DropBox for Site Improvement Ideas

[samuelfrost4]

Originally Posted by Jim

People don't typically get any smiley that they request. In fact, a good rule of thumb is that you won't get a custom smiley if you ask for one. Any smileys of people here are, most likely, an admin or other behind-the-scenes type of person. ( for example.)

Drake is like an admin except MORE IMPORTANT!

[netherspirit]

Oh that smiley of mine...brings back such great memories.

[TGRF]

Greetings. I asked where I should put this, and two people said I should put it here. First, the issue is very ... large, and could get out of hand. If that happens, I will make a thread for it so that I don't clutter this thread up. In a nutshell, the issue is this.

Most likely, the differences between contributors and supporters have been gone over very thoroughly, and I respect that and all the work that has been done on that topic. I also understand the motivation that is needed for someone to support the site. However, something has come to my notice.
The difference (Correct me if I’m wrong) between a supporter and a contributor is simply this, as I understand it. A contributor is someone who has contributed a fair amount of worth-while content to the site, and therefore is deserving of some extra privileges. A supporter is a person that has paid for these privileges. Both of these people help the site, both contribute, (Money or lots of time) and both are deserving of privileges.
Now, is not the contribution equal? Think of it this way: Without the supporters, the site would go broke, but without the contributors, the site wouldn’t be as great anyway. You have to have both. Therefore, to me, it seems that a contributor is equal with a supporter.
OF course, a supporter has more privileges than a contributor does. Now, I can understand that these extra privileges act as a motivation for the supporters, which I respect.
What I’m getting at is this: If both contribute/support the site – since it amounts up to the same effect essentially – their privileges should be the same, shouldn’t they? It makes sense to me.
I am about to propose a very large change to the privilege system, which is why I think that this could really use its own thread, but I’ll respect the advice of other members. What I propose is this:
The privileges for contributors and supporters are the same, BECAUSE what they do helps the site equally. It is up to the admins what those privileges are, of course, but I think they should be the same.
Let’s take a quick moment to look at those privileges. Probably the most obvious one is neg rep. Obviously, we like to reserve the power of neg rep for our most trusted members, right? Wouldn’t someone who has spent the time and the energy to contribute to the site in multiple ways qualify just as much as someone who has contributed money? IMO (In my opinion), it would appear so.
I am not well-versed in the many privileges of either contributors or supporters, becoming a contributor myself only recently, so I won’t go into any more detail here.
This brings something else up. Please do not think that this is some sort of plea for myself. I am trying to help the site by fixing a problem that I see. I am open to opinions and thoughts on this topic. (A PM would be better if it’s lengthy, so that this thread doesn’t get cluttered up.)
That pretty much sums it up. Remember, I value your opinions, whatever they are, as long as you have reasons for what you say. Criticize me, neg rep me, say I’m nuts if you want! All this is is an idea that I think would contribute greatly to the site. Treat as you will, but please let me know what you think. Thanks!
~TGRF.

[IAmBatman]

My personal belief is that rep, positive or negative, isn't particularly important for anyone to have.

[Dad_Scaper]

Without Contributors the site would be less good. Without Site Supporters there is no site.

I was a Contributor for a *long* time before I was a Site Supporter (issues with PayPal), but I understood and respected the difference.

It's $15/year, iirc. Pay or don't pay, it's no difference to me. But don't complain.

[mac122]

I don't really care one way or another whether Contributors get the same privileges as Site Supporters. But there is a flaw in your logic. Your statement suggests that a Site Supporter's contribution is simply monetary and is therefore balanced by a contributors posting contributions. I believe if you look at the list of Site Supporters, you will find a very large number that could realistically have both badges. Should this group then get even greater privileges?

[Jim]

Originally Posted by The Grim Reaper's Friend

say I’m nuts if you want!

You're nuts.

Dad_Scaper hit it. No contributors, we have a site that is still mostly about HeroScape. No supporters, there is no site on which to mostly post about HeroScape.

Rep is either very useful or very useless. If you get a rep (+ or -) and you learn something from it and (continue to post well / post better) because of it, then it is very useful. If you don't think it was worth anything to you, then it is very useless.

[TGRF]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

My personal belief is that rep, positive or negative, isn't particularly important for anyone to have.

That would be up the admins. Do with rep what you will.

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

Without Contributors the site would be less good. Without Site Supporters there is no site.

I was a Contributor for a *long* time before I was a Site Supporter (issues with PayPal), but I understood and respected the difference.

It's $15/year, iirc. Pay or don't pay, it's no difference to me. But don't complain.

As I attempted to make plain, I am not complaining. I am contributing to the site by bringing up a problem that I believe could better the site. This is contributing, not complaining. I do this for the site, not myself.

Originally Posted by Jim

You're nuts.

Dad_Scaper hit it. No contributors, we have a site that is still mostly about HeroScape. No supporters, there is no site on which to mostly post about HeroScape.

Rep is either very useful or very useless. If you get a rep (+ or -) and you learn something from it and (continue to post well / post better) because of it, then it is very useful. If you don't think it was worth anything to you, then it is very useless.

Ah, now there is a good point. Well stated. Perhaps supporters do indeed deserve more. (In my opinion, however, contributors have still earned the neg rep power, but that's just my opinion, not relevant to this discussion, and really should not be commented on. Don't ask me why I brought it up, because I have no idea.) A very good point. Perhaps a comparison of the privileges would help though, as I think that supporters still need a site to support, even if they do most of the work. Once again, this is just my opinion, and nothing personal. This is a contribution, not a complaint.

[Dad_Scaper]

There is a difference between [not complaining] and [saying you are not complaining].

You and I apparently disagree about which one you were doing.

You have written things before, TGRF, that suggest you think you have some control over how your words are interpreted. You don't. If you write a lengthy complaint and then say "I'm not complaining," people can and will still observe you were complaining.

[TGRF]

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

There is a difference between [not complaining] and [saying you are not complaining].

You and I apparently disagree about which one you were doing.

Now that I can agree on. Wait, that means that we are agreeing... about disagreeing... or something like that.

I did give my reasons though.

[IAmBatman]

Since you pretty much said the only example of differences you offered between the two levels of priorities is something you're not even really worried about anyway (neg rep) ... your thesis here is pretty unclear.

[Ranior]

No need to change something where no problem exists. I think we can all agree this is a great site and the proposed change would do virtually nothing to improve the site.

Then again that's just my thoughts on the matter, but overall I think the system has been in place and worked very well for those years. Just go pay 15 dollars if you wanna be able to negrep.