That would be pretty epic EatsSweets! I could add some counters to make that possible.

then thinking how much work it would be, and doing that 30+ more times.... maybe i'll end up choosing an easier way for rank advancement after all. lol


That should be fixed now - I hope

私は日本語を少し読むと書くをできます。あなたも？

Thanks, it's working now. When I said that I didn't realize how much work it would be lol. XD

Okay, in looking how to solve the advancement problem I crafted a solution based on a monetary system Rei mentioned sometime back. This system which I will address as "Guild Points" will be a simple way to give people promotions on the Guild. First the conversions, like the system this is based off of, the coinage will be based on the 100, it will have different names simply to avoid confusion between this system and the former. 100 rubies= 1 sapphire, 100 sapphires= 1 diamond, 100 diamonds= 1 pearl. Each rank will require a certain amount of additional currency to advance. Also, to prevent too rapid a promotion an individual must have been a member for a certain time before any promotion can be given, not time at a rank just time as a member. This allows for members who can only be active on weekends or during breaks to advance. The way it is set up is that it would take a minimum of 52 weeks (1 year membership) to advance to Captain if you have acquired enough jewels to advance. The total amount of jewels required to be a Captain equals to 9 pearls, 64 Diamonds, 34 Sapphires and 0 rubies. More time/ currency can be added to higher ranks if those ranks are acquired by auto-promotion instead of by appointment. Furthermore, it allows for EatsSweets "see it it get an advancement" idea to work without needing to be coded 30+ times(I'm guessing) because a set amount of Guild Points will be given regardless of current rank, and whether or not that achievement leads to promotion depends on how many points remains til' your next promotion. This by default prevents a person from making use of a bunch of "instant achievements" to advance in rank as those type of achievements would be of a relatively low value and after certain point would offer so little points in comparison to the requirement they need to fulfill in order to get to the next rank that they would naturally gravitate to the more "serious achievements" to earn rank. here is it laid out: time requirement as above noted is cumulative, meaning to get to Crewman Third Class requires 5 week membership and 1100 Rubies

Recruit This is where you start off as.
1 Year Cadet 50 Rubies 1 week
2 Year Cadet 150 Rubies 1 week
3 Year Cadet 200 Rubies 1 week
4 Year Cadet 300 Rubies 1 week
Crewman Third Class 400 Rubies 1 week
Crewman Second Class 500 Rubies 1 week
Crewman First Class 600 Rubies 1 week
Petty Officer Third Class 700 Rubies 1 week
Petty Officer Second Class 800 Rubies 1 week
Petty Officer First Class 900 Rubies 1 week
Chief Petty Officer Third Class 10 Sapphires 1 week
Chief Petty Officer Second Class 25 Sapphires 1 week
Cheif Petty Officer First Class 50 Sapphires 1 week
Senior Petty Officer 100 Sapphires 1 week
Master Petty Officer 200 Sapphires 1 week
Warrant Officer Second Class 300 Sapphires 2 weeks
warrant Officer First Class 400 Sapphires 2 weeks
Cheif Warrant Officer 500 Sapphires 2 weeks
Senior Warrant Officer 600 Sapphires 2 weeks
Master Warrant Officer 700 Sapphires 2 weeks
Ensign 10 Diamonds 4 weeks
Lieutenant Junior Grade 25 Diamonds 4 weeks
Lieutenant 50 Diamonds 4 weeks
Lieutenant Commander 100 Diamonds 4 weeks
Commander 250 Diamonds 5 weeks
Captain 500 Diamonds 6 weeks

[ Edited Jul 8, 2011 ]

I'm liking your approach CaptainBrain!

But I'm a little unsure how I can go about implementing it.


To give you an idea of the tools I have to work with ...

1. I can write a script that runs every X days, X weeks, X months.
2. For every member, we have the time they were last on the site.
3. For every member, we have the number of pages they have viewed in TIME_INTERVAL
4. For every member, we have the number of pages they have viewed since registering.

Using a script, I could reset that counter (time_interval) weekly, daily, monthly ...


We have had "sleeper cell" spamers that open an account, wait a month, then use it to attack the site. So I'd like any rank advancement to be conditioned on activity+time, and not time alone.


Will every rank earn a different wage?
Or will it be a fixed rate?

[ Edited Jul 10, 2011 ]

私は日本語を少し読むと書くをできます。あなたも？

This is how I see it going down.
For every action taken on this site (whether it be Guild, forum or database) there is a set amount of "Guild Points" affixed to it. The wage of "Guild Points" you get remain the same whether your a Captain or a Recruit (thus making it easier for you), the difference is how much "closer" that action gets you to the next rank. I will illustrate with a few point values for some actions that can be taken:
Viewing a page= 1 Rubie
Posting on the forum 5= Rubies
Editing Tags= 10 Rubies
Doing a "Mod No Match"= 20 Rubies (Thus allowing mods to benefit from their contributions)
Modding A Character Submit= 30 Rubies
Solving a question on "W.T.C.B."= 40 Rubies
"Adding" a Character to the Database= 50 Rubies
"Adding" a title to the database= 1 Sapphire

Now let us say you are a Recruit and you make a post, those 5 Rubies you get amount to 1/10 of your requirement to the next rank whereas if you are a Commander those same 5 Rubies amounts to 1/100,000,000 of your requirement (illustrating the fixed wage).

As for the "time" thing, one of the main reasons I went for the "time as member" deal is for us current members and for the Guild. If it takes forty-seven weeks from tomorrow for any member to reach Captain rank, it would create a serious lack of management that would be necessary for a Guild, but of us current members can take advantage of our "Previous experience" the "managerial positions" would more readily be filled by long time members. After a certain interval (let's say 3 months for example). The "free period" would stop and every member would have to continue up the ranks the "normal way".

The "normal way" means you being in your current rank for the Prescribed time (Enlisted 1 week per rank, etc.), being pseudo-active at least (showing up at least once a week) and earning enough "Points" to advance. So if you are an individual who just got promoted to Commander you need to wait six weeks minimum to get promoted and only if you remained active and earned enough points to advance. looking at the options I would have to say that this falls as a combination of your choices.

It falls under the first one as the script would run x period from your last promotion unlocking the "potential" to advance.

It works with the second one because if the time they last appear is greater than a week the "potential" for advancement closes until you sow up again. (Meaning no promotions for you while your on vacation).

The last one is managed as it is "soft reset" every time you get promoted."Soft" in that your total views are still seen but only the ones not used to get to your rank count to your next one. Also "unused points" from one rank should transfer to the next if possible, ex. if you need 5 points to advance and you "Add" a character you will have 45 Rubies added to getting your next promotion.

To give you an idea of how few people who as it stands are up for officer ranks I will illustrate. We have as it currently stands 23 active and regular members (those of admin 2 and up). Of these most fall into one of these 3 categories:

1.) Those who have been here at least a year and are active: You Rei fall under this as do a couple others. The only people who would actually be officers if time requirements were strictly adhered to.

2.) Those who have been here at least a year but are either not daily viewers or whose contributions are sparse.

3.) Those who have contributed significantly but whose membership is less than a year. I fall under this one as dose anonymous17 and EatsSweets.


I hope this answers your questions.

P.S. I hope it is alright I use the below image.

Hmm, I should be able to implement that with the tools I have. Thanks again for clarifying the details CaptainBrain.

I'll write a more detailed update once I have something implemented. I'm taking this week to work on coding a server, so once that's done, back to the task at hand~

And you're welcome to use that image.
Have a few more from the old site: http://www.animecharactersdatabase.com/link.php

私は日本語を少し読むと書くをできます。あなたも？

Here are the finalists. If there is a style you prefer or whatever let me know and I will do my best to acquire the others in the same. This also applies if you do not like the styles presented. Just give me an idea of what you are looking for and I will en devour to find images that fit the bill.

Ruby:





Sapphire:





Diamond:



Pearl:

Awesome! Thanks CaptainBrain! I've got those up on the Top Menu Bar, and Side Panel now. Resized to 15x15 px and added some transparency.

私は日本語を少し読むと書くをできます。あなたも？

Update:

Just gave everyone 50 Rubies per character contributed to the database. From now on, every character posted to the database will give you 50 Rubies automatically.

It'll take a little more time to figure out how to automatically change ranks. I mean, I could have the site check if you qualify for a new rank on every page view ... or the next version of Guild Ranks could provide a status meter... or a Level Up meter... and allow you to click something to move up to the next rank. Ideas?

私は日本語を少し読むと書くをできます。あなたも？

Great implementing but for some reason after the change my Guild points went from 26 Sapphires down to 13.

Anyway, it would probably be better to have the site change your rank for you. Simply because new members not fully acquainted with the system might go weeks without finding themselves eligible for promotion and become frustrated. Especially since all of the information about this site is both still in the works and the info that is available is a bit spread out.

As for a "Guild Meter" that shows how many more points are necessary for promotion would be helpful. As for "something to click that that moves someone up to the next rank" that could be be the way someone promotes someone else who is lower than them(you having made mention of wanting to do that on a limited basis before).

Also here are a couple more "achievements" and point values that I thought of:

Marking a post "solved" or "deleting a post" on the W.T.C.B.=2 Rubies

Here is an actual "achievement award" instead of a mere "contribution award"
Added Character milestones(Could correlate with Awards presented in award post).
25 Character Submits = 2 Sapphire bonus (About a 10% bonus)
50 Character Submits = 4 Sapphire bonus
100 Character Submits = 10 Sapphire bonus
200 Character Submits = 20 Sapphire bonus
It would cycle meaning when you hit 225 submits you get 2 Sapphire bonus again

Also a bonus of a similar style could be implemented when you get an additional "star" for posting x times. Since I do not know the post count for each star I will hold off giving any hard numbers.

Another thought is that mods and admins of high levels might be able to "reward" members for special services not specifically covered. A guideline could be crafted so they do not go over bored. Such examples include helping a confused member, solving a dispute, stopping a "flame war" by example, etc.


Will post more as I think about it, and I hope it helps.

[ Edited Jul 21, 2011 ]