[Wasn't quite sure where to post this]
I've decided I really want to make an attempt at an RPG Mod. However I have a feeling this is going to be a HUGE project for someone like me who started learning PHP -- er, yesterday. I know how to make a "Hello World" script or to pass variables from a form on one page to a document on the next, and really thats it.
I was really hoping a few people might be able to help me with all this -- basically here's the plan (listed in the order I'd like to implement the feature):
1) Auto-assigned Points: Posting (and later, other actions) will have an Experience Points Value, specified by the admin. This point value will be applied toward the user's running "experience" total which will be displayed in the info box to the left of a post. For this I will need to figure out how to make a table in the user's record in the database for Experience.
2) Admins (and moderators if the admin allows them too) can manually assign points to a user. They can either do this by manually editing the user's Experience Points total in the user's profile, or by clicking on an Admin-only option on the post to assign an amount to the post itself.
3) Membergroups instead become Levels. A Member's level increases when they hit the admin-specified exp points required for that level. (Level 4 might be 1200 points, Level 8 might be 5600 points.)
4) Users rating: Members can rate other members using a Poll-like scale. The options and associated points value would be set by the Admin. For example:
In rating this Member, please ask yourself:
How considerate are they of other members?
Do their posts contribute to the community or present useful information?
Rate this Member:
- Excellent [This might add 50 exp points]
- Very Good [This might add 40 exp points]
- Good [This might add 25 exp points]
- Fair [This might add 5 exp points]
- Poor [This would add no exp points]
5) Karma: Rating members would also have a direct influence on a sliding-scale variable called "karma" which would have a value from 1 to 10, based on how the user was rated by other users, and also by the frequency of their posts. The default value would be 5 (equivalent to "Good" on the scale)" and it would increase or decrease based on user ratings and being above or below a certain number of posts in a running month.
Karma would influence the
rate at which a member's experience points increased. For example, if posting a message in an ordinary thread gives the user 100 points, and that user had a karma of 8, they might actually receive, say, 112 points... a 12% increase... whereas if Karma was 1, they might only receive 96 points, a 4% decrease. (I'm basing this, for example sake, on each point above or below 5 being worth a 4% increase or decrease. Perhaps this could be adjusted exponentially, or at least altered on a per-level basis... or just specified by the admin.)
6) All of these things could be displayed using graphical bars, as they are in existing mods for iKonboard and vBulletin, but that wouldn't be necessary. Instead each post could simply display the user's Level and Karma, and keep their experience points private. Or display the level and experience but not karma, or show all three, or just show level or show nothing at all, depending on the Admin's preference.
Sheesh -- like I said, a lot of work. If someone else wants to do all this for me and call it their Mod instead of mine, PLEASE feel free to have at it -- just let me know so I don't have to waste my time.
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