01-02-2023, 02:03 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-03-2023, 10:56 PM by Gabe. Edited 9 times in total.)
Happy New Year everyone! The purpose of this post is to lay out some changes & updates I plan to make to the forums in the coming days and some potential ideas for 2023. I am a fan of remaining simplistic and not complicating things, so I don't intend to add many things that aren't simple.
Rule Changes: The forum rules have been slightly updated to address outdated items and simplify them. I'll post a summary below with a full changelog to follow later. This is a work in progress, it's not completely done yet.
A Note on The Reputation System Going into 2023
This is going to be the bluntest thing on this thread. I want to reiterate that I think some people take rep too seriously. Since it's a new year, let's start the year off with a new mindset around reputation. It should not be taken that seriously. If anyone is afraid to comment because of caring too much about their reputation, then I frankly think that's their own fault.
If it's creating an environment where people are scared to post and defeats the purpose of why the forums is used(i.e feedback on applications, an opinion on a thread, etc) then it's not worth keeping rep around if it's doing that. So I believe removing rep could be a good thing if this is an becomes a widespread one. Don't make it one in 2023. As Battons said before, if it becomes a nuisance or a problem he'd remove it. I intend to keep that pledge as well. But I'd rather not do that as a first option and would find alternatives/compromises first. So just a warning, don't take rep seriously and don't manipulate someone's reputation. I intend to use the roles that ban users from using rep if certain individuals cause problems with their reputation.
Events, Tournaments, and Giveaways Category (already done)
See my previous post here for full context. A summary is below.
Events & Categories: this is the general forum for the category. this can be used for:
- gauging interest in potential events, and tournaments, or suggesting an event you'd like to see hosted.
- discussion of events, feedback for events that have been hosted, etc
Tournaments: Specifically for hosting tournaments for the community. (I.E CS:GO, Overwatch, etc). This is the category that will probably become the most formalized over time as the Admins explore the possibility of a more organized/official way to do event coordination if/when that ever comes about (as old man Jammin said here). For now, think about how Rand and SwiftBadger have hosted events in the past: Rand's CS:GO Tournament and SwiftBadger's Overwatch Tournament
Giveaways: For hosting community giveaways. Think of in-game items, redeemable gift cards, video games, etc. You cannot host a giveaway requiring people to give personal information, those are strictly forbidden. This includes email addresses too, unless you talk to me first and I say it's ok.
have fun and yes I copy and pasted c:
Fixing Logo
Rule Changes: The forum rules have been slightly updated to address outdated items and simplify them. I'll post a summary below with a full changelog to follow later. This is a work in progress, it's not completely done yet.
- Miscellaneous Changes: Simplified wording of Flaming/Harassing Members and Alt Account Sections
- Necroing old threads: This rule is sort of outdated so it needed updating. I deleted most of this section since it's redundant now because threads automatically lock after a month. I kept the part that said that if someone is looking to revisit a topic, they should make a new thread about it.
- Shitposting: Added these parts below. My goal is to have harmless shitposting be less of a crime. This still means no obvious shitposts in staff apps or anything serious, those need to have a +1 or -1 and I don't really care what you say after. If you're looking to give serious feedback you should say something meaningful because that's a major factor in decisions for staff apps/unbans and should be a majority of posts on those threads, as it is now. A majority of shitpost threads should remain in the shitposting section to not clutter the recent threads, but occasional joke threads are fine as long as people like engaging with them.
- Reputation Manipulation: Added a recent example of what can be considered reputation manipulation. Intent and context matter for these. I also added that not every manipulation scenario will be spelled out. New types of manipulation will appear and web staff can use their discretion to handle it.
A Note on The Reputation System Going into 2023
This is going to be the bluntest thing on this thread. I want to reiterate that I think some people take rep too seriously. Since it's a new year, let's start the year off with a new mindset around reputation. It should not be taken that seriously. If anyone is afraid to comment because of caring too much about their reputation, then I frankly think that's their own fault.
If it's creating an environment where people are scared to post and defeats the purpose of why the forums is used(i.e feedback on applications, an opinion on a thread, etc) then it's not worth keeping rep around if it's doing that. So I believe removing rep could be a good thing if this is an becomes a widespread one. Don't make it one in 2023. As Battons said before, if it becomes a nuisance or a problem he'd remove it. I intend to keep that pledge as well. But I'd rather not do that as a first option and would find alternatives/compromises first. So just a warning, don't take rep seriously and don't manipulate someone's reputation. I intend to use the roles that ban users from using rep if certain individuals cause problems with their reputation.
Events, Tournaments, and Giveaways Category (already done)
See my previous post here for full context. A summary is below.
Events & Categories: this is the general forum for the category. this can be used for:
- gauging interest in potential events, and tournaments, or suggesting an event you'd like to see hosted.
- discussion of events, feedback for events that have been hosted, etc
Tournaments: Specifically for hosting tournaments for the community. (I.E CS:GO, Overwatch, etc). This is the category that will probably become the most formalized over time as the Admins explore the possibility of a more organized/official way to do event coordination if/when that ever comes about (as old man Jammin said here). For now, think about how Rand and SwiftBadger have hosted events in the past: Rand's CS:GO Tournament and SwiftBadger's Overwatch Tournament
Giveaways: For hosting community giveaways. Think of in-game items, redeemable gift cards, video games, etc. You cannot host a giveaway requiring people to give personal information, those are strictly forbidden. This includes email addresses too, unless you talk to me first and I say it's ok.
have fun and yes I copy and pasted c:
Fixing Logo
- I sent Dinkleberg a transparent logo to fix the current one(located in the top left). Some of you may have noticed if you change the theme or color of that area then the logo will still have an ugly white background. I will update everyone on when that is actually fixed.
- I've reworked the Web Mod role and adjusted some of its permissions. I took away some of the administrative aspects that should be reserved for Admins+ only. Web Mod will maintain its role in voting on unban requests. I did this with the intent of recruiting 2 Web Mods to help me with the moderation aspects of the forums.
- It should be noted that Web Mod is not a traditional "mod" rank since it's the only rank within Web Staff that isn't Admin. So it's more of a mid-level community-wide position focused on the forums for veteran members of the community who can take the role seriously and successfully carry out the duties when necessary.
- With that said, first I'd like to say thanks everybody and say that I think I want to nominate this award to my reformed orthodox rabbi Bill Clinton @"real (2)". Congrats!
- I expect that there may be some opposition to this first appointment. I ask that you not make this thread into an argument about that. If there are any concerns, reach out to me. This decision was not a rash choice, lots of time and consideration went into it. I felt that Laced will take the role seriously and can successfully carry out the duties when necessary. Again, see above for Web Mod changes.
- The second Web Mod is still TBD.
- I have been kicking around the idea of adding Member, Master, and Regular roles to the forums with icons. This would be a fully automated system, so it'd be simple and not a lot of work. So that may be cool. I thought this could possibly be a neat idea to add more color and pizzazz to the forums to make it look less boring. Thoughts?