Rank & Reward Overhaul

JustV

I come bearing some exciting news, to do with the rank and reward system.

Your rank appears on your profile and on the header of your posts. As your post count increases, your rank increases, your title changes, and you may also gain rewards. Here's the old set:

0 Noob
5 Newbie | able to PM and post links
10 Fast Newbie
23 Cool Newbie
50 Miniposter
100 The Mix convert
250 Rampant Poster
500 Extreme Poster | able to set custom title
667 Incredible Poster
1,000 Fanatical Poster
1,500 Postoholic
2,000 Mega Poster
3,000 Ultimate Poster
4,000 Uber Poster
4,500 Supreme Poster
5,000 The Mix Elder
7,500 Boards Champion
10,000 Part of the furniture
15,000 I eat threads for breakfast
17,500 I am one with The Mix
20,000 Born on Earth, raised on The Mix
22,500 Lord of The Mix
25,000 I don't make the posts, the posts make me
3,0000 The Mix Honorary Guru

You've probably noticed that it's a bit... well, old. It was made long before the current generation of community members and Mix staff, so it's no surprise that the language feels dated ('cool newbie'? 'Postaholic'?). Also, the gaps between ranks arguably become too big too early, and the feeling of progression slows down quickly.

With our newly established group of Community Champions leading the charge, this entire system has been overhauled to bring it up to date and give it some extra features. Here are the headlines:

• Rank titles and rewards have been changed
  
• Ranks now exist within Bronze, Silver and Gold tiers
  
• Easter eggs have been added
• Custom notification messages have been added
  

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Rank titles and rewards: what's changed?

We've removed or replaced the rank titles that were problematic or cheesy. We've added in some fresh new titles, and tried to create a sense of progression that feels natural with each one. We've kept some of the better old ones like 'The Mix Elder' and 'Part of The Furniture'. We've also adjusted the boundaries between each rank a little bit to create more progression early on. Here is the new list of ranks and rewards:

0 Literally Just Got Here
2 Newbie | able to add signature and location
5 Confirmed Not A Robot | able to post links
10 Settling in | able to PM and posts never checked by spam filter
20 Boards Initiate | able to post polls
70 Budding Regular
100 The Mix Convert
140 Helping Hand
190 Trailblazer
250 The Mix Regular
350 Listening Ear
500 Incredible Poster | able to set custom title
750 Part of The Mix Family
1,000 Wise Owl
1,500 Extreme Poster
2,002 Boards Champion
2,750 Boards Guru
3,500 Commnity Veteran
4,250 The Mix Elder
5,000 Part of The Furniture
6,000 Master Poster
7,500 Legendary Poster
8,750 Supreme Poster
10,000 An Original Mixlorian
12,000 Born on Earth, Raised by The Mix
15,000 Skive's The Limit
20,000 One with The Mix
30,000 The Mix Honorary Guru

There is potential here to add more ranks to the upper regions as more people get there. We're not sure how realistic it is to expect someone to reach 30k posts, so we might also bring some of those higher ranks down a little bit to be in line with what you'd expect from a modern online community. Older communities were used more like social media before social media existed, and so were far busier.

You'll also notice Skive's The Limit, which is indeed named after our very own @Skive. As the only consistently active original member of the community, it felt only right to recognise that and how much he's contributed - and continues to contribute - to this place over 20 years of posting.

Previously, the only real reward was being able to set a custom title at 500 posts. For those who don't know, that's the thing that says bit of a dork on my posts. Now, however, we've set it up so people gradually get access to more parts of their profile and different features as they post more. In the first 20 posts, members now unlock everything available to them gradually.

There is scope for adding some late rewards, too, such as being able to edit posts for longer (the default is 1 hour) or have other permissions. We're exploring that at the moment.

Bronze, Silver and Gold tiers

Something that came up for us was that it can be difficult to keep track of all the different rank titles, and know whether one is higher or lower because there are quite a few to learn. Not only that, but ranks also didn't have any visual design before and we were keen to change that. These changes can make a community look and feel nicer, and visual design helps communicate information.

One of the ways we've remedied this is by putting blocks of ranks in tiers, making it more obvious who the newer or more experienced members are.

Here are the different tiers:

------------------------------- Bronze Tier
0 Literally Just Got Here
2 Newbie
5 Confirmed Not A Robot
10 Newbie
20 Boards Initiate
70 Budding Regular
100 The Mix Convert
140 Helping Hand
190 Trailblazer
250 The Mix Regular
350 Listening Ear
500 Incredible Poster
750 Part of The Mix Family
------------------------------- Silver Tier
1,000 Wise Owl
1,500 Extreme Poster
2,002 Boards Champion
2,750 Boards Guru
3,500 Commnity Veteran
4,250 The Mix Elder
5,000 Part of The Furniture
6,000 Master Poster
7,500 Legendary Poster
8,750 Supreme Poster
------------------------------- Gold Tier
10,000 An Original Mixlorian
12,000 Born on Earth, Raised by The Mix
15,000 Skive's The Limit
20,000 One with The Mix
30,001 The Mix Honorary Guru

It was decided that 1k and 10k posts are good milestones for these tiers, and it means the final Gold tier is only for our most active or long-term members who have really put the work in to earn it.

The Community Champions and staff are also having discussions about adding an extra tier or badge, (potentially Platinuim or Diamond) only for the very top contributors of the community. More to come.

To add some colour to these tiers and really make your rank stand out, we've changed how they look. Now, ranks are displayed in bold and are highlighted with the colour of your tier. Here are some examples:

Additionally, it's possible that moderators and other figures in the community will have their own tags.

An update to Easter eggs

The original rank system also had Easter eggs; there were some hidden ranks that would only change your post title for one post, and then would change back. For example, 666 posts was Scary Poster and then your title would change back to whatever it was before as soon as you posted one more time.

We've held on to that idea, but added many more than were in the old system. They're mainly references to movies, music, and other things in pop culture. We won't be publicising them, so you'll have to wait and see what they are. If you get one, you're welcome to post about it, so long as you wrap it in a spoiler so you keep the surprise for others who want it.

Custom notification messages

Now, when your rank changes (you may need to log out and in for that change to happen), you will recieve a custom notification both here on the boards and via email if you have those turned on. It will tell you if you have access to anything new based on your rank, and whether your tier/colour has changed. It will also give hints at the Easter eggs and what they mean - some more explicit than others.

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This is rolling out tomorrow

We will be implementing these changes tomorrow. So, if ranks go a bit haywire (e.g. if yours keeps changing), bear with us - it's just because we're making a lot of live changes!

We'll update this thread when the new ranks are fully implemented.

Changes will continue to be made

This is an ongoing process. We've worked closely with the Community Champions to design what we have now, but obviously you guys will have your own thoughts and feedback too. In a way, this is the second phase of this process where we hear what you think, and hear any changes you want to see.

The best thing to do is share your opinion below once the changes have been made so we can have an open discussion, and other members can upvote things so we can clearly see the popular themes.

Former Member

@Mike I've noticed that on expert profiles, the highlighting is covering some of the username. Not sure if that's what it's supposed to do but thought I'd bring it up  

independent_

These look cool

Dancer

I love these new ranks and rewards. These names sound very exciting and I have noticed that it would be much easier to get the higher rewards stuff. I can't wait for this to be released. Also congratulations @Skive about having a rank named after you. It sounds like you have certainly deserved it.  

Dancer

Go go go Community Champions! Can't wait to be one of you from today.

JustV

@Eleanor said:

@Mike I've noticed that on expert profiles, the highlighting is covering some of the username. Not sure if that's what it's supposed to do but thought I'd bring it up  

Yup, that was my bad - looks like the size of the tag changed after I set it! It should be okay now.

Dancer

When is this being officially done? I feel so excited.

JustV

Probably in a couple hours @Kasa2103, but definitely today. I'm excited too!

JustV

All done, for now! You'll need to log out and back in for your new rank to appear.

We're testing the blue for moderators and staff, but that could change. If you have any feedback, thought, suggestions, bug reports, drop them here and we'll get to them when we can.

Former Member

@Mike I’ve been looking at some profiles which should have a gold highlight just to check it out but they have been bronze?

Edit: I’ve also found some that should be silver but are bronze. 

independent_

There are some people who have got some of the earlier ranks but have hundreds of posts.

Is this because they haven’t logged in yet?

JustV

Eleanor said:

@Mike I’ve been looking at some profiles which should have a gold highlight just to check it out but they have been bronze?

Edit: I’ve also found some that should be silver but are bronze. 

Good spot @Eleanor! Everything looks okay in the back end, so I imagine this is due to their rank not updating. If you head to members which shows everyone's activity, it should give you an idea of who has had their new rank applied. Things might look a bit off here and there until the bulk of people log out and back in.  

JustV

independent_ said:

There are some people who have got some of the earlier ranks but have hundreds of posts.

Is this because they haven’t logged in yet?

Yep, exactly @independent_ That's the theory, anyway!

independent_

Mike said:

independent_ said:

There are some people who have got some of the earlier ranks but have hundreds of posts.

Is this because they haven’t logged in yet?

Yep, exactly @independent_ That's the theory, anyway!

@Mike that was quick! I thought it might be that.

JustV

Your post popped up as I was typing another post on this thread @independent_

independent_

Mike said:

Your post popped up as I was typing another post on this thread @independent_

Still, impressive, @Mike. Haha.

Former Member

Ooh pretty colours! 😂

Former Member

This is cool

Past User

Think there’s a wee typo on the helping hand rank

mine said helpling hand 😆

Skive

Ooo. Shiny

Thanks team. 

Jellyelephant

I like this 

JustV

Liam said:

Think there’s a wee typo on the helping hand rank

mine said helpling hand 😆

Ha! Thanks @Liam - all edited now. Looks like it got past our proofread.

JustV

Now we've all had a couple of weeks with this, how do we feel about the colours?

Skive

Mike said:

Now we've all had a couple of weeks with this, how do we feel about the colours?

The gold is a nice touch. 

Former Member

I'm happy it's not an insult on the eyes! 

The highlights are quite nice and it's still easy to read  

JustV

Thanks guys! That's really useful to know.

As we mentioned in the main post, changes will continue to be made and we may experiment with the visuals here and there. This thread will continue to be the place to drop your feedback.

We actually noticed a pretty big problem in how permissions were being assigned, and that's been fixed today. So if there was anything you couldn't do that you should have been able to according to your rank (e.g. add a location or title), check now and you should be able to.

JustV

How would people feel about a lighter shade of bronze?

A lighter/softer shade might fit more with the tone of the other colours, and be less contrasting.

Former Member

@Mike hmm I'm not sure if that looks a bit too much like gold? 

JustV

Eleanor said:

@Mike hmm I'm not sure if that looks a bit too much like gold? 

Thanks for the feedback @Eleanor. You might be right there!

Former Member

I'm apparently special and got a new rank

Former Member

@Aidan whoops - also it's cool it's only made for this lol