official members lounge Options

[sadolakced acid]

okay, it's been suggested before, and i'm bringing it up again.

why can't we have an official member's lounge? it'd be a lot easier to keep good (just de-official member problem people), and would provide incentive for being an official member.

if you're going to say that people will spam to get in, well, people do that already for official member tools.

[*suddenly she*]

what would be so special about the official members' lounge, besides the absence of noobs?

or maybe it's the suspense that makes people want to be official members?
*lost*

[*mipadi*]

I've long been against this, for a number of reasons.

First of all, why the restriction? Will it guarantee better discussion? I don't see why it should—member are not promoted to official members based on their conversational merits per se.

So it seems that an official members-only lounge would simply be an attempt to exclude non-official members. Coming from a college background, this reminds me of a fraternity, and I'm not a fan of the fraternity system at most universities.

In general, I don't feel that cB's lack of in-depth discussion is the result of a mass number of members posting—it's simply a lack of depth in the forums that even an official members' lounge can't create.

[*Azarel*]

I'm with Michael on this one.

With only seventy official members/designers/promoters (forty-five, twenty-four, & one, respectively, and many of them not even active,) making the lounge an exclusive subforum would kill most, if not all, of the activity there.

You say that making it a private subforum would provide incentive for people to become official members, but what incentive would that be if all activity were killed off when this plan is initiated (because of my previous point)? I'm sure that people would just post the threads they'd normally post in the lounge elsewhere, and it'd just end up beeing off topic.

[demolished]

cB will lose it activity

[datass]

I don't like this idea...it's quite unfair for those who registered and went on haitus for a while, then come back, like me. I don't have enough posts per day to become an official member

[sadolakced acid]

please note that i don't mean a just make the lounge avalible only to official members

the current lounge would remain untouched, and there would be an additional lounge that you can only see as an official member.

yes michael, it is a bit frat like. but so would a mod-only forum. and this one's not nearly as hard to gain admittance to.

sure, it might just be inactive. people might ignore it. but i don't see the harm in creating one and seeing how that goes. you can always delete it.

[*Azarel*]

So.. what would be posted in the exclusive lounge then..?

[*digital.fragrance*]

That would be fun! I think that a lounge like that would spark activity...

Like Off Member Only contests, picture threads perhaps, and So on...

[Smoogrish]

I'm with Michael on this one.

With only seventy official members/designers/promoters (forty-five, twenty-four, & one, respectively, and many of them not even active,) making the lounge an exclusive subforum would kill most, if not all, of the activity there.

You say that making it a private subforum would provide incentive for people to become official members, but what incentive would that be if all activity were killed off when this plan is initiated (because of my previous point)? I'm sure that people would just post the threads they'd normally post in the lounge elsewhere, and it'd just end up beeing off topic.

And it would be seriously annoying to have double threads, one for the lounge, and one for the official members' lounge.

On a random side note, how do you tell how many official members there are?

[KissMe2408]

The upside of this, is that it would inspire more people to be more active and keep their ppd up so they can become Official Members and unlock the "secret lounge" lol. Not sure how this would work exactly, and what would be in the Official Member Only Lounge, but it's an interesting idea.

[*mona lisa*]

How would this be any different than a Lounge for all members, in terms of topics/discussions/etc. because I see none.

[*mipadi*]

yes michael, it is a bit frat like. but so would a mod-only forum. and this one's not nearly as hard to gain admittance to.

Backstage has a reason: it's for administrative purposes. I don't see your point.

[sadolakced acid]

then what, pray tell, is the point of a random discussion thread backstage?

to tell you the truth, it serves to undermine community. mods socialize more backstage, and consequently less in the actual forums. as mods are usually the most active members, this decreases overal member activity.

attaining official membership is so easy in my opinion that it'd wouldn't really keep many people out.

maybe it wouldn't be different. maybe it will suck. maybe it won't. we don't know.

[*mipadi*]

then what, pray tell, is the point of a random discussion thread backstage?

Backstage has numerous threads regarding the administration of cB. The random discussion thread is tangential to the real purpose.

The only reason I see to create an official members-only thread is to exclude regular members and thus heighten an already inflated sense of elitism among certain segments of the cB community.

[sadolakced acid]

elitism creates conflict, conflict creates drama, drama creates interest.

anyways; it doens't matter that it's tangential. it still reduces community activity.

[*mipadi*]

elitism creates conflict, conflict creates drama, drama creates interest.

No, interesting discussion creates interest. Drama just helps a few attention whores get their much-needed attention fix.

[sadolakced acid]

which can, in turn, stimulate interst. although the drama itself is sometimes interesting, expecailly when procrastinating.

[mariababy]

I think this is a good idea.

- It might motivate users to post more to be able to get into the special "lounge".
- Members of the "lounge" could offer freebies (eg. brushes, textures, stock, etc.) that isn't offered to anyone else, which will also make users post more to be able to get it as well.
- It might spark activity.

I just think there should be a mod for that forum if it's gonna happen. Also, I've seen this in a lot of places and they are doing great. I don't know why we shouldn't at least try.

[*mipadi*]

I still don't see the need to create a new forum to "spark activity". Assuming such a forum would spark activity, there's the point that cB doesn't suffer from a lack of activity--it's a very active forum, just not in an interesting way per se.

[sadolakced acid]

yes, everything you say is valid.

but you have not shown that trying it out will be harmful.

and, i assume, you agree there could be benefits.

[mariababy]

^Exactly. There's no danger in trying it. I mean, you guys can delete it if you wanted to, no?

[*mipadi*]

and, i assume, you agree there could be benefits.

Not really. What's the issue here? The issue is that a lot of discussion on cB is dull and boring. Is that because official members are afraid to post? In other words, would giving official members their own forum increase the level of interesting discussion? If the answer is no, then such a forum is pointless; if the answer is yes, then I ask why it's not already occurring in The Lounge? I don't exactly see official members fighting to make interesting, engaging topics.

Adding a special forum for official members brings up a simple logistics issue. If official members post only in their own lounge, it removes discussion from the general Lounge, and creates a schism in the interaction between members and official members. If official members want to include members, then they a) have to post in The Lounge, negating the purpose of their own lounge; or b) post in both places, which creates a chaotic, split discussion which isn't conducive to real discussion anyway.

Beyond that point, it creates an atmosphere where official members are considered more "important" than members, which is ridiculous, because a) it's not hard to become an official member; and b) official members don't have any additional responsibilities, so why consider them more important to the community?

I don't see the purpose in splitting up the two groups. Ideas like this have been proposed before. It was once proposed that Debate be made a privileged forum, for instance; seemingly the only reason was to weed out "undesirable" debaters. I'm generally opposed to any idea that attempts to needlessly raise certain members above other members. The idea of an official members-only lounge is such an idea, because it has no benefits (and in fact only creates problems).

Simply put, it hasn't been shown or demonstrated in any way that The Lounge lacks engaging discussion because members are allowed to post in it. There's no evidence pointing to the fact that official members as a collective whole are trying to have engaging discussion, but are getting drowned out in the tumult.

And the problem with trying it is obvious: It's easy to add forums, but very difficult to take them away. Remember when Jusun removed a bunch of forums? The backlash from that went on for several months; and ultimately, one of the removed forums (Current Events) was re-added, thanks to the backlash.

[clarity]

I like this idea.
I think it would be very cool, and I agree with the whole "We could offer freebies" statement above.

[mariababy]

^Why thank you.

I agree with everything you say, Michael. I just see this idea as a way to motivate members to post more and for this place to spark more activity than it already has. If it doesn't work out, then you guys can just delete it or something. No harm in trying it, I don't think.