Resolved Removal of sparkling usernames for supporters

na4a4a

Outwardly Opinionated and Harshly Critical
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
This is a poll for the removal of the sparkling name attribute on supporters.

At first the green name and sparkling effect were quite pleasant, however in recent time this has proven to be a distraction and nuisance.
It has become very misleading and causes otherwise normal users to appear important to non-supporting users.

I argue the following for this poll:
  1. The green color is FAR too close to that of the Moderator user group, on several occasions users have confused supporters for moderators. This is problematic because even once clarified if affects how people view moderators.
    • The green color should be removed. As supporter users are nothing more than regular users who had previously donated to the forum, a badge would be more than enough. But at the same time rewarding for generosity toward the forum is somewhat unnecessary.
  1. The sparkling effect makes someone look and in some cases act/feel important.
    • The effect on user's account names causes them to appear more important of to be "bigger" than a regular user. This causes people to instinctively follow those users, even though there reason for doing so is false.
    • Witnessed several times, this effect also makes an otherwise normal user feel and act important. These individuals suddenly think that the fact they donated gives them the right to act in a superfluous and unnecessary manner.
      • This causes many issues as those individuals think that their opinions and thoughts bare more weight than those of other users. Enforcing them with no real fact behind them and trashing on the ideas of others.
      • This has become severely disruptive and has caused fights to break out in threads for absolutely no reason.
      • Supporters do not, under any circumstance have the right to place their invalid assumptions on any topic and to force that onto other users. Uneducated and false information with no grounds to prove it should be ignored or frowned upon, not blindly accepted because someone has some bling on their name
  1. It is simply visually disruptive
    • Other than being absolutely unnecessary and the fact it persists an already unstable social environment, it also is distracting.
    • The usernames inordinately diverts the eye from the main page content and clashes with the color pallet of other themes, this is simply bad design.

All in all, the green color and the sparkling effect on usernames have no real purpose and have proven to be of more harm than good. I feel that it would be in the best interest of this forum to look into this matter, not only for the forum itself but also for it's users.

As this is a poll on the forum, I hope that people would also be able to discuss this in a civilized manner, as this poll is simply a "keep it or don't", the only options are yes/no.
 
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warm rootbeer

The Helpful Insomniac
Tutor
Defender of Defoko
I do agree that the color is a little too close to the GM's name color, but I believe any other color name would be just as confusing.
 
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수연 <Suyeon>

Your friendly neighborhood koreaboo trash
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
There's no need for a special color at all. A badge that shows under one's name suffices. The couple of benefits that a supporter gets doesn't necessarily reach much further than say... a DoD. Other than the ability to delete messages in chat, there's no noticeable difference where they need special names.
 
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Leo

oh you know
Global Mod
Moderator
Defender of Defoko
The ability to delete messages I honestly see as a bit of a problem, because it can easily be abused. Say, a user posts something against the rules in the chatbox while no staff is online, and deletes it?

I don't see why that was introduced with the huge ability for it to be abused.
 

수연 <Suyeon>

Your friendly neighborhood koreaboo trash
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
That's... an issue for another thread, I believe (the whole deleting ability - it doesn't even happen often enough to be a severe problem, I don't think). The main issue is that people mistake them for another mod type or people get an uppity (or more of an uppity) attitude because it looks like special treatment. They're just a user who was capable of donating and I don't believe that gives some supporters the right to be snooty.
 
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KNΞMΛTCS

Just an UtaForum user
Defender of Defoko
For the sparkling username, that should be optional once you are a supporter. Same with user name color, becoming a supporter gives the option to change the color.
 

na4a4a

Outwardly Opinionated and Harshly Critical
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
Thread starter
For the sparkling username, that should be optional once you are a supporter. Same with user name color, becoming a supporter gives the option to change the color.
I believe that would create a discrepancy?
allowing some users to have it and some users not to would mean that the issue would still be prevalent, no?
 

oteto

Tetoholic
Defender of Defoko
Hmmmm...... In my experience as a normal color name person, I find the sparkly names remind me I havent donated, and encourage me to do so ((eventually)).
As far as the "special abilities" tbh I see no problem with them, because 1) just cuz something CAN be abused doesnt mean it should be removed 2) People get a little outta hand without special powers and dont get in trouble, and I think thats just fine 3) Editing/deleting text in the chat is no different from editing/deleting a thread, which almost anyone can do. Imo, the names look cool and dont cause problems.
 
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Info-Chan

SELENA Developer
Tutor
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
I would be fine with a color change. I don't think it should be removed though. We did something to get the name and that was donating/buying something with real money. It doesn't mean we are super special snowflakes, but it just shows how we donated to help the forum. (I got my name on accident actually. I thought if I donated I didn't get any features, but the name happened) It's like on VO, people who donate get things in return. Almost all forums that require payment to keep it running do it. I personally think it's fair.
 

HulderBulder

Retired User
Retired User
Defender of Defoko
I think the username colour and sparkles should be removed. The badges are good egnough to show that you've donated without any confusion.

As for the special features such as deletion of chat messages, I can see how it can be missused, but the thing is that it's kinda up to the people to be able to handle the responsabillety.
I suggest we keep it, but remove it if/when it starts getting missused.
It seems kinda stupid to spend money if one is only gonna break the rules and troll.
 

IrisFlower

Precious Flower with Thorns
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
I wouldn't mind a color change but to remove it altogether...I don't know. Something about that doesn't seem fair to the people who like having a sparkly name and don't let it go to their heads. Because they did do something and that's give money to the forum to help keep it up and running and have new features available which may not be as important as being an admin or something but it is something. And this forum wouldn't be the first to change their user's names for being in the donater group(so I guess I'm kinda in the same boat as Pepper?)

I feel like with people...you don't need a sparkly name to be an uppity jerk. People are mean regardless of what their name looks like on here and honestly I feel like if they were a butt with the sparkly name they're going to be a butt without it ;;

So, I'm for a color change but why can't we just have an option to turn sparkly names off if it bothers you? Not individually. But like go into options and turn it off so you don't see it on anybody if it bothers and or confuses you so much? But then people who don't mind it can keep the option on? Better yet...for new people or something the default is to have it off so all you see are admins and mods.
 

warm rootbeer

The Helpful Insomniac
Tutor
Defender of Defoko
It's not just an issue with supporters acting like "butts" it's also confusing for new members who think the supporters are staff. Even if you changed the color, it would still be confusing. I suggest perhaps removing all the color and maybe having a less distracting sparkle effect? Or a "$" icon next to the supporter's name that a user could hover over and it would say "supporter" or something. You would also still have the badge for it, so it's not like you're not getting anything in return for donating either.
 
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HulderBulder

Retired User
Retired User
Defender of Defoko
I feel like with people...you don't need a sparkly name to be an uppity jerk. People are mean regardless of what their name looks like on here and honestly I feel like if they were a butt with the sparkly name they're going to be a butt without it ;;

So, I'm for a color change but why can't we just have an option to turn sparkly names off if it bothers you? Not individually. But like go into options and turn it off so you don't see it on anybody if it bothers and or confuses you so much? But then people who don't mind it can keep the option on? Better yet...for new people or something the default is to have it off so all you see are admins and mods.

It's not just an issue with supporters acting like "butts" it's also confusing for new members who think the supporters are staff. Even if you changed the color, it would still be confusing. I suggest perhaps removing all the color and maybe having a less distracting sparkle effect? Or a "$" icon next to the supporter's name that a user could hover over and it would say "supporter" or something. You would also still have the badge for it, so it's not like you're not getting anything in return for donating either.
I think both suggestions are great alternatives. Maybe we should have a poll about these alternatives? or have both features?
One thing is certan, the colour is a no no.
 

na4a4a

Outwardly Opinionated and Harshly Critical
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
Thread starter
It depends what is possible.
I was suggesting the removal as that is a "for sure" option as we do not know if alternatives are available.

We could always have a vote after the fact if such an option exists?
 

Terindie

日本語 Patrol - Active Duty
Defender of Defoko
I favour the badge for it myself. It could even be a sparkly badge, but the name format is distracting and way too close to staff colours.
 

Hentai

Technical Admin
Administrator
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
As an addendum
  1. Rewarding people that keep UtaForum around is completely necessary. If there is indeed confusion between colors said colors can always be changed. Either way its pretty clear who is staff as all members with mod powers have gears below their usernames.
  2. They are important, without the greenames UtaForum couldn't continue to exist, period. XenForo and related licences cost us $72/yr annually. Actual costs are much higher but the servers are subsidized by my other clients as part of my web hosting business.
    • Your argument seems to be people with green names might be mean. That's the thing, the same is true for every member, anyone can be rude and/or self important, I don't believe a greename makes this more or less likely.
  3. Intentional. Said users, like the staff, are made to stand out. That kind of CSS isn't implemented by accident I assure you.
I don't believe any harm is created by our Supporter system, in fact I believe the opposite, without the Supporters, our Kickstarter backer, donors and the like UtaForum 4.0 would not have been possible. As such I reject all of the above points as being without merit. A partial failure on my part for failing to communicate it properly but all of the above were intentional, beyond point #2 which is a proposition I reject in its entirety.

In summary:
  1. Color can be changed if it is indeed a cause for confusion but it will NOT be removed.
  2. Sparkling effect doesn't change user behavior, users will be users, with or without sparkly names.
  3. They are absolutely necessary and meant to be a visual reminder to those that haven't donated yet.
I will re-open the thread for a possible re-assignment of colors, but I consider the above matter closed. The sparkly names and colored names are here to stay unless a newer, more compelling argument is brought up, that is something other than "I disagree with Hentai".
 

na4a4a

Outwardly Opinionated and Harshly Critical
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
Thread starter
alright, nice to see that you have allowed for further discussion.

Cramming all the previous points together. In short, this is the internet and we cannot have nice things. There are always people who come in and ruin it.
Yes, supporters and donations are absolutely needed to keep the forum alive. This is understandable due to the costs associated with the XenForo license and further fees with your hosting.
Perhaps discussing the visual removal was a bit harsh and short sighted- But it could be adjusted/improved upon.
-
I do hope that discussing modifications would be accepted.
I will say my opinions, and also wish people chime in once more-
  1. The color should probably be adjusted to avoid conflict with the forum's staff colors. One several occasions users have confused a chat full of supporters as a "mod wall" and while it can be hilarious at times, this could be seen as problematic. In my honest opinion, if the color change is gonna be kept it shouldn't be too far off from regular users colors or something not overly flashy.
  2. Sparkling doesn't necessarily change the behavior of the supporter, but may give them more influence on others. regardless some people simply don't like the effect as was an issue when supporter effects were first introduced.
  3. You also have ads on the pages- other than the name you have alternate forms of visual reminder.
Considering the fees involved, have a one time supporter status seems like it could be an issue as well because they won't donate after that. Have you considered a yearly subscription? (as awful of an idea that is)

Final thought, rather than a poll, a survey could be held to tally up what users might find the best. Trivial things (such as specific colors or a symbol) could be ignored as that would be unnecessary in favor of a more broad idea on what may work.
 

na4a4a

Outwardly Opinionated and Harshly Critical
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
Thread starter
Okay - people seem to still think this is an issue.

how about keeping sparkles but changing the color to no longer resemble staff colors?
Like a silvery grey that would stand out in all the themes? it'd also work better with the white sparkles.
(Just an example that I think would work on the light and dark themes-)

Tbh, it's really an issue of supporters looking like staff so if you changed that it'd be fine.
 

Zarsla

ENG-JPN UTAU User
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
How about a gray/silver or yellow/golden color, with sparkles preferable white.