Update to Developer Forum Entry Process

[olivier_primeau (ZiguezonZinzon)]

Thank you Roblox for the opportunity!

[soulstyce]

Glad participation has been encouraged! Looking forward to seeing the development community expand further.

[X_Z]

@Arcuatus

/ Fear not, @amoeba, for the RDC will probably not become a rat race.

It’s possible that a RDC East is established along with San Francisco and Europe ones to better support the great influx of Developers. This is something which doesn’t sound too far from happening, at least in my view. If that doesn’t happen, they might simply add more spots for the Conventions.

If you don’t know, both RDC’s operate at a loss. It wouldn’t make much sense to host a west and an east conference unless they’re both profitable or if Roblox is willing to sacrifice even more.

[TecmagDiams]

Nice change. As someone who has been forced to ghost the forums since they were made because my applications never got any response despite that when I first applied I activly had a popular game it’s always been something that left me a bit bitter at Roblox.

I’m happy to see a change that will allow more developers an even feild at getting the attention to bugs, feature requests, etc.

[VisionsInMyHead]

What about us who have our secrets in the development workflow to keep our style unique, some of us just dont really want to make tutorials, but some of us we do really like to help those who have questions and need tips (For Example in Building methods)

[FurtiveColt6897]

So that’s why I got a message saying I am now a member of the forum. It’s great to be here.

[NovaCoepta]

I was accepted into the forums recently, but before this new program. I understand how annoying it is to wait nine months to get a response, and all of the pains for both devs and DevRel to let people in. I’m glad that they are making things easier, but based on the activity of some (not all!) of the newly accepted members, the quality of posts seems to have gone down. Some of these posts are removed; some are not. I personally would rather have this system give a “Trial Member” role where they have replying permissions, but before they get full New Member permissions they need to make high quality replies that show they can positively contribute within two weeks of getting “Trial Member”
Obviously this system by itself may not work the best, but I would like to see a little more control on the quality. Also I would still like to see some verification that the person is a developer or really is trying to become one.

[Dekkonot]

You can’t go wrong participating in the community, whether it be by making tutorials or by helping people. Just contribute where you can.

[uhTeddy (Teddy)]

Following @cheeseganon 's post

@cheeseganon

Some games use the devforums for update logs, checking out updates could quickly add up.

Maybe a possible way to do this is by making it so you can only get promoted if you are not viewing the bulletin board and/or make it so likes are a way to engagement. Also I feel someone who is scrolling through the DevForums like myself should possibly get the New Member role because you don’t scroll through the DevForums just to laugh at it, we use it as a resource to inspire, and to create. So I have come up with a list of possible ways on working on this, some of these may already exist as Roblox has not exactly released anything on the criteria needed.

Criteria

• Not allowing posts to the bulletin board’s viewings and likes go towards the credibility of a developer.

• Instead of 100% accepting the developer automatically the system should have the users put on review for what they view is a good applicant. Things to look for would be Read Time, Likes, and How Active. Reason is you don’t want to accept someone who has only read on the devforums for 2 hours.

• Adding an account minimum would be a great thing

like @batcat60 said

@batcat60

maybe add minimum account ages(Ex: 160 days)

that is all I have at this point, I may edit as I educate myself on some more ways to protect the forums.

Now that the forums are automated I feel it makes it insecure and now even the Developer Forums are prone to be a target to the Roblox Bots. Things like a botter having a bot randomly like, and read posts by adding up view time and likes boosting the possibility of getting accepted to the devforums. This would then allow then to post and/or spam posts. Now I know discourse has a detection system built in to it but it is just something to think about.

[AlbusSkywalker]

In my opinion, this new system is great, but it comes with flaws. I’m not sure if anyone’s suggested this yet or if it’s already implemented, but maybe add minimum account ages(Ex: 160 days), minimum number of friends, etc. Something like minimum number of games played or hours of gameplay could work too if ROBLOX records that information.

[cheeseganon]

@batcat60

minimum number of friends, etc

While I agree with more checks for alts, some people try to limit friends to people they are super close to and this isn’t a reliable number since some people (especially newer ones) will just accept any friend request

[AlbusSkywalker]

@cheeseganon I didn’t think about that at first, but now adding on to my suggestion maybe it could be something like the player either has a minimum number of this many friends or a minimum number of games played, etc. Just adding minimum number of friends to the requirements would have flaws, thanks for pointing them out.

[Wingz_Avard (Avard)]

The automated process into accepting New Members into the Developer Forums is something I’ve asked myself, ‘why hasn’t it been implemented??’. Not anymore!
But it’s good to see it officially the process on getting in, as it will help more Developers, big, small, beginner or professional. Participate in the Dev-Forums and the community.

[drager980]

@Lilly_S

The primary reason for this change is to ensure that the Developer Forum continues to be accessible to our ever-growing community of Roblox developers. The forum needs to be able to accommodate the influx of interest in Roblox development.

well isn’t this just the same as the old forums except with less categories and more complicated steps

[Briicks]

Great update in my opinion. Now people can learn more stuff and ask questions, not just browse the forums wishing they could ask/answer a question.

[snewo12]

No wonder I got accepted! I thought it was by applying, but apparently it was by being active on here! Lovely system!

[Mrplunkett (Lol)]

Atleast I still have my entry pass letter thank god.

[RamJoT]

If one of the main arguments against this is that experienced developers would prefer to not have to trawl through the increased list of topics or responses raised by New Members might want to consider asking for an option to filter out responses from New Members in their view so they only see the full members contributions.
Also it might be useful to have a filter that only showed New Members topics/responses so that those more experienced members who do have time and enjoy helping others to learn can target some of their time into helping the New Members progress.

[Avallachi]

Not sure if I get what you mean, but the way I understood the system, you have to prove your worth and that includes being frequently helpful by i.e. providing top-quality responses/replies to topics/posts. A top-contributor may answer your question better.

[Avallachi]

Good point. Though if you’re interested in developing, you can take use of the forums as a learning resource and expect pretty decent replies to whatever question you may have related to development, and not just see it as an elite-club.

As the amount of Roblox developers worldwide increased a lot over the past few years (and is still increasing), the devforum is now going forwards as a learning resource so entry-level developers and even experienced ones can take use of all the helpful information, tutorials and help developers provide on here.