Are TL3 and TL2 requirements too different?

Take a look at this:

Regular: 32
Member: 827 :-
Guess that read 25% of topics created in the last 100 days in a very active forum it’s really hard.
For example in meta are 300 topics… no bad :smile:
Am I wrong? Do you think an intermediate level could be useful?

Personal opinion, but since TL3 have a decent amount of influence, it shouldn’t be that easy to get to that level. I wouldn’t want anyone that I didn’t trust to gain the ability to rename/move topics OR have more powerful flagging rights if I didn’t trust them.

We’ve kept our levels at the higher level, and have even taken the step to lock certain problematic members at TL2 just because we don’t want them to cause trouble if they decide to get into one of their numpty moods.

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OK it’s fair enough, but what do you think about a level with less powers? In the middle between tl2 and tl3?

There isn’t much different between the powers of TL2 & TL3.

Users at trust level 3 can do the following (source). There’s not much there that I wouldn’t want someone I don’t know/trust to have. I’m not sure a intermediate level will help. What you CAN do is change the thresholds if they are too high for you - we thought they were, but found in reality they weren’t.

  1. recategorize and rename topics
  2. access a private “frequent flier’s lounge” category only visible to users at trust level 3 and higher
  3. have all their links followed (we remove automatic nofollow)
  4. spam flags cast on TL0 user posts immediately reach the action threshold
  5. Daily like limit increased by 2 ×

Yes, there is a need to consider both the threshold requirements and the increased capabilities.

Cynical me assumes it’s the nofollow that is of interest?

What powers would you give them? None of the TL3 powers are essential. At most they’re quality of life stuff which only really benefits the community to hand out to people who engage at that level, right?

Are you thinking more of a “role” or “status” ?

If you want to “honor” certain members I think creating a Group - with or without Badges - would do, no?

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(Please excuse me for making assumptions about your intent and rolling with it, but I got carried away.)

It sounds to me like you’re comparing Trust Levels to a traditional leveling system.

That’s not exactly what Trust Levels are. Whereas a system like Khan University or Duolingo (or just about any MMORPG) uses gamification as a carrot-on-a-stick motivation, Discourse uses it only as positive reinforcement. It doesn’t tell you to like a post, but if you do, you get a high five.

The Trust Levels aren’t so much there to coax your users into becoming more active members of your community as they are there to acknowledge those members who choose to stick around.

This is how I see the Trust Levels:

  • Basic: You visit on occasion.
  • Member: You visit quite frequently, but you consume a fairly small amount of posts, specific to your likings.
  • Regular: You visit obsessively and you consume a large array of posts because you have a vested interest in the community.
  • Leader: tbh this one confuses me. It’s a mod, sort of?.. (might start a new discussion about this)

I don’t think any amount of intermediate levels between Member and Regular could motivate a Member to become a Regular, nor should they. A Regular is a bit of an odd (yet cool-as-ice) duck. They’re a minority, and rightly so, because if more than a small minority is obsessively active in your community then, sir, you’ve started a cult and the FBI would like to speak with you.

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Thanks guys! Great thoughts here, I just wondered if a level like “Good member” could exist. You’re not obsessed but anyway an active member, really interested… Something between 827 and 32 :wink:

For example, I think to be a good member here. Really interested to a bunch of topics, sometimes I reply…and start a few. Not obsessed, it’s really hard here! Too much to read and write!

Right. That’s where I agree with @Mittineague that what you really want in this case is a completely separate group of “Flair Levels” that can accommodate a great range of titles/badges that can be accumulated over time.

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Right! I might agree with you, Trust Levels are not the right tool. Do you know any Discourse installation with this “flair level” to be taken ad an example? Or you can help me to build something togheter? I like TL presets, which badges (default and custom) could help us?