Hi Folks, I have always mentioned how I wouldn't add any limits on any feature until we absolutely had to, but we crossed that bridge a while ago with the Favorites and Dumps and I hate to have to do this but I now have no choice but to add limits to the number of Dumps and Favorites you can have. In other words, it's time for a Dating.mobi reality check. After all, there is no such thing as a free lunch in the real world, let alone a free all-you-can-eat buffet like we've had up until now where some have been eating enough to feed a small village!

To give you an idea of why these limits are necessary, there are members that have actually Favorited over 1,000 users (that's not a typo). I had no idea some people had so many Favorites until I crunched the numbers, but I was very surprised as I can't even begin to fathom who would need that many Favorites on a Dating site. Keep in mind that every single Favorite from every single user has to be recorded somewhere and then fetched every time you view your Favorites. I probably should have had a limit on them at the beginning so as to not lead you guys on and seem like I'm giving you guys candy and then taking it away from you, but it's clearly unsustainable to not have any limit whatsoever on Favorites.

The same applies with the Dumps. In fact, the numbers are even more staggering with the Dumps. There are members with -- wait for it -- over 6,000 users in their Dump list (again, that's not a typo). Just like with the Favorites, every single Dump from every single user has to be recorded somewhere, but then we have to also call each one in every single Database query for each user to ensure their Dumped users don't show up in any results. With numbers like 6,000, it's even more unsustainable than the Favorites unless we impose some kind of limit so that things don't get out of hand.

Now, I had a close look at the stats for Favorites and Dumps. Of the users that have actually Favorited at least 1 person, the average number of Favorites they have added is just 6. Of the users that have actually Dumped at least 1 person, the average number of Dumps is just 7.7. Of course, if we include users that do not use those features, the averages would be much lower, but I wanted to see a realistic average from users actually making use of those features to minimize the impact of any limits.

So, of those actually using the features, the averages are actually very reasonable and quite sustainable, so the problem isn't with the average users but with the outliers on the extreme end consuming a completely disproportionate amount of resources. I suppose that's what you get when you don't put limits, but we're fast approaching 200,000 users and no longer have that luxury.

At any rate, after looking at the numbers and how the average users use the site, I've decided on a healthy limit of 20 for the number of Dumps and Favorites you can have (that's 20 each, not total, so 20 Dumps and 20 Favorites per user).

That's about 3 times what the average users actually use, so that should be more than enough for the vast majority of you, and will only affect a minority of users. How small of a minority? Less than 1% of all users.

So over 99% of you will not be affected at all by these limits and absolutely nothing will change for you, but I wanted to let everyone know in case you fall in that "under 1%" group.

Of course, you guys know I'm very reasonable, and I don't actually like physically taking anything away from you guys, so we're not going to delete any Dumps or Favorites that you currently have over the new limit of 20 (not even yours, Mr. 6000 Dumps). However, if you are over the limit by the time they go into effect, you will not be able to add any more until you remove enough Dumps and/or Favorites to fall below the new limit.

Anyway, I really do hate having to put any limits on anything (and I can't even promise these are the last limits we will be forced to implement), but we no longer have a choice as we continue to grow, and I tried to be as reasonable as possible with the limits and based them on real-world stats rather than arbitrary numbers.

This should be going into effect later this week, so keep an eye out for it and don't go on a Dumping/Favoriting spree before then just to have those grandfathered in!

Lol wow 1,000 favs??? Youre all my favs >:] haha. But rly thats a bit much dont you think? How many of them have they actually made contact with I wonder??? Thats just crazy

6000 dumps sweet baby jesus on a cracker...
But I really like the idea of having a limit, it'll make people less likely to randomly fav someone they have never even spoken with... (which is kinda creepy imo). And also makes you really think over who you dump, so as to not just dump someone over a silly thing... but have a legit reason to need them dumped :)

Good job Andres. You really are doing a great job mate.

Well i guess i need to stop dumping people. But even mine isnt that bad! I still love this site. You do a great job

Holy Cow!!!! Whew! I fall into the 99% I have like 8 favs right now and about 15 dumps I guess....those numbers above are RIDICULOUS

Lol! -good idea Andres:)

Lol

Not only that, but how many are now not on the site? That's a lot in any form.

I think everyone over the limit should be told and forced to follow the limits as well.