Member Privileges

Thanks Jake for the much less "radical" suggestion

Well, admins...how does this latter option sound?

Edited by ClassicRocker - February 14 2008 at 21:29

It is less radical, but so where your revised suggestions. What I'm missing is when these video's or screen shots would be shown - seeing them once doesn't stick forever, seeing them everyday drives people away i the same way as not being able to post.

As for an earlier question you asked (although I don't see the value of knowing it): the post for groupie level is set at 40 posts.

Could work.... I'm taking this to the admin team right now 

I've been thinking about this thread for a while and having visited another forum with a much harsher structure, ideas have formed. Seeing another thread about a bizarre age division plot finally made me decide to write down my ideas.

a) Post count should be hidden. I know ClassicRocker's ideas hinged on this variable, but it's a faulty measure compared to the one I'd use. Forum subtitles and member star value no longer become upgraded from the first star by post count alone.

b) Subforums like Prog Polls, Just for Fun, Welcome, etc. etc. should be open to all visitors and posters. You could move stuff like "What are you listening to" "Velvet Room part 40" and "Recent purchases" to Just for Fun since, well, they're fluff. Sometimes diverting and wholesome fluff, but fluff all the same. "Prog Recommendations" also stays open to every visitor so that new members can ask questions and then vanish like they so often do.

c) Things like the Prog Lounge and Blog become restricted so that newbies can't post in them, and if a senior member starts a dumb thread in a serious subforum, their thread is quietly deleted. Newbies can still read all the posts here so it's not secret like, say, the Collab area.

d) Have Mods and Monitors read the newbie forums from time to time, looking for posters with personality and something to say, then passing their names on to Admins so that they can promote them to senior members. Have seperate "recent post" boards for serious and non-serious sections.

e) Abolish the "forum stimulator" role since every non-newbie member now qualifies as one. Each poster with access to the serious subsections retains it so long as they remain untrollish and eloquent.

This'd create a more rigorous environment where people could expect to have their serious and thoughtful threads populated with serious and thoughtful replies. It'd even make the fun sections less godforsaken, since many of the posters there would be auditioning for higher things.

now... call me a fascist ;P

Certainly I'd like to see more Political discussion and religious debate on the forum but unfortunately these soon dissolve into name-calling and rule infringements. On other forums I have visited, much as Laplace mentions in his excellent post above,  you have to have a certain amount of posts or an agreed status before you can even see the Off-topic discussion forums. Others like Progressive Ears only permit you to make a certain amount of posts a day, but as Stonie mentions, this is a bit drastic IMO.

I'm not sure that we would want the main Prog Lounge restricted as it is our main (forum) attraction as it were.

I remember joining this forum some 4 years ago, at the time I merely came here to have some fun, exchange some jokes and sometimes get involved in serious debate. But with restrictions the barrier of getting involved in the site and forum is higher and that will scare visitors away. I used the forum for fun and reviews to add to the site content.

Segregating noob posts mightn't be a bad idea.  Perhaps a series of trials could be set for those who want full membership to the site.  There could be a sort of boot camp to make sure that only the toughest, smartest, and most obsequious gain access.

Could start with them having to do exams to see if they should be accepted into the site as Noobs.

Then have a boot camp (Noob Boot Camp Forum) run by Tony R, The Progtologist, Ivan, Micky, Peter and others as part of the trial process.  Tony R and the Progtologist would be the drill Sergeants (are they tough enough?), Ivan would provide the evil blue font of death test, Peter would check grammar and juvenility of noob posts, and Micky would barrage them with haahas.  This would be a hidden forum to all but noobs and those staff.

The nest step would be more fun for those that don't get booted from boot camp.  A post you stupid noob topics forum where they could have a free rein to run wild with their idiocy.

Next would be formal warning for their idiocy in the stupid noob topics forum.

Next would be finishing school where they would be taught the finer points of PA etiquette I think Atkingani, EL, and Raff could host those

The next step would be general hazing in a Noob Taunting Forum, where all non-noobs could humiliate them.

Then, for those that survive, a welcome forum where they would be welcomed with open arms.  But perhaps there should be 6 month probation period before they are generally treated with respect, and can be suspended for even the smallest infractions.

or something like that. ;)

I like the pop-up idea. I'm sure you'd get a couple of whiny posts about it every now and then, but it'd also encourage a bit more thought for individual threads.

Logan, you've missed the rival 'The Gates Of Delirium, TAAB and Supper's Ready Only'-poll forums where they can have massive arguments to everyone else's amusement until they understand that Tarkus is the best.

having your twenty-third conversation about "Who Started it All?" or "What is Progressive?" can be okay if it's been awhile and the new member is intelligent