My Current Opinion on the Member Interaction Center

[antemortem]

It doesn't seem fair to subjectively judge one's answers to posed questions as good or not, since they are already spilling out information about their personal lives. A sticky and an emblem wouldn't really make me want to expand any more on a topic that I'm already explaining in detail well enough, anyway. As for making the forum more public, I'd like this to be done because at this point everyone within the VIP and staff groups knows each other pretty damn well, but there's still 21,000 other members to get to know!

 

[Somniac]

Although I'm a very new supporter, I'd like to drop my opinion in here.

It may not be possible but perhaps setting a post-count limit to make threads in the section but not to post in threads. [Obviously VIPs would bypass this]. Then open the section up to the public.

Users with a high enough post count would be less likely to spam/troll than newly signed up users and so letting them create threads would be fine. Letting everyone post questions in people's threads would increase activity in the section, and hopefully inspire more VIPs/high post count users to create threads.

 

[antemortem]

I'll bump some staff about this and see what we can do.

 

[Nolafus]

I don't really post in here because I'm not a supporter and I think that this place should be for supporters only, but I'll chime in anyway.

I'm not sure how this would work. I haven't explored the Creeper's Encyclopedia much, so I may not be the most knowledgeable, but remember that anyone can see them if we move it to the public. Even guests that aren't even registered members can see it. A lot of people put really personal stuff in theirs and I'm not sure if I would want anyone to be able to see it. The internet isn't a safe place to be putting where you live and all that. Plus, if we open it to the public, I'm afraid it would get way too busy. I mean, there would be members all over the place making their thread, threads would get buried under some others, and some people might feel ignored and have bitter feelings about that. These are some qualms that I'm having with the idea.

However, I do have a solution.

What if we make another user rank? Say, when a member reaches 1,000 or 2,000 posts, they become a Senior Member. Not much would change, but they would get a shiny, new box under their name like all the other positions and they would now have access to the Creeper Encyclopedia. This way, we know that they're dedicated to the community, and most likely won't SPAM the section and whatnot. It's not a perfect solution, but I feel like it's not a bad one. About the Senior Member rank, I would stick with post count instead of a time period because someone could leave PC for a while and then come back a year later or something and now be considered a Senior Member despite the fact they haven't done much if anything at all.

Anyway, my two cents on the subject.

Edit: Before anything else happens, the Senior Member is just speculation. It's probably not going to happen just for the sake of saving the Creeper Encyclopedia. Just saying that because I don't want anyone getting attached to the idea.

 

[Cordelia]

It having post count off probably makes some people who are obsessed with post count not want to post there.

 

[Tsutarja]

Slayr, you can still post a thread in there even if you aren't a supporter :P all mods do get supporter perks (except for the email address and smaller name-change limit)

But for my stance, I really don't mind having it opened up to regular members, considering that post count in the forum is turned off, so that shouldn't be a problem at all for members who want to do nothing but post in there.

 

[Nolafus]

Slayr, you can still post a thread in there even if you aren't a supporter :P all mods do get supporter perks (except for the email address and smaller name-change limit)

But for my stance, I really don't mind having it opened up to regular members, considering that post count in the forum is turned off, so that shouldn't be a problem at all for members who want to do nothing but post in there.

I know, but I just feel a little guilty because these nice people paid for this and I'll feel like a freeloader.

Anyway, maybe turning off the post count in that forum would fix the SPAM issue. But I'm still having concerns over the privacy thing. All it could end up meaning is that I don't make a thread in there, but I still think it should at least be considered.

 

[Mana1]

I honestly think it would be chaotic to unleash to the entire memberbase.

Why not just make a 'get to know people' forum game and utilise that. That way, it's not necessarily one person getting dozens of questions whilst everyone else sits and looks pretty.

The shinynew feeling of the questions forum died off pretty quickly, it might last longer in the main forum but, let's face it, after a few pages every question becomes a repeat.

 

[Cordelia]

I know, but I just feel a little guilty because these nice people paid for this and I'll feel like a freeloader.

Anyway, maybe turning off the post count in that forum would fix the SPAM issue. But I'm still having concerns over the privacy thing. All it could end up meaning is that I don't make a thread in there, but I still think it should at least be considered.

Post count is already off on this forum lol. So that's not the issue imo.

 

[Tyrantrum]

Issue #2: Incentives!

As I stated earlier, there is a lack of promotion to post here. There's all sorts of angles of attack for this, though. One solution I thought of is that, per month, each new thread that is made, will get grouped off. Near the end of the month, the one thread with the most constructive replies and questions will have their thread stickied for two weeks, just so it gets that extra time to be recognized, and the OP of the thread would receive an emblem for making such an excellent thread. There's other ways too, but I just can't think of any.

I don't really care for this idea because, to me, it just sounds as if that just because a certain thread is more recognized than others, it would mean that basically their introductory thread is more important than anyone else's and therefore would receive an award for it? But not only that, but while their thread is stickied others' are left to just die off? I wouldn't give a stickied thread anymore recognition than an un-stickies thread.

 

[antemortem]

Spam isn't even an issue in this forum. The supporters have been really mature about it, and if that's any example to the general community, it'd be just fine. Honestly I don't think it's fair to jump to any conclusion as to how it'd fare in the face of the community, as spam could be patrolled just as easy as any other forum, for one. Though, when it comes to the amount of threads, I'm sure many would be pushed down but then again there are those that ask questions in every thread, bump old threads for people, not every member would be able to create a thread if we added some restrictions on post count/join date, etc. There'd be ways to mitigate the potential disaster, we just have to think about it.

The shinynew feeling of the questions forum died off pretty quickly, it might last longer in the main forum but, let's face it, after a few pages every question becomes a repeat.

Maybe it's natural for people to want to know the same things about people, and it's also natural for threads to eventually die because there's nothing else to say. There might be a straggler that comes along with something nobody else has asked yet, and perhaps that spurrs more questions from others. Either way this forum works similarly to any other forum in that the topics can dry up and be a well of excitement at any one point.

 

[Nick]

The original intent of the MIC when I purposed it was to put it into beta with the supporters and then release it to the public if it went well, which it did. It went astonishingly well. But obviously with the same people asking the same questions, it's going to be stale.

No matter what, keeping the forum as it is now with the same people able to access it isn't going to improve anything. There's really no denying that.

I honestly think it would be chaotic to unleash to the entire memberbase.

Why not just make a 'get to know people' forum game and utilise that. That way, it's not necessarily one person getting dozens of questions whilst everyone else sits and looks pretty.

The shinynew feeling of the questions forum died off pretty quickly, it might last longer in the main forum but, let's face it, after a few pages every question becomes a repeat.

Kura experimented with that and it didn't work out as well as it would have been expected to have.

 

[Mana1]

Kura experimented with that and it didn't work out as well as it would have been expected to have.

Which doesn't really bode well. It'll boom and bust again. I much preferred the idea (Alex's I think?) of it just being a one off yearly event, open for a few weeks and then hidden the rest.

 

[Cosmic Fury]

I know I don't post here often, but here's my two cents anyway:

1. This is a very intimate spot in the community, relatively speaking. We say a LOT of personal stuff here that many of us would never even think of putting on the main boards.

2. This is just as much a trust issue as it is anything else. This is pretty much our corner of the community. Not just anybody comes over here. Would we have our deeper thoughts or more sensitive personal issues being read by just anyone who randomly shows up here? I doubt it.

2. We did effectively pay our way into this place -- either that or we got modded for those that wear those badges. Either way you slice it, it's still that way. As has been said before, this is our spot in the community. We earned our privilege to be here, in some way or another.

3. Yes, our stuff isn't nearly as active as the rest of the boards -- and that is because there are few of us. If the question at hand is who to add other than community supporters and moderators, I would suggest that we add people who not only have been around for a while, but have posted often as well.

4. Building off of the last comment, older posters with plenty of posts deserve to at least have some sort of a spot here without having to pay for it, in my opinion. Not all of us can afford to give to the community in the form of money -- instead, many contribute with their year(s) of membership along with plenty of well-thought posts.

5. I really do like the Senior Member idea that was presented earlier. I know it's a longshot at best, but here's my suggestion: Someone with 2,500+ posts and more than a year or two of membership should be given the title. With said title they'd be able to visit some VIP forums, just as an incentive for their contributions.

However, said title could obviously be withheld just like any other special privilege within this community. Either way though, it all boils down to the issue of what sort of people we should trust for such sensitive things.

 

[s0nido]

I support this idea. Make the Creeper Encyclopedia open to all the members. I'm probably gonna parrot everything that everyone else here has said by saying that it'll really boost the activity of the forum as well as allow us to get to know more people, but it's true. Also, I don't think there's any special reason to block off the forum to people under a certain post count as that'd shut out a lot of new members from getting to know more senior members, as well as shutting other members out of getting to know newer members. Besides, there are other seemingly spam-prone forums whiich don't receive nearly as much spam as you'd expect from newer members. Perhaps there could be a moderation requirement for new threads?

 

[Nolafus]

I still don't think this is a good idea. My main concern is privacy. I crept around the Creeper Encyclopedia, and this was the first sentence of the first thread I clicked on. I'm going to use this as an example and I really hope the member doesn't mind me using it. If they have a problem with it, let me know and I'll take it out ASAP.

I was born in concord CA and moved to South Lake Tahoe at the age of 3 when my parents got a divorce.

That's very personal. The real question is would you want anyone to have the ability to see that? And when I say anyone, I mean anyone. Even guests that don't even have an account. This is what would happen if we made this public. I'm concerned about people's privacy because anything you post online never goes away for good.

There was a member here who had a picture of himself in his signature. That in itself isn't necessarily bad, but he was wearing a school hoodie. I was interested on just how much information I could pull from this one, simple picture. I typed in the school on google and sure enough, I got the town where he lived in seconds. I got information like his home town, the area where he lived, a rough area on which grade he was in, and a rough estimate on how old he was. All this from one picture and if that was the first time I had done something like that. I'm worried about what people can pull when they've had more experience. So, I messaged him recommending him to swap the picture, which he thankfully did.

All I'm saying is that if that information was pulled from something that wasn't even supposed to give that much, I'm very concerned about the information that someone can pull from something that's supposed to reveal a lot. Some of you guys posted pictures. If you posted the same picture on Facebook or something, now they have your Facebook or whatever social networking site and now they have your hometown and all sorts of information.

Call me paranoid, but that's why I can't stand behind this getting pushed to the public. It's fine here because only people who are dedicated to the forums will give money and it's a lot safer. The only idea that I can think of to get more people here, is to give people with 2,500+ posts automatic supportership because even if they haven't given money, odds are, they've given to the community in one way or another.

 

[Somniac]

Well, seeing as a lot of people don't want it public, why don't we perhaps delete all the threads here, and start fresh in the public? Or perhaps create certain conditions under which you can post/view the board?

And what about dead/dying threads? Do you think there could be a way to get activity into those threads once again?

Perhaps deleting all the threads and allowing people to recreate them in a new [public] forum if desired would be the best method.

I don't think it's worth leaving it like it is at the moment. Most threads seem to get one or two posts if any at all, and then die.

Criteria for creating threads but not posting in them would help thin the influx of threads once it's made open, and give something to work towards. Supporters would retain their privilege of posting in the forum, possibly allow users over a certain postcount to create threads too.

 

[Timbjerr]

I had no idea it actually used to be busy over there. I guess it's because I was quite inactive at the time it came up and it was already pretty slow when I came back in October. As it is, my thread's fallen onto the second page and has zero posts still. XD

I like the idea of creating a "Senior Member" usergroup that has access to the same secret forums as supporters. Creating a catalog of people who've been here for over three years and with over 3,000 posts would create a sort of "Who's Who at PC" list that would generate an interest in knowing more about these people. In that same vein, I also wouldn't be opposed to imposing limits on who can create a thread, but not on who posts in them. i.e., rebranding the place as a spot where newbies and passers-through can ask questions and get to know the more experienced members better.

 

[Somniac]

By now I expect most people will have seen the announcement here.
I for one welcome our new friends.
Time to wait and see how well this change works.
I'd like to thank the staff for paying attention to our whining :p

 

[Nolafus]

Yeah, it took a while to agree on a number, but it seemed that everyone was in agreement that there should be a sort of reward for older members. With you guys wanting more people in your Creeper Encyclopedia, it just seemed like a perfect fit. And yes, this does solve my privacy paranoia rant from before. Thank you for the suggestion and glad we could help! :D