But is making regular or not the only means of feedback there?
And I’m having trouble figuring out how higher activity on the BBS puts any more hours in the day; why isn’t the magic number of posts read static?
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Here’s an idea: make it so the Regulars get to decide who’s a Regular (with reference to the stats, of course). They can have polls in the Lounge.
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I like that idea.
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I don’t know. Would you really want us in charge? 
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I wouldn’t want me in charge thats for sure.
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Hey, it’d be an interesting experiment.
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BTW, I’m getting tired of having to ration my likes.
/halfOT
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It’d be like elementary school dodge ball, all over again. No way I’m re-living that fiasco.
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We’re talking about who becomes a Regular. There’s really only three ways to do that.
- It’s done automatically by metrics (what we have now). The only human intervention required is to tweak the metrics to select the right people.
- It’s done manually, by humans. With a community this size, either the mods would have to have the same stats that Regulars have to have now (and I’m pretty sure they don’t, or they would have no time to write their own stuff), or it’d have to be done by the Regulars themselves, who are the people who spend enough time here to know who should be promoted. The problem with the latter idea is that it can easily degenerate into a clique, excluding people who have unpopular views.
- Metrics generate a short list, which mods/Regulars review and decide to grant access. This has all of the pitfalls of #2, in that the mods have to review a person’s post history to determine if they interact kindly enough, or the Regulars can choose to exclude someone from outside the echo chamber.
I think #1 is the only workable solution - metrics decide who is a Regular. The question then becomes: which metrics?
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Maybe I’m optimistic, but I see it more as a challenge the culture could conceivably meet with relative dignity.
I’m curious to see whether I have too much esteem for a group that I figure can transcend groupthink.
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That’s what I immediately thought of when I read @Kimmo’s suggestion.
(Shudder)
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Honestly, I still don’t see what the point of the ‘Regular’ trust level is.
The power to correct typos in thread titles (while screwing up their category), and create threads that can be read by less people?
That time there was the accidental promotion to the admin level went okay, and I could see the point of that, but then you’re ending up with volunteer mods, almost.
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I refuse to be a part of any community that would be dumb enough to choose to give me power. 
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I’d say you can sidestep that by blending a bit of the first way into the second, merely by maintaining as a firm prerequisite that Regular means regular, whether that’s a regular champ or a regular pain in the arse.
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Don’t forget the snazzy title under your name, and the increased likes!
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Yeah, I don’t really like that at all. Unless it’s customizable, that could be fun. It used to be something other than Regular, didn’t it? Leader?
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The other Regulars nominate and vote on the title.
Come on, you know ya wanna 
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The only part of Regular I was interested in was more likes (I still think the limit on the # of likes is an anti-feature, but went through the hoops to get more). I don’t like to change titles. I don’t want to create threads that some can’t read. The lounge is nice, but if we were to get rid of the worse-than-pointless limit on likes and get rid of TL3 altogether, we’d stick to other threads for chat and all manage fine.
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Shhhhhhhhh! @Codinghoror can hear you.
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