Instead of saying, you need 500 posts to access the Advanced Member download area, I personally feel that an alternative method of downloading would be better. For a new user, 500 posts is a lot, especially since the boards aren't that active now. This system rewards people after they accumulate a certain number of posts. To put it in the form of an analogy, it's like receiving a good harvest after toiling for a whole season. Basically, you don't see the result of your hard work until the end of the season itself. It could be discouraging, especially to newbies who are impatient to get started; their frustration to discover that they probably have to wait 50 days (assuming they post 10 posts a day), just to get something "good" ( --- supposing they're good, because they can't even see what's being offered ) isn't all that unreasonable.
My suggestion is that, perhaps we could have a system where each post garners some points, and the longer the post, the more points a user can get, up to a maximum number. Each member can then use these points to buy programs from a program store that displays all the programs that are available (i.e. up to those that are being offered to Advanced Members currently). This actually gives them some sort of motivation to keep active - because they have tangible objects to work for, there is more incentive to get involved in the community.
I still vouch to keep the Private Members as it is, though, so that people who are more into the community as opposed to the cheat programs have something worthwhile to work for as well.
So, what are your opinions? Like I said, this is just an idea off the top of my head, so there might as well be a lot of flaws to this suggestion that I'm still blind to :'D
Still, it feels like there should be something that we can do to help boost the activity within NeoCodex now.
Edited by lock, 15 October 2008 - 09:38 PM.