Issue: Is this a problem??? Or is this a new thing?

[Ho-Oh]

I love how these look, gj Audy. I'd even consider posting around here occasionally (instead of for specific reasons, aka in server information thread) because these look so sexy :3 I think it makes postbits way less messy and looks pretty formal, so woo.

 

[Regeneration]

I'm totally fine with this. We all look more like a community now with no one standing out more than the other.

 

[Ace.]

I really like this. It looks pretty cool. But it looks pretty weird in profiles XD.

 

[Treecko]

Personally, I think that being intimidated by staff is just one of those things I'll never fully understand. But, if people are actually intimidated by us and this helps resolve the issue, then it's definitely a step forward. I guess that since I don't understand staff intimidation it's hard for me to gauge how big an issue it is but I would love to see a PC where all levels of staff are better integrated with the members and this seems to be a good start with that. I never really thought about username formatting before and what its implications were but I guess it meant more than I thought. It's making me wonder what else happens that I'm totally oblivious to, haha.

I agree that members shouldn't be intimidated by staff members because in the end, they're just normal members just with fancier titles and more duties. I think members should be able to turn to staff when they have an issue or question they need to be answered. And I don't think staff having colored usernames makes them more intimidating either or should make them more intimidating. And I don;t see how changing the tags should make them less intimidating. I think the colors make staff look more important, but they're normal users either way.

I'm not certain I like how it's shown in the recent visitors and whatnot but I'll either get used to it or it'll be changed somehow. But yeah, all-in-all I actually like this a lot better.

Yeah I guess I'll be fine with these being in the postbits, but they seem strange in the recent visitors and "who's online". I'd like to at least have those colored if possible or if not that, something else.

I really like this. It looks pretty cool. But it looks pretty weird in profiles XD.

I agree with this too. Having a special colors in the profile stands out more. For staff, particularly it shows more importance to me.

 

[Her]

i fail to see how this solves anything tbh
to me it seems even more in your face than the previous ones

 

[Elaitenstile]

Also! CS6 becoming CS★ was pretty freaky. It seems more 'real' now, like Tier 6 being a bit exclusive and elusive lol.

 

[Salzorrah]

imo why cant we have both? like that sexy thingy and the old format together? or like Ozzy said, make it toggable? :B

 

[Treecko]

imo why cant we have both? like that sexy thingy and the old format together? or like Ozzy said, make it toggable? :B

I like that idea. Or if the userbar is too much, then just make a smaller one or less use a previous one. Or get rid of it completely. Personally I just think these tags would look better/stand out more if the usernames are bold and/or colored. And the supporter one doesn't see, very obvious like Hikari mentioned in a previous post. I can expect many people asking what "CS2 or CS★" stands for, that's just confusing.

 

[Salzorrah]

Me as CS3 Lady Gunner makes me think I was made using Photoshop CS3 :P

Infact CS# makes me think bout Photoshop xD

 

[Legendary Silke]

It's not just the matter of size. Positioning and style also matters significantly when it comes to little things like this. As configured like this, the tags are intrusive.

I'd rather take the old style, since right now, it clashes with just about everything else.

 

[Gonzo]

Colours are more natural way of marking stuff/people and personally i find them less intimidating that badges. I don't like the badge idea for three reasons:
1) Colours worked well so far. If you're afraid of staff members, flowers, sweets and bardes won't make you less intimidated. It's in people's heads, not in staff's appearance.
2) The change seems to be huge for non-newcomers. Personally, when I was reading a thread today I was thinking "WTF? Why did they demod so many staff members?!" And then I found this thread.
3) 95% of forums use colours to distinguish staff/VIPs from regular users, so people who are registered in other places can relate to that and will find that more familiar.

If you want to be less intimidating, ditch Red and Yellow (Orange?) as high staff colours, because they are intimidating and aggresive, contrary to purple, green and blue.

 

[Crunch Punch]

Yeah, I think I prefer the old style. I mean, I will probably get used to this when time comes but right now it just looks so... clustered and packed - 3- sorry guys, but really, I preferred it when the names for supporters and stuff were green/bold blue/bold yellow/bold red.

But I do understand about the intimidation thing with members and staff and such, and I'm glad you guys are trying to do something about that. Not sure how to say this, but I appreciate what you are trying to do. But aesthetically... eeyeah I prefer the old style really.

 

[Nick]

Can't please everyone I guess?

I think this is much better this way. More clean, more professional, more modern. I expect these wont stay this this but it would be great if they did. The formatted usernames and bars are tacky in comparison.

Why don't you guys give it a day or two before you start screaming how much you don't like it like this, yeah? Be a little more open minded and progressive.

 

[Nihilego]

2) The change seems to be huge for non-newcomers. Personally, when I was reading a thread today I was thinking "WTF? Why did they demod so many staff members?!" And then I found this thread.
3) 95% of forums use colours to distinguish staff/VIPs from regular users, so people who are registered in other places can relate to that and will find that more familiar.

I don't really understand how having written next to a mod's username could be considered less informative than a username colour. I don't get how you thought we'd demodded people when they still have "mod" written next to their name.

As for your point about intimidation and that, yeah, intimidation's all in peoples' heads. But people have already commented that this could be a step in the right direction for not making mods so... blazingly "I AM A MODERATOR", if you get what I'm saying? I don't see why we shouldn't at least try to make progress rather than just saying "it's in your head so it's your problem". Although fair point if you personally find badges more intimidating; I can't really argue with your personal opinion on that. d:

...although if I was intimidated by staff I'd find one badge less intimidating than a userbar and a bold coloured username. *shrug*

edit: if this reads aggressively, which skimming back over it I feel it maybe does, sorry! It's not meant to be that way haha.

 

[mikey]

....ew.

I mean, this solves nothing. I was staring at the online list moments before checking this out, and I found it incredibly difficult to figure out who is a mod or not, and I've been here 4 years. Even figuring out who supporters were was a challenge for me. Maybe its just me, but it just doesn't make sense to me. I feel new members are going to have a problem with this, identifying who is who. I mean, im not shooting it down and I'll give it a chance and everything, but it just doesn't make much sense to me.

And I don't find that staff members with big bold names intimidate people, I think it helps new members and anyone with identifying who can help them with their questions or concerns. It's a staple. I mean, all forums pretty much have that system tbh.

 

[Sydian]

Please at least create an option to see posts the old way with the colored names. I really can't stand this. I think it looks terrible. I'm sorry, just...it looks clunky and people aren't as easily identifiable now and I think we look terrible without our username formatting.

 

[Aether★]

Also! CS6 becoming CS★ was pretty freaky. It seems more 'real' now, like Tier 6 being a bit exclusive and elusive lol.

This 100%. I like the CS Star tier now, not just Tier 6, but Star Tier!

 

[Squirrel]

I really don't understand the whole "clunky" thing - surely this is 100% less clunky because there's no userbar to fuss around with? I personally much prefer this format; it's much classier and a heck of a lot less tacky looking.

As far as being identifiable by rank is concerned, once again I don't see this as a problem. It's obvious what ranks people are from the badge next to their and, although mod/smod aren't the most identifiable ranks compared to moderator/super moderator, I do think we should give people more credit than that. If necessary we can just add alt text to it so open hovering it gives the full title, but it really isn't something I see as a problem. It's only new members that it could be a problem for though, so maybe they're the ones we should be asking haha.

As for CSx not being identifiable, I don't think that matters at all. It's not like it's an 'official rank' of any kind bar showing they've donated money and they have access to perks, and if people ask about it then all the better - we just get more interest in donations. But once again, I just don't see any of these things as problems other than for the reason of "I don't like change" or, more reasonably, "the new format is ugly".

I'm personally a huge fan of it and I really hope it stays, and for those of you that aren't I urge you to give it a try for at least a day or two to get used to it, but just don't count it out straight away because it's not what PC is used to. I think it's a big step in the right direction, both aesthetically and as a case of 'tackiness'.

 

[wolf]

I quite like it. Not as much as my previous set up (formatted usernames and no rank images), but this is easier to understand. I have one suggestion, though. The rank image would look more natural in the postbit if it was to the right of the username.

Comparison:

Spoiler:

However, it probably looks better on the left for the Who's Online list.

Also, I just noticed there's a quick link beside the number of each post. That'll be handy.

 

[Palkia]

What does this solve? It makes the Moderators and Supporters look even more noticeable, which means this new feature seems to do the complete opposite of what it aims to do - making higher ups less intimidating. They take up space and look jarring next to text. They stand out, which is what they weren't designed to do.

Also, how does this make us look more normal? It discredits the people who have donated or/and keep the place running.

If we are going to have this option here, please don't make if forced on the user.