Mixer signature campaigns aren't the only signature campaigns around. There are other more. Are you saying that removing mixer signatures will kill the ecosystem of the forum? Don't overreact. 
Without problems from mixers, theymos even considered to ban signature advertisements too. Signatures and signature advertisements were not here at beginning so the forum will not be killed even if all signatures are banned.Signature advertisers: suggestions?
Ideas for improving post quality?
Honestly, I find signature advertisements distasteful, and it is not impossible that I will someday ban the practice. However, it's obviously an important part of the forum ecosystem today. So if you use signatures for advertising, what are your suggestions for forum improvements in that area?
For example, one idea I had was to allow users to subscribe to campaigns that other users set up, and then the campaigner could automatically push signature updates to everyone subscribed, and also track exactly when and for how long each user was subscribed. Would this be significantly useful? I'm not all that familiar with how these signature campaigns work, so I'm not sure.
However: the forum will never intermediate these transactions. We will not touch the money involved or perform any sort of "screening", etc. Also, I have no particular desire for the forum to take a cut of sig-ad transactions.
(I'm probably not going to implement anything in this area very soon, but the matter has been on my mind lately, and I wanted to see what people thought.)
For example, one idea I had was to allow users to subscribe to campaigns that other users set up, and then the campaigner could automatically push signature updates to everyone subscribed, and also track exactly when and for how long each user was subscribed. Would this be significantly useful? I'm not all that familiar with how these signature campaigns work, so I'm not sure.
However: the forum will never intermediate these transactions. We will not touch the money involved or perform any sort of "screening", etc. Also, I have no particular desire for the forum to take a cut of sig-ad transactions.
(I'm probably not going to implement anything in this area very soon, but the matter has been on my mind lately, and I wanted to see what people thought.)
What are everyone's ideas for improving post quality?
I have mostly ruled out:
- Removing signatures or sig ads globally.
- Requiring payment to wear sig ads.
- Banning account sales.
A couple of ideas that have been floating around in my head:
1. To attain ranks above Member, you'd have to earn some number of merit points. Merit points would be awarded in a monthly vote on best posts of the previous month, with various measures (TBD) to prevent gaming of the vote. Winning merit points might also come with a BTC prize.
2. Create or designate some sections as "serious discussion" sections, with no signatures. In those sections or maybe in different ones, also have poster restrictions such as Member rank or above only. And/or allow topic-creators to set these restrictions on their topics, similar to selfmod topics.
What do you think of these ideas, and what other ideas do people have?
I have mostly ruled out:
- Removing signatures or sig ads globally.
- Requiring payment to wear sig ads.
- Banning account sales.
A couple of ideas that have been floating around in my head:
1. To attain ranks above Member, you'd have to earn some number of merit points. Merit points would be awarded in a monthly vote on best posts of the previous month, with various measures (TBD) to prevent gaming of the vote. Winning merit points might also come with a BTC prize.
2. Create or designate some sections as "serious discussion" sections, with no signatures. In those sections or maybe in different ones, also have poster restrictions such as Member rank or above only. And/or allow topic-creators to set these restrictions on their topics, similar to selfmod topics.
What do you think of these ideas, and what other ideas do people have?