A Change on PC

[Klippy]

So we have the Treehouse thread for this that's less serious, but if you could make a serious change to PC, what would it be? Something you feel PC needs or something you want changed. Try to think a bit seriously on this and find something it could use. No joke posts. I'm really curious to see what people feel PC could use a change on.

 

[dad]

i think the mafia players of pic can all agree that sooner or later we'll need a sub forum for mafia. the addition of a mafia sub forum has great potential to draw attention to the fact that pc has mafia games. it seems that most people stray away from the playground causing them not to notice.i even thought of a name for it, the grotto.

uhh also i think mentions might be a nice touch. mentions such as someone being able to use @user and that user getting a notification. i can see people being against this because pc isn't twitter or instagram but after all it is just a suggestion.

it would be nice if users could like blog posts and get notifications when quoted on blogs. although i believe the latter is just a glitch.

i'd like to leave off on this note: be strong pokècommunity, you're pretty much perfect the way you are.

 

[Gardevoir the Dragon Slayer]

i even thought of a name for it, the grotto.[/SIZE]
uhh also i think mentions might be a nice touch. mentions such as someone being able to use @user and that user getting a notification. i can see people being against this because pc isn't twitter or instagram but after all it is just a suggestion.

Not a bad idea, would be great if it listed the number of mentions in Profile and postbit.

Also I think it would be great if a members total number of likes where shown in their postbit, but I think their are sound arguments against this however?

 

[Megan]

It would be cool, if the notification system started to work properly. It's interesting how I still get 2+ notification for every post of mine that gets quoted. Same with the timezone thingy, which still doesn't show the correct time on my profile.

To be fair, most of the stuff is bugfixing, as I feel everything else works quite well.

 

[Ice1]

It would be cool, if the notification system started to work properly. It's interesting how I still get 2+ notification for every post of mine that gets quoted. Same with the timezone thingy, which still doesn't show the correct time on my profile.

To be fair, most of the stuff is bugfixing, as I feel everything else works quite well.

What I've noticed is that for every edit to a post, you get a new notification. So if you receive multiple ones, the post has been edited.

EDIT: Good time to test it, haha. This should make 2 notifications

EDIT 2: And this should make 3 notifications

 

[Nihilego]

Most of the things so far are just feature suggestions - I feel like Klippy was looking for more... overall changes to PC, i.e. its infrastructure, staffing, userbase, and just generally ideas around here. I have a lot to say on the matter and may well be back with more later.

Btw on the front of suggestions so far - almost every single one of them is on the to-do list, or has at least been mentioned in some capacity somewhere.

Also I think it would be great if a members total number of likes where shown in their postbit, but I think their are sound arguments against this however?

Yeah we essentially didn't want Likes to turn into reputation v2. Likes should be a spur-of-the-moment way to agree to someone's post and nothing more than that. Introducing them into postbits - or, indeed, anywhere other than the UserCP - would make them something to be flaunted and compared, and that's not what we were going for at all.

 

[Alexander Nicholi]

1. I would erase all notion of "staff administrators" and "site administrators" and instead have them uniformly called "administrators" and "founders", respectively. The two admin groups can get a bit confusing.
2. Regular users would get 150x150 avatar limits like silver supporters, because tbh Gold and Crystal have 180x180, it'd be more uniform if silver didn't solely possess that limit, and 130x130 is ridiculously small for most of us.
3. Postbits would be entirely modular. The possessing user can select virtually any statistic from their account and display it, and other viewers will have a group of checkboxes to select what they'd like to be able to see (provided the poster they're viewing has enabled it).
4. Platinum supporters would have a lot more distinction from the other supporters, and would possess a lot more perks than them as well. Fair for the amount of money they donate, I'd think.
5. Non-web fonts would be annihilated on PC.
6. Group-oriented private messaging would be a thing on PC, where you can have a "conversation" with multiple members at once over the forums. Good for conflict mediation and transparency, and collaboration with stuff as well.
7. People's display groups would be modular and user-selectable. Whatever groups the administrators have them placed in, they are able to individually toggle on and off, and also have their rank bar/text display appropriately for it too.

That's all I can think of for now.

 

[Her]

I'll get a pet peeve of mine out of the way first.

Spoiler:

It bothers me when staff throw around the 'We're normal members! We're just like you!' line. You are members, yes. But you are not normal or part of the 'average' userbase. You're staff, your very position and access to certain parts of the community differentiates yourself from the majority. Nick made a post once that explains it rather well:

You are not just members.
You are staff members.
You have colored usernames.
You have a badge.
You have responsibility.
You have authority.
You have leadership.
You have unity amongst yourself that outsiders see.

You can say that you're just members until the sun goes down, but members look at staff members with adoration more often than not. At least the members that take this forum more seriously than just a hobby.

You're different, no matter how integrated you are in the forums you post in, regardless of whether you have responsibilities in that section or not. All this may be a pet peeve of mine, but it does come off as rather condescending to say 'we're just normal!' when you've been charged with a position of influence.
By all means, continue to interact and integrate with the community as you have been doing. Just drop the line. The fact of the matter is that in the eyes of the memberbase (not necessarily my own eyes), you're staff first and members second.

As for actual suggestions:

• Start following through with commitments. This is more directed at the higher staff, since they're the ones that actually change the structure of things. We all understand that you're human beings first and staff on a Pokémon forum third or fourth, but yeah. That AMA bout PC 5 the tech admins posted a month ago in Treehouse still hasn't been answered yet, not even with a post, let alone the vocaroo or podcast or whatever that was mentioned in the original post. That thread is emblematic of what I don't like about how changes are implemented here: they're delayed and delayed with little to no update from those involved, and then rushed out with no warning or input from those who it will affect. I apologise if this is coming off rudely, as it's not my intention. But it is tiring to see suggestion after suggestion deflected with 'it will be discussed and we'll get back to you' or 'it will be covered in PC 5' with no results hereafter.
  If you're not able to update something, then say so. But given how long this near-mythical Great Revamp has been thrown around for now, I would expect some results.
• This is an age old complaint, but consult the memberbase more on things. Jake made a post in CQ&F the other day about how the private messaging system was going to be completely revamped and replaced with something more modern. This was in response to a suggestion about something in the pm box that I don't remember, but anyway. It took a few people by surprise because this is the first anyone (I think Alex was sidelined too?) had heard of such a thing, and while there'd be no reason to hold back such an update given how old the current system is, it just reminds me of the oldest complaint about higher staff: if they change something/are about to change something about the community, the community is the last to know.
• Instead of just adding new bits and pieces to the postbit, update the postbit entirely.
  
  Spoiler:

  

  
  
  That's what I have in mind, but I don't know the VBulletin system that they're using, and in any case, the skins would have to be updated as well. However, the point is that the postbit is nearly a decade and a half old. Instead of just giving it a bit of makeup, give it a full facelift.

 

[Nah]

I suppose at the risk of aggravating myself and others I'm going to touch on this:

I'll get a pet peeve of mine out of the way first.

Spoiler:

It bothers me when staff throw around the 'We're normal members! We're just like you!' line. You are members, yes. But you are not normal or part of the 'average' userbase. You're staff, your very position and access to certain parts of the community differentiates yourself from the majority. Nick made a post once that explains it rather well:



You're different, no matter how integrated you are in the forums you post in, regardless of whether you have responsibilities in that section or not. All this may be a pet peeve of mine, but it does come off as rather condescending to say 'we're just normal!' when you've been charged with a position of influence.
By all means, continue to interact and integrate with the community as you have been doing. Just drop the line. The fact of the matter is that in the eyes of the memberbase (not necessarily my own eyes), you're staff first and members second.

Spoiler:

I absolutely detest the way staff is viewed on this forum. I absolutely hate the unwarranted reverence some of the memberbase gives us. I hate it because, at least for myself, it's not deserved. I hate it because it causes unneeded tension between staff and the memberbase; for every person who worships staff, there's one person who hates or fears staff, partly because of the bizarre reverence.

I understand that as long as we have these bolded blue/yellow-orange/red usernames we can never be exactly like the rest of the memberbase, but I feel as if the difference is blown way out of proportion by some people. We are just staff on a Pokemon forum. Each and every person who was, is, and ever will be on PC staff is just a person like everyone else before they were promoted to staff. None of us rose to higher plane of existence upon being modded. If that was supposed to happen please tell me how you ascend to a higher plane cuz I missed the memo then. You do not drop down into the mortal realm when you leave staff. We are not an elite group of the "best" of PC. We are not gods, we are not evil dictators, we are just moderators and administrators of a Pokemon forum.

I've heard some people say things along the line of them feeling that what they have to say doesn't matter/is not listened to because they're not on staff. Others seem to desperately want to be on staff because they think that they're Arceus's gift to the world and therefore should have the greatest and most important position in the universe, the PC moderator, and are offended at the fact that they're not on staff. But being on staff is not everything, and what the memberbase thinks and feels does matter. This is the PokeCommunity, not the PokeOligarchy, not the Soviet Socialist Republic of Pokemon, but the PokeCommunity.

And I wish that people would stop being so serious and understand that. I'm aware that some people do, but they seem to be a minority. Sometimes I wonder though if trying to change all this is a fruitless exercise and I should just shut up and stop. Maybe I'm just insane and don't know what I'm talking about. idk

Also, Harley, what you quoted by Nick could also be applied to community supporters (minus a couple of those), yet rarely have I ever seen people complain about supporters/donators.

This is all aimed at the entire community btw, just in case anyone thought I am referring specifically to them or only certain groups of people.

*cough*

Anyway, one other change I'd like to see here is better commitment in regards to events. It's not a problem in all sections or for all events, but I've seen a number of times where there's a lot of initial enthusiasm for something.....only for a handful of the people who signed up to actually participate, or for a lot of participation in the beginning and for it to quickly fizzle out. I know that it's all supposed to be for fun, but don't say you're gonna be a part of something and then not follow-through with it.

Though I guess that if you look at Harley's first bullet point, commitment in general seems to be an issue on PC.

 

[Her]

• Seconding increased avatar size for those non-supporters out there. 130x130 is far too restrictive.
• Seconding mentioning features as well.
• Get more member input on what to do with forums, how they could be improved, etc. This is more on individual staff members taking the initiative and making threads or contacting perceived leaders in the section and asking what they think could be done to improved, but you get the idea. Instead of waiting for members to come up with suggestions/complaints, take the reins and get their thoughts.
• What happened to that 'create a forum' or w/e thread that Audy came up with? The one where members decide upon a topic of discussion (like food, although I loathe such a forum coming into existence) and it gets its own forum for the month. When the month is up, a new topic is made the forum subject. I thought that was a really good idea, although I'm explaining it rather poorly. This links back to following through on commitments or notifying members when it's not feasible to do so.

 

[Outlier]

^ Thirding increased avatar size. 150x150 is standard in most places, not that PC has to follow everyone else but it would be nice.

I'd allow NFSW/18+ threads for the older peeps among the pokemon fandom. Most likely in a section restricted to those of age. Don't worry I don't plan on protesting this like last time lol.

Other than that the only thing I can think of is that I would personally remove the rule where clubs get locked after 3 months without activity or whatever it is. There are clubs ideas that might not garner a lot of activity right off the bat but that doesn't mean people wont eventually come along to contribute and help the club thrive. The possibility of a club being closed before it can gain traction or after people lose interest for a bit kind discourages a lot of club concepts that aren't appealing to most of the community. I'd probably replace the rule and allow people to make new versions of inactive clubs after an "x" amount of time. 3 months is too short though.

 

[Bellsprout]

my humble 2 cent opinion no one will care about

- hstaff should be on rotation. I feel like this community doesn't grow because the same people have been on hstaff forever. Forever influencing the same mentality and ideas with little to no growth. Try something new, maybe you'll get a different result.

- This is more of a pet peeve than anything, but staff members who don't answer members' vms. Unless they're all being answered some other way it just seems rude and like distant? You're an integral part of the community, for some weird reason some members look up to you and some just want to be friendly and talk. To not say anything when you're in that position just seems so lazy and yeah rude. Gives me an "i'm too good for these petty members to answer!!" vibe.

- The whole discussing things without the communities opinion. Whenever a "controversial" idea gets brought up they'll be some discussion with the whole community able to give their two cents and then it eventually gets turned into "we're going to discuss this more where no one can see and then get back to you." Then after a couple of my period cycles something gets changed or nothing is said at all until someone remembers to bring it up again and the response is "yeah we decided against it." Okay?? Like if it's a no why can't you just tell the community it was a no instead of nothing said at all. Also why does it take so long to make a decision? Truly it baffles me. "we have lives outside of pc" But most of you sign in everyday, you're posting here everyday?

anyway before anyone gets riled up this is literally just what i see and my perspective

 

[Her]

- hstaff should be on rotation. I feel like this community doesn't grow because the same people have been on hstaff forever. Forever influencing the same mentality and ideas with little to no growth. Try something new, maybe you'll get a different result.

what sort of rotation do you mean
rotation from blue mod to hstaff and then back again or out of staff entirely

 

[Lucid]

Someone mentioned a nsfw section. I don't think anyone here remembers, but we did try a section like that years ago. It lasted like, maybe a month. It got way to graphic and out of hand and people just posted things in bad taste.

 

[Bellsprout]

what sort of rotation do you mean
rotation from blue mod to hstaff and then back again or out of staff entirely

idk which one would be the better idea, i've thought of both. In some ways I'd like to see it as completely out because I do feel there are staff members who have had their time and at this point it's just a drag on the community

 

[Lucid]

The staff are pretty much janitors. They keep everything clean and presentable, and they don't get a lot of recognition for just doing their job. I find the higher staff changes a lot actually, watching it over the years, I can't see how this would stunt anything. All in all I find them more lenient and friendly then ever. PC has gotten a lot of upgrades and has loosened up a lot in the past years. If anything things are moving forward with the more creative updates and customizations. No one cared about regular members opinions years ago, they're trying.

 

[Spherical Ice]

This might just be me, but in my HONEST opinion, PC's ROM Hacking section really needs a good cleanup.

I honestly don't agree with you on this, in my opinion the "noobs" (which is really not a fair way to address people who somehow don't magically know everything immediately) are far less of an "issue" than they were a few years ago, and the efficiency of the Beginner's Lounge and its stickies mean that they really aren't doing anything wrong, other than asking questions and expressing enthusiasm for hacking, which is nowhere near a bad thing in my books.

I'm on a Rom Hacking IRC where people ***** and complain about a lot of the noobish behaviours that are there and all that they seem to put up with.

This sounds like you're complaining about a clique being cliquey because inexperienced users don't know everything immediately, which I find unfair and counter-productive. Not everyone is born knowing everything.

If they could clean up the section, as well as recognise the regular contributors to the section, it might be a bit more appealing to the regulars of that section.

I don't see what you mean by "clean up." Christos and myself perform our janitorial duties on a regular basis and relatively efficiently (given that we aren't robots and have lives outside PC, too), and I'm be glad to hear your suggestions for recognising the regular contributors more. As of recent I've been awarding emblems to helpful members, and I would like to be leaving more comments on others' hacks although that isn't easy given my approaching exams and other duties, but I feel that the experienced hackers aren't being neglected at all (the Hack-off, for example, was tailored particularly to encourage hacking for both the inexperienced members and those who have been hacking for years, and I feel it was successful in doing that, timing problems aside).

As well, the Rom Hacking section is just so cluttered up with locked threads and whatnot, as well as, what seems to me to be, really biased award competitions.

We tend to keep locked threads in the index due to recent policy changes and a push to be more transparent, because the deletion of threads or locking them and moving them into a "trash basket" hidden forum almost always leads to drama of some sort. I frankly disagree with the notion that the award competitions are "really biased"; with Hack of the Year the users nominate hacks, the users vote on hacks, and the aforementioned experienced users that you wish we recognise more then judge these hacks and clearly justify their reasons in public paragraphs. As for Hack of the Month, it says in every thread that users are able to nominate hacks, and the truth is we've only been reusing certain hacks because it's the time of year where very few new hacks are posted. In general, though, we try to be as fair as possible in our nominations of hacks, so I can't see where you're coming from, I'm afraid.

There's tons of hacks that should be contenders that don't ever make the cut, and hacks that are really terrible, but do somehow make the cut.

Whether a hack is worthy or "really terrible" is purely subjective, and, again, if you think a hack is worthy of nomination, it's well within your rights, and in fact encouraged, that you recommend them to us! We're not psychic, we can't guess what you like, so of course we will follow our own judgment on what we personally view to be the best contenders for Hack of the Month.

There has to be a much better way to handle the voting, the selecting, and how competition is handled all around.

Again, you're welcome and encouraged to bring up meta discussions on the current formats for the official PC competitions we have running (Hack of the Year and Hack of the Month) by bringing it up in the ROM Hacking DCC, creating a thread in the ROM Hacking Hub, or contacting Christos or myself via either PM or VM.

I'm sorry if I came off overly defensive or offended in this post, I do appreciate your opinion, I just feel you're being unfair on a section that I have (as sad as it is, lol) a lot of attachment to and care for, my moderator-ship notwithstanding.

 

[Nah]

I would not be opposed to giving Platinum tier supporters an extra perk or two....

Holy crap though you guys get a 50,000 message PM box?! That's like 100 times larger than mine....

 

[Circuit]

So I'm going to put in a couple of points here.

-Firstly, I totally agree with staff following through on commitments and promises given to us. If you're going to change something on a forum as big as PokéCommunity has grown to be, do it. A site this big needs to have fluid and professional updates, the contents of which are known to all users, and who also know when said update will occur. You can't just throw around rumours and leave them on the wayside for ages, it does nothing but confuse users, and reduces transparency across the Forum.

-Secondly, leading on nicely, is all about transparency. Now this is not only aimed at the Staff, because I personally feel the Staff do a damned decent job of it already. However, with regards to updates (again, I know), talk to us please. Us users want to know exactly what is happening to a server we enjoy visiting, and how it may change. We also want to know that you care about what we think, but it is ultimately down to staff to collect the opinions of their many users one way or another. But it works both ways. Staff can't be expected to farm opinions 24/7. If you find something you feel could be done better, improved upon or could do with being removed etc. tell the staff. They are not psychic, and cannot reach beyond the monitor to ruffle your hair and shake them thoughts out of your head. You have to put them into text and tell them. Do it.

-Thirdly, this point I am on the fence about, but I am again posting it because I do agree with the points mentioned earlier, but will (hopefully) build on it a little as to why it might be good, then you can decide. Staff rotations. Staff as I've witnessed has been pretty varied over the years, and there are definitely changes to be seen. But a regular rotation, like a term of service, might also do the Forum some favours. That's not to say in any way shape or form that the current Higher Staff aren't good or whatever may be implied in that sentence, quite the contrary. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the staff are amazing, and do a great job. But always having the same minds working in a position that really involves a lot of creativity is, after a while, prohibiting. Switching up the Higher Staff will allow new minds to give a new creative spin on the forum, bringing in new aspects to the Forum that the previous Higher Staff may not have thought of. PC could become a mini democracy, with votes to nominated Staff members who people feel would add something to the Forums given a chance to work in a higher position. This nomination would be known to said Staff member, who would then be able to accept or decline said nomination. People then vote for the people they think would fill the Higher Staff roles best, and so on. Every year, two years? Or however long people feel would be a good amount of time to work as Higher Staff. Maybe that's too complex for a Forum I don't know. Like I said, I'm on the fence. But discuss this one, because I do feel done right it could become a great addition to the workings of the staff here at PC.

-Fourth. I've had this idea for a while, and here is a good place to put it. Highlight individual Forums please. Of course it's only natural that some forums get more activity than others, since we are a Pokémon based forum primarily, and everything else second. But it wouldn't hurt to show off a forum on the home page, to bring more/extra activity to that area maybe. Perhaps a banner on the home page that shows off an area like Roleplays, or Culture and Media for example. This would change of course, but would allow the lesser-known forums a moment in the lime-light and perhaps attract a bit more activity to places that at the moment seem a little lacking at times. That's just my opinion, as a very active member in A&D; an area, which in my opinion could become a little more active with a little push and input from others.

I don't have anything else right now. If anything I have written above has offended someone, please know that was not my intention, and if you do feel offended, message me and I'll buy you chocolate, ok? :)

 

[Dter ic]

When it comes to vm'ing people here sometimes I feel like I really have think about how I come across in my vm's to someone I don't know, yet in doing so I sound way more awkward than I would normally do so. As a result after asking a question I usually find people would say things that come off as rather intimidating (as in "wtf did u say?") and then I'd have to explain myself again. (which I find off putting) I just wish that people were more gentle in their approach instead of trying to brush the person aside just because you don't know them.