Let's separate script requests into free and paid categories

Site Feedback
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The issue is simply about streamlining the site and making it more transparent. When somebody asks for something it shouldn’t be a mystery what they’re willing to offer, and if somebody is willing to provide it shouldn’t be a mystery what they will ask for in return.

The solution is that the free scripts category has its own script requests and the paid scripts category has its own script requests lol.

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I see the benefits and issues with it honestly, I do feel like most scripters at least do this as a side hussle if not their main source of income.

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Which is fine by me. I have no interest in taking away from anyone’s income. As I said, I believe this would benefit those that do this as a side hustle or their main source of income.

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Care to share what recent anecdote has made you to demand these changes?

cat

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Lol, that’s what you’ve been typing for the last hour!? You’re killing me Falafel.

I’m not demanding anything, and it’s not about me. I’ve only made one script request and that was in February of 2021. This is the site feedback category, and I’m suggesting an improvement that has been in the back of my head for years.

When the site first started, a script request was just kind of assumed to be a request for a free script. Back then, even when anyone of any trust level could make script requests, separating the script requests wouldn’t have served much of a purpose. As the site has grown, that’s changed. There are a lot more members who script for money. There are also a lot more members that only script for money. Whether that’s good or bad for the site is a different topic so I’m begging everyone to please not address that here. What I have noticed with these changes is that the script requests category has started to become this weird grey zone that exists in this unnatural state between the free and paid categories, and you never know what’s going to come out of it until the script is revealed. This is an open and honest place, and that part of the site has just started slowly feeling a little less open and honest.

I come here everyday and leave comments and write dumb stuff that’s at least funny to me because I always want to make this place better. That’s still my same motivation for why I want to suggest this improvement.

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I tried to came up with something but found it hard to put together. So I thought I’d ask what you are after lol. I shared many opinions with you though I have a mixed feeling towards your suggested approach.

Jumbled thoughts

I think #free-request will be different from the good old Script Requests.

I also think a #paid-request category just won’t work out very well.

  • Scripters charge differently for their premium scripts. Will their price satisfy the OP?
  • If the OP is satisfied, how about others that voted on the topic? Will they be satisfied?
  • I want to pay $15 to have a scene scripted and shared for free with the community. Which category should I make my request in?
  • I ideally want a Free Scripts. However I am also fine with Paid Scripts as long as they offers a fair price. Which category should I make my request in?
  • I’m a scripter. I scripted a scene in #free-request (either intentionally or coincidentally) . But I want to release it in Paid Scripts. Should I notify the requester the existence of my script? (It’s quite cheap! Just half a buck!)

Due to these complexities, and an even more cluttered browsing experience brought by an additional category, I would rather retain the simplicity and inclusiveness of a general Script Requests. Just let people state things clear in their topic for the sake of transparency. Hope that’s not too difficult.

TL;DR: I don’t think we can properly divide the request category down into the opposition of free and paid, and I doubt the new paid category will serve its purpose well. I’d rather keep Script Requests simple and inclusive.

Also, looking at the recent lack of moderator response in Site Feedback, I can’t really expect much changes to happen to this site. We’ve agreed on a longer life for script requests. Nothing has been done about it to this day.

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TL/DR: There is no TL/DR. I’m less than optimistic that much will change right now so this is for some future generation of mods, who wish to improve the site, to consider.

I do not propose a change to the meaning of a script request.

No reason for this to change. I think that’s great.

No reason for this to change either. I think that’s wonderful. When it comes to script variations, I have always advocated for the more the merrier.

I love the community spirit here. I hope this never changes. This is one of the reasons I argued for script requests to remain open forever, but that’s a topic for a different discussion.

That’s for the OP to decide. I’m not their keeper nor do I have access to their wallet.

I don’t know. That’s for them to decide. I would like to point out that once a request is marked as fulfilled, all of the votes are released. There’s nothing to prevent them from contributing those votes to a new request that satisfies them, but as I keep saying this isn’t a departure for how things work now.

Great question! You’re willing to pay more than $0. Therefore you would post it in the “Paid Script Requests” category. That’s very generous of you to do this for the community. Just make sure it’s alright with the scripter that you share the script, but this topic isn’t about the site rules for sharing commissioned work.

That’s understandable. You would simply crosspost as “Free Script Requests” and “Paid Script Requests.”

Sure, why not? It sounds like a great deal! Your scripts are great so I hope they pick it up. Obviously though they’re under no obligation to buy your script or even close out the request since they may still be looking for a free script.

It seems obvious to me that this would declutter and simplify the browsing experience while maintaining just as much inclusivity. For instance, when this site first started we did not have a paid scripts section. The OP had to explain that the script was for sale, how and where to buy it, and use a paid-script tag. Even at such an early stage of the site’s development, placing free and paid scripts into their own categories made a huge impact in overall user experience. I will say more about this at the end.

I agree. It’s disappointing, and why I haven’t bothered to bring this up for a very long time. I hope one day this changes. Personally I prefer to just be the “relentless positivity guy” rather than the “hey let’s change things guy” because I’m sensitive and generally conflict averse and change has a way of upsetting people. I believe however it’s the responsibility of every individual within a community to propose improvements when they see they can be made. Today I’m choosing to do something rather than nothing. If you have suggestions for more productive channels where I could suggest this site improvement, I would appreciate the advice.

FURTHER EXPLANATION

During this discussion I have heard multiple variations of something along the lines of, “I don’t think this is a good proposal, but I’m struggling to explain why.” Perhaps this indicates a failure on my part to fully describe my proposal, and what it would look like in practice. @Falafel Your points above have helped me see this error, and I hope my responses have helped demonstrate that it does not change what a script request is or how they work. Allow me to describe four examples of how this would look in practice.

Below I have four script requests:

  1. Script Request #1 - I would like to get this scripted as soon as possible, and I would like to skip the free scripts section. Because I’m willing to pay something, also known as more than 0, this request goes directly to the Paid Script Requests category.
  2. Script Request #2 - I do not care if it’s a paid or free script. This script request gets crossposted as Free Script Requests and Paid Script Requests.
  3. Script Request #3 - I only want a free script. This script request goes directly to the Free Script Requests category.
  4. Script Request #4 - I only want another free script. This script goes directly to the Free Script Requests category. However, after some time has passed nobody has shown an interest in it and I decide that I’m willing to pay something to get it scripted. I then move my script request over to the Paid Script Requests category.

With regards to adding to the clutter and making the user experience more confusing, in this instance I again took for granted that I saw this proposal as clearly doing just the opposite. Allow me to run through four user experience scenarios:

  1. You want to scroll through nothing but script requests and you do not care if they’re for paid or free scripts:
    This would be nearly an identical experience to doing the same thing with the scripts category today. Currently if you want to look at scripts, you open the scripts category, and as you scroll you see all of the scripts that have been made with a colored indicator for their sub-category (free vs paid). Following this same format, you would open script requests, and as you scroll you see all of the script requests that have been made with a colored indicator for their sub-category (free vs paid). Other than a colored indicator, there is no additional information or any type of clutter to overwhelm the user. If someone finds a small colored indicator overwhelming, then they couldn’t have made it this far into the internet. This would be a nearly identical experience, and clutter, as scrolling through “Script Requests” today.
  2. You want to make a paid script so you only want to scroll through Paid Script Requests:
    You open the Paid Script Requests category in the similar way that you can directly open up the Paid Scripts category. Everything you see will only be requests by members who are willing to pay for scripts. This is less clutter than the current state of script requests.
  3. You want to make a free script so you only want to scroll through Free Script Requests:
    You do everything stated above just in the Free Script Requests category. This is less clutter than the current state of script requests.
  4. You are not looking for anything in particular, but are just scrolling through your home timeline that includes all topics and categories:
    You will see everything posted just the same as you do now. Nothing more. Nothing less.

BONUS: Just like everything else on the site right now, you would be able to mute these categories individually which could further clean up your feed. I imagine this might be very useful for a scripter that only makes paid scripts to mute the Free Script Requests category so they can focus on what will make them the most money. Conversely, someone who has no interest in ever buying scripts could choose to mute the Paid Script Requests category.

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