#1 - July 8, 2018, 12:42 p.m.
In order to improve the forums both in terms of quantity and quality of discussion, I put forth the following four proposals which, when implemented, will greatly improve our forum.
First Proposal: Nameplate Changes.
When you click on the picture with your name, now you are linked to the armory. Instead of this, I propose you are given a list of all toons held in the account.
Discussion: There are times when "trolling" does occur on this forum. Often, but not always, it is done behind level one or other alts. Indeed, while some have even claimed that I am not serious in my postings, which could not be farther from the truth, what no one can claim is that I hide behind an alt. This toon is the only one I play. While I do respect privacy, (and I did struggle with this first point due to privacy) I put forth that when you choose to post in the G.D. you are going public and all linked toons should be there to see. I believe this will reduce (but not eliminate) actual trolling.
Edit: Based on the excellent discussion and points raised on privacy I modify my proposal:
Instead of showing all toons, a player would have to pick one and only one toon to use for posting. This could be any toon. And the player could change this toon but all posting history would switch to this toon.
This modification allows privacy but prevents level 1 alt trolling-or at least makes it more difficult!
Second Proposal: M.V.P. Requirements. "It's not easy being green".
All M.V.P.'s will be required to make a certain number of topics, in a certain time period, to retain their "Green" status.
Discussion: I have great respect for our M.V.P. crew. But there is one thing I have noticed. While I do see our M.V.P.'s post in threads, I rarely see them start threads such as this. Note: I am not saying they do not start threads. I am just saying it doesn't seem like they do this a lot. While I am not specifying the number of topics an M.V.P. should start (1/month, etc.) I propose some sort of requirement be imposed. The quality of their work could then be judged and Blizzard decide who should retain this status.
Third Proposal: Flag threads you have posted in.
Discussion: This is pretty self explanatory. Each poster should be able to see, via some sort of marking, threads they have posted in. I lose track of which threads I post in all the time. It would be nice if threads I posted in were flagged especially when I do my morning housekeeping on the forums after a long sleep during which many of the threads I posted in the prior night wandered off.
Fourth Proposal: "Hot Topics":
Either a community service manager or (perhaps) and M.V.P. would be allowed to flag a thread as a "hot topic" that prevents said thread from falling down the pages for a period of time, such as 24 hours.
Discussion: Our community service managers already pin very important threads. The hot topic concept is a lesser version thereof. Our community service managers (or perhaps an M.V.P.) could, at their discretion, flag a hot topic. This would tip off the community that this is a thread of interest to the leadership. This alone would draw in more discussion as would the topic/thread staying on the first page.
Conclusion: These modest proposals, when implemented, should greatly improve the quality and quantity of speech on this forum.
Thank you for your kind consideration of these proposals. Have a terrific Sunday!
TLDR: Improve the forums with:
-Nameplate changes: Show all toons linked to a character's account (Edit: Pick one toon to post.)
-Require M.V.P.'s to make new posts/topics to retain status
-Mark threads in some fashion that you have posted in.
-Make hot topics that stay on the first page for 24 hours.
Best Regards,
Rastlin
