@Ayespy said in Webmail Privilege Requirements via the Reputation System:
@heymtj If you have a better way to prevent Vivaldi WebMail from being used as a spam factory (thereby destroying the utility of the service), you are welcome to propose it.
The system to earn webmail has literally nothing at all to do with the popularity (or lack thereof) of a user's posts. (there are things like sync, blogging, participating in Vivaldi Social) that contribute to your earning webmail irrespective of whether anything you post in the forums will be construed as "negative" or "positive" feedback. There are users here who have earned webmail and whose input is almost purely negative. Practically all they do is complain, slag and insult Vivaldi and and point out how the devs are doing it wrong, everyone else is doing it better, yet here they are.
You can't get webmail instantly with a new user profile essentially because there's no way to prove it's you without management themselves violating Vivaldi's privacy policies.
Webmail at this point amounts to an insider perk. If a person can't be bothered to invest a few hours participating as a Vivaldi community member, yet they simply MUST have webmail, then they'll have to turn to one of the several free webmail offerings on the web - offerings from companies that are using user's webmail accounts to generate income, unlike Vivaldi, for whom providing webmail service is a pure economic loss.
First, let me just thank you for responding and allowing for a discussion around this in this way. It's apparent that the team cares. I understand the dynamics of users and developers (basically my entire life-consuming day job) and so I totally 100% understand that it can be life draining to consistently feel the erosion of your spirit for all the negative feedback.
However, I think the impetus of my message may be obfuscated here by the webmail access thing. My point is rather more specifically how this sort of feedback is being met by the talented and dedicated Vivaldi team. I'm sure, while annoying at this point for you, that you receive many of these messages every day.
Please, do not misconstrue anything I've said here as an attack on the team at Vivaldi specifically, rather just I think it's imperative to the health of any community to point out the sort of image that it is starting to cultivate. If, after what I've said has been said, the team can decide whether or not to take the feedback and do anything about it. People just do not need to be told the things they know over and over. There are just much better ways to receive these messages than the way I've been seeing across the forum.
Secondly, the problem isn't so much that there is any sort of issue with a requirement to participate in the community on the surface of it, but if that community is combative, rigid, and (seemingly from the outside) deaf to that feedback, it does not encourage it. Clearly there is a grind here and I think it bears constant scrutiny to find that balance of security, pragmatism, and avoiding isolating the people supporting the product.
I understand not wanting to allow users access to the email side of things and where you are coming from on this. Further, I understand not wanting to allow the purchase of merch or a donation to get someone a perk like webmail. There's always the worry of slippery slope here, but I also think it's an option. The longer I think about it the more I love the problem for its wrinkles.
That being said, I'd love the change to come up with a few solutions and present them here. Let me know if creating another thread, adding to a different thread, or just keeping this here would be most beneficial.
Brainstorming, here. Likely things everyone has thought of and maybe some that haven't been taken under real consideration.
Keep in mind that I don't know that there is a one size fits all solution here, but I am interested in possibly supplementing your current 1 option system with something that might allow for some flexibility.
Pay for it - I'm sure this has been discussed, but if there was a monthly subscription, or some sort of license (side note could be sold on the vivaldi webstore), for something like a 10 GB storage plan just for email or something, I personally would be willing to pay for it as I am now at an age where I can afford to support the products and services I believe in. It seems like all the infrastructure is essentially there for this too.
*Donation tier?
Allow for username changes but do it in a way that discourages abuse of that system. I would even pay for this. MMOs do this all the time and their mission isn't a millionth of as important as I believe Vivaldi's is. I think FFXIV charges
Add more transparency?
Give people purpose once they sign up to participate. Currently there are little hints and nudges, but I wonder if there could be some sort of benefit. Even silly gamified tiers? Spitballing here.
I think that the value proposition is in the all-encompassing nature of the product, but if you don't offer the email portion of it then I think it makes the product feel incomplete.
I personally find it very difficult to participate in the communities of all the places that want me to participate in them. Also, since I find it difficult to participate, when I do it's because I feel very passionately about the thing, and thus throw myself into the fray. Since I'm newer to posting regularly, and am willing to do so, would anyone in the know explain if there is any sort of culture or community opinion around vivaldi offering some paid services to offset or cover the cost of things like email and such? If there is, I'm super interested to hear the history on that if anyone has time (different thread or PM of course).
Anyways, probably have too much to say in one post here. Thanks all.
EDIT: Y'all probably going to regret asking me to participate 😆
