get involved in the discord side of things and I swear to God all they talk about is gear and post a7x covers.

One student on discord got fired up about finding out I use to do contests and everyone ignored that conversation. I tried to get people pumped up about something other than gear talk and the messages are completely ignored.

So many senior students have left the site. All of my closest friends are gone and aren't active anymore. And that's okay, as I understand even i left for a while but I just miss it.

I'm not trying to come from a place of malice or hate. I love the fact that those who are here are still keeping the place up and going. I just hate that discord channel.

The social aspect here was so fun. I just miss it.
I don't mean to press anyone's buttons I just had to vocalize my frustrations as a student.

I would love to see this school making money for Syn and to keep the school funded but I don't see the purpose of anyone buying memberships when streams are limited and the social aspect has been directed to discord.

Another school I signed up for has its own discord with a bunch of sub categories that makes it super helpful to not have to read about other people's guitars all day. Maybe Synner could do that?

Is there anything I can do to help?

Honestly, a big reason I haven't been on is the fact that the lessons have been down for so long. I already am not a very social person so i would only ever come on for the papa and syn lessons/etudes. But I know I can't be alone in that. I'm sure there are other people that aren't active because the lessons are down. I'm sure that number is larger than you think! but i would love to become more socially active on here with everyone.

 

[Ed Seith]

Agreed. Things were already in a bit of a rut, but the lessons being down has caused a massive hit. The Discord is certainly more active, but it's also a bit more of a trash fire, at least to me. I've been there and made posts trying to drive traffic over here, but it usually doesn't have much of an impact, largely because the Discord is livelier for people who have no interest in the lessons (and certainly worse that the lessons are down).

We're also in the process of making some changes to SynTV that will make it easier for us to go live. I think Rad and Jamie have been doing a wonderful job hosting streams about all kinds of stuff, and the rest of us on the team need to be doing more. I should be nearing the end of some of the difficulties I've been having IRL soon, so I hope to be back at it with some content - concert reviews, throwback album listening parties, maybe even just livestreaming me jamming along to songs on shuffle - who knows. But I want to get on a regular and predictable schedule for the Captain Ed Variety Hour.

We do know there is an issue, though, and we definitely want to make this place a destination again. It's hard to do without the main draw (lessons), but we are open to suggestions for REAL THINGS that we can do to help drive that.

I understand this may be kind of vague, but I want to make clear that even though you may have a killer idea, we DO have constraints about what we can do with that idea. If you've got a great idea, post it here, or PM one of us with it, if you're shy.

Also, we can expect that once the new album approaches release, we may be able to do some things to promote or drive activity there, too (no promises - that all comes from the Big Guy).

Thanks.

 

[JakAngelescu]

Everything you said is very fair and things we have thought about. I've already communicated with Audentio about bringing some aspects of discord.
As for the Synner discord itself on the DBC, I know what you are talking about and we already communicated our feedback and observations with Syn.

All and all, I know that Syn's plan was to keep everything here so it's very unlikely that we will have an official Synner discord.

I am bummed as well about the lessons and I completely understand the frustrations that you and many other people feel about Synner in general. I miss the old Synner too. For the moment, there isn't much I or anyone from the mod team can say because we did what we had to do and the rest is pretty much out of our hands.

But we remain ready for whatever is to come next from the marvellous brain of PG and Syn!

- Rad

Thanks for letting me vocalize my frustrations. I'm hoping things DO continue to stay here, as in, I'm not a fan at all of Synner having its own discord. I just felt that one day with how things were going it would be inevitable with how much people seem to prefer that than here. Thanks for giving your insight and I am sure one day things will be back up and fiery again. I'm just glad to know I'm not alone in my thoughts and that the mod team is really on top of things

 

[JakAngelescu]

i feel the same way,i posted a question and got one answer and a question,i dont come here much anymore,the family feeling is gone

To be honest, yeah... the family feeling has been gone for me for almost 2.5 years now. In my personal experiences, a lot of fights happened. Students formed off-site friendships, favoritism grew, cliques formed, group chats were started and fights broke out. I'm not gonna say who, but there were two really good friends I had on here that we were in a group chat together. One person got ridiculously irate at the fact I didn't like a specific female guitarist and they tried to act all "high and mighty and oh-so philanthropic" about it. They treated me like a parent scolding a child and so I left the chat, and the other personally essentially unfollowed me and broke off our friendships "just because I seemed like a bitch now."
Even in the main group chat on IG (which I was against from the start), I had to leave because too many students started thinking their ways were the only way and started insulting and fighting with people with differing opinions.

I think maybe when we all started together, we didn't know each other on social media. When I had students following me on my original IG, they would go from "OMG I LOVE YOU YOU'RE SO COOL YOU'RE SO INSPIRATIONAL THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR WORK!" to "you need to die you fucking bitch" all within the same week because of MY PERSONAL OPINIONS. That made engaging with them on this site VERY awkward, to say the least.

I have had some serious fights with some people on here. And I've unintentionally broken off some serious friendships because of going through some hard shit at the time. But to ME, I still see some of the members like family. Just because we're not friends like we use to be, and we don't entirely get along, I still cherish what we had and love them nonetheless. And I still view them like family.

I miss when we all were here for each other. When I sent that support video to Radu. When Ed let me call him a thousand times because I was having a nervous breakdown while being the team leader. When Alicia stayed on the phone with me for 3 hours because Holly was in the hospital and I was alone. When I sent her gifts in the mail. When everyone came together to give me that interface. When we all donated to Alicia's mom's gofundme. When we all supported Dominik's business launch. When Rowan was crying and felt suicidal. When EVH passed and everyone made the tribute video. When hundreds of students couldn't wait to wish Syn a happy birthday in the videos.

I miss reading students' struggles and letting them know we're here. I miss seeing familiar faces on the media page.

So yeah buddy. I get you. I miss the family vibe here, too.

 

[JakAngelescu]

Same feeling. I agree with you on many things. I have been in this community for 3 years, this year I have not felt comfortable or part of it.I have always tried to help, support and be positive in everything, I do it because it makes me very happy. But this place as a community has become different, where you feel like you want to help or be a part, it's hard, it all seems so disconnected. I always want the best for this community and for Syn, his Father and everyone involved in Synner.

The Discord thing, I don't like it at all, I'm not active or participate.

I always try to express myself with all the respect and affection for each one of you and yes, many have left, but we must value all of us who are still here, trying to bet and help in everything that can improve this place and its community. . . Eternally grateful to all of you! All My Love!

Whatever I can help, here I am.

GAAAABBBBBYYYY I am so glad to hear from you! I was telling Holly the other day, "Man... I don't even see Gabby on the site anymore." I always knew you like the Synner cheerleader. You followed everyone. Commented on their stuff, shared their work. You loved everyone equally!

And when you say "you want to help but it all feels so disconnected" that's exactly how I feel. I'm also glad to hear you say you don't dig the discord thing, either.

I'm glad to see you're still around

 

[JakAngelescu]

Agreed. Things were already in a bit of a rut, but the lessons being down has caused a massive hit. The Discord is certainly more active, but it's also a bit more of a trash fire, at least to me. I've been there and made posts trying to drive traffic over here, but it usually doesn't have much of an impact, largely because the Discord is livelier for people who have no interest in the lessons (and certainly worse that the lessons are down).

We're also in the process of making some changes to SynTV that will make it easier for us to go live. I think Rad and Jamie have been doing a wonderful job hosting streams about all kinds of stuff, and the rest of us on the team need to be doing more. I should be nearing the end of some of the difficulties I've been having IRL soon, so I hope to be back at it with some content - concert reviews, throwback album listening parties, maybe even just livestreaming me jamming along to songs on shuffle - who knows. But I want to get on a regular and predictable schedule for the Captain Ed Variety Hour.

We do know there is an issue, though, and we definitely want to make this place a destination again. It's hard to do without the main draw (lessons), but we are open to suggestions for REAL THINGS that we can do to help drive that.

I understand this may be kind of vague, but I want to make clear that even though you may have a killer idea, we DO have constraints about what we can do with that idea. If you've got a great idea, post it here, or PM one of us with it, if you're shy.

Also, we can expect that once the new album approaches release, we may be able to do some things to promote or drive activity there, too (no promises - that all comes from the Big Guy).

Thanks.

Your post was not vague at all. It was very clear and informative and I'm really glad to read your insight to this. I'm just glad I got this off my chest and I didn't stir the pot over it. I was just curious if there was anything I could do.

I guess it's like they say, change starts with us. I can just keep being as active as I can be. I'm just always grateful for your insight and your feedback on my posts I've made And I really hope that whatever it is going on in your life gets resolved soon and I hope everything goes good for you.

 

[Gabby Heafy]

GAAAABBBBBYYYY I am so glad to hear from you! I was telling Holly the other day, "Man... I don't even see Gabby on the site anymore." I always knew you like the Synner cheerleader. You followed everyone. Commented on their stuff, shared their work. You loved everyone equally!
And when you say "you want to help but it all feels so disconnected" that's exactly how I feel. I'm also glad to hear you say you don't dig the discord thing, either.

I'm glad to see you're still around

JAKKK!
I'll always be the synner cheerlearder hahaha its a pleasure to help. Yes, I'm still here!! haha i always try to be around liking or giving some love to the videos or comments here, i want to encourage and support the students who upload their videos. I'm also glad you're here and you're always so honest and direct, I really admire that about you! You always count on me, although we are not the best of friends, I appreciate you as much as everyone here

Yeah discord became very toxic, at least from my own experience I don't want to go there anymore.

Much love to All!! Always spread positive vibes

 

[Forgetabull]

There's a discord ?

 

[Chris Johnston]

Hey Jak!

I've noticed a massive slump on the site, engagement wise too, and tbh I had no idea there was even a Discord server

I've been sort of keeping watch in the background as much as I can, but admittedly Ive found it difficult to keep engaged myself - I've had a Major family issue take place which is taking up a lot of my mental free space atm.

I think the Lessons being down is probably the biggest reason for the slump - The foundation of the Synner community is its educational information and without that clear Lesson format on the site for new users, Beginners & other learners alike are going to find it hard to orient themselves and disengage. New learners really need structure in order to feel like they are progressing etc, if that's not there then the experience is no different than video hopping on YouTube and posting a comment asking for advice, getting replies etc.

A lot of great topics of discussion and community challenges/competitions were born off the back of the Lessons too, and it compelled those with experience & knowledge to share their advice, contributing to the wealth of information already on the site - I think the absence of this is a big reason for the site feeling so dormant too.

I reckon it'll turn its self around though, once the Lessons are fixed and there is more of a buzz surrounding the Lesson topics

 

[JakAngelescu]

There's a discord ?

Hey Jak!

I've noticed a massive slump on the site, engagement wise too, and tbh I had no idea there was even a Discord server

I've been sort of keeping watch in the background as much as I can, but admittedly Ive found it difficult to keep engaged myself - I've had a Major family issue take place which is taking up a lot of my mental free space atm.

I think the Lessons being down is probably the biggest reason for the slump - The foundation of the Synner community is its educational information and without that clear Lesson format on the site for new users, Beginners & other learners alike are going to find it hard to orient themselves and disengage. New learners really need structure in order to feel like they are progressing etc, if that's not there then the experience is no different than video hopping on YouTube and posting a comment asking for advice, getting replies etc.

A lot of great topics of discussion and community challenges/competitions were born off the back of the Lessons too, and it compelled those with experience & knowledge to share their advice, contributing to the wealth of information already on the site - I think the absence of this is a big reason for the site feeling so dormant too.

I reckon it'll turn its self around though, once the Lessons are fixed and there is more of a buzz surrounding the Lesson topics

You made an excellent point about "lessons are down and some of the community socializing came from questions about the lessons." I do agree with this, however in my personal sensation, I have felt that this plummet has been going on for a lot longer since the lessons have been down. As I mentioned above, it seems for me that these last two years it's been declining more and more. So you DO make a great point on the lessons! But, we've lost a lot of the senior/veteran students long before that. When I DID do contests as the community leader, the participation was next to nothing. People were scrambling to start their own Synner channel. Now Radu has been amazingly busting his ass trying to get people to sign up. A majority of the channels that started don't seem to stream anymore. Unless I'm missing it. The student of the week thing I don't see anymore, unless I'm missing it.

So.... you did make a great point I hadn't considered, but it's a myriad of other things I've noticed.

BTW, I'm really sorry about whatever it is you're going through. And maybe that's what's going on. You, Ed, and even me (and I know Alicia) all have had some sort of horrible shit wipe our faces in a terrible way. But it's sad that during the first days, we use to reach out to each other here or speak on our grievances. I'm NOT saying everyone needs to spill their life beans here. But it just doesn't happen anymore.

It really breaks my heart to know some of my loving Synner family members have been suffering I didn't know.

Much love brother.

 

[Chris Johnston]

You made an excellent point about "lessons are down and some of the community socializing came from questions about the lessons." I do agree with this, however in my personal sensation, I have felt that this plummet has been going on for a lot longer since the lessons have been down. As I mentioned above, it seems for me that these last two years it's been declining more and more. So you DO make a great point on the lessons! But, we've lost a lot of the senior/veteran students long before that. When I DID do contests as the community leader, the participation was next to nothing. People were scrambling to start their own Synner channel. Now Radu has been amazingly busting his ass trying to get people to sign up. A majority of the channels that started don't seem to stream anymore. Unless I'm missing it. The student of the week thing I don't see anymore, unless I'm missing it.

So.... you did make a great point I hadn't considered, but it's a myriad of other things I've noticed.

BTW, I'm really sorry about whatever it is you're going through. And maybe that's what's going on. You, Ed, and even me (and I know Alicia) all have had some sort of horrible shit wipe our faces in a terrible way. But it's sad that during the first days, we use to reach out to each other here or speak on our grievances. I'm NOT saying everyone needs to spill their life beans here. But it just doesn't happen anymore.

It really breaks my heart to know some of my loving Synner family members have been suffering I didn't know.

Much love brother.

I 100% agree with what you're saying Jak. Great points

The streaming thing was something that I actually didn't think of at all, and it is totally true. Usually I'd be getting notifications left right and centre around people's streams, and it has died down a lot.

I really appreciate your concern aswell - I won't dump a novel on you - but I've had to cut off a Toxic close family member and the situation has been growing a thousand heads and arms Its that sort of thing where going against your own nature takes its toll mentally - but luckily I've got 40 students a week to distract me just now and my amazing Fiance

But thank you, it really means a lot to have people to speak to

Much love back Jak x

 

[Adin Shepherd]

I have been a lurker since January.

I found that back when there was a big member push, many joined up because they were Syn/A7X fans the forums became a bit of a 'notice me Senpai!' circle jerk. As someone who wasn't a fan when joining the site (but had since developed respect for both the man and music) my interest in the forums dropped considerably at that time.

This seems to have resolved itself with the Discord though.

On top of that, student videos getting lost in the barrage of self promoting Youtube/Instagram videos by people who contribute nothing otherwise, further dropped my engagement level.

Perhaps I was also part of the problem? I found it easier to just step away than to engage/reward the content I wanted to see here.

I hope that the lessons return soon, it's a great platform and one I always recommend when people ask about free online learning.

 

[JakAngelescu]

I 100% agree with what you're saying Jak. Great points

The streaming thing was something that I actually didn't think of at all, and it is totally true. Usually I'd be getting notifications left right and centre around people's streams, and it has died down a lot.

I really appreciate your concern aswell - I won't dump a novel on you - but I've had to cut off a Toxic close family member and the situation has been growing a thousand heads and arms Its that sort of thing where going against your own nature takes its toll mentally - but luckily I've got 40 students a week to distract me just now and my amazing Fiance

But thank you, it really means a lot to have people to speak to

Much love back Jak x

Oh dude, cutting off a toxic family member... good for you. I have to admit when you said "growing heads and arms" I laughed at the analogy

40 students is impressive! So happy for you bud!

 

[JakAngelescu]

I have been a lurker since January.

I found that back when there was a big member push, many joined up because they were Syn/A7X fans the forums became a bit of a 'notice me Senpai!' circle jerk. As someone who wasn't a fan when joining the site (but had since developed respect for both the man and music) my interest in the forums dropped considerably at that time.

This seems to have resolved itself with the Discord though.

On top of that, student videos getting lost in the barrage of self promoting Youtube/Instagram videos by people who contribute nothing otherwise, further dropped my engagement level.

Perhaps I was also part of the problem? I found it easier to just step away than to engage/reward the content I wanted to see here.

I hope that the lessons return soon, it's a great platform and one I always recommend when people ask about free online learning.

The whole "notice me Senpai" made me laugh so hard because it's true. This site gets bombarded with that. Truthfully there's so many points you made that I agree with.

 

[Alexander]

In my experience, I was quite unaware of the community aspect when I first signed up to Syngates.com. Not only that I was quite focused on mastering the beginner courses as I was slightly ashamed of my relative cluelessness given my years of playing. So certainly, I was in no rush to post any commentary .

I have noticed the same from the discord discussions, though I figured I must've mistaken the purpose of those chats. Which led me back to this site to participate in discussion. So far, I've been enjoying the experience and look forward to sharing my own content once I have my recording rig set up.

 

[arwen11]

I've been a lurker since 2018. Im gonna get hate for this but the real reason why this site is dead because of Syn. He hyped it up. This site attracted people because of him. Most don't give a shit about the community or this " pyramid scheme". They came here for him. They can get their guitar lessons for free from other guitar gods. He's not the only one. That's the honest to God truth. And it's strange to follow him on social media,
like twitter where he swears off ig( but really is twitter any better) so strange... im not going into that. This is my first and last post...so hello and goodbye forever and a day