Reply To: Hobby Weekender 20/07/18 Is this the real life

[evilstu 15298xp 0]

OK have had a quick look at what @warzan is suggesting. Sounds good but I do have a couple of thoughts:

– Slight danger of potentially perceived elitism or exclusivity by those who do not regularly post if people who do post are awarded a special pool of XP. While anyone who reads or posts regularly will know that we do all we can to be inclusive and encourage others to join in, I am conscious that it does take a fair bit of courage for some people to take the first step and jump in and say ‘Hi’. Would hate to think that in trying to encourage more people to participate that we were inadvertently alienating some. This could probably be managed by continuing to maintain the positive welcoming feel of the thread, so as I said, only a slight concern here.

– Guidelines/framework for XP allocation for those hosting. I know having gone back and reviewed my XP award allocation on weeks when I’ve hosted (yeah, I really am that guy…) that the allocation of XP may depend on how much time I have, how late at night I am posting etc. If there was a framework in place, either automated or even back of house guidelines, it might assist in XP allocation. Further, I wouldn’t want whoever happened to be hosting that week to be accused of favouritism or similar, having a framework in place might remove that perception (or at least provide a defensible and auditable framework should anyone call the host out).

– Mentioning the Weekender thread in Weekender episodes, or Hobby Hangouts may assist in encouraging new participants. Might also be worth considering an early thread start and  a frontpage link for those weekends when no Weekender episodes are scheduled and when the content is not replaced by coverage of a convention or similar.

– As far as buttons are concerned, ideas I would float for consideration would be ‘Comment of the week’ for when someone posts and wins the internet, a ‘Getting stuff done’ button for making progress on whatever form of hobby it is you choose to do and posting about it, and a simple ‘Awesome!’ or similar button for when someone posts something superlative. Not sure how many buttons would be feasible, but these are just what I’d consider adding to the list of potentials.

Just the thoughts off the top of my head, will PM if I think of anything additional…