New rank at 1,000 posts?

[Cornflower MM]

Agreed viz boz pointz. Tvid be major tae 'ave juzt vone more rank after 'ero Member, but ah alzae underztand an' zink zat ve zhould encourage quality over quantity vhenever pozzible. May'apz, (If tiz ever conzidered) ze Legendary Member or votever it vid end up bein' could be for an 'oigher pozt count zan 2000, zay may'apz- 5000?

I agree with Head...I mean, I realize that it's just a fun little thing. And I also realize that Daniel, W0N and Matthias have good points...But if a member does something extraordinary, like getting 5000 posts, wouldn't that be something to reward? To show that he/she loves this site so much, and posts so much, that they're extremely deicated? And, if they haven't been gagged by then, very well behaving?

I'm sorry; Thas just a thought that I thought should be said.

[Shadowed One]

Legendary Member or VIM (Very Important Member)

[Rusvul]

Agreed viz boz pointz. Tvid be major tae 'ave juzt vone more rank after 'ero Member, but ah alzae underztand an' zink zat ve zhould encourage quality over quantity vhenever pozzible. May'apz, (If tiz ever conzidered) ze Legendary Member or votever it vid end up bein' could be for an 'oigher pozt count zan 2000, zay may'apz- 5000?

I agree with Head...I mean, I realize that it's just a fun little thing. And I also realize that Daniel, W0N and Matthias have good points...But if a member does something extraordinary, like getting 5000 posts, wouldn't that be something to reward? To show that he/she loves this site so much, and posts so much, that they're extremely deicated? And, if they haven't been gagged by then, very well behaving?

I'm sorry; Thas just a thought that I thought should be said.

I disagree with you, really. In essence, rank is just a shiny little sticker. Like, 'Oh, you're dedicated, here, have a star.' Up to a certain point, I mean, sure, why not? Most of the active members are Heroes, so it doesn't mean much any more, but it was fun while it did. But here's the thing. You have two thousand something posts. If I'm not mistaken, I have roughly a thousand less than you. I'm no less a valid part of the forum than you are, and vice versa. If there was another rank around 5000, that could cause problems with very little benefit. The benefit being another little fun thing. But another rank is an incentive to reach it. Which could have the effect of decreasing post quality and increasing post quantity. Which is a bad thing. Considering that a new rank has very, very little benefit, even a fairly small downside outweighs it.

[Blazemane]

I remember a site I've been a part of where there were tons of different ranks, and I can say that the atmosphere there was just... terrible. Admittedly, part of the problem was that rank was actually achieved by members voting for each other; and once you had a certain rank, you could actually take points away from other users.

Having a new rank at 1,000 posts is obviously a long way away from anything like that. But I'm leery of moving in any direction which creates arbitrary tiers between members.

[Captain Tammo]

I think members of the forum are just looking for something a little spicy that they can work towards! Something that proves that they're still dedicated to Brian's books, you know? Though I can see where Blazemane is coming from with creating tiers of membership being a potential problem, maybe we could give it a shot? Rather than 1,000 though, how about a little more than that (say, 1,500? So a greater majority of members can work towards something)? If the members are mature enough to handle the current tiers of membership, what difference will one more make?

[The Skarzs]

I'm sure the mods are getting their dose of deep thoughts with this one.

[Cornflower MM]

I think members of the forum are just looking for something a little spicy that they can work towards! Something that proves that they're still dedicated to Brian's books, you know? Though I can see where Blazemane is coming from with creating tiers of membership being a potential problem, maybe we could give it a shot? Rather than 1,000 though, how about a little more than that (say, 1,500? So a greater majority of members can work towards something)? If the members are mature enough to handle the current tiers of membership, what difference will one more make?

*Raises hand* Um, 1,500 is really common. You yourself have almost that many posts!  I'd say something less common. like, 5,000 posts...Just a thought.

[Faiyloe]

Here is an idea why not allow members to rep other peoples post (Specially in the RPing board) This would enforce quality over quantity. I know that is might hurt peoples feelings like Why didn't you rep me or whatever but if people are mature about it and they only rep when they think the other person deserves it then I don't think that it would be to much of a problem... I don't know just a thought.

[Cornflower MM]

Rep?

[Osu]

Cornflower, a reputation system puts a small number (or something) under each user's profile to which other members can add or take away numbers.

Personally, I've never seen a rep system work out. Too many people trolling each other, getting their feelings hurt (like you mentioned, Fai), and generally being mercenary to each other. It's a nice thought, but too easily exploited from what I can tell.

[Dannflower Reguba]

       It would also attract a crowd of people that we don't exactly want on our forum: The spammer/troller. If someone can be easily messed with by someone else, there'll be people around to do the messing... That's the first rule of the internet  . It stinks, but it's true... I feel like I worded that all wrong, but hopefully it makes enough sense to be understood.

[Faiyloe]

No I understand.  that makes sense. I don't think that it really matters though. We all have fun and all. That is all that matters right.  I think that Zombie pinatas and teddy bears are way more fun that Rank anyway.

[Dannflor]

If a new rank ever is made, I think Legendary is cool. 

That would be cool

[James Gryphon]

I understand this might be a controversial point of view, and that most of you (particularly in the staff) who've known me might be surprised to see me say it, but I think it might be a good idea to add a rank or two.

I never paid much attention to it myself, after I got to the "Full Member" level, but I think that any incentive users have to post more is beneficial, at this point in time. It's true that members could, hypothetically, spam the forum for a higher post count, but spamming is already against the rules, and the user can be punished as the staff sees fit. Back when nobody was a hero member, I don't think we saw too much in the way of spamming to get to that rank, so I'm not sure that it would become an issue now.

I'd also like to point out that any members who would be inclined to spam are very unlikely to generate quality posts regardless of how the rank system works, so I'm not sure how well that the quality vs. quantity argument works here. I don't think that I've ever even briefly considered, "Maybe I should make this post short so I'll have more time to make another post and get a higher post count". (And I have 289 long, long posts to show that I'm telling the truth about that. )

Now, granted, that's just me. Maybe there are some members out there who do contribute quality posts to the forum, yet have had that thought cross their minds. The only thing I can say to that is that your reputation is one of your most valuable assets, much more so than a little number next to your screen name. One high-quality post will do far more for you than a hundred one-line replies. The goal here should always be to seek quality with quantity, and if you can't have both, to go after the former.

Finally, this is a very old suggestion that I made three years ago, but I still think it's valid:

If I had to make custom member ranks, I suppose I'd make them based on food-related titles.

The top ranks with the most posts being like "Champion Scoffer" or "Glutton" and the lowest ones, the opposite of that, with the comparison being making posts to eating food.

That way the focus is on quantity, not quality.  

[HeadInAnotherGalaxy]

Ach, ve've mizzed yer lon', vell vritten poztz, James. Velcome back mate! An' viz regardz tae a nev rank or tva, vot if ve try oot a nev rank an' zen zee vot 'appenz? If it doeznae vork oot, it could alvayz be removed. Zat moight be an intereztin' zin', it vid!