Monthly "override" tokens

Nyingen's "lock-override token" proposal

This proposal differs from Starchaser's "currency" proposal in that the tokens I describe are not transferable, cannot be earned, and are distributed equally (but remain scarce), so I've put this on its own page.

Starchaser's idea is here, please read both!

The problem:

On the old Necta, if you missed a replay of a popular song, you were out of luck for several weeks, possibly over a month depending on the song's rating. Starchaser's proposed lock system addresses part of this, but there are several scenarios in which it would be nice for users to be able to temporarily ignore the lock system and queue a tune anyway:

• A tune is being discussed, but it happens to be locked;
• You really want to hear one of your favourite tunes, but it was last played when you were asleep and now it is locked;
• You noted that one of your favourite tunes will be unlocked in 2 days; 4 days later you go to queue it but it turns out someone already played it and now it's locked again;
• A demo party just happened but you missed the first replays of the best tunes;
• You have come across a tune in the DB that looks interesting, but it happens to be locked; you will likely forget about it before it becomes unlocked;
• You have guests over for dinner and All Your Base is locked;
• Someone on oneliner is asking questions like "do you guys remember this one tune that was a parody of 'I won't let the sun go down on me?" "Oh, you mean this one?"

All these scenarios presume that you really want to queue the tune.

My solution:

I propose a system in which each user gets one or two "override tokens" each month or so. An override token can be used to queue a tune regardless of its lock status. The specific rules I envision would be like this:

• Each user receives a ration of tokens per time interval. Monthly, Bi-monthly, semi-annually perhaps.
• The tokens are not transferable.
• The tokens do not accumulate.
• Reqs made by token would appear in the queue with highlighting or an icon, and the usage would be logged.
• The tokens are a privilege, not a right.
• Starchaser suggests that songs should not ever be able to be queued again until at least a few hours have passed. Admittedly it would be pretty silly to have Second Reality Part II played twice back to back.

The fundamental idea is to "soften" the lock system. The lock system was a huge source of frustration on the old necta, and it's not an easy problem to solve. One way of looking at this token system is that it means that locked or banned tunes aren't completely locked or banned; if you really want to, you can sometimes queue one!

An additional idea is that only users who have made some kind of small, one-time monetary donation to the site are eligible for the tokens. Aside from helping run the site a little bit, it also prevents users from easily creating second accounts to abuse the system, and prevents random new users from trolling everyone immediately. Consider it a "speed bump" of sorts. US$5 perhaps.

Objections and counter-objections:

• What if people use this to queue horrible monstrosities like "Waffles" or 15-minute long 1-star tunes from artists we generally don't like?
• • If it's a consistent problem with a particular user, their access to tokens can be revoked.
• • If some tunes should really just never be played, they should have a special "super-banned" status, and tokens can't be used to request them.
• What if people barter the tokens by messaging each other? "Hey, you req this for me and next time I'll req something for you". Doesn't that make them transferable?
• • Maybe, but that's a lot more work than just clicking a button to hand over a token. Doing this to the extent that it would have a big effect on the site would have to involve a lot of people. I think it's worth trying the system and seeing whether this actually happens.
• What if people repeatedly queue "hit" tunes like Second Reality Part II?
• • Even if this happens, I don't think people mind hearing the likes of Engima a bit more often, right?
• So we have to give money to the site to get all the features?!
• • I don't think this is such a big deal. A little perk for serious users, and it keeps the dangerous weapon out of the hands of random people who may happen to show.
• How do we decide which tunes might be "super-banned"? Isn't this the same problem we had in the first place?
• • Not exactly. To reiterate, the main problem I perceive with the song-locking system is the binary nature of it. "Locked" or "not locked"; no other categories. "Banned" tunes were really just locked permanently. Many banned tunes on the old necta were banned due to overuse of commercial samples, too much bad language, very poor musicality, being failed experiments, or just general lack of appreciation. I think it's actually good for the site if someone who really wants to queue one of these from time to time may do so. A few tunes, though, may be in the database but really never ought to be played under any circumstances, and we should have a special status for that.

Comments appreciated, either here or on the chat channels.