Nohbdy

Hey, NocturnaMoon! What a coincidence--my favorite ponies are also Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy! I'm sure you'll enjoy your time here. If you need advice or assistance, I'll be more than happy to be of service!

Recently, an admin mentioned a plan to remove one of the themes in order to encourage more banner submissions. My guess is that the staff decided to go with the new theme. Here's the original post for your convenience (emphasis mine): Hope that helped!

Rarity? Nah, can't be. That's what he wants us to think! Must be Twilight.

Fimdashie, because I got here from his profile.

Sounds good in theory, but what about in practice? It would be an absolute nightmare to enforce, especially since it's so much easier to be negative than positive. From personal experience, keeping the present forums tidy is already a difficult job. I like to consider myself a "glass half full" kind of guy, but I find it difficult to justify the time and effort needed to make such a forum a reality--if it can even become a reality. With that said, let's consider an alternative: why don't we, as members, encourage positivity across the entire site (and beyond)? No need for enforcement; instead, we'd have a community working together toward a common goal. Remember, folks, non-staff are just as--if not more--crucial to maintaining the community as the staff are. We can each play our own parts, and together, we can make the site a better place.

So does it have a mechanical keyboard?

Of course. Everyone knows that moderators are robots. Here's what they look like (in their natural environment):

A rewards-based system for encouraging positive behavior is a nice, thought-provoking idea. The proposal in question may have its flaws, as many have pointed out, but the concept is worth considering. Before we go on, let's make one thing clear: positive reinforcement is not a bad thing. On the contrary, it is a perfectly viable option, and successful applications of such reinforcement are found in such environments as the workplace (e.g., raises and bonuses), the classroom (extra credit), and on the road (lower insurance rates for a good driving record). It could come in handy here, as well. The greatest issue with the suggested system is that it's punishment disguised as positive reinforcement. Rather than following rules to earn ranks, people instead do so for fear of losing their existing ranks. Do you see where the problem lies? The system serves to discourage poor behavior, rather than encourage good behavior. It's not at all a rewards-based system. So, now what? We've established that a rewards system is fine, so let's consider alternatives that fit within the definition of positive reinforcement. The idea is not to take, but to give. Ideally, the system should be private and personal, taking into account concerns of status and superiority (i.e., no obvious indication that users received rewards). Some examples of how we can approach the problem in this way include: X extra name changes for every Y months without a warning X days of free donor status for every Y months without a warning Also, it might be of interest to know that the staff have considered an achievements system at least once in the past. While I'm not sure if rewards for good behavior would be included, I think they could fit. In any case, a rewards-based system has a lot of potential, and I'd be keen to see what effects it would have on the behavior of members and the workload of moderators!

Dashie <3