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That's the title, so now you're supposed to read the post. Well, let's get started.
NOTE: YOU DO NOT NEED TO READ ALLLLL OF THIS, AS A BUNCH OF YOU MIGHT THINK YOU NEED TO DO. THERE ARE TL;DR VERSIONS AT THE BOTTOM OF EVERY AREA. DON'T TL;DR SPAM MY THREAD, PLEASE. :ETON
Note: This is basically a compilation of ideas I've seen around ROBLOX; others were created by me, others were inspired by certain ideas and given some fine touching to improve their overall possibility to make ROBLOX better.
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Major Ideas
1. Better Customer Service and Banning System
idea inspired by: http://www.roblox.com/Forum/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=59509959
I might have a reputation for one who sides with ROBLOX at every argument, but this is not completely true. Only a fool would think that something is perfect and cannot be improved, and ROBLOX definitely needs improving in some areas.
To start off with, customer service. The mods say, "If you are unhappy with your ban, contact the mods." But what does that give you? I know for certain that sending a message to a moderator will get you an auto-reply, and I'm not sure about Customer Service itself but judging by the fact that people are unhappy with it, I can make an educated guess and say it does.
What ROBLOX could do is, instead of getting a very random auto-reply talking about the fact that this moderator gets thousands of messages and it's impossible to read all of them, tell people that if they have a question about something, or they feel their ban was unreasonable, they could contact ROBLOX via "Contact Us" at the bottom of the screen.
In order for this to make sense, however, the bans will also have to make sense. People have been talking about how their ban made absolutely no sense whatsoever, and I think this is due to the filter's inaccuracy. I believe that ROBLOX does not check any ban or warning the filter dishes out, and it will be much better if they do so. If ROBLOX could come up with a computer system that works together with the moderators, ROBLOX would be a much better place - bans will be much more accurate and people will complain less.
Now we move on to the third step. ROBLOX should also take a lot of care designing their ban messages. By this, I don't mean they need to spend a day painting flowers on the edges, but just make it so the banning seems human and says something that makes perfect sense for the one reading it. I also think the "Contact Us" option should be offered every time you are issued a ban, so that you can immediately tell Customer Service that you are unhappy with it (if this is so).
And now, the last step. The Customer Service itself obviously has to be improved. If what I've heard is correct, all you get is an auto-reply, you could better go to the FAQ to get the answer as to why you were banned. If the moderators don't have any time to reply to you immediately, they don't have to. They should send an auto-reply first, along with a message saying, "A human reply will come to you soon." or something of the like, and later, when the mods have time, they can reply. However, I think there should be a single, direct step to undoing an unfair ban - and this even I cannot dream up. For those of you have read this far, you might be able to come up with something - and I'd be very happy if you did.
TL;DR: ROBLOX needs to update their Customer Service by removing vague auto-replies from the moderators. Instead, the auto-reply would tell you that if you had a question, you could go to Customer Service. The bans, however, need to make more sense - the computer needs to work with the mods, not separately. This will create a much better system indeed. The filter needs to stop dishing out unreasonable and vague bans, and the mods need to check these bans before they are issued. The mods also need to "humanize" and "color" the ban messages, not leave them vague and ugly.
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2. The Filter
idea inspired by: http://www.roblox.com/Forum/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=59593991
ROBLOX has a wide reputation for a bad filter. This is nothing weird at all, for the reasons stated below.
ROBLOX's filter, for starters, likely works completely separate from the moderators, and this creates a lot of chaos. The report system is believed not to work and the filter makes a lot of inaccurate ba ns.
ROBLOX's filter, as stated in the last idea, should work in alliance with the mods, and not as a separate kingdom. They could do this by checking every ba n and warning the filter issues before it gets issued. It's tough work indeed, because the filter covers the whole of ROBLOX. But it's not bad if it takes time to check the ban. They can take as much time as they want, as long as they DO, in fact, do this. Just hire some new mods if your current ones can't handle the problem. This is an issue that's gone around unchecked for a long time, and it needs to be fixed.
I also think the filter should be able to detect the "bodies" of words. What I mean is, if, say, the word "purple" was considered to be against the rules, the filter would obviously ba n anyone who says "purple." But this filter is so prim itive it cannot detect the word if someone says "pur.ple," or "purpl." The filter should be able to see that, based on the general letters in the word, that it is against the rules. This will cut down on the number of rulebreakers a lot.
I'm no good at programming, but I do know that this shouldn't be very difficult to create. Especially since there are likely a bunch of free programs out there that do this. It also doesn't matter HOW long you take to create this, just make sure it gets done.
This should also apply to commentaries, but that's something for later. There's still something else I think should be improved in the filter system. There are several moments where the filter can be very vague, especially in the forums. I'm always scared that, when I'm writing an ultra-long post like this, there's something in it that breaks the rules. That doesn't usually happen, but nevertheless - no one likes the fact that the filter is so vague when it does happen. All it says is, "Sorry, but an item in your post has broken the ROBLOX rules," and leaves you saying, "Ok... but... which one?"
Since ROBLOX does not say anything specific about exactly what rules are not allowed, I propose this system. If someone says something against the rules in his post, and he spaces off it and starts making a new word, a message will pop up in the post and say, "Oops! This word is against the rules," and after clicking "Ok," the player will notice that the word that broke the rules has been outlined in red. It will remain so until he edits it, and if there are any red words in his post, it will be blocked.
In this way, the user knows exactly which word broke the rules, and this will be fantastic if it gets created.
TL;DR: The filter should work in cooperation with the mods to make bans much more accurate. The filter should also be able to detect words that break the rules by looking at their general structure, so for instance, if "purple" was against the rules, it would be able to detect not only "purple," but also "purpl," "pur.ple," "purrple," etc. The filter should also be less vague. In the forums, instead of telling you something in your post was against the rules, it should outline which one it was and block you from posting until those words are edited out.
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3. Countering Spam
I'll get right down to the point - ROBLOX, has a TON of spam. So much, you could create more spam cans than a spam factory could produce in a year.
This is the worst in a commentary. People make irrelevant comments, but then some people make REALLY irrelevant comments, such as, "Copy and Paste this on 10 hats to get 100000000 ROBUX" and what-not. This needs to be stopped, or at least reduced, and I have some possibilities as to how.
3a. Information
When a user joins ROBLOX, he will get three messages. The first two explain the rules, those are the ones we currently get. However, he will also get one about spam. It will tell him what's obvious, so, not to spam, what spam looks like, and that it might get him banned. A summary of this message will appear next to the comment box all the time for the user to remember.
3b. Automatic Deletion
This is one of my best spam ideas that I have ever created. There will be a button beside every comment that says, "Report as Spam." Clicking this will open a menu box, and the box will contain information about what this feature does. What does it do? If you confirm the report and send it to ROBLOX, the mods will check it. If they deem it as spam, they will delete the comment immediately, and not only that but they will also delete, automatically, EVERY other comment with the exact same text. This sounds far-fetched, but spam is all very similar. There aren't so many variations as it seems. If the mods don't deem it as spam, nothing happens, but let's get back to the point. This will work because:
1). It will take patience, but eventually, a large span of spam possibilities will be eliminated. Remember that spam has to clearly note that you need to Copy & Paste the message, and if that's too illegible, it will quickly die down.
2). I believe that the filter could also help, and check for simple variations of the message. This will speed up the process of eliminating comment possibilities.
3). If someone posts something of exactly the same text, he will not be warned, but his comment will be immediately deleted. He'll never know that his spam comment made it out of the box.
4). Spam will be wiped out in large chunks quickly, and then it will get slower, and slower. The reason is the fact that the commentaries are filled to the brim with this spam, and the spam is all of basically the same stuff. They will be deleted very fast.
3c. Block Copy & Pasting from commentaries
Seriously, the only thing people copy & paste to commentaries is spam. Therefore, this should simply be blocked. Yes, I know there are other ways to copy & paste, and the user can also just type it out, but this should prevent the common ROBLOXian from expanding the spam.
TL;DR: There should be some ways to prevent spam. The first way is, a user will get a message telling him not to spam, what spam looks like, and that it might get him banned. He will also be reminded next to the comment box. The second way is, a new button will appear in other comments, which is "Report as Spam." If someone uses this button, the comment will be sent to the mods. If the mods deem it as spam, the comment gets deleted automatically, as does EVERY other comment of the exact same text. It will take awhile to remove all the spam, but it will be efficient in the very first few days of its creation. Lastly, ROBLOX could also block people from copying & pasting, as the only thing people copy & paste anyways is spam.
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4. Better Search Features Overall in ROBLOX
idea partially inspired by: http://www.roblox.com/Forum/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=59451828
I believe that users need to be able to acquire direct access to something they want to find, and to do this ROBLOX simply needs to update their search system.
For starters, I think the forum search should be updated. Unless you have specific information (by this, I mean very specific: correct forum, correct post title, correct search option), you cannot find a post you're looking for. I'm not sure what's the problem with it, the only thing I can tell you is that there is a problem.
Now, let's move on to some of the more easy things. You should be able to see what clothes someone is wearing - when you go down to their Stuff, the first shirt, pants, hat, head etc. will be the one the person is wearing, and it will be outlined. You should also be able to search for genres of clothes, and not only titles. There should also be search options for your group.
You should be able to search for groups of the same genre (assuming groups can be given a genre, if not then I suggest this as well), so that you can find likely allies quickly. There should also be expanded access to games and clothes, to do this, make it so you can search in games not only for titles and genres, but also for creators and favorites.
TL;DR: The forum search option should be updated, as it is broken, you should be able to search in games for genres, titles, creators, and favorites, you should be able to see immediately in a certain person's stuff what the person is wearing at the moment, and you should be able to search for groups with the same genre (however I don't believe groups have genres, so that's another suggestion if they don't).
5. Recommended for You
I think ROBLOX should have a feature for games and catalog like the one Google has. Google basically monitors you are generates advertisements for things you seem to be searching for. I think ROBLOX should do this too.
I believe we already have this recommending system, but it's very weird. I got a link to some stairs made by pugzy, and a bunch of other blank places. Instead of it generating random items, it should recommend games based on ones you play, so, if you're someone who plays a lot of Sword Fights on the Heights, you'd get recommendations to places like Sword Fighting Tournament, Fencing, Sword Fights on the Heights Original, etc.
These will not always be the same, ROBLOX should make sure to generate different sword fighting places for you all the time. In this way, a user can discover many games he had previously not heard of, and he will be very grateful to the system. This is not the same as advertising because the games are completely random, and it should therefore not cost anything to someone who's place is featured in the recommendations section.
Along with this should be the feature to type in your own wishes for recommendations. In the Account section of My ROBLOX, you should be able to choose from different genres of places for the computer to search for automatically. The computer would then look for these games, and not generate ones based on your playing history.
I also think this should apply to the Catalog. It would recommend new hats of the same genre/style, so you could find several clothes you like.
TL;DR: You should get recommendations for places that are the same genre/style of places you play often, and you should be able to choose as well which games you want the computer to find for you automatically. This should also apply to the Catalog.
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Minor Ideas
6. Which was sold?
BCers have often complained about the fact that they received a ton of cash, but the most specific information ROBLOX gave them about their sale was the fact that it was a sale. You should be able to click on "Sale of Goods" and see further information about the sale you made, who bought it, etc. This same area should also provide up-to-date information about the amount sold of any item you created. This would apply both to Limiteds that have been sold and also any shirts, pants, and T-Shirts.
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7. See history of shouts from all groups in different sections
Sometimes, my feed is spammed with shouts from one particular, more popular group that I care less about. Somewhere in the site, I'd like to be able to view shout history from all groups, but not in the same area. I also noticed that the latest shout on my feed does not match with the one I see when I visit the group page. Is this a glitch?
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8. Moving Friends and Items
Sometimes, I want some of my "better" friends to be up front, and some of my less active, or less well-known friends in the back. I would like to be able to move friends to different spots in the list. I also want new friends to automatically appear in the front of the list, because newer friends are often ones that I talk with more often. This should also apply for items - it can be a hassle to find a certain item if you have a lot of stuff, and you should be able to move items to a different page.
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9. Outfits
I have a bunch of outfits which I switch through occasionally, and I would like to form these into an outfit automatically without having to bother removing my hats one by one, taking a new hat, a new shirt, new pants, etc., which, depending on my internet connection, can actually take quite a long time.
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10. Forum Updates
ROBLOX stated they would not be updating the forum anytime soon, but these ideas might come in use in the future. I personally don't think the forum should turn professional, but I'm among the minority who think so. A minority can't find a majority with the same we a p on, so I'm going to go ahead and admit defeat and suggest the following ideas.
The ROBLOX Forums should have italics, bold print, underlines, strike-outs, and secret text, but I don't agree with font size and color unless it was strictly moderated. It would be very annoying to see posts with enormous yellow text. I also think editing should be allowed, as long as all edits along with the previous post are sent to the mods. Though this might be disagreeable, I think users should be able to view both the current post and what it was like before it was edited, and posts can only be edited, say, a maximum of two times. I do not want users to be able to delete or lock posts themselves, however, because that is the mod's job.
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11. Why are the lock and content deletes necessary?
The mods lock, move, and delete the content of posts. I don't see why, though, they don't just delete the post. If someone posts something against the rules, for instance, it likely gets content deletes, sometimes locked. Locking prevents people from replying but not from reading the post, and content deleting prevents people from reading the post (however they may be able to assume what it was like by reaction of other repliers and the title of the post), but not from replying. Why not just delete the post for good if it breaks the rules? It doesn't make any sense that they shouldn't do this.
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12. Account Limit
Alts are a very big problem on ROBLOX. You may say, "We need them to escape a ban," or, "We need them to receive messages or do other things," but the fact is, we create way too many alts. I'm not sure why we do, maybe it's just fun to create an account, but that's a problem. I must have, in total, at least 8 accounts, 6 of which I don't even use. A friend of mine has over 200, and he's gone inactive. Now what do we do with his accounts?
I think that there should be an account limit. 3 per e. m a i l a. d d r e s s, AND I P, to make certain. Yes, I realize you can create a new e. m a i l a. d d r e s s and use a different computer, but this will prevent the common ROBLOXian from creating more than 3. You don't need any more than 3, as some of you might say. One main, and two others for other business. It doesn't matter what you do with them, but two alts is really enough. I think that, however, if you want to create a new alt, you can, but you'll have to remove an old one. But seriously, three accounts is more than enough. The problem alts create is the fact that rulebreakers can simply create a hundred accounts to avoid bans. This also creates another problem. All those alts take up space on ROBLOX, and they use up a name that a new user might want to use.
Therefore, I think it would be best for ROBLOX if the maximum was three.
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Epilogue
Well, thanks for reading, if you did. I seriously doubt that you read all of this in one go - and I spent an unbelievably long amount of time writing this - approximately two hours and fifteen minutes. Remember, respond to any one of those you like - you don't need to read all of it, but, don't respond with a non-support if you only read the TL;DR sections. |