338 replies to this topic

[Elindoril]

I don't know if anyone would care at this point, but I have a suggestion. On Neopets, loyal users get perks the longer they are a member. Maybe something like this could work here. I mean, I know that you get to retired member status EVENTUALLY. But I was thinking something like, for every month you're signed up, you might get so many post count credits, like say maybe, 10. After 6 months, you might get a bonus 50 post credits, and maybe after a year, you would be automatically promoted to advanced member, provided you are active. You could still get to 500 posts by posting non-spam, but you have some extra motivation to keep at it.

Again, purely my opinion. Just wanted to put it out there.

I'd hope that the person would have to be active to receive such credits, because on Neopets, you can let that account of yours rot for those years and you'd still get the perks, which isn't something we'd want to encourage people to do, as patient as some people are.

[Kyle]

I think the admins/mods should just make a poll and ask the forum whether or not they want to see this implemented.

Many more details need to be ironed out before that happens.


Some people are against the idea of voting, but as CaluM said, besides an isolated incident or 2 of leaking, it was a good system. As far as demotions go, I don't think thats really a fair practice. I'm sure there's a couple members who spammed and have been sitting at 500 posts since they reached that mark two years ago, but for the most part I think everyone should be grandfathered into the new system, and remain where they are.

[desiqtie]

I would just like to add my thoughts;

Personally, I pay for my advanced (duh) But I check this forum at the least once a day I feel I know alot of you even though none of you have ever heard of me x) I never really talk much since i am defiantly more of a lurker and most of the time by the time I get to a thread it has either turned into a insult-a-thon/friends chatting or the question has already been answered

I can not say I could help much in the ways of guides or coding to be a helpful active member. So I am curious how this will effect a little member like me - As I would hardly win a popularity contest around here x). At least before I had the far-far-far-far-far-far off dream of one day hitting 500 posts :3

And you pretty much summed up my thoughts exactly.

On another note, I saw someone earlier suggested hiding the post counts from all but Mods to discourage spamming. I'm not really sure how that would discourage spamming - unless you hid the post count from the spammer too - since the spammer presumably would know how many more posts he/she needed. But even if it did discourage spamming - I could see it leading to more scamming. (I'm a poet like that !) I don't know about you all, but when I'm stalking the trading post here, post count and/or advanced member status are kind of a big factor on whether or not I want to trade with that person.

Elitist attitudes tend to scare away quality posters because they don't want to deal with peoples pessimistic bullshit.

Personally, shyness/self-consciousness is what scares me off from posting. Not that I'm saying I'm a quality poster.

Everything causes drama around here.

I don't think you can have a group of people interact frequently/semi-frequently and NOT have drama. But I do like the idea of us all putting our 2 cents in.

If I take my paid account status out of the equation... I like the idea of not just letting people spam their way into advanced. It is very frustrating knowing I don't post unless I think I can genuinely contribute to the discussion, t/f my post count is VERY low --> getting to Advanced the 500 count way is going to take a looong time. Yet joeschmoe just went & resurrected 80 very-old threads w/2 words each, giving him twice my post count.

Re: voting, I can see where we might have people bring personal biz into it - but if the voting pool were large enough (for example, all existing advanced + retired), wouldn't it kind of balance out between people who were po'd by the applicant & people who liked/didn't have an issue with him/her? Of course, if there were a person who ACTUALLY managed to irritate enough people that everyone voted against him/her...wouldn't it be better for them to NOT be advanced? And then maybe let them apply again in six months/a year/whenever they learned the Golden Rule?

P.S. Golden Rule --> in case anyone forgot.

[kittycat]

I completely disagree. Quality posters have been overall embraced by the older members I'd say. We're just nasty to the ones who don't make quality posts. And I think a lot of this has to do with the 500 post requirement increasing spam and I'd say our revitalization of our neopets community has naturally drawn in a lot of new members who are somewhat young/immature which puts us at odds with them

The post was about elitist attitudes, so you're saying elitist attitudes encourage new people to post?

[luvsmyncis]

Edit : Re-reading this, I sound like a stalker

Indeed. But I like you.

[Scot]

Indeed. But I like you.

Agreed. This is what a quality poster looks like.

[Tanuki]

I'm not sure if I have the authority to comment on something like this, but oh well!

Personally, I've been trying to contribute intelligently, rather than posting just for the heck of it, because my impressions of this forum in the brief time I've been here have been of a place with some very intelligent people with some smart ideas. (Largely, at least.) Of course that means I'd probably get up to Advanced in a year or two at this rate. So, theoretically, a user-votes system would be better for me. That being said, I doubt most people would ever really pay attention to some random like me.

As someone mentioned earlier, the only question here is a means of impartiality. An obvious douche is not going to get anywhere in this system - which is good! - but there is always the threat of people getting personally involved, PMing people to vote against someone they dislike for whatever reason, etc. Or the reverse, a person with a lot of influence getting someone they personally like promoted easily. Just like politics. I guess all I'm saying is that I would hope that most people have the maturity to handle a system like this without excess drama.

... judging by this thread, I'm not sure! But we'll see.

Edited by Tanuki, 07 July 2011 - 07:23 PM.

[ThreeDollarBill]

Making it so that only after a certain amount of words/characters, your post count will go up after you posted something might be an option. This will prevent the "rofl xD" or "hahahaha, lol" spam posts that still make your count go up. Yes, even implementing something like this won't prevent spam posts, but these spammers would get forced to either prolong their post (and thus, making them think harder about what they're going to say, otherwise, a very large "looooooooooool" would be pretty obvious and it would bring bad consequences to the people who do this) or just don't post at all if there's nothing more to say, which is what should be.

[Kyle]

Making it so that only after a certain amount of words/characters, your post count will go up after you posted something might be an option. This will prevent the "rofl xD" or "hahahaha, lol" spam posts that still make your count go up. Yes, even implementing something like this won't prevent spam posts, but these spammers would get forced to either prolong their post (and thus, making them think harder about what they're going to say, otherwise, a very large "looooooooooool" would be pretty obvious and it would bring bad consequences to the people who do this) or just don't post at all if there's nothing more to say, which is what should be.

I was a part of a forum that did this, and it was a pain in the ass. At least when people spam its usually just "lol." But when they have to meet a character requirement, you get annoying ass long posts about nothing.

[ArticTheTiger]

Eh, actually, the more I think about this the worse this idea becomes.

Public polls about people in the group the poll is taken in always ends up in a popularity contest (the reason that SOTW is without names) or politics (LOL VOTE FOR MEH I VOTE FOR YOU).

I say, every member that is here for a month, and has 500+ posts get put in a "frequent poster" group, which is looked over daily by staff, and staff decide whether they contributed enough for a promotion to advanced member.

I agree, it should be a privilege, not a right.

[ToxicS]

I'm glad this was introduced, 500 posts count was creating too many problems.

[holaCarlos]

Eh, actually, the more I think about this the worse this idea becomes.

Public polls about people in the group the poll is taken in always ends up in a popularity contest (the reason that SOTW is without names) or politics (LOL VOTE FOR MEH I VOTE FOR YOU).

I say, every member that is here for a month, and has 500+ posts get put in a "frequent poster" group, which is looked over daily by staff, and staff decide whether they contributed enough for a promotion to advanced member.

I agree, it should be a privilege, not a right.

I agree. I think a little more moderation needs to be done in taking regular members to advanced status, all we need is some involvement from the people in charge.

[WharfRat]

I'm not sure if I have the authority to comment on something like this, but oh well!

Personally, I've been trying to contribute intelligently, rather than posting just for the heck of it, because my impressions of this forum in the brief time I've been here have been of a place with some very intelligent people with some smart ideas. (Largely, at least.) Of course that means I'd probably get up to Advanced in a year or two at this rate. So, theoretically, a user-votes system would be better for me. That being said, I doubt most people would ever really pay attention to some random like me.

As someone mentioned earlier, the only question here is a means of impartiality. An obvious douche is not going to get anywhere in this system - which is good! - but there is always the threat of people getting personally involved, PMing people to vote against someone they dislike for whatever reason, etc. Or the reverse, a person with a lot of influence getting someone they personally like promoted easily. Just like politics. I guess all I'm saying is that I would hope that most people have the maturity to handle a system like this without excess drama.

... judging by this thread, I'm not sure! But we'll see.

I would just like to add my thoughts;

Personally, I pay for my advanced (duh) But I check this forum at the least once a day I feel I know alot of you even though none of you have ever heard of me x) I never really talk much since i am defiantly more of a lurker and most of the time by the time I get to a thread it has either turned into a insult-a-thon/friends chatting or the question has already been answered

I can not say I could help much in the ways of guides or coding to be a helpful active member. So I am curious how this will effect a little member like me - As I would hardly win a popularity contest around here x). At least before I had the far-far-far-far-far-far off dream of one day hitting 500 posts :3




Edit : Re-reading this, I sound like a stalker

And you pretty much summed up my thoughts exactly.

On another note, I saw someone earlier suggested hiding the post counts from all but Mods to discourage spamming. I'm not really sure how that would discourage spamming - unless you hid the post count from the spammer too - since the spammer presumably would know how many more posts he/she needed. But even if it did discourage spamming - I could see it leading to more scamming. (I'm a poet like that !) I don't know about you all, but when I'm stalking the trading post here, post count and/or advanced member status are kind of a big factor on whether or not I want to trade with that person.


Personally, shyness/self-consciousness is what scares me off from posting. Not that I'm saying I'm a quality poster.


I don't think you can have a group of people interact frequently/semi-frequently and NOT have drama. But I do like the idea of us all putting our 2 cents in.

If I take my paid account status out of the equation... I like the idea of not just letting people spam their way into advanced. It is very frustrating knowing I don't post unless I think I can genuinely contribute to the discussion, t/f my post count is VERY low --> getting to Advanced the 500 count way is going to take a looong time. Yet joeschmoe just went & resurrected 80 very-old threads w/2 words each, giving him twice my post count.

Re: voting, I can see where we might have people bring personal biz into it - but if the voting pool were large enough (for example, all existing advanced + retired), wouldn't it kind of balance out between people who were po'd by the applicant & people who liked/didn't have an issue with him/her? Of course, if there were a person who ACTUALLY managed to irritate enough people that everyone voted against him/her...wouldn't it be better for them to NOT be advanced? And then maybe let them apply again in six months/a year/whenever they learned the Golden Rule?

P.S. Golden Rule --> in case anyone forgot.

Too much has gone on while I was at work! Firstly, I'd like to address you three. I think you guys are the perfect example of people who would benefit the most from this new system. As a retired member, I assure you that I do notice quality posts when I see them, and I appreciate the time and thought that are put into those posts. THAT in and of itself is a contribution to neocodex... That commitment to posting quality vs. quantity would qualify you all, in my mind, as people who deserve the "advanced" rank over Joe Shmoe. As I pointed out in my initial post in this thread, I think that this would need its own section for voting, nominations, applications, etc. I have made the administrators painstakingly aware of this request for the past few months. I think this system will overall serve to much benefit the quality of posts on this site as opposed to the non-sense spam.

Hell... even the spammers probably feel like spamming is a chore... At least this way they will stop working to get to 500 and just work on being a member of our website... having conversations with people and making friends... The way I reminisce about.

As to demotions? I think that largely any current advanced should keep it. I wish we could demote the old private group back to this new category, though. (I would still elect to keep G, PRBM, and Rambo as retired members...though I can think of several "retired members" who belong back out of the section, though...

P.s. Thanks waser for always being so professional in your work here at codex and never throwing bitch-fits about everything like other members with your same title.

[Mr. Hobo]

The post was about elitist attitudes, so you're saying elitist attitudes encourage new people to post?

I'm saying that our pessimistic bullshit/elitist attitudes doesn't scare away quality posters because they aren't focused on negatively

[Sweeney]

Personally, I've been trying to contribute intelligently, rather than posting just for the heck of it, because my impressions of this forum in the brief time I've been here have been of a place with some very intelligent people with some smart ideas. (Largely, at least.) Of course that means I'd probably get up to Advanced in a year or two at this rate. So, theoretically, a user-votes system would be better for me. That being said, I doubt most people would ever really pay attention to some random like me.

Your posts have not gone unnoticed. You can rest assured of that.

[zandra]

Eh, actually, the more I think about this the worse this idea becomes.

Public polls about people in the group the poll is taken in always ends up in a popularity contest (the reason that SOTW is without names) or politics (LOL VOTE FOR MEH I VOTE FOR YOU).

I say, every member that is here for a month, and has 500+ posts get put in a "frequent poster" group, which is looked over daily by staff, and staff decide whether they contributed enough for a promotion to advanced member.

I agree, it should be a privilege, not a right.

i agree with this. change the 500 post counts into a privilege to be promoted to advance instead of a right to be promoted. i think it seems fair that way

[Waser Lave]

P.s. Thanks waser for always being so professional in your work here at codex and never throwing bitch-fits about everything like other members with your same title.

I can't tell if that's sarcasm or not so I'll go with:

You're welcome.

[iargue]

Go Here. Vote.

http://www.neocodex....ced-membership/

[Frank12]

The only reason I find myself disliking the voting system is that it can be biased, for one reason or another. I think the perfect combination here would be to attempt to incorporate a quantitative statistic that allows you to be in the running for Advanced, but it has to be verified by 2 Mods or such, thereby inducing the second opinion. These mods would be randomly selected, and if it came to a tie as to whether or not the members contributions were valid, then another random 3rd mod would become the tie breaker. This quantitative thing could be post count. Once you reach, oh, lets say 500 posts (for arguments sake), you would be up for voting. If not selected, you have another 100 posts to go back up for re-election. Because of random mods, no one can be "paid off" (im not attempting to scrutinize staff morals, merely I am addressing the possibility). This also gets rid of any bias, as random mods would prove that the person was sufficiently contributing, because the mods would change each time.  Just my suggestion though.

While were at it, someone change ABrosia's minimum RF time for regular members to something realistic like 5 sec. Who RFs 8 seconds apart consistently? You end up with more icings that way than with a more realistic time

Edited by Frank12, 08 July 2011 - 05:40 AM.

[Tanuki]

Too much has gone on while I was at work! Firstly, I'd like to address you three. I think you guys are the perfect example of people who would benefit the most from this new system. As a retired member, I assure you that I do notice quality posts when I see them, and I appreciate the time and thought that are put into those posts. THAT in and of itself is a contribution to neocodex... That commitment to posting quality vs. quantity would qualify you all, in my mind, as people who deserve the "advanced" rank over Joe Shmoe. As I pointed out in my initial post in this thread, I think that this would need its own section for voting, nominations, applications, etc. I have made the administrators painstakingly aware of this request for the past few months. I think this system will overall serve to much benefit the quality of posts on this site as opposed to the non-sense spam.

Your posts have not gone unnoticed. You can rest assured of that.

Aw shucks. Now where's that blush emoticon... I guess will have to do.


On the note of needless thread rezzing, I've seen some forums with a rule to close threads that get posted in again after X period has passed (3 months, 6 months, whatever). Having a rule like that could help... but at the same time it means that there would be more repeat questions because someone can't just go and ask in a thread that already exists. No perfect options I guess.

[Frizzle]

Bring back private and retired

[Robert]

Bring back private and retired

Retired never left

[Sweeney]

Retired never left

It just got diluted into meaninglessness.

[nugget111]

guys can u bring out pay by phone service so i can pay by mobile

i dont think i have much chance for get advanced ever any other way.

by whats going on in the forums ..looks like guys like me wont ever be able to get to these "ranks" you ppl speak of.

[Badger]

This is a great idea. I am also sick of reading spam posts.
I try to contribute as much as I can, even if it's not very much.
Anyway, I don't know if my opinion counts, but I do think it's unfair that spammers such as daniel and frost get to keep their advanced memberships when they just annoyed everyone in the process of achieving them.

I don't really appreciate the comments about people who "use Daddy's credit card" to attain advanced membership being implied to be not as helpful to the site as people who post a lot.
I personally happily pay out of my own pocket for my advanced status, and I am sure that subscriptions contribute a lot to helping the staff keep this great site running.

Edited by Trixic, 08 July 2011 - 07:10 PM.