Those labels are controlled by something called the "User Title Ladder". And, at present, we've set that to be based on trophy points, and have a load of trophies some of which came with the site and others which we've added - mostly based on number of posts and likes.
I've screenshotted the control pane below so you can see how limited it is (and what it's currently set to). There is no way I can filter out people who are no longer currently active. I cannot adjust the trophies to only apply to currently active members only. The title ladder is based solely on the total volume of content (however long ago it was).
I agree the word "Active" is inappropriate and should be changed. Same goes for "Ascended". What do you suggest I change them to? And obviously I should either add more labels or adjust the thresholds so we don't have everyone in the top category.
But it's all still rather meaningless.
But there is a way to make this more meaningful.
The best way I could overhaul this to be more meaningful would be to completely overhaul the trophies section. I could:
I could retain some trophies for volume of likes received and volume of posts, but much fewer than at present and weighted so they are "worth" less than the likes/messages ratio trophies.
I would then base the title ladder on the points from these trophies.
So if someone has received, on average, 1 like for every post they have made, they could be a "valued member", and then go up from that to "Highly Valued", "Esteemed" - and this would be based basically on the perceived value of their contributions based on likes.
This would subtly filter out really old members also, as people who posted mostly on the old forum software that had no likes feature have received no likes except from people trawling through old posts and finding theirs of particular value, so their likes/messages ratio will be lower.
Now, whether judging the value of contributions by popularity is a good idea is obviously highly debatable. But this is all a bit of silly fun.
It would hopefully favour the silent individuals who say little but when they speak everyone pays attention because it's worth reading. Such people don't end up recognised much at present.
Anyone in favour of such a radical overhaul?
I've screenshotted the control pane below so you can see how limited it is (and what it's currently set to). There is no way I can filter out people who are no longer currently active. I cannot adjust the trophies to only apply to currently active members only. The title ladder is based solely on the total volume of content (however long ago it was).
I agree the word "Active" is inappropriate and should be changed. Same goes for "Ascended". What do you suggest I change them to? And obviously I should either add more labels or adjust the thresholds so we don't have everyone in the top category.
But it's all still rather meaningless.
But there is a way to make this more meaningful.
The best way I could overhaul this to be more meaningful would be to completely overhaul the trophies section. I could:
- Remove most of the existing trophies, as they're largely based on raw volume of posts or likes (sorry people who have earned them!)
- Replace them with a scale of trophies based on likes/messages ratio. In other words, the people whose contribution has overall been "voted" most valuable through the likes of others would float to the top.
I could retain some trophies for volume of likes received and volume of posts, but much fewer than at present and weighted so they are "worth" less than the likes/messages ratio trophies.
I would then base the title ladder on the points from these trophies.
So if someone has received, on average, 1 like for every post they have made, they could be a "valued member", and then go up from that to "Highly Valued", "Esteemed" - and this would be based basically on the perceived value of their contributions based on likes.
This would subtly filter out really old members also, as people who posted mostly on the old forum software that had no likes feature have received no likes except from people trawling through old posts and finding theirs of particular value, so their likes/messages ratio will be lower.
Now, whether judging the value of contributions by popularity is a good idea is obviously highly debatable. But this is all a bit of silly fun.
It would hopefully favour the silent individuals who say little but when they speak everyone pays attention because it's worth reading. Such people don't end up recognised much at present.
Anyone in favour of such a radical overhaul?
