Ranking

[snefroe]

it sounds like people are diggin this "tag" idea... cool, cause i like it !!!

That's cool. Personally I'd like a SW tag. Not "Theatre" generally, but SW specifically. But then the counter argument is that I've already got one, in a sense. Lord Maul. If that isn't declaring my tastes, then what is?

this brings up a point... should there be FORUM tags, or THEME tags...

currently, snefore (and others) have a space tag... which works cause it seems to cover both a THEME and a FORUM. same goes for pirates. but what about the "theater" and "history" forum (along with others)... which both cover mulitple themes ???

that is to say, should there be a batman, starwars, sponsebob, avatar, spiderman, castle, adventuers, wild west, and vikings tag, etc...

or simply, "theater" and "history" tag ???

any thoughts ???

personally, i favor the later - BrickMiner

I think we shouldn't go into a situation in which there's an inflation of tags of all sorts of things, when members are more concerned about getting and changing tags on a constant basis. It reminds me of the individual titles. Yoda started that as a joke more or less, he gave a title to a member when he had some idea of who this person was, as a symbolic gesture to that individual. But in the end, everybody wanted a title, even minimal-posters, some were not happy with the title he/she received and we more than we'd liked , had to explain how it all worked... At that point, it really wasn't fun anymore... thank god we 've passed that...

we can't have the same for the tags, really. It's a great idea, but we have to protect it against its own success. so that means, as the Big Chief indicated, we'll have to limit the use of tags to only the good EB contributors, and some one has to be the decision maker in who's getting one and who's not. For space, pirates and bionicle probably, i guess it's easy: we have special staff members for those forums. I guess castle and town/train will follow at one point... i'm not sure if there's a point in having sponge tags or bm tags... cos they don't really have an actual forum, neither does vikings, on the other hand a "history" tag doesn't make much sense either...

However, i've created a blue, grey and white space tag, so if i nominate a member for a tag and he/she accepts, then he/she can chose what colour he/she wants... So maybe it would be doable for one larger forum as "History" to have two or three seperate tags: one Wild West, one viking and one ... what 's left in there... i also think we should limit this to our actual forums (town, train, pirates, history, ... but NOT sw, for instance). After all, EB wants to be a community for all themes of lego and most of the discussions, mocs,... appear in those theme forums... theatre really is more about news...

and i guess the Chief is right in limiting the number of tags to two. That way, good contributors in different forums can be rewarded twice. I'm also very aware of the fact that these tags can become a measure of "forum importance" on EB. We really don't want to have a competition between the different subforums in terms of numbers of members with their specific tags.

[Brick Miner]

i'm in charge of what will soon be the hard core of EB: Space, and mind you, only space :-P

and

I'm also very aware of the fact that these tags can become a measure of "forum importance" on EB. We really don't want to have a competition between the different subforums in terms of numbers of members with their specific tags.

you stared it !!! :-P :-D :-D :-D :-P

[gylman]

I think this is foolish, unnecessary, and potentially destructive.

I will go on record as saying that if nominated for a tag (which is unlikely these days, since i barely have time to wipe my butt, let alone build anything looking at) I will respectfully decline.

Cheers

Gyl (Mr. Keychain) Man

[Brick Miner]

gylman, if this sudden change in opinion is due to my last reply... i was very obviously joking... the "you started it" was obviously poking fun at the underlying "worry" that everyone has. it

[Jipay]

Indeed, I don't think everyone should argue so much on what the tags should be or not. There will be some tags, and most of the people with a real interest in a theme will get the related badge. So now worries ! I think we will make it simple and respectfull so everyone is pleased *sweet*

[snefroe]

i apologize to snefore if my wordage was interpreted that way !!!

- BM

no problem, just brainstorming ...

[gylman]

My opposition would be to an elitist system where a few are "honoured" based on the quality of their MOCs, and chosen by some admin or committee. We all know who the leet moc'ers in this site, we don't need titles to tell us that. HOwever, using the titles to show that you are a good MOC'er would lead to excessive competitition. While I am all for competition (I have been pondering sponsoring an xPOD contest later this year when I have some time), it should not be wound up into people's identity on the forum. That's too competitive.

I have no opposition to a system where anyone can state their favourite theme and forum where they are likely to be found. Like wearing a T-shirt saying which rock band you favour.

Heck, I suspect my most active forum would be "buy and sell", which in truth is not a totally inaccurate reflection of what I do with Lego.

Here is how I think we should do it:

People should be allowed to pick a theme or two that they want to be "known" as favouring.

Subtheme can be alllowed to be mentioned, but not necessary like theatre:Starwars. or History:Classic Castle

Your themes cannot be changed every 2 weeks just because you got a new set you like. It has to stay for at least a few months I would say. Otherwise people would drive the admins insane, and in any case, for true fans, theme loves don't change.

If people want,they should be encouraged to submit MOCs within their theme. Whether we want to keep track of how many mocs peoplemake, and how good they are.... I am dubious.

If you all want to go ahead with htis, I suggest we get together, maybe in the forusm, maybe on Chat, and brainstorm the list of themes/subthemes that are usable. We can then post this list somehwere, and people can pick. We can't let people just make their own names. They should be picked from a list. But, we need to provide a complete list.

Just a further thought, not to argue:

Would a ranking system ceate unnecessary and unproductive competition, or would be an incentive system to get more members posting and actively discussing as a result?

As I said, just a thought.

Oh, and Brickminer, I have no problem with you comment - I agree with what you say. Jipay's comment is the key. It is entirely correct.

[Jipay]

Jipay's comment is the key. It is entirely correct.

You couldn't be more true ! :-P lol just kidding, but I guess we are all reasonnable and that we will be able to find the best use of those tags while keeping the fun !

[ApophisV]

I personally would prefere some sort of mixture of tags.

If you want to show your love for TLC's licenses, fine! Take the "Theater" tag!

If you love Star Wars (Lego sets) then take the "Star Wars" tag.

And if you love Belville or simple Castle, then take the particular tag!

Some people are more interested in a special theme, some like a huge collection of themes (e.g. "History and Adventure") or some simply love to support the one forum they love! (E.g. Phes' love not only for the Pirates itself but for the Pirates Forum is kinda obvious!)

[Jipay]

well this could be done... We could set up a tagotheque with all sorts of tags, but it'll take some time. So all in all I guess we'll do it step by step.

[ApophisV]

Maybe we could also set up some special "VIP" tags, which can be earned by "being a great member"... E.g. supporting a special forum, hosting contests, etc... Those tags could be based on "standard" tags but designed in a special way, e.g. instead of the simple classic space logo it could be a tag with a "Captain" symbol or whatever inside to show that the particular member did great work at the Space forum. (This is NOT meant like phes' ranking system)

[JINZONINGEN73]

I have seen many a forum become entangled in stupid fights about post counts, rank, seniority, etc etc. I'm just afraid this will detract from the casual friendly atmosphere here.

Bingo.

However, is it possible to have one or two tags below a person's avatar data that show what forums they primarily visit?

Like, if Billy visits Space 3 times, Castle 5 times and Bionicle 1 time... he'd have the tags Castle and Space under his stuff.

Or is that too silly and/or hard to program?

[Hobbes]

Maybe I'm too old, but I'll never understand why this title/avatar/signature/tag/post count/user group stuff always becomes so important on message boards. If I want to know what a user is interested in I'll check their profile. Problem is that many don't fully fill in their profile. Maybe a few fields should become mandatory to register...

To me the "user info box" in the forums is pretty "cramped" with info and pics anyways and I'm pretty much on ignore mode when it comes to "reading" it. So, another tag will just go by me unnoticed.

A message board to me is a place where I can discuss my hobby with "soul mates". I stop by there now and then, but I don't live there. "Classification systems" require time, not just of the admins but the users, too. And I'm just the casual visitor who tries to contribute now and then. Anything that "requires" more just keeps me away. Best example is Phes' Pirate Forum which has totally lost its appeal to me, there's just too much going on that I can't follow anymore. So I don't.

Then again, that's just me...

[snefroe]

i thnk you're all taking this tag thing too seriously... a tag is only a token of your appreciation for one particular theme, the theme you love the most; it's an easy way for others to see what the main lego interest of a member is, that's all ...

[Hobbes]

i thnk you're all taking this tag thing too seriously... a tag is only a token of your appreciation for one particular theme, the theme you love the most; it's an easy way for others to see what the main lego interest of a member is, that's all ...

These things tend to generate momentum as we've seen before (Members Titles, and now Brick Miner's reaction in this thread before it even started).

[SuvieD]

Maybe instead of tags we could get little banners put up on Brickshelf for us to include in our signatures. Having them on BS not only makes them available to EB but to the LEGO community on the whole. A small note about giving credit where due would be needed of course. That way it is the member who decides what they show and it does not burden the admins.

This would also allow for custom banners. Maybe the more art inclined like Apo could make some for us. I am thinking something like these.

These could be made with numerous styles or colors. You can see that they don't take up much room and could be a stand alone signature, be used with other parts of a signature or be turned into links so people can instantly be transfered to the page of your interest or a brickshelf folder. So many possibilities with this type of setup. All it would take is some artwork up front which would be required anyway.

[Brick Miner]

These things tend to generate momentum as we've seen before (Members Titles, and now Brick Miner's reaction in this thread before it even started).

shoot, i see my comment was not received in the correct tone. :-$ <=== yes, im a little embarassed. and i admit, i wasn't here for these "member titles" threads. so i did not learn from mistakes learned there. can anyone share a link to the thread... i am curious.

although, im sure most people want to forget :'-)

- BM

[Jipay]

There's no particular thread. The thing is that once I asked yoda to give funny people a title, all the kiddies and spammers came to ask for one.

[xwingyoda]

However, i've created a blue, grey and white space tag, so if i nominate a member for a tag and he/she accepts

i thnk you're all taking this tag thing too seriously... a tag is only a token of your appreciation for one particular theme, the theme you love the most; it's an easy way for others to see what the main lego interest of a member is, that's all ...

Like you say Sne, tags are JUST for FUN and nothing else !! Its not a question of "nomination" like ranking systems !! (I leave that to Phes :-P )

Once the tags are made for all subs, just ask the admins and we will gladly award you one ;-) with a MAX of 2 of course !! So, for the sake of demonstration, if you are a pirate, spacer, and Tie Army Protagonist you will be in trouble :-D :-P

The thing is that once I asked yoda to give funny people a title, all the kiddies and spammers came to ask for one.

That was the case at first !! But since the creation of the Q&A about titles, things really cooled down !!

What aggravates me is that all these EB bonuses are for FUN and nothing else, but people still find ways to complain about them or act wayyy too serious :-| !!

*yoda*

[Kikuichimonji]

Well, I've been seeing those Space tags around...is there any place I can apply for one or will this post do? :-P

[xwingyoda]

Kiku, thats called anticipated promotion !! :-D ;-)

*yoda*

[Kikuichimonji]

Thanks :-)