What if Scratch had a new rank that Scratchers could strive for? We have New Scratcher, which is earned by default when you create an account. After that, you need 3 shared projects, a ton of comments, and you need to have been on Scratch for two weeks to become a Scratcher. What if the ST created a new set of requirements for a new rank called Pro Scratcher?

As of right now, once you become a Scratcher, most everyone's main goal is to get popular by creating projects. And the most common way people get popular is by getting their projects featured or curated. Well, as people soon find out, it's very difficult to get either of those. There's a really small chance, in fact. What if we could add ANOTHER goal for people to try to reach, a bit lower than the featured/curated goal, but also a bit more than the goal for Scratcher?

This would inspire people to strive for that, instead of giving up hope because they can't earn a featured or curated project. Do you guys support this? If so, what do you think the requirements should be? I say at least 500 love-its, at least 300 favorites, and at least 50 followers, PLUS all the requirements to become a regular Scratcher. In doing this, we can inspire users to keep trying, instead of giving up on getting featured or curated. So, are you guys with me, or what?

Hmm… this sounds intresting. Maybe there could also be a list on the front page of ProScratchers, and what it takes to be there. There could also be a ProScratcher ask box, where new people input a question and it sends it to a random ProScratcher. I support!

Stealthstar101 wrote:

Hmm… this sounds intresting. Maybe there could also be a list on the front page of ProScratchers, and what it takes to be there. There could also be a ProScratcher ask box, where new people input a question and it sends it to a random ProScratcher. I support!

Thanks, and good idea!

Support. Alot of it.

It seems like game badges in the sense that people will brag about it. So, if it's easier to get than you described it, support.

No support. The point of “New scratcher” is to show that they are new, and as a result. Most likely don't know the rules and culture of scratch to a significant extent. Being a scratcher means you are no longer new and are accustomed the culture and rules. I don't see how ranks like the one suggested would fit in. Not to mention that becoming a scratcher has nothing to with favourites and followers, so I don't see why any rank should be affected by this.

Superandultra wrote:

No support. The point of “New scratcher” is to show that they are new, and as a result. Most likely don't know the rules and culture of scratch to a significant extent. Being a scratcher means you are no longer new and are accustomed the culture and rules. I don't see how ranks like the one suggested would fit in. Not to mention that becoming a scratcher has nothing to with favourites and followers, so I don't see why any rank should be affected by this.

Because it's a goal to strive for that's less than being featured or curated. Haven;t you ever been to that point where you give up hope on achieving something new? Lots of others have. I just think this should be implemented so that we CAN give people something new to strive for.

No support. The point of scratch is to learn, not to get a special rank and brag about it. The requirements will make people think that scratch is all about popularity. (which it isn't.)

The point of Scratch is to make stuff, not to get new exciting things. 0% support.

Support. I think I am on Scratch a lot less now that I am a Scratcher. There should be an award or something for Pro Scratchers.

No support, we're not here to compete.

No support, but I do think there should be something to strive for. Just not a rank.
Most people never get featured, not until a long time after they join. It can be a long and lonely process to get better at Scratch…
Maybe there should be a medal/achievement system of sorts?
It'd be a nice motivator, something only visible to yourself.

Polaris- wrote:

No support, but I do think there should be something to strive for. Just not a rank.
Most people never get featured, not until a long time after they join. It can be a long and lonely process to get better at Scratch…
Maybe there should be a medal/achievement system of sorts?
It'd be a nice motivator, something only visible to yourself.

Exactly! So why not a rank?

PrincessPanda_test_ wrote:

No support, we're not here to compete.

It's not a matter of competing… People find themselves in a position of boredom and/or sadness because they can't get a featured or curated project. If we give them something to strive for,Scratch actually has another purpose for them.

Aboot4 wrote:

Superandultra wrote:

No support. The point of “New scratcher” is to show that they are new, and as a result. Most likely don't know the rules and culture of scratch to a significant extent. Being a scratcher means you are no longer new and are accustomed the culture and rules. I don't see how ranks like the one suggested would fit in. Not to mention that becoming a scratcher has nothing to with favourites and followers, so I don't see why any rank should be affected by this.

Because it's a goal to strive for that's less than being featured or curated. Haven;t you ever been to that point where you give up hope on achieving something new? Lots of others have. I just think this should be implemented so that we CAN give people something new to strive for.

No, I haver gotten to that point because I have never used scratch in an achieving manner, instead i use it in a learning and discovering manner. As a matter Scratch already has something that scratchers should strive for and that's learning programming more and more. Not gaining a piece of text marking that scratcher as superior. And another problem, what would that scratcher than strive for once he/she has obtained that rank? Then they're back at this position again, having “nothing” to strive for.

Aboot4 wrote:

Polaris- wrote:

No support, but I do think there should be something to strive for. Just not a rank.
Most people never get featured, not until a long time after they join. It can be a long and lonely process to get better at Scratch…
Maybe there should be a medal/achievement system of sorts?
It'd be a nice motivator, something only visible to yourself.

Exactly! So why not a rank?

Because a rank would be very controversial. Everyone would want to get it instead of actually, you know, making worthwhile projects.
We don't want a community built around ‘getting a rank’, becoming ‘popular’, or ‘becoming good’.

Superandultra wrote:

Aboot4 wrote:

Superandultra wrote:

No support. The point of “New scratcher” is to show that they are new, and as a result. Most likely don't know the rules and culture of scratch to a significant extent. Being a scratcher means you are no longer new and are accustomed the culture and rules. I don't see how ranks like the one suggested would fit in. Not to mention that becoming a scratcher has nothing to with favourites and followers, so I don't see why any rank should be affected by this.

Because it's a goal to strive for that's less than being featured or curated. Haven;t you ever been to that point where you give up hope on achieving something new? Lots of others have. I just think this should be implemented so that we CAN give people something new to strive for.

No, I haver gotten to that point because I have never used scratch in an achieving manner, instead i use it in a learning and discovering manner. As a matter Scratch already has something that scratchers should strive for and that's learning programming more and more. Not gaining a piece of text marking that scratcher as superior. And another problem, what would that scratcher than strive for once he/she has obtained that rank? Then they're back at this position again, having “nothing” to strive for.

Good point.

Polaris- wrote:

Aboot4 wrote:

Polaris- wrote:

No support, but I do think there should be something to strive for. Just not a rank.
Most people never get featured, not until a long time after they join. It can be a long and lonely process to get better at Scratch…
Maybe there should be a medal/achievement system of sorts?
It'd be a nice motivator, something only visible to yourself.

Exactly! So why not a rank?

Because a rank would be very controversial. Everyone would want to get it instead of actually, you know, making worthwhile projects.
We don't want a community built around ‘getting a rank’, becoming ‘popular’, or ‘becoming good’.

That's why you make the requirements for it high - so they HAVE to get it with worthwhile projects.

I do not support this. Scratch is about programming (i.e. not social competition), and the New Scratcher rank only exists to combat spam. We should not create social status any more than we absolutely have to, as we want to encourage cooperation between users, not fighting to see who can get a higher status sooner, as that distracts people from what the original purpose of Scratch is.

Also, I (and many other people) have said this many times: Scratch is not about achieving “fame” (whether you define it by comments, views, love-its, etc.). Giving this status would change what people try to achieve. Also, keep in mind that the amount of views and love-its that a user gets is not really dependent on the quality of the project. It depends on how many people know that user, how well the user advertises, etc. Once again, we want to encourage programming and not advertising.

No support per above.