I don''t think a simple time-based ranking would work well. It is far too arbitrary and does not account for the people who read and post only a few times each month, if even that often. I think the rank would be better suited if it indicated the number of posts over the immediate past. In other words, a rank based on the frequency of postings. A period of three weeks sounds about right to me (any other suggestions?) The ranking could be changed daily. Only have a small margin between ranks, though, and have a low "cap" to discourage large ammounts of posting. I was thinking something along the lines of:

- 0 posts over the period = Currently Innactive Member
- 1-5 posts/period = Infrequent Poster
- 6-10 posts/period = Frequent Poster
- 11-16 posts/period = Daily Poster
- 17+ posts/period = Denizen of GameDev

Also, if a person submits a bunch of posts in one day and then doesn''t post for two weeks, it would be nice if that were indicated in their ranking as well:

- 0-2 days between postings = Highly Responsive
- 2-4 days = Moderately Responsive
- 4-7 days = Weekly Responsive
- 7-14 days = Busy with other matters

Obviously these rankings would need further thought, especially since I know of members who each would be a "Denizen of GameDev, Busy with other matters."

well, first we gotta know if the GDNet staff is willing to bring back the ranks at all. They''ve caused quite a headache, you know. But just for the heck of it, here''s another idea: the time spent logged in to GameDev could determine the ranking. And I don;t mean time since registration, but the average time spent on GDNet each day or week.

==============================
"Need more eeenput..."
- #5, "Short Circuit"
Blade Edge Software
==============================

No. Then cable owners would have an unfair advantage over 56K users.


"NPCs will be inherited from the basic Entity class. They will be fully independent, and carry out their own lives oblivious to the world around them ... that is, until you set them on fire ..."
"When you are willing to do that which others are ashamed to do, therein lies an advantage."

Oh drat! He figured out my scheme! Hmmm, I really hadn''t thought about that.

==============================
"Need more eeenput..."
- #5, "Short Circuit"
Blade Edge Software
==============================

Yes, of course. Your plate is full already with many aspects of the board to "fix." We''re merely hypothisizing. (I seemed to have gotten a bit more carried away than others.)

Some of these topics almost belong in the lounge at times, but having them here is a good thing. It creates a sort of catalog of things to do. Now only if there was a way of marking which ones are worth it... (There I go again.)