Not let staff advertise in chatbox

[Andy B.]

Now, I know you may be thinking:
"Staff have every right as a Memeber"
"Staff have business too, they don't solely get paid from MC-Market"
"What is the hurt of Staff advertising in a chatbox anyway"

Before you read the title and disagree with this suggestion, here me out first, please.

Now, recently I've seen some staff members advertising constantly in chat with their new business (not going to say any names). In my opinion, even though yes they should have every right as a Member, at the same time, it's almost unfair if you would say so. Think about it, when a staff member talks in chat (compared to a member talking in chat) which do you notice better? The staff member obviously.
Here is a picture to just point out one of the things that screams "Look at me"

Not only that, but because of this, when they decide to advertise in the chat box every 20 minutes, it almost makes it seem like they're only active in the chat just to advertise their business, and not for the reason they should be active in chat: Which is to moderate the chat and watch for people breaking the rules.
"bUt AnDrEw, StAfF cAn MuLtItAsK!!!1!"
I understand staff can multitask, but there's been a few times where I saw a staff post their ad and then just get off of the chat box (this hasn't happened a lot, but it's happened). To add on to the multitask claim, I know staff get a lot of messages and tags when they're on chat box so it's not really easy to talk to everyone that's trying to ask them questions, let alone advertise their company and then talk to everyone.

Now, what are some solutions we can do to fix this problem of unfair advertising for staff?
1. Not let staff advertise anything that's being constantly copied and pasted every 20 minutes (maybe limit their advertisement of a specific company to a certain number of times per day rather than a cool down on time)
2. Let the staff advertise, but get rid of the huge tag in front of their name. Everyone pretty much knows what a staff member looks like without that tag in front of their name. So just get rid of it so it's not standing out in the chat box. Plus their names are literally in red.
3. Not let staff advertise anything at all in chat box. There's still ways of advertising a business on this site like the following:
* Sticky Threads
* Top Header Banners
* Side Slot Banners
* Users Signatures
* Even paying someone else to advertise their business in chat box (maybe, idk though this is kinda weird and can get complicated)

Overall, instead of bashing this thought, give it a second and just think about it.
This isn't all staff that's doing it, and to the ones that are doing it, I'm not mad at you. It can just come off as a bit annoying and unfair to someone who doesn't have that eye drawing tag in front of their name.

Thank you for taking the time on reading my suggestion, please please please if you agree or disagree with this idea, tell me why in the comments. I love to hear improvements or how to improve my view on things.

- Andrew B.

 

[YourPanda]

Your not really understanding the point

Having a big fuck off red banner next to your name makes people spot you and click your advertisements more, which is why we don't want staff to advertise in Shoutbox, you can advertise via other sources like regular non paid members do

I have Premium/Supreme rank, just like all you do, I should not lose my donation perks right to advertise in the shoutbox simply because I am staff aswell.

 

[Dann]

it's not a rule. It never has been a rule.

What?.. We're talking about the future here, If it was in place and was a rule if you didn't like it then you can leave and not apply for staff.

 

[YourPanda]

What?.. We're talking about the future here, If it was in place and was a rule if you didn't like it then you can leave and not apply for staff.

I didn't mean to make that comment. It just posted out of nowhere. My bad.

 

[Dann]

I sometimes post comments out of nowhere

To be real, There is no need to totally remove the permission, Its more a case of staff having a huge red tag, Remove that and there is not really a problem.

 

[Dectom]

I have Premium/Supreme rank, just like all you do, I should not lose my donation perks right to advertise in the shoutbox simply because I am staff aswell.

Again, the point has been lost on you.

Having a Staff Rank elevates you above other members, people that are not too familiar with the community will click staffs links above anyone else. Having a massive obvious divide between staff and regular members makes it obvious who you are.

Its like holding a neon sign up on the motorway, its more obvious than just a plain billboard

 

[YourPanda]

Again, the point has been lost on you.

Having a Staff Rank elevates you above other members, people that are not too familiar with the community will click staffs links above anyone else. Having a massive obvious divide between staff and regular members makes it obvious who you are.

Its like holding a neon sign up on the motorway, its more obvious than just a plain billboard

I completely understand what you are saying, but I donated, I am a member but because I am staff I shouldn't be allowed to advertise just because of my tag? What sense does that make? Do note, I have no real need to advertise I am more so playing devils advocate in this instance being that this suggestion won't hurt me nor benefit me. I get it, my tag stands out over your's, which I understandable we are supposed to stand out. I wouldn't be apposed to a set limit of adverts per day for staff (for example 10 per day). As, again it won't affect on me but I can see that be a possible outcome over completely removing the right to do it all together.

 

[VanCandy_]

If I'm being honest, the only real way you could be fair about this is to simply remove the big "CM" tag. Everyone knows who is staff, you don't need a big tag. This would make it so people aren't more attracted to your advertisement and more enticed to click it because they think you're more.. I guess trust worthy. Being staff already gives you a reputation in most places, and here is no exception, so having a big tag that makes you stand out intensely makes it unfair for other users, such as people who purchased Supreme, that while they do have a colorful looking name, don't have the trustworthy "CM" tag.

 

[Dectom]

I completely understand what you are saying, but I donated, I am a member but because I am staff I shouldn't be allowed to advertise just because of my tag? What sense does that make? Do note, I have no real need to advertise I am more so playing devils advocate in this instance being that this suggestion won't hurt me nor benefit me. I get it, my tag stands out over your's, which I understandable we are supposed to stand out. I wouldn't be apposed to a set limit of adverts per day for staff (for example 10 per day). As, again it won't affect on me but I can see that be a possible outcome over completely removing the right to do it all together.

The fact that you donated makes no difference to this scenario.

You as a staff member get a massive red fuck off tag, that makes you stand out like a tramp at the opera. Advertising as staff has more value than regular members. This can be Clearly seen in your own footer where you have a SparkedHost gif linked, People are willing to pay staff members for advertisement as they know that your word speaks for more than any other member.

Yes you paid for the permissions and earned them, however when you became a staff member there are sacrifices that you should make and this should include not advertising in a place where many people would be easy manipulated into clicking your advertisements more than anyone else

 

[BOOP]

Just ignore it - you'll get used to it and won't care at all anymore.

 

[Justis]

One might argue that being able to advertise one’s business with the red name color is a promised perk of being a staff member.

I can name you at least two staff members I’ve noticed who have blatantly mooched their staff tag and color for attention to their other businesses. I can’t say that seeing it happen didn’t piss me off at the time, but I also can’t say I don’t understand.

Being a staff member sucks.
Instantly you get segregated from the rest of the community, and instead of being a member of the victims when something happens to MCM, you’re to blame. As if you’re no longer a community member too, and are instead responsible for everyone else.
Normally with a job, you’re compensated for the responsibility burden, however, the payment MCM is able to afford for its staff members does not compare to a real job. This is especially true for chat moderators, who have to put in so much work just adjusting to being a member of the staff team, which is no small feat. It’s hard when everyone’s got their focus on you waiting for you to screw up.

The red tag brings authority and trust. This is necessary in order for a staff member’s words and instructions to have weight, and that’s why it’s there in shoutbox as well.
However, sometimes a staff member is just talking, just being a typical human being and expressing their opinion. Sometimes it really pisses me off as well, because their opinion, whether they intend for it to or not, is made to represent MCM’s staff team as a whole, myself included.
Hard to have the best of both worlds without major changes to how a staff account interacts with the site.

I’m not sure on which side of the fence to fall here.
However, I already put aside my development projects in order to dedicate my time to catching up on MCMarket’s needs, so it wouldn’t directly effect me.

I am interested by the discussion though, since it is something I’ve also thought about.

 

[YourPanda]

The fact that you donated makes no difference to this scenario.

You as a staff member get a massive red fuck off tag, that makes you stand out like a tramp at the opera. Advertising as staff has more value than regular members. This can be Clearly seen in your own footer where you have a SparkedHost gif linked, People are willing to pay staff members for advertisement as they know that your word speaks for more than any other member.

Yes you paid for the permissions and earned them, however when you became a staff member there are sacrifices that you should make and this should include not advertising in a place where many people would be easy manipulated into clicking your advertisements more than anyone else

I was not paid by spark host to have that in my desc. But, I suppose we can assume that. But, I certainly understand what you are saying. Like I said, this won't effect me what so ever. But, it doesn't hurt to have some counter arguments to throw a rebuttal at.

 

[fawny]

I agree, the big CM is kind of an eyesore. I liked the bold red name better before. But this is such an angry, I don't see it as unfair against regular members. They are staff, and if they're speaking about something important then they need to be seen. I think it would be more fair to remove the 'CM' instead of taking away the normal rights every member has. That being said, I don't think that they should get away with posting adverts and ignoring the chats.

 

[Choo]

Again, the point has been lost on you.

Having a Staff Rank elevates you above other members, people that are not too familiar with the community will click staffs links above anyone else. Having a massive obvious divide between staff and regular members makes it obvious who you are.

Its like holding a neon sign up on the motorway, its more obvious than just a plain billboard

Or people just click on advertisements they are interested in before judging them based on their name color

 

[Andy B.]

A staff member has the same rules, and permissions as any Normal member. A member can advertise every 20 minutes, and so can staff. If you were to take staffs right to advertise away then wouldn't it make more sense to just remove everyone's right to advertise. This thread is suggesting to either disallow staff to advertise, or another method of doing it. If you were staff, and you had a business you wanted to advertise and you were told you're staff you're not allowed to advertise you'd be pretty upset over a rule that has no reason to be in place.

I also made a suggestion to just simply remove the huge colorful tag in front of their name that draws people's eyes unfairly. I made three solutions for this very reason of what you just said.

 

[Zacey]

I believe they should be allowed to advertise, they're just like an ordinary member here except volunteering their time to make the site more efficient. If someone literally goes to business because the advertiser has a red name and CM next to their name lord help them.

I agree, the big CM is kind of an eyesore. I liked the bold red name better before. But this is such an angry, I don't see it as unfair against regular members. They are staff, and if they're speaking about something important then they need to be seen. I think it would be more fair to remove the 'CM' instead of taking away the normal rights every member has. That being said, I don't think that they should get away with posting adverts and ignoring the chats.

But, CM needs to be there. Because there are people with different name colors throughout the shoutbox newer members might not notice that they're staff just because of a red name color, I think the CM tag is quite beneficial allowing the new members to notice that they can go to that person for help as they have a special tag (even if they don't know what CM stands for).

 

[fawny]

I believe they should be allowed to advertise, they're just like an ordinary member here except volunteering their time to make the site more efficient. If someone literally goes to business because the advertiser has a red name and CM next to their name lord help them.

But, CM needs to be there. Because there are people with different name colors throughout the shoutbox newer members might not notice that they're staff just because of a red name color, I think the CM tag is quite beneficial allowing the new members to notice that they can go to that person for help as they as a special tag (even if they don't know what CM stands for).

"CM needs to be there."
"even if they don't know what CM stands for"
doesn't really make much sense imo lol, I think knowing the red name = staff works fine, it's nice to know if someone is a chat mod, but all staff in sb should be able to do chat mod duties.

 

[Zacey]

"CM needs to be there."
"even if they don't know what CM stands for"
doesn't really make much sense imo lol, I think knowing the red name = staff works fine, it's nice to know if someone is a chat mod, but all staff in sb should be able to do chat mod duties.

If you see someone different from everyone else with an emblem next to their name. They'd most likely go to that person for advice or help, I'm not sure if I am explaining this poorly but basically; they'd go to someone with a special emblem over someone without one.

 

[fawny]

If you see someone different from everyone else with an emblem next to their name. They'd most likely go to that person for advice or help, I'm not sure if I am explaining this poorly but basically; they'd go to someone with a special emblem over someone without one.

I guess so, but the red name seems to be a fine indication. But I see why it's helpful, I just don't think it's necessary. : p

 

[Zacey]

I guess so, but the red name seems to be a fine indication. But I see why it's helpful, I just don't think it's necessary. : p

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