Keep the membership as private as possible.

kip22s

Froggyforeaz wrote:
minikiwigeek2 wrote:
CST1229 wrote:
IIRC, “themes” currently *is* just cat blocks. It's in the code. Same place where you set language and color mode in the editor.
It is indeed the only theme currently accessible.

Kiwi
wait you get cat blocks when you have membership? or are you just using addons

That isn't how the addons work, so it must be the Membership.

minikiwigeek2

Froggyforeaz wrote:
official part of membership?????

It is indeed an official part of Scratch Membership - I had browser extensions disabled when taking that image.

Kiwi

Za-Chary

coder2310 wrote:
While I know that the membership has only existed for a tiny bit now, the direction that scratch is heading in doesn't seem to be all that good. And the membership might just accel this place right to falure.

Or maybe not and it actually turns out well and I'm just being paranoid.

It's too soon to tell either way, but I'm optimistic that Scratch isn't headed toward failure. It is undeniable that the direction that Scratch is taking is different from the past, and there is no doubt that this will change the Scratch community overall. I'd believe that the community — rather than being better or worse — will simply just be different.

Granted, it is sort of up to each individual user to decide whether the changes are better or worse — but when we look at Scratch as a whole, I don't see these membership changes causing Scratch to outright fail. (6 years ago, people said that Scratch 3.0 would fail … but the community is still strong!)

As an example: these days, is the social media website X better or worse than it was 5 years ago? If it is better, then why do people frequently complain about the changes? If it is worse, then why is it still popular and hasn't failed by now?

Zippy02

Zippy02 wrote:
I agree. I do not like the fact there are placing badges and cat ears on people's profiles. People who are new to the website will misunderstand this feature and believe that this means the scratcher is popular or approved and therefore people are more likely to check their profile and click on their projects. This will just result in having the membership profiles with more followers/views than average.

I have noticed that on some areas of the site, like the forums for example, I can see the cat ears on the user but no other signs showing that the user is a member. Cat ears do NOT show that the user is a member, once again, someone could mistake that “the scratcher is popular or approved”.

I just thought of another piece of criticism: People who are new to the website will also misunderstand the meaning of “member”, they will think it means that the user is a part of the Scratch Team or someone who works on the site/scratch itself and so then again “are more likely to check their profile”.

Also why would I care if a user is a member? Scratch seems to be either highlighting these users for their support/richness or/and that membership perk is “get popular on scratch”. (Although if a lot of scratchers had these perks, then it would likely imply to newcomers that it would be some kind of membership).

Froggyforeaz

minikiwigeek2 wrote:
Froggyforeaz wrote:
official part of membership?????
It is indeed an official part of Scratch Membership - I had browser extensions disabled when taking that image.

Kiwi

So then thats more proof their basically adding “first class scratchers” and “second class scratchers”

rdococ

Za-Chary wrote:
It's too soon to tell either way, but I'm optimistic that Scratch isn't headed toward failure. It is undeniable that the direction that Scratch is taking is different from the past, and there is no doubt that this will change the Scratch community overall. I'd believe that the community — rather than being better or worse — will simply just be different.

The Scratch Team rejected the idea of a paid membership tier with good reason. You don't want to encourage kids to “borrow” their parents' credit cards, subsist on users who forgot to cancel the membership, or promote bullying and classism within the Scratch community, but by backtracking they've opened the floodgates to all of it, and this is a clear moral failing on their part.

Last edited by rdococ (Dec. 17, 2025 18:14:42)

64lu

minikiwigeek2 wrote:
Froggyforeaz wrote:
official part of membership?????
It is indeed an official part of Scratch Membership - I had browser extensions disabled when taking that image.

Kiwi

on this note this is a really small nitpick sorry can i suggest maybe retaking the screenshot in this post you made since it has the status text from your browser extension in it thanks

mingo-gag

I have to mention now that the Cat Ear's exist Scratch Cat is now front facing.

kip22s

mingo-gag wrote:
I have to mention now that the Cat Ear's exist Scratch Cat is now front facing.

That looks so cursed

cybersteve547

mingo-gag wrote:
I have to mention now that the Cat Ear's exist Scratch Cat is now front facing.

i fear no man.
but that thing…
it scares me.

PaperMarioFan2024

mingo-gag wrote:
I have to mention now that the Cat Ear's exist Scratch Cat is now front facing.

I feel like I just witnessed horror
right in front of me

Y3see

Yes, I do agree with this. This website is directed to people of all ages; including children. Adding those rank icons and badges and banners makes it feel like a premium rank you need to have to look good and does not go into the motif of an educational website.

Olimon7661

mingo-gag wrote:
I have to mention now that the Cat Ear's exist Scratch Cat is now front facing.

this is wrong on so many levels
i'm on mobile so this looks so much worse

pippy2011eight

Olimon7661 wrote:
mingo-gag wrote:
I have to mention now that the Cat Ear's exist Scratch Cat is now front facing.
this is wrong on so many levels
i'm on mobile so this looks so much worse

What the- #changebackscratchcat

EngineerRunner

why don't they just sell good merch

esmars26

“Member” is almost the same as “Verified Scratcher,” and it is definitely going to be a source of division. The ST is going against their own rejected suggestion.

Plus:

The “Member” badge makes project titles go to the next line (in the “What I've Been Doing” section), preventing more activity from being shown.
There is misleading advertisement on the sprites included with membership:
Donating is different than purchasing a membership.
The “Member” badges are quite small and illegible.
The amount of badges––especially in certain forums, like Announcements––is just obnoxious.

Elijah999999

mingo-gag wrote:
I have to mention now that the Cat Ear's exist Scratch Cat is now front facing.

0__0

thedolphin_

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! This is the end of Scratch!

mingo-gag

thedolphin_ wrote:
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! This is the end of Scratch!

I thought they said the same thing when people say the moderation was “AI” without providing a source to prove that.

thedolphin_

EVERYBODY TURN OFF UR CAT EARS!

Discuss Scratch