[Zardon]

It has been a while since we had gold membership. Is anyone in favour of it coming back or are you all happy the way it is now?

For those of you who don't know, Gold membership was a special status some members on the forum could earn for commitment and a general all round 'awesomeness'. They would get oversized avatars, hidden forum access and other goodies.

Your views would be good on this subject ....

[comp_ali]

Nah , many would see it given on biased motivation by admins , we have better system now , the rep power . People can rep any member they see he/she deserves , with many reps every member has his/her own points/degrees . And that's enough justice.

I don't like to see big avatars when I scroll , just my humble opinion.

[Zardon]

Originally Posted by comp_ali

Nah , many would see it given on biased motivation by admins

So you think, people assume the people getting "gold membership" are in some way connected to me or Craig and that it would be seen as biased?

Interesting, thanks.

[Mousey]

I quite liked the gold membership scheme, Especially if you find their contributions often you know it's coming from a proven high quality source at DH

[Chaos]

I think they show a sign of appreciation for the few that may get awarded one. Those that think it's biased are probably quite young and not mature enough to differentiate bewtween recognition and bias

[BlueMak]

I could go both ways. I wouldn't mind people getting them, but I wouldn't exactly worry if I didn't get one. I think it is a good idea for some people that give the extra help, like Robert etc.
I couldn't really see the point of anyone getting a gold membership for being friends? with an admin. Even in the remote case that would happen, why worry? It's not like it automatically removes any chance for you to not get it.
The more gold memberships it means more people help around and get back some kind of recognition. Where is the bad thing about that?

[craig5320]

I swear my hoes deserved gold ok! Bling Bling.

As Chaos said there's a difference between bias and recognition. We could have the system decide based up posting rates, membership term and various other factors, or you could accept and respect that anyone issued with a gold status has in some way earned that privilege.

It's always a sticky business, especially if said member becomes inactive, to take away gold membership would be seen as a blow for that member, but it doesn't mean we've flipped the coin and believe you're no longer good to the forum. Then there are the members who think it's their god given right to be gold, and again see it as some kind of plot against them if they don't receive the status.

I'd personally like to see it return, it took me ages to setup those usergroups... lol

[Tyrsonswood]

Originally Posted by craig5320

I'd personally like to see it return, it took me ages to setup those usergroups... lol

Well then..... there's a good reason.

[Neshi]

I have to agree with Chaos.

I think it would be nice to see it return. Gold membership isn't handed out lightly, and those that have it often contribute a lot to the community. Their take on things often speaks of a lot of know-how and the gold status underlines this.

[Zardon]

ok well I think ill let Craig make the call on it then. He seems to be all for it and I think a lot of our regulars seem to like it.

You just need to persuade Craig guys !

[Robert McClelland]

Well to bad there not Special gold member like me? For doing hard work here .

[dawgXdenta]

I smell the need for a poll, I know you had it when Callandor was around, but I dont have enough info on its perks, I second Ali's opinion rep power is a good indicator of how helpful and active you are on the site, that and post count hehehe

[SeraphicSorcerer]

I think the rep and the Gold membership could be combined together, meaning that There could be gold people but they should also have a certain rep.

I agree that to me it's a sign of recognition, However I was actually wondering if you guys still accept donations? (It's how I got my medal I think)

[DJ BIG T]

i like the ideal of having gold members...

[Dark Lord]

i dont see the harm in bringing it back.

[mkk]

In general I'm against such things on forums, but apart from some occasional whining it was mostly fun the way it worked before. Just don't clutter up the user field too much. B t w up the default avatar limit to 100x100 pixels. Monitors have gotten a bit bigger over the last six years you know.

[SeraphicSorcerer]

I'm only against them if they don't pick me :P

haha j/k

[Callandor]

I'd like it to come back (though I don't see myself going gold again lol) but post count, though important, shouldn't be such a major factor in determining whether or not someone should get the gold, what should be taken into consideration mainly is the significance of his/her posts (are they useful to people on the forum, etc) and as you said the awesomness of said member.

I think the "Extreme" medal that used to be given out (the sweet spiked medal that didn't make you a gold member but looked hella cool) should be given to people who are super active, add alot to forum atmosphere and have really high post counts. If I remember correctly you didn't have to be gold to get this medal. Though I'm not entirely sure what it was given out for initially.

[Cow_160483]

Well my take on that matter is : " it couldn't hurt" and if it causes too much trouble you can always take it off again so go for it Craig

[[hobo]eclipse]

i like the private forum area idea, just sounds like fun. What about a silver/gold setup where both have all, or just about all the same access to features, just reserving the gold for the most knowledgeable and tech savy posters/helpers.

That being said, if a gold status is implemented based upon a post quality/helpfulness standard, I'd like to recommend Tipstaff. Years of quality posting with very in depth detailed explanations.

[comp_ali]

Yes , me too. I recommend Tipstaff for his helpful posts in hardware forums , Actually it had been very useful to me.

[MIG-31]

Tipstaff was a Gold Member when DH last used this system.

[ET3D]

Personally, I'm never comfortable being designated anything, but since I'm a Microsoft MVP, and the criteria are quite similar, it'd be silly to be against gold status being given to people.

Originally Posted by [hobo]eclipse

i like the private forum area idea, just sounds like fun.

There was that Gold and Alumini area that I only went to a couple of times after I was invited, and I think it was pretty much just a place to say hello, and that's about it.

So the question is mainly what the purpose of the private forum is. The cool part of just having something private wears off pretty quickly, I think.

Again, to liken this to the Microsoft MVP award, Microsoft does set up private forums, where MVP's can discuss things that are under NDA. If DriverHeaven had a similar thing, where gold members could, for example, provide input on articles before they're released, that would be good reason for a private forum.

[MythicaL]

I think the system currently in place works perfectly fine. Besides, the regulars can already tell who helps out the most.

[niceguyrichy]

i say bring it back.
it always seemed to work before without causing problems (as far as i could tell), so why not ?

[Tyrsonswood]

If it does come back, and the "donations" bit comes back as well, I think they should be a separate award....... People shouldn't be able to buy something that others have "worked for" with quality posting.


And yes! Tipstaff should have a permanent gold award

[niceguyrichy]

Originally Posted by Tyrsonswood

If it does come back, and the "donations" bit comes back as well, I think they should be a separate award....... People shouldn't be able to buy something that others have "worked for" with quality posting.

they've always been separate.
you get a medal (< like that one) for donating, which is completely separate from gold membership. or rather was, back when there was gold

[Tyrsonswood]

Cool, I never knew what any of that was all about......

[Falstaff]

I am for it, after years of participation, ups and downs and all the rubbish that life has to offer, it has always been a pleasure to come to DH, no matter what my status is.
I think Gold Membership recognizes contributions, enthusiasm or the esprit de cor that some members bring to the site.
DH is different, and it should be.
I am for the Gold

[RoyBatty]

I think the reputation system works well, but I'm not against giving the gold status to some extra dedicated members. Go for it.