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Introducing Profile Pronouns, plus a preview of our upcoming Ticket system!

B-Dubs

B-Dubs

That's some catch, that catch-22
General Manager
Oct 25, 2017
32,721
Hello everyone! We recently gathered a lot of feedback from members and promised some new features to address common requests. Our tech team has worked extremely hard this past week so that we can introduce two of these features to you today:

Available Now: Profile Pronouns

This feature has been in the works for a while now, and we're pleased to announce that it is complete and ready to go. If you check your Account Details you will find a new field titled "Pronouns." In this field you can enter the pronouns you would like to be addressed with, and these will automatically appear on your profile and beside every post that you make. It couldn't be easier to use!

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Please note that this feature is only for serious and good-faith pronoun labels. Misusing this feature for any other reason will result in moderation, and consequences will be severe if you use it to troll.

Preview: Tickets

A lot of members have expressed that communicating with the staff does not feel easy and intuitive, and that responses are sometimes very late or never come. Half of that is a matter of manpower and can only be solved by bringing on more staff (this is in progress). However, we believe the other half can be improved with a better system of communication. Introducing Tickets!

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Tickets can be used for any questions or issues that require staff attention. When this feature goes live, you will be able to access Tickets from the sidebar.

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While submitting a Ticket, you will have the option to select a category. This will help keep communications organized and should reduce the amount of time it takes to get a reply.

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If you are logged in, Tickets will be linked directly to your account. If you are logged out Tickets will require an email and a captcha to use. On the staff end responses will be streamlined as everything can be handled through the site.

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In-line replies will allow you to follow up to staff responses, or append additional information to the same Ticket as needed. You will no longer need to send in multiple separate messages about the same issue.

This feature is fully functional and could theoretically be deployed today! The reason we're holding off for the moment is twofold: We want to ensure that we get enough staff to actually process the Tickets that come in, and we want to get member feedback on what we're showing today. Let us know your thoughts and whether you have any suggestions about how the system should work before we take it live.
 
Lumination

Lumination

Member
Oct 26, 2017
12,465
Good changes. Will tickets replace reporting or live alongside them? Any plans to merge the two in any way?
 
julia crawford

julia crawford

Took the red AND the blue pills
Member
Oct 27, 2017
35,154
Pronouns is extremely good. That's a good move.

And tickets too. I'm always glad for more ways to demand bigger avatars.

Bigger avatars please.
 
big_z

big_z

Member
Nov 2, 2017
7,794
Ban appeal is long overdue. Hopefully you can actually access that option when banned. Normally all access and ability to browse the site is locked if you get the boot and you're forced to wait it out.
 
Volimar

Volimar

volunteer forum janitor
Member
Oct 25, 2017
38,325
I like the pronouns under the username. Can prevent so many accidental misgenderings.
 
julia crawford

julia crawford

Took the red AND the blue pills
Member
Oct 27, 2017
35,154
Wait, how would someone appeal a ban when they're banned and can't access the website? Would they have to have someone else do it for them?
 
Aeana

Aeana

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,923
Cool, I hope the tickets work out.

Pronouns are cool, but ripe for exploitation with the open endedness. I hope people don't ruin it.
 
Android Sophia

Android Sophia

The Absolute Sword
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
6,096
big_z said:
Ban appeal is long overdue. Hopefully you can actually access that option when banned. Normally all access and ability to browse the site is locked if you get the boot and you're forced to wait it out.
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The ticketing system is available when logged out, so a banned member can send in appeals that way.

boybrushdRED said:
You might wanna update the pronoun thing into a drop down menu, since people can type anything in there
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We briefly considered this. However, there are a lot of pronoun choices out there, and it's difficult to accommodate for all of them that way. Rest assured that anyone caught abusing this feature will be subject to moderation, and abusing it for transphobic or bigoted reasons will be dealt with severely.

If you see someone abusing it, please use the report feature and let us know.
 
Weltall Zero

Weltall Zero

Game Developer
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
19,343
Madrid
big_z said:
Ban appeal is long overdue. Hopefully you can actually access that option when banned. Normally all access and ability to browse the site is locked if you get the boot and you're forced to wait it out.
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I'm assuming that's the case, otherwise it would be a bit pointless.

Frankly, even beyond ban appeals, it doesn't make much sense that the site can't even be browsed while banned, considering you can do so while not even logged in.
 
GSG

GSG

Member
Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,051
This is a very positive update to the site, good job admins! 👍
 
OP
OP
B-Dubs

B-Dubs

That's some catch, that catch-22
General Manager
Oct 25, 2017
32,721
Weltall Zero said:
This... seems like an easy avenue for off-site trolling, ticket-bombinb to get popular posters unbanned, and a lot of other potential misuse. I think it's a bad idea, to say the least. :/
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Right now we rely on the Contact Us form for the same purposes; Tickets will basically just be replacing an existing (less efficient) system.
 
Kangi

Kangi

Profile Styler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,948
Can gender also no longer be a dropdown menu with limited options? I get that some edgelord will instantly enter "attack helicopter" but given that you're willing to risk it with the more-visible pronouns it'd be swell to not have to decide between multiple partially-right gender labels
 
Lukar

Lukar

Unshakable Resolve - Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 27, 2017
23,351
Aaa! Thank you for the pronouns spot in profiles.
 
Reki

Reki

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,955
These seem like good changes, thank you. Pronouns especially.

Now that there's more information under a user's name, could you consider removing the "Member" tag? It serves no purpose since there's no visual distinction between Juniors/Full Members and Verified/Mod/Admins have their own banner. Since tags also use their own field and the Banned status is indicated by a strike-through, "Member" is redundant and provides no relevant information.

Edit: guessing you can't due to the Fallen and Avenger tags, who use the same field as opposed to newer event titles.
 
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Eeyore

Eeyore

User requested ban
Banned
Dec 13, 2019
9,029
Good update! Really appreciate the pronouns so there isn't any accidental misgendering.
 
big_z

big_z

Member
Nov 2, 2017
7,794
Weltall Zero said:
Frankly, even beyond ban appeals, it doesn't make much sense that the site can't even be browsed while banned, considering you can do so while not even logged in.
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I always found that restriction silly myself but I believe the site places in thread ads when not logged in. So technically lurkers and banned members make era more money than active members.
 
Aomame

Aomame

Member
Oct 27, 2017
475
Can the Gender field also be updated to be more accommodating of different identities?

Also curious as to how tickets will work vs reports. Should tickets be used for problematic posts?
 
Hecht

Hecht

Too damn tired
Administrator
Oct 24, 2017
9,731
Aomame said:
Can the Gender field also be updated to be more accommodating of different identities?

Also curious as to how tickets will work vs reports. Should tickets be used for problematic posts?
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Reports are still used for reporting posts. Tickets are generally more moderation questions/account issues.
 
Aomame

Aomame

Member
Oct 27, 2017
475
Hecht said:
Reports are still used for reporting posts. Tickets are generally more moderation/account things.
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Got it, thanks. To clarify a little more (and since I've done this before), if we report a post and it is not actioned for a substantial amount of time and we receive no notification that it was rejected, would putting in a ticket be an acceptable use of the system?
 

Deleted member 11370

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,494
Thanks for the pronouns! I'm a cis man, so I use he/him, but I know this is very important for many folk here. Hopefully this contributes to making Era a more welcoming please.

PS: I noticed a problem with the PSN field on the profile page. It's not accepting the character "-". Who can I contact?
 
TheMadTitan

TheMadTitan

Member
Oct 27, 2017
27,208
The styling and layout is off to me, especially for those with larger fonts for their titles and staff badges.

Personally, I'd shuffle the pronouns to be directly beneath the user name with some styling to make it pop and be more noitceable. After all, if the username is important to distinguish between individual users, the pronouns are equally as important so that when distinguishing between different users, you refer to them properly. Some italicized, bolded, and color shifted text (a color that suits both the light and dark themes) would go a long way for readability, IMO.
 
Hecht

Hecht

Too damn tired
Administrator
Oct 24, 2017
9,731
Aomame said:
Got it, thanks. To clarify a little more (and since I've done this before), if we report a post and it is not actioned for a substantial amount of time and we receive no notification that it was rejected, would putting in a ticket be an acceptable use of the system?
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That's a good question. While we can't really ensure that each and every report gets a detailed response, if for some reason things are not clear, then yes, submit a ticket (please don't spam us with tickets, though :P). As for things taking a while, that could be for any number of reasons, so a ticket wouldn't necessarily "speed things up." For instance, it might just be a matter of staff availability at the time.

Joey Ravn said:
Thanks for the pronouns! I'm a cis man, so I use he/him, but I know this is very important for many folk here. Hopefully this contributes to making Era a more welcoming please.

PS: I noticed a problem with the PSN field on the profile page. It's not accepting the character "-". Who can I contact?
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We let the tech team know, probably just some quirk with XF.
 
Aomame

Aomame

Member
Oct 27, 2017
475
Hecht said:
That's a good question. While we can't really ensure that each and every report gets a detailed response, if for some reason things are not clear, then yes, submit a ticket (please don't spam us with tickets, though :P). As for things taking a while, that could be for any number of reasons, so a ticket wouldn't necessarily "speed things up." For instance, it might just be a matter of staff availability at the time.
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Thanks for clarifying. The one time I did this, it had been over 24 hours (if I remember correctly), and if the post wasn't actioned, I wanted to get some clarity on the staff's thinking (for my own future reference on whether such a post was considered against the rules). It was hard to know who was online and who to PM about it at the time, so I think the tickets system would be a good replacement to going to the pinned list and trying to figure out what mod to PM. It's a once in a blue moon thing, I just didn't want to misuse the system.
 
Unknownlight

Unknownlight

One Winged Slayer
Member
Nov 2, 2017
10,557
The ridiculously picky designer in me wants the ticket menu to be reordered to be more natural/logical. Group similar types of tickets together and order them from general -> more specific.
  1. Account issues
  2. Ban appeal
  3. Moderation inquiry
  4. Verified account request
  5. Self-ban request
  6. Account removal request
  7. Other
Great idea, by the way. I should have said that first.
 
Aurc

Aurc

Member
Oct 28, 2017
6,890
Sophia said:
We briefly considered this. However, there are a lot of pronoun choices out there, and it's difficult to accommodate for all of them that way.
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Surely they / them can be the sole third option? It doesn't imply any gender, just that the other poster is a person. It's all-encompassing.
 
Android Sophia

Android Sophia

The Absolute Sword
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
6,096
Kangi said:
Can gender also no longer be a dropdown menu with limited options? I get that some edgelord will instantly enter "attack helicopter" but given that you're willing to risk it with the more-visible pronouns it'd be swell to not have to decide between multiple partially-right gender labels
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Aomame said:
Can the Gender field also be updated to be more accommodating of different identities?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

The gender field is something built into the core software so it's a lot more difficult to mess with, especially to replace with an empty field. We'll bring it up with the tech team but we can't promise anything on that right now.
 
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