So doese that mean the two in my siggy I have will be gone? if i choose number 2 or 3.

No ma'am. This is strictly to do with the things left of your post: tags and post bits. Your FC titles won't change at all, and nothing in your signature.

Cool. thanks. Sorry to be annyoing just trying to understand this all a bit more before I vote. So my Keeper, Gaurd and Prezie on will also be their or not i'm so sorry just smack me if I'm annoying at all.

Wait. I thought it was always 3 official allows you for an extra one. But is it really 4 official allows you for an extra one? Oh well. Either way, I like it how it is. Requesting would take all the fun out of those surprise tags. You have no idea how happy I was when Rhea gave me my "Hell-O" nerd tag.

Not annoying at all, hun. Right now, you have 2 official tags (Your Gryffindor tag, and your FC President tag) and two "fun" tags. You're at 4 tags, therefore at the limit. You can have no more tags, but we will not be taking any of your tags away. Regardless of what way wins in the poll, that is the rule.

We're changing the wording a little to include the "image" tags and simplify it a little. It's pretty much the same rule, just tweaked. You have 1 official tag, and 3 "fun" tags. You're at the limit currently.

Oh. Okay. That makes more sense (btw, my Peeves one is an officer tag - I'm an activities officer over there)

Thanks for the clarification, Touz!

Okay I so understand what it all means now. That helped alot it all makes scence.

I just voted to leave it all as it was before. :]

I voted to stay random. Because I remember when I got my tags, etc., and it was fun. And I think that would lose something if we were able to request.

LOL ok, i LOVED the Dudley way xD People earn their tags! and it's just so much more fun to be surprised

Argh! You're either Peeves' grand grand grand child or a politician. =D

I like the random tags a lot. It would just take away the fun of requesting a tag. No surprises.

First of all, I think this is a great idea to let members vote on this issue! Thank you for that <3

Personally, I think that having members request would be a good idea... When you have it kept the same way, random tags dispersed, I feel that people may often get neglected even if they are on the site every day. If you give people the option to request, then it would make users feel like they are included in something "fun". Which is what tags are meant to be... while random tags are fun, I don't think they are meant to be "exclusive".

I think having the request thread open occasionally would also be beneficial, since it would give a nice break and people aren't constantly wishing to change things (which might drive admins insane). It puts a limit on how much people could change their tags automatically, by only opening the thread 4 times a year (or whatever is decided).

Just one question for now though (i had more, but i forgot, cause i'm getting senile apparently):

1) Would members be able to request tags given to other members? to keep the surprise element up

Aha! Finally it came!! I know how much, surprise and random tags give fun. If they open for members to request often definetely there would be no thrill or fun.

So I stick with the first option. Randomness always rules!!

I voted for the first option. MOST of the fun with having a tag is earning it and having it come as a surprise. I'm one of those people who get over-excited over the little things (such as tags), and I just feel requesting them would take a lot of the fun away. I'll never forget signing on to SS at school one day and seeing my "Hermione's Double" tag (which was my first EVER tag and one that was given as a surprise). That was really special to me, and if I'd have asked for it, I think a lot of the meaning would be lost.


However...I do have some suggestions regarding the topic. My first is a question - Poll-wise, do we have to lump tags and post bit colors together? I'm asking because while I voted against any sort of requesting for tags, I would actually 100% vote for requesting post bit colors. I consider post bit colors to be the same as free-reign of editing your default posting color. I'm not sure how the administration aspect of this works, and I've only ever helped mod two sites before (and neither had the tag or post bit color option), but would we ever be able to change post bit colors ourselves? I'm assuming not, but would it be possible to separate the two options in the poll (depending on which option wins) and allow us to request only post bit colors?

I also have another suggestion. Still voting against requesting tags, would we be able to request color changes for our tags? I'm one of those people who change colors, siggies, avatars, etc, like I change socks, and I think it'd be cool to color-coordinate my tags in with my default posting color and post bit color.

Last suggestion I see "no requests" is winning, so this last suggestion is assuming the poll will end that way. Maybe it would help if more random, surprise tags were given out. There's a group of people on the site with the limit in tags, and then on the polar opposite side, you have a group of people with no tags whatsoever. There are also those who have been around the site for years and still have no tags at all. I do understand that it's impossible to reach everyone and there are also a lot of inactive/semi-inactive people roaming around, but maybe if there were a few more oppurtunities to get those random, surprise tags, more people could join in on the fun. And by opportunities, I still mean giving them out as a surprise.

I'm going to end this novel by addressing the "new members" talk. This is only my second term on this site (I started posting in January, 2008), so I can pretty much still identify with how I felt as a new member. Of course the site itself kept me motivated, but "working towards a goal" kept me motivated, too. I started noticing the tags after a few weeks on the site, and I started asking around trying to figure out what they were and how I could get one. When I finally learned what they were all about, I was really motivated to be as active as possible so I could try and get one (like I said, though, this was a motivation in addition to the motivation I had just from enjoying the site in general). I was also motivated to try and work towards becoming a house prefect, too. Those goals gave me something exciting to work towards. My point in bringing that up is that I think it would help keep new members active and motivated if there was something exciting to work towards (i.e., a tag, in this case.)

So, in a nutshell, this sums up my post:

Tag requests? No.
More tags randomly given out? Yes.
Post bit color requests? Yes.
Tag color requests? Yes.

LOL! you've been reading my mind Touz , just the other day Connor and i were talking about those user titles and how we n00bs (sniff) dont have the option to get one.

i voted #3 its like the Sorting process. it would also be the easier on the staff given that they dont have to be at everyone's beck and call.

Lol...This topic makes me want to pull all of my hair out. Everyone's yapping about how surprises are good...when really...they have their bad side as well.xD I STILL have no clue who gave me the Scotland Yard tag and even after ENDLESS investigating [pun, intended]--I've failed and I've realized---I don't even live UP to the tag. Pluss, as I've mentioned numerous times before, I kinda miss my Zonko's Fanatic tag. Okay, not sorta. I do. A lot. =X

Buttt, back to the topic at hand.

Requesting that many tags would be nonsense. I understand if we were given the option to change ONE tag, but all of them? You mods would go INSANE.XD && I'd go insane with finding insane things to change them withhh.

I think...That we should keep things as it is. Butt, as we did with that one thread wayyy back in the day [I think it was for Christmas], you should put up a thread and see who wants a tag. WAIT. That would be option 3, then? xD

I'm a dimwit. I chose option two by accident. Don't know what I was thinking. Ooopsie. XD I think the choices have already settled it though. xD

*zooms out*

Yeah... not to be rude or anything, but I noticed the people voting to keep things the same are people who already have this stuff. If a n00b wants purple side bar text, why must they wait 3 years? It's good to have things random and from what I read, they'd still stay random. If you request one tag and, what?, 5 months later a random one pops up or your color is changed, that's still fun.

I'm just saying that if you have your max tags and a color, the most you can do now is change them. If you have nothing, you might never get any.

There's probably going to be some angry mob forming as I say this (type). I voted to keep the tags and color giving random. Since it's really fun and I remember how awesome it felt to see my random magically tag for the first time. I think we should keep the random tag giving just that random cause it's such an awesome feeling to discover you've just received a tag and a color change.

Oh Ryan. My thoughts EXACTLY.

Give me my brain back, plzkthnks.

Brain stealer.

Ok so, I'm gonna stop posting here.

See, and I undestand this too! That's what kind of made me hesitate a little. There's a lot of people who are new and would wish for a tag, and most people who want the first option already have a tag. But I'm still sticking with surprise just 'cause, even if you are new, it's so much fun to know that you ARE new and someone noticed you and gave you a tag! But yes, I do understand there's some downside too....

... mainly I just like to debate both sides xDD

Yes, I could see both sides too, ;P

But I have to still side with Fox and Ryan who brought up my thoughts exactly. Even if you aren't new, there are people that have been active around here for over a year and still have never received a tag. Who's to say that they will? They may never get a tag, which is sadly unfortunate... which is why I voted for requests.

Surprises are fun, yes.. but I think it's also necessary to think of people that have never gotten tagged, and may never get tagged or those who only have official tags... I don't think surprises should be "exclusive" to only random =]

I think maybe it would help you realize our thoughts if you had a random tag. I've been in a position of "no tags/post bit colors" before, so I can understand how both sides feel. It's hard for you to abstractly imagine what the one with tags/post bit colors have experienced, though. Once you get your first random, surprise tag, there's an excitement and accomplished feeling there that you just can't replace by knowing of the tag beforehand. In my case, it's not that I don't want a new member to have a tag or pretty colors, it's just that I wish for them to have the same excitement I (and many others) have already been through.

I think the main reason people are voting for number one is because of the tags, not because of the post bit colors (in my opinion, of course). I posted above that I really thought they should have been separated in the poll. It's not AS special and exciting (as tags) to get post bit colors.

Anyway, yes, I'm up to my limit in tags and I voted for number one...BUT, it's mainly because I wish for others to get the same element of surprise I did. I feel like I'd be cheating them out of a great experience if I didn't.

Before I ever received my tag and colored sidebar thingy. I was rather unhappy since I had no clue how everyone else was getting them. So I understand what it's like for those who don't have any tags or anything special. But when I randomly received mine I was so happy and surprise I nearly danced and jumped around. The whole getting to chose your tag sounds rather boring in my opinion. Why you get to choose you're taking away the feeling of surpirse and happiness that getting randomly tagged gives you.

That's my whole reason for chosing number one since to me there's nothing like randomly logging in and discovering you've been tagged and colored.

I like this argument, it's a very excellent point. My tags were official until a few months ago, and getting the Headz&Tailz tag was a very special thing <3 It's not a matter of people who've been on the site never getting a tag, rather, when you finally DO get that tag, doesn't it feel 10x more special?

I think an unexpected tag is more than the surprise, it's just... someone noticed you specially, and singled you out for something special. It's just, I don't think requesting a tag will do justice to the fun it is to recieve it. People want a tag because other people somehow got one, and then, getting it is not the same as earning it. Or I could be just rambling xD I honestly do love debate xDD