Return of Specific Rank Bars

[Anarchy]

I would like to discuss the possibility of changing rank images back soon if we can. Given the extra admins armies now have, this is a logical way of improving things around here.

[Salvanous]

First off let me give heads up that autocorrect is not my friend here, so pardon any random words.

Your first reason does have merit, and history supporting it, that I will give you. I also agree that FM's do have more vital things to be doing other than spending all their time doing ranks, but as you have said we are changing it so that other admins are available now through our generals, and I will continue with this train of thought soon.

The second point is definately pointing to with more hands helping this is easy. I do agree if it were only the FM doing this it would be tiresome, but with the general helping, and maybe more helping, than the job becomes probably a 30 minute deal for the admins.

What I mean by more people helping is maybe a little more simple, or complicated depending on your current rank customization format. You think that when I say "make more admins" that admins must be all powerful in regards to every aspect of the site, and this isn't what I mean to imply. If you look at every single characteristic of our profiles(avatar, ribbons, rank bar, signature, titles, name) these are all customizable aspects of a profile, and it SHOULD mean you can give others the power to simply modify rank bars.

What if you gave 2-3 of the moderators the ability to modify rank bars (the digital image, NOT the permissions) of everyone from an enlisted rank to an officer rank, then these 2 or three could help with 90% of the work, while the General and FM took care of increased inbox, granted permissions to Flag Officers and up. The ability or option to give that limited amount of power should be available to customize.

Your third point is basically covered in my above reasoning. Give moderators another small thing to do, and this becomes less of a burden to the admins.

In your segmented fourth reason, let me say that yes, there is some truth in that they should know about their rank via their promoters, and everyone at least from BLUE does this as I cannot speak for REDD. In regards to having a ceremony we can do that as well, but then we have another issue to tackle in when, how long, and who leads them?

What you say about the rank bars affecting senior members less, I definitely agree with you, but the aspect of rank bars are meant to more target fresher members. The concept is to give them a visible sign of their status, and when they work harder, they improve their status. This concept is a means to have these members start being active in the community, and acquire s taste for the events we hold. Look at what ranks did before, when you were a recruit you were a marine, and when you became a private your rank showed you as a Spartan. It was a passive way of making the member feel better about their status and feel more valuable, and maybe more powerful. If I would have seen a progression more intricate, I would have said Marine for low enlisted, ODST for medium enlisted or something along those lines. Also I'm not saying we redo rank tags, but I mean to keep that in mind for Halo 4.

As for a misunderstanding, I never thought you opposed to the return of rank bars, more that you did seem frustrated that you took the "not done out of not wanting to do it" personally, which was not the intent, but to shed light on that section of the matter.

[iFurrious]

I am against getting back specific rank bar images. This method we have right now is a lot easier and less of a hassle. Sure we may have less people now and more admins but that's for now. I am sure that around the time of Halo 4 that activity will be up and we will be getting many more members. It may be easy to keep up on ranks now but when Halo 4 rolls around I see it being real hassle.

[Salvanous]

It's a hassle if you have only a handful of admins take care of it. If you don't plan for anything that's when you get bitten in the ass. If you divide up the work and we have the right amount of people it shouldn't be a hassle.

[VerbotenDonkey]

I'm in agreeance with bringing them back. It honestly doesn't take all that long to do xD (besides initially) And it makes people feel more accomplished. Honestly, we should define ranks more, but thats a whole other topic.

[Gargoyle]

I'd wait. Halo 4 is around the corner and we'll need to rebuild for Halo 4. The higher ups always have some secret plan, I'm sure that'll work with this. Understand this is probably the last war for Reach.

[Salvanous]

Gargoyle, I assure you,that we will have another war before we are done. Also, I refuse to assume the higher ups have a plan. To sit back and just let them figure something out is not right, we need to male our plan, and should they have one in mind then we can figure out what to do.

As for Donkey, I do agree fully with the concept of making rank's more noticeably different for both sides. What my current thought would be, is return to our old rank tags for now, and when Halo 4 comes out remake new ones.

The new ones BLUE would use marines up to medium enlisted, in which they would switch to ODST's, and then for high enlisted you would start to use Spartans. For REDD you may use ODSTs at low enlisted, and have more generic looking Spartans initially. If that makes any sense.

[VerbotenDonkey]

I didnt mean different for both sides more as, right now there's really no difference between Sergeant and Corporal.

Although I do agree, we need differences between the two factions. They're too similar.

[Mythonian]

I would like to discuss the possibility of changing rank images back soon if we can. Given the extra admins armies now have, this is a logical way of improving things around here.

It would probably wait until peacetime to be implemented.

We would need to (1) create the images themselves, (2) set up the usergroups, (3) prepare permissions for each usergroup, (4) attach images to each usergroup, (5) start changing members to the new usergroups.

Trying to do all that while also managing a war is a bit more than I like doing simultaneously.

I do agree if it were only the FM doing this it would be tiresome, but with the general helping, and maybe more helping, than the job becomes probably a 30 minute deal for the admins.

I think you misunderstand how our admin responsibilities are set up...

We have very clear and distinct responsibilities for various admins.

For example, Metkil owns the site and is the only "superadmin" who had absolute control. He manages backups of the site, maintenance, updates, and some website changes.

The FM/General are really the only ones that should be changing usergroups of members. If need be, sometimes the neutral admins will assist (for example, SpartanBH would sometimes add recruits to the correct usergroup when they enlisted).

However, relying on that external help is not how we want our armies to function. The armies should be able to manage on their own and not be dependent on outside assistance.

What I mean by more people helping is maybe a little more simple, or complicated depending on your current rank customization format. You think that when I say "make more admins" that admins must be all powerful in regards to every aspect of the site, and this isn't what I mean to imply. If you look at every single characteristic of our profiles(avatar, ribbons, rank bar, signature, titles, name) these are all customizable aspects of a profile, and it SHOULD mean you can give others the power to simply modify rank bars.

What if you gave 2-3 of the moderators the ability to modify rank bars (the digital image, NOT the permissions) of everyone from an enlisted rank to an officer rank, then these 2 or three could help with 90% of the work, while the General and FM took care of increased inbox, granted permissions to Flag Officers and up. The ability or option to give that limited amount of power should be available to customize.

There is no way to do that that I am aware of. There are only two levels of Admin powers:

Superadmin - Metkil is the only one. This is for security purposes.
Admin - The rest of us with near complete control.

Changing rank bar = changing usergroup = changing permissions. They are all integrated together in vBulletin.

In your segmented fourth reason, let me say that yes, there is some truth in that they should know about their rank via their promoters, and everyone at least from BLUE does this as I cannot speak for REDD. In regards to having a ceremony we can do that as well, but then we have another issue to tackle in when, how long, and who leads them?

So if everyone is already being made aware of there promotions, there's no problem.

How the ceremonies would be set up or ran would be up to the army. In the past, the FM ran it, but I have no idea how long they lasted.

Currently, though, it could be anyone, though someone in HC would probably be best.

What you say about the rank bars affecting senior members less, I definitely agree with you, but the aspect of rank bars are meant to more target fresher members. The concept is to give them a visible sign of their status, and when they work harder, they improve their status. This concept is a means to have these members start being active in the community, and acquire s taste for the events we hold.

Indeed, for newer members it gives them a bit of motivation.

Out of everything, though, that is really the only benefit of it.

Look at what ranks did before, when you were a recruit you were a marine, and when you became a private your rank showed you as a Spartan. It was a passive way of making the member feel better about their status and feel more valuable, and maybe more powerful. If I would have seen a progression more intricate, I would have said Marine for low enlisted, ODST for medium enlisted or something along those lines. Also I'm not saying we redo rank tags, but I mean to keep that in mind for Halo 4.

The new ones BLUE would use marines up to medium enlisted, in which they would switch to ODST's, and then for high enlisted you would start to use Spartans. For REDD you may use ODSTs at low enlisted, and have more generic looking Spartans initially. If that makes any sense.

Design details are up to who designs them. However, while using Marine/ODST/Spartan might do what you describe, it doesn't make much sense in terms of fiction. They still play as Spartan IVs at the battles.

As for a misunderstanding, I never thought you opposed to the return of rank bars, more that you did seem frustrated that you took the "not done out of not wanting to do it" personally, which was not the intent, but to shed light on that section of the matter.

I'd wait. Halo 4 is around the corner and we'll need to rebuild for Halo 4. The higher ups always have some secret plan, I'm sure that'll work with this. Understand this is probably the last war for Reach.

*cough*

Gargoyle, I assure you,that we will have another war before we are done. Also, I refuse to assume the higher ups have a plan. To sit back and just let them figure something out is not right, we need to male our plan, and should they have one in mind then we can figure out what to do.

1. I don't think you understand the amount of preparation and dedication required to manage a successful war. Simply fitting in another war is not always so simple.

2. We always discuss the future. We had a meeting discuss possibilities just over a week ago, and will be having many more to come. A lot of us in WC have been running these wars for awhile now, so I like to think that we know what needs to be done and how to prioritize things.

3. Quite often, we don't like making things public before they are ready. We prefer a bit of surprise for most things, so don't expect us to keep you guys updated on everything. When we make FC Updates, that is generally where you find information that we are ready to divulge.

As for Donkey, I do agree fully with the concept of making rank's more noticeably different for both sides. What my current thought would be, is return to our old rank tags for now, and when Halo 4 comes out remake new ones.

Donkey was referring more to the description/responsibilities of the ranks. All the enlisted are quite generic and have little distinction between ranks. It's an issue we've had all throughout Reach.

[Harry]

Bringing back individual rank images to profiles would be nice I'm not trying to bash the new icons (they're pretty cool).

Ranks are the incentive to contribute to the community and if they cannot be shown (say someone gets promoted a flag officer rank (Captain to Colonel or something like that, no one will notice)) the incentive sort of drops.

P.S. boobs