@Elsa12TMNT
Even if there really has to be a ranking system, there should also be another user category (we have admins and moderators currently) such as "Verified Artist" so that those who are not actually new to the community are actually shown as such.
WintermintP
First and foremost, this site was made almost entirely with the creators and artists in mind as a basis. Everyone could be considered an artist - and as many have stated already, it could cause many problems with how art or creations that qualify for the role are defined. We're open to suggestions, and the last thing we want people to see us as is against creators in any way when me, Paradoxical and Bascetta have tried our best to put creators at the center.
@ZAR-PARTYIt's more about figuring out who actually has been active in the Vocaloid community/scene and who's actually new. I'm more worried about people who are not new being treated as if they don't matter just because they have a low post count due to circumstances other than "this person is actually new."
This is about separating the "new" members (old members from another site having migrated recently) from members who are
actually new, nothing else.
WintermintP
We don't care about who is new to the fandom and who isn't - it would be the same as negatively judging those who are new to treat those who aren't, based on information from off-site, with more respect or acknowledgement. Forums aren't for popularity contests or for maintaining an established audience - they're for the opposite and to help people get to a point where they can form an audience on other platforms. I wouldn't want to make the community so intimidating this way, as it very much is already for people on the outside. This mentality is one of the main things that have prevented many artists from even using Vocaloid, and I want our environment to help easily welcome those who aren't fans and are interested. We want more people, especially producers, to take notice to it and feel comfortable with being part of this community.
How long you've been active in the "community/scene" doesn't say anything about a person either.
It doesn't mean you have more skill than someone who's new, and it doesn't make you a better person.
I was a fan of Vocaloid myself since the start in around 07, but I haven't kept up with everything and don't know half of the Vocaloids there are now.
I've been a non-voca music producer for almost a decade and have done some things professionally even, but I still can't figure out how to get a good sound out of Vocaloid.
I'm not the only one like this, so where would it put me if I weren't admin? Probably not as someone with experience in the community by these standards, even if I've helped countless people in the "scene" with production and things regarding it in the past.
That would be a real pain for some people to be excluded like that.
When I go to a thread, I don't see a post count or rank. I see a title that interests me, or possibly a question I want to help answer. I believe very few people, if any, look at a thread and go "hmm, I don't think the OP's rank is good enough" or "their post rank is so high, they must have great posts!"
It doesn't change the quality of your post's contents or anything else about you.
With that all said, I also want to make clear that I don't wholeheartedly disagree with you on the rankings. I would prefer to see custom titles over rank titles, but that's unfortunately impossible at the moment unless we choose that over sprites. I can also see why you might be upset about being considered new to the fandom with its current choice of words, however:
In my opinion, rankings represented as sprites will be fine as decoration which shows how active a person has been
on the forums specifically. Just like with any website, we can't account for what people have done off of the site. All that can be asked is that people use common sense - treat people fair without bias, and respect others regardless of ranks or post count.
