Role changes: Member or New Member

EA_Roger

We are introducing a new member system in order to curb some recent trolling behavior on the forum.

I'm new to the forum, how do I become a "Member"?

You need 10 Points, 3 Posts and have an account older than 3 days to become a Member.

Everyone joining the forum for the first time start out with 0 Points, you can then increase your points to become a Member. You can check your point total by clicking on your profile points are seen on the profile:

I mean, if I can get over 500 while working for EA, it shouldn't be too hard right?

How do I earn points?

1. When someone reacts to your post, by hitting "Insightful", "Agree" or "Like" your post you get 1 point:


2. By earning forum badges, with your day to day activity. For instance by commenting on topics, getting a certain amount of reactions or even anniversaries badges. Here are some examples:

Being a "new member" has certain disadvantages.

1. New members can't post or upload images.
2. New members cannot post links or use formatting /BBcode (italics, bold, etc).
3. New members can not add signatures.
4. New members can not have a profile picture.
5. New members can not react to posts.
6. New members can not direct message people

If you have any questions on this please let us know.

Thanks!

Muhsterino

Thanks for the information, I did try clicking on the Simpsons badges link but it didn’t work, I got the permission problem screen.

EA_Roger

@Muhsterino , sorry about that I'll check it out

EA_Roger

@Muhsterino , turns out I can't grant access to that page for now. If that changes I'll be sure to let you know, in the meantime I've edited the post to include examples. If you have any specific questions about your own badges you can DM me.

Willy9292

Thanks for the info, and for the attempts to deal with this new issue. This has the potential to help, as the trolls now can not just jump to a new user to continue.

EA_Roger

Thanks @Willy9292 , hopefully this doesn't affect any new members that are genuine and want to be part of the community. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM605pKX4hQ

johncolombo

Brilliant! Thanks so much for making this change!!!

EA_Roger

No problem, we should have implemented this a long time ago to be honest.

0Brooders0

This is fantastic news thank you.

I have had nasty messages from trolls in the past and this should put an end to that.

Muhsterino

Although I understand why this change has been implemented, as no-one likes to see trolling on a family friendly site, I feel it will have a negative impact on the forum as a whole. There are assumptions made in the initial post that I would like to address and put across my views. I am not trying to be disrespectful in any way, merely outlining my concerns.
Some players visit this site to get help in the 'bugs and issues' section and it can be very useful to have screenshot(s) to explain the problem. Some have never posted before and would not be able to post a screenshot. Tagging @EllieGuseman and @daved7637397 who frequently help in this section of the forum - we could ask people to post a screenie on EA HQ?
Tapped Out at its very heart is a town building game and players like to post their designs, even more so with the new town screen capture feature. @Castiel19x does a great job in promoting and encouraging players to post in the Showcase section. There are a few that like to exclusively post in this section, new members would not be able to under these rules.
Some long-time members like new players to PM them before adding them to their friends list, again not available until they gain member status. On occasions, I receive PM's from new players asking for help and advice, and they do not want to post openly on the forum for whatever reason.
Some threads are greatly enhanced by posting screenshots and one of the best ever 'first posts' was with multiple screenshots in the 'animating buildings' thread.
The number of players posting on the site has reduced dramatically in my time as a member and I feel this will discourage some people from joining, as it can be seen as requiring a certain amount of popularity before you can be a member. The phrase 'by earning badges with your day to day activity' makes the assumption that all new members feel comfortable posting on here and would want to be involved on a regular basis. I doubt if I would join the site if I had to start off as a new member today.

EA_Roger

First off, you aren't being one bit disrespectful. Given how many players you've helped within the community & how amazing your guides are, I think that your opinion has a lot of value to be honest. The same can be said of @EllieGuseman & @daved7637397 .

I understand your concerns, if I'm being honest I had the same concerns at first which is why I was reluctant to set this up. We are well aware that posting images is an important aspect of the forum experience, especially in The Simpsons Tapped out and we were sure to take into consideration when setting up the role. We believe that anyone can easily reach 10 points within their first 3 days on the forums. Saying hello on the forums and/or posting in the Finding Friends section is a great way to kick things off. You can also help them by reacting to these posts. As for the DM option, we've disabled as some of the trolls were harassing others with their messages. I will say that if a forum member sends a message to a new member, they do have the ability to reply. While it may mean that a fragment of players are discouraged you have to remember why we are doing this in the first place. Letting these people roam free on the forum is even more discouraging to new members.

We will monitor this closely, we can easily adjust these settings in the future to adapt to what benefits the community the best.

LPNintendoITA

thanks Roger this will surely help stop the Chinese selling their stupid stuff here and such. I sure welcome it and agree on some concerns but sure helps stop spam

daved7637397

First off, @EA_Roger and @Muhsterino thanks for the compliments. I try to do my part and help out, just as so many helped me out many moons ago when I was new here. I'm still not the most tech savvy person around, but people here broke it down so even I could understand it (and still do at times)

I understand @Muhsterino's concerns, and while I do agree with her, I also see the need for the actions that have been taken. Things have been a little crazy here lately, and I'm glad to see powers that be taking action. Something has to give. Hopefully this will work out and it wont have to go any further, and as Roger said they can be adjusted if need be

EA_Roger

Thanks your input, getting rid of spammers was also something we were looking into with this change so we hope it'll be efficient and you guys won't have to constantly report the spambots as much.

daved7637397

EA_Roger wrote: »

Thanks your input, getting rid of spammers was also something we were looking into with this change so we hope it'll be efficient and you guys won't have to constantly report the spambots as much.

Anything that helps reduce/eliminate both spam and trolls is a plus in my book.

Also, I like to suggest that if we need a screenshot from a newbie to help with a problem, we could PM the newbie and ask them to send us the shot, and then post if needed

EA_Roger

I'm glad we are getting rid of the spammers too, more time to focus on the game and not click a random link in a word every now and again.

daved7637397 wrote: »

Also, I like to suggest that if we need a screenshot from a newbie to help with a problem, we could PM the newbie and ask them to send us the shot, and then post if needed

Unfortunately if new members try to send links or images they will get an error message, the permissions for linking images in DMs and on the forum are tied so it's all or nothing. Sorry about that.

johncolombo

I get what @Muhsterino is talking about but I think the trade off is worth it. Yes sometimes a new forum member shows up with a serious problem, but more often that not it's not dire situation. Also since muhsterino mentioned EA answers HQ, maybe we could add to your sticky @EA_Roger that Answers HQ is a dedicated player helping player forum and if they need help before they become a full fledged member to post there? There's quite of few of us TSTO members who help there.

BlauMuj

LPNintendoITA wrote: »

thanks Roger this will surely help stop the Chinese selling their stupid stuff here and such. I sure welcome it and agree on some concerns but sure helps stop spam

Chinese are selling stuff here?

daved7637397

BlauMuj wrote: »

LPNintendoITA wrote: »

thanks Roger this will surely help stop the Chinese selling their stupid stuff here and such. I sure welcome it and agree on some concerns but sure helps stop spam

Chinese are selling stuff here?

Youve never seen their spam attacks, when the fourms fill up with ads for fake college degrees and such? It hasnt happened in a while, but it was a fairly regular thing here for a while.

johncolombo

Connie Wong

daved7637397

johncolombo wrote: »

Connie Wong

Thats why mesmy diesnt visit anymore. She misses clara!