42 minutes ago, Graffiti said:

It's a nice thought but most people who would participate in rates don't hang around the sign up thread (for the very same reasons that have been pointed out). I'd even argue it's been that very action that has dissuaded so many from persuing rates, because they can see how others have been ignored and dismissed or made to feel stupid for their ideas. A rate thread having limited engagement when it goes up shouldn't be an automatic signal to close - the host could organize participants elsewhere. Also would be good to mention all these niche rates that have hundreds of replies in the first 24 hours are the same small group of users going back and forth, not as large a group as it appears. It shouldn't be a convoluted process: someone asks to do a rate, if it's not unreasonable and the host believes they can do it, approve, add to a queue if need be and move along. If it flops, it flops. Who cares? Do we not realize how many pointless flop threads are made day to day? Enough of the hand wringing and "but...you should change this! You could do that instead!," maybe they don't want to! The whole process has been made an unfeasible headache which is why many of us opt to just ask an admin.

I completely agree with you: as far as I would love for the signup rate thread to be an actual space for ALL members to discuss about their rate ideas, it is still far from it. It's important to have conversations (and actions!!) about it, otherwise this loop can never be broken.

I'm firm on saying that a rate IS successful if the host creates a safe place for the balloter(s) to have an absolute blast and, thus, new memories to be fond of. Nobody likes their time and energy spent on submitting their ballot being wasted on a rate hosted by a complete lack of professionalism tbh. Now THAT is indeed a flop rate (the whackings on the host are a kii though)

Your feelings and opinions about it are absolutely valid: I legit cannot imagine the frustration, and the only reasonable thing that I can say is that I'm sorry that you and other members had to go through that... I truly, truly hope that the whole situation takes a new leaf and we find an actual comprimise that is ACTUALLY beneficial for anyone, cause we are missing so many great rate ideas

Btw, still sorry for tagging you for the Florence rate for so long babe, I handled the tags there like a goddamn mess nnnn

not #survivingace

chile is this is why @Treacherous' attempts at a miranda cosgrove rate have not yet succeeded? real ****** up if true

9 hours ago, Treacherous said:

Everyone complaining about D.M.F can simply stop opening his threads/reading his replies and move along with their day

Where was this answer when I was tugging on Nicki's wig years ago?

But yeah @D.M.F should go back to be being permabanned.

Their shtick is old and unfunny.

4 hours ago, Graffiti said:

It's a nice thought but most people who would participate in rates don't hang around the sign up thread (for the very same reasons that have been pointed out). I'd even argue it's been that very action that has dissuaded so many from persuing rates, because they can see how others have been ignored and dismissed or made to feel stupid for their ideas. A rate thread having limited engagement when it goes up shouldn't be an automatic signal to close - the host could organize participants elsewhere. Also would be good to mention all these niche rates that have hundreds of replies in the first 24 hours are the same small group of users going back and forth, not as large a group as it appears. It shouldn't be a convoluted process: someone asks to do a rate, if it's not unreasonable and the host believes they can do it, approve, add to a queue if need be and move along. If it flops, it flops. Who cares? Do we not realize how many pointless flop threads are made day to day? Enough of the hand wringing and "but...you should change this! You could do that instead!," maybe they don't want to! The whole process has been made an unfeasible headache which is why many of us opt to just ask an admin.

What you’re asking for here is fundamentally the process that exists. There are guardrails to maintain order and prevent constant repetition of the same rates, but otherwise, ideas are welcome and hosts are given wide latitude. Besides the queue, which has unfortunately fallen by the wayside, what other changes are needed?

12 minutes ago, supaspaz said:

What you're asking for here is fundamentally the process that exists. There are guardrails to maintain order and prevent constant repetition of the same rates, but otherwise, ideas are welcome and hosts are given wide latitude. Besides the queue, which has unfortunately fallen by the wayside, what other changes are needed?

Well if this is the process that exists, it certainly doesn't seem like it. Perhaps formulating a set of rules in the OP of the sign up thread with feedback from the community would be a good start (why isn't there one in the first place?). As you see from multiple people in here, the flaws are evident and need to be addressed. It also doesn't help that the main target of criticism here (Ace) is ignoring all this. You yourself aren't the problem but he bears a large part of it. His aggressive and flippant attitude towards potential hosts is a big reason no one goes in there. You say hosts are given a wide latitude yet if he doesn't think the community will be interested, the idea is dismissed or nudged in a different direction. I hope you've read all these posts because the criticism has been laid out very clearly.

Idk if this is the place to do it but I would like to personally request :blackoutbaby: to be an emote

If Vin can have one, I fear it's my time too @Rian

22 minutes ago, Graffiti said:

Well if this is the process that exists, it certainly doesn't seem like it. Perhaps formulating a set of rules in the OP of the sign up thread with feedback from the community would be a good start (why isn't there one in the first place?). As you see from multiple people in here, the flaws are evident and need to be addressed. It also doesn't help that the main target of criticism here (Ace) is ignoring all this. You yourself aren't the problem but he bears a large part of it. His aggressive and flippant attitude towards potential hosts is a big reason no one goes in there. You say hosts are given a wide latitude yet if he doesn't think the community will be interested, the idea is dismissed or nudged in a different direction. I hope you've read all these posts because the criticism has been laid out very clearly.

There have been rules governing this process for the nearly 15 years we’ve had rates on the forum. If you feel those need to be spelled out more explicitly, I’m sure we can work on that, but it’s always been fairly simple and mostly about managing the flow and diversity of rates

Otherwise, what are the specific changes to the process that you believe are needed? What I’m seeing in this thread is two people didn’t get to host rates they wanted. Sometimes that happens — because the idea was too similar to something we’ve already done, because the request was missed and no one followed up, because it got placed in the queue and then everyone forgot about it. So if there are bigger issues that should be addressed, I need more information.

ive been on This forum for years and im still dont know what a rate is . when you guys post those threads about ' receipts ' like 'lady gaga : the receipts ' i avoided them for years bc i thought you were all discussing problematic behaviour , do you guys just rate music in them ? Like is that the entire thing ?

1 hour ago, supaspaz said:

There have been rules governing this process for the nearly 15 years we've had rates on the forum. If you feel those need to be spelled out more explicitly, I'm sure we can work on that, but it's always been fairly simple and mostly about managing the flow and diversity of rates

Otherwise, what are the specific changes to the process that you believe are needed? What I'm seeing in this thread is two people didn't get to host rates they wanted. Sometimes that happens — because the idea was too similar to something we've already done, because the request was missed and no one followed up, because it got placed in the queue and then everyone forgot about it. So if there are bigger issues that should be addressed, I need more information.

I think the problems have been spelled out and the specific changes will be up to those in charge. Hopefully strong consideration is taken to everyone's feelings on the matter. Engage the community, ask how things could be done better. Simplifying the process and being more hands off as mods would be a welcome change for everyone.

Why is the entertainment section closed off for guests? It makes it so you can't search for a thread on Google

Did I miss the 143 rate ?

9 hours ago, Click Clack said:

now wait one damn minute

when did @Juánny resign?!

Everyone ignored you...but i'm sat.

Girl, what!

2 hours ago, Graffiti said:

I think the problems have been spelled out and the specific changes will be up to those in charge. Hopefully strong consideration is taken to everyone's feelings on the matter. Engage the community, ask how things could be done better. Simplifying the process and being more hands off as mods would be a welcome change for everyone.

So this was me engaging you as a community member and asking how it could be done better. If you’ve got suggestions, this is your opportunity.

5 hours ago, supaspaz said:

So this was me engaging you as a community member and asking how it could be done better. If you've got suggestions, this is your opportunity.

I mean he said there are no rules in the op so that's one of the specific suggestions… and allowing people to actually do these rates

18 hours ago, Click Clack said:

now wait one damn minute

when did @Juánny resign?!

A few months ago! Still around, but honestly I'd not done very much moderating-wise or even interacting on the board for the last year or so leading up to it. Too much going on irl (: Retirement is a nice load off though

38 minutes ago, Juánny said:

A few months ago! Still around, but honestly I'd not done very much moderating-wise or even interacting on the board for the last year or so leading up to it. Too much going on irl (: Retirement is a nice load off though

Thank you for your service.

The mod squad are air tight for this tea to be spilled months later…I mean someone eventually leaked it but it took awhile for ATRL standards.

Edited August 12Aug 12 by slw84

5 hours ago, Angelshark said:

I mean he said there are no rules in the op so that's one of the specific suggestions… and allowing people to actually do these rates

This is also what I mentioned in the rate thread and here in HQ when I started this discussion a few pages back.

The thread needs a pinned OP with clearly stated rules, just like the individual rate threads have.

That way when people enter the thread and don't understand, someone can link them to the rules and that's the end of it…rather than passive aggressive taunts and dismissals.

I literally stated all of this in both HQ and the Rate thread but it seems because I didn't pander to Ace that my suggestions were ignored whilst others have parroted everything I've already stated clearly.

I come to ATRL to Stan and kii not to play politics. It's a music forum, not the White House.

On 8/9/2026 at 2:24 PM, iC0NIC said:

We need a ban on AI generated posts and threats or at least make them warnable (if they aren't already)

starting to see this for posts that are literally about 3 lines long and really would it not have just been quicker to write the damn post

4 hours ago, Juánny said:

A few months ago! Still around, but honestly I'd not done very much moderating-wise or even interacting on the board for the last year or so leading up to it. Too much going on irl (: Retirement is a nice load off though

The veteran tag is a good fit!

I’m still so lost about this rate discourse? Someone’s unofficial rate got closed and now people think we need to completely change how rates work?

32 minutes ago, khorkina said:

I’m still so lost about this rate discourse? Someone’s unofficial rate got closed and now people think we need to completely change how rates work?

I think there’s some general frustration that everyone can’t just launch whatever rate they want whenever they want. I realize that it may be annoying to have to wait for a turn and disappointing when an idea gets rejected, but we are going to maintain guardrails around this process for the sake of the forum and the rate experience. I added an intro to the thread with more explanation. If there are other constructive suggestions about the process, I welcome the feedback, but if it’s going to be more “I don’t like this, you fix it” complaining, that’s not helpful.

19 hours ago, blackoutbaby said:

Idk if this is the place to do it but I would like to personally request :blackoutbaby: to be an emote

If Vin can have one, I fear it's my time too @Rian

I support it. i’ll do it today.

7 minutes ago, Rian said:

I support it. i'll do it today.

Omg I love you so much king

Okay, back to Xtina threads then. I wonder what it will be today, it's honestly so hilarious and exciting. Honestly it's fine, the same 4 users doing a new niche rate every week telling each other „excatlyyy" and posting 10 posts per hour there are having fun so who are we to ruin it amirite?

15 hours ago, supaspaz said:

So this was me engaging you as a community member and asking how it could be done better. If you've got suggestions, this is your opportunity.

Okay so I see you've updated the OP of the sign up thread. First of all, framing rates as "pitches," in which you & Ace have the final say if an idea is good or not is very offputting language to use. That's been the biggest criticism. Ideally, most rates should be approved and queued regardless of how you feel about them and granted they haven't been done before. Remember that it's the host's taste/feelings that should be prioritized, not your own. Suggestions are welcome, but don't keep pushing if they're set on a theme. Too often what I'll see is Ace forcing his own ideas onto someone else as a prerequisite to approval, that can't keep happening if you want to encourage more people to participate. I'm sure he has no ill intentions in doing so but it's overzealous and has turned many of us off.

In regards to the queue system, this should be organized somewhere off site and kept up to date so the hosts can be easily reminded when their launch is nearing. You could even set up a submission system with Google Forms so everything is in one place and never missed in the thread. The responsibility of mods in the rate process should mainly be ensuring all rates are started promptly rather than picking apart ideas.

A cap on the number of rates one person can host in a given time period so there is a diversity of people and themes and no one is seen as hogging the queue.

Personally, I am for being as hands off with things like this as possible but if there must be rules and guardrails they should at least be reasonable and not seen as discouraging participation.