Ideas
Commissions Rating/Feedback System
The key to a successful commercial platform is safety in the flow of money-- that, and a core set of popular content creators.
FurryNetwork is heading in the right direction with its existing Commission system, but a feedback system would allow both creators and commissioners to get an idea of whether or not they should expect a good experience from the other party. This would pair well with a verified artist system as mentioned in an earlier idea of mine.
This idea was inspired by Amazon, Ebay, and other commerce platforms. The FN system must differ, however, because of the smaller user base. Averages aren't as stable a predictor, and each review matters more. Reviewers must be accountable for their reviews, and their subjects must have some manner of appeals process.
Just some thoughts.
Customer support service by UserEcho
I really like this idea!
Thank you! ♥
I would back this only if I knew that some staff would be dedicated towards making sure it's not abused. Amazon and eBay both suffer from people abusing their review systems, and with how drama-filled the furry community is, I see little chance of it avoiding this fate without some dedicated effort.
I would also advise spelling out the rules of such a system VERY carefully. There have been some incidents between Asian furs and their commissioners that caused a lot of pain for both sides, simply due to intense culture clash, and could have been avoided if the rules were better stated.
You make a lot of good points. To be sure, these are problems inherent in any commercial platform. I think these are problems beyond my capacity to solve right in this window. However, given the time and resources to do it right, this would almost guarantee FN's success as the Furry platform.
There will be rules to read before one can order or sell commissions - appears as a planned feature: http://support.furrynetwork.com/topics/57-etiquette-guide-before-sellingbuying-commissions/
And if they're already planning to make sure commissions work out peacefully, a rating system shouldn't be much extra work, it's the same bad apples who are awful commissioners/artists who would make wrongly filed reviews. And of course, only a commissioner should be able to write a review.
Coinsidering the pros and cons the review system is still ultimately a good thing. Since atm all the mean artists and commissioners get away with it and people suffer over and over again with them :P
We're currently planning to have this implemented before the full site launch.