Introduction:
Roblox has become one of the top video game platforms in the world. With over 120 million concurrent monthly players, no one can deny the fact that Roblox has come a long way from the lego-like game site that first appeared in 2004. With a major surge in playership between 2014 and 2018, much of the Roblox site evolved. Currencies converged, user generated catalog was introduced, builders club traded for premium, the Roblox Studio has become a multi-faceted power house, game developers have become millionaires. Virtually every aspect of the Roblox site has been changed and improved, with the exception of Roblox groups.
Roblox groups have become antiquated. Although they continue to be the center point of Roblox’s social and gaming focus, groups have not received much-needed improvements, and features that allow social community to form around Roblox’s virtual spaces. With this said, Roblox continues to boast in the press that the online communities being formed on Roblox, set the platform apart.
While there are complexities in creating a safe, secure, and effective community system for Roblox’s players, I believe that it is necessary in order for Roblox to continue to grow and truthfully make these claims about the social aspects of the platform.
I have owned and led a Roblox group titled “The Robloxian Christians” since late 2011. Over the course of nine years, I have seen my group swell to over 30,000 members. My Roblox group, coined as an “online church,” has been featured in national publications such as CNN and articles from institutions such as Princeton and Duke because we are using Roblox groups for authentic online community.
As a Roblox developer, community leader, and committed Roblox player, I have seen what works and what does not work. It is my hope that Roblox engineers will look to this thread and help make some of these requests possible. The following are feature requests that I believe will make Roblox groups more effective places of social interaction and online community.
I would also like to echo the requests made in @Lilly_S’s 2014 group overhaul post. Many of those ideas are still applicable and should be considered.
Group Message Alerts
It is currently too challenging to effectively communicate with the members of my group unless they are actively checking the group page to view the group shout.
Groups should be able to send out Personal Message alerts to members that opt-in. (Somewhat like game updates). Groups should send out one message per month, with a subject line, a body, and an optional decal. It would appear in a players’ messages, much like the “News” tab that already exists in Messages.
List View for Members and Join Requests
This is a simple request that would make it much easier for groups to manually view their members and join requests, making it easier to accept or deny requests.
State “Joined Roblox” Date on Join Request
This is one of the most important requests. Many social groups manually accept users into their groups to filter out bots and alternate accounts (those newer than ~ two months). Being able to view the join date on the request will make it much easier for group admins to manually approve join requests.
Multiple Group Discussion (Walls) Forums w/ Titles and Descriptions
Historically, this has been one of the most sought after feature requests. Group leaders should be able to create multiple discussion forums (group walls) with different titles and descriptions. There should also be different settings that allow one wall to be only for users 13+ so that safechat is disabled. A maximum of three discussion forums per group seems reasonable.
Multiple walls allows for more clear and focused discussion on various topics. As an example, one wall could be for introductions, a second could be for discussion about new game features, and a third could be for sharing their favorite moments in-game and making new friends.
More Effective Group Shout
The Group Shout is an essential part of groups. It allows group leaders to give status updates of group events, game updates, promo codes, and more. I request the following changes to the group shout:
-
More Characters Allowed
The current maximum for group shouts is 255 characters. When you want to link Devforum posts or VIP server links to your shout, it is difficult to fit an effective message. -
Preview Before Posting
Far too many times, I have typed out a message and copied and pasted a VIP server link into my group shout just to have the entire message get tagged out. There should be a feature that allows us to view your message as it would send to check for filtered text and check for formatting errors. -
Attach Roblox Images/Decals to Shout
Images are worth 1,000 words. Allow shouts to include small Roblox decals above or below the message. Roblox decals are already moderated when uploaded so it is safe. -
Embed Simple Polls
Many groups would like to engage with their members to see which way the community leans. This feature would embed a simple two or three option poll into the group shout. Results would be available after voting. Much like polls on devforum posts. -
Support VIP Server Links/Embed Roblox Links
This one is common sense. Please do not tag out VIP server links. It would make more sense if there was an optional secondary box to link a roblox.com or devforoum.roblox.com link that would embed into the group shout.
Hard Delete or Archive Group Store Assets
Over time, groups accumulate items in their group store and inventory. Many of these items are old and group owners would like to delete them, but there is no way to permanently delete or hide these items other than taking them off sale. There should be a way to hide or delete items that are not for sale.
Preview Before Sending
Whether it is setting the group description, group role titles, or discussion forum descriptions, there should be an option to preview text before setting. This will allow group leaders to correct filtered text and formatting before sending. Group users should also be able to preview their discussion posts before sending.
Direct Donation to Groups
This is a much-needed feature. Allow groups to enable or disable a feature that would allow users to send any specified amount of Robux to the group. Imagine selecting an amount like how one sets a sell price. The transaction tax would show, and then reveal the total that the group would receive. This would make group donations much more direct and simple.
[
] Change Group Name
This is a long-requested feature for Roblox groups. There are many groups that I have owned over the years that I wish that I could’ve changed the names of. Make this an owner-only feature and add a large cost such as 5,000 or 10,000 R$.
[] No Bot Verification for Group Owner and Admin Roles
This is one of the most annoying things! I am the owner of my group, I should not have to do the
“are you a human?” verification every time I want to post on my group discussion wall or delete a post. Users holding certain roles or permissions should also be exempt from this verification step.
Automatic Role Picker
Group leaders should be able to pick certain group roles that anyone can be a part of. Then there can be a tab on the group page which allows users to select which role they would like. This would work well for fan groups or LGBTQ+ support groups where users select roles that are of interest.
Game Access Based Upon Group Role
Group Games should be able to limit access to group members with certain permissions or roles. For example, a game studio group could have a rank for testers. The game that they are working on would be accessible by those that hold the tester rank.
More Transparent Appeal Process for Locked Groups
This is not so much a web feature request as a group request in general. As a Roblox group owner, I have seen many groups get shutdown and locked, with very little clue as to why. It is my sincere hope that Roblox will find more effective and clear ways of communicating with the owners of locked groups. I also believe there should be a separate online appeal form for Roblox groups that is more direct than sending an email to appeals@roblox and getting lost in the customer service mess.
Rename Group “Wall” to “Discussion”
As a Roblox developer and group owner the language associated with the Group Wall seems antiquated. On the group page, the title of the discussion page is simply “wall.” This does not accurately describe the purpose of the discussion page. In fact, it feels oddly reminiscent of early Roblox where forum use was a key function of Roblox.
This is an easy change that I believe is necessary to better foster community around Roblox groups.
Pin Group Wall Posts
Group owners, and those with permissions, should be able to pin a group wall post so that it displays at the top of the group wall. This way groups can better foster conversation, display chat rules, and explain the purpose of the group wall. The pinned post must be easily switchable with no cooldown time.
Conclusion:
These are the features that I believe are most necessary for Roblox groups should they continue to be the center point between the gaming and social aspects of Roblox. These feature requests will improve how my group and many others operate. It is my hope that these requests will improve the user experience, from the group member level as well as the leader level.
I’d appreciate your comments on these feature requests. If there are others that you would like me to add, please feel free to send me a message or drop them in the replies.
Contact Me
Roblox - danielh253
Discord - danielh#6930
Key:
- Requests that I believe are most important
- Features that have been approved and added/updated.
- Features that have been said will not be added/changed.
