This feels like something needed to keep the site secure. After all, preventing New Scratchers from getting pfps would prevent trolls getting them through normal means, thus preventing incidents. If a New Scratcher tries to get a pfp, a message could pop up saying “ Sorry, you must be a Scratcher to change your profile picture ”.

Why
How is it more secure

I do not think it’s a good idea — A pfp is a way to express themselves, and contain information or linkings; such as anime, drawing, or the furry fandom.

For example, what would you expect from a person with a mathematical pfp? Mathematical projects, or interests, at first glance.
What about someone with an aesthetic pfp? Aesthetic proects (again, at first glance)

Thus, removing someone’s right to change their pfp to match them or their personality is like forcing people to not have a way to express themselves easily, which can lead to frustration.

I agree with jmdzti_0-0. You can tell 2 big things about me from my pfp. I'm a Straight ally and I like zelda. That's a lot of info

hydrofungus wrote:

Why
How is it more secure

To stop trolls. (edited my response since I'm nervous if its kinda rude)

jmdzti_0-0 wrote:

Thus, removing someone’s right to change their pfp to match them or their personality is like forcing people to not have a way to express themselves easily, which can lead to frustration.

You have a point, but it isnt a permanent removal of the ability to get a pfp, it's just that right being delayed until the Scratch Team can know they're trusted to NOT switch it to something inappropriate. Profile descriptions can also be used aside from PFPs.

Plus, unlike the profile descriptions, there can't be any sort of filter detecting problematic content ofc.

jmdzti_0-0 wrote:

I do not think it’s a good idea — A pfp is a way to express themselves, and contain information or linkings; such as anime, drawing, or the furry fandom.

For example, what would you expect from a person with a mathematical pfp? Mathematical projects, or interests, at first glance.
What about someone with an aesthetic pfp? Aesthetic proects (again, at first glance)

Thus, removing someone’s right to change their pfp to match them or their personality is like forcing people to not have a way to express themselves easily, which can lead to frustration.

I 100% agree. Profile pictures are a good way to express yourself.

Like for example, my pfp. It's blue.
So you can already tell my favorite color is blue.
(And it is)

And like jmdzti_0-0 said, If we took this opportunity away from New Scratchers, we are basically taking away the ability for them to change their pfp to something that matches them or their personality. Or, in other words, taking away the ability to express them easily. Which can definitely lead to frustration.
Like, with the default pfp we have, it doesn't really express the user's interest or personality. I would have definitely been mad if I couldn't change it when I was a New Scratcher. Not having the ability to express yourself like all the Scratcher-ranked Scratchers out there would be awful.

No support.

I'm actually not entirely opposed to this suggestion. It could be a good way to prevent trolls from spreading bad images through the website. Scratchers in the past have noted that if an account is banned/deleted, there are still some locations where their inappropriate profile picture may appear, and so this suggestion could help prevent that from happening.

jmdzti_0-0 wrote:

Thus, removing someone’s right to change their pfp to match them or their personality is like forcing people to not have a way to express themselves easily, which can lead to frustration.

co0lcr34t10ns wrote:

I agree with jmdzti_0-0. You can tell 2 big things about me from my pfp. I'm a Straight ally and I like zelda. That's a lot of info

The proposed suggestion is only to prevent New Scratchers from changing their profile picture. Scratchers will still be able to set their profile picture as normal when they get the Scratcher rank. The amount of frustration that this suggestion would cause is basically the same amount of frustration that New Scratchers already have with not being able to create studios or cloud variables, and I don't think the proposed suggestion would really add much to this frustration.

BluePixelLOLLL wrote:

Not having the ability to express yourself like all the Scratcher-ranked Scratchers out there would be awful.

No support.

Except you already can't. For example, not being able to make studios. So, by your logic being a New Scratcher is already awful. So, it wouldn’t really make much of a difference.

BluePixelLOLLL wrote:

Like for example, my pfp. It's blue.
So you can already tell my favorite color is blue.

I didn't know that

Za-Chary wrote:

I'm actually not entirely opposed to this suggestion. It could be a good way to prevent trolls from spreading bad images through the website. Scratchers in the past have noted that if an account is banned/deleted, there are still some locations where their inappropriate profile picture may appear, and so this suggestion could help prevent that from happening.

jmdzti_0-0 wrote:

Thus, removing someone’s right to change their pfp to match them or their personality is like forcing people to not have a way to express themselves easily, which can lead to frustration.

co0lcr34t10ns wrote:

I agree with jmdzti_0-0. You can tell 2 big things about me from my pfp. I'm a Straight ally and I like zelda. That's a lot of info

The proposed suggestion is only to prevent New Scratchers from changing their profile picture. Scratchers will still be able to set their profile picture as normal when they get the Scratcher rank. The amount of frustration that this suggestion would cause is basically the same amount of frustration that New Scratchers already have with not being able to create studios or cloud variables, and I don't think the proposed suggestion would really add much to this frustration.

I have realized that. But this also applies to people that still aren’t Scratchers, even if veteran. They’re still people, and have the same right to express themselves.

As for the trolls part — anyone can report the profile. And I’m not believing anyone is willing to include heavily inappropiate pictures in their pfp.

Edit: Also, it sometimes takes a lot of time to get the Scratcher rank, specially if you have highscool, and so on. For example, take a look at @Ollie-Young. They’ve been 3 months being a New Scratcher. What if they didn’t have the option to change their pfp during that time? It would’ve definitely be frustrating.

hot655 wrote:

This feels like something needed to keep the site secure.

Are you possibly saying that new users should be prevented from recognition (pfps are a great way of recognising someone) because they are new, and that this would improve site security? I am not so sure about that.

Also, people using inappropriate profile pictures are disrupting the community, not breaking Scratch's servers and code. Just correcting the term used there.

hot655 wrote:

After all, preventing New Scratchers from getting pfps would prevent trolls getting them through normal means

They would be getting pfps through “normal” means; the same method, but with extra restriction.

hot655 wrote:

thus preventing incidents

Sure, it prevents some incidents of using inappropriate pfps, but there is something you are missing here.

There are two main types of trolls. The non-dedicated, who do not put in much effort into the act, and the truly dedicated trolls.

The truly dedicated trolls, determined to cause chaos and stir issues, are most certainly willing to become a Scratcher to use cloud variables incorrectly, use inappropriate profile pictures, etc.

There are entire profiles dedicated to making profiles as inappropriate as possible, with inappropriate forum topics, usernames, profile pictures, projects, comments and studios. Many of these things are restricted to Scratchers who are more than 1 week old (their account being 1 week old, that is) and this gives them an extra incentive to put in the effort into trying to gain the - forgive me - Full Scratcher status.

This can prevent some incidents, of course, so this is somewhat fair. But inappropriate profile pictures are much less of a problem than inappropriate projects and comments are.

hot655 wrote:

If a New Scratcher tries to get a pfp, a message could pop up saying “ Sorry, you must be a Scratcher to change your profile picture ”.

I must say, the New Scratcher is quite likely to wonder why they're not allowed to do a certain action, and as a Scratcher less than 1 week old cannot use the forums, they can't really ask. And ordinary commenters are much less likely to go as far into detail as forumers do.

Too long ; didn't read:

IMPORTANT: If you want to know why I believe a certain thing or why I possess a certain opinion, you must read this whole post to understand my thought process properly. If you want to reply to me, stop, read this whole thing. You cannot comment on or criticise someone's opinion without understanding the reasons for its existence. But if you are here to browse the forums for fun, feel free to stick to the tl;dr.

Also important: This is my new account, I am actually a Scratcher on my old account @iiucandyfloss, so any criticism of this suggestion is not based on bias. I have seen first-hand what it is like to be both a New Scratcher and Scratcher.

In my completely honest opinion, I think that this is too restricting and unfair on New Scratchers. Changing a profile picture is a harmless activity.

Best wishes,
Astro-peach, who goes by Astro and Peach as nicknames.

jmdzti_0-0 wrote:

I have realized that. But this also applies to people that still aren’t Scratchers, even if veteran. They’re still people, and have the same right to express themselves.

OP's comment above about studios is relevant. Studios are another way that Scratchers can express themselves, but New Scratchers are already restricted in that they cannot create studios. What is the difference here, if any?

jmdzti_0-0 wrote:

As for the trolls part — anyone can report the profile. And I’m not believing anyone is willing to include heavily inappropiate pictures in their pfp.

You'd be surprised. Trolls do that all the time.

jmdzti_0-0 wrote:

Edit: Also, it sometimes takes a lot of time to get the Scratcher rank, specially if you have highscool, and so on. For example, take a look at @Ollie-Young. They’ve been 3 months being a New Scratcher. What if they didn’t have the option to change their pfp during that time? It would’ve definitely be frustrating.

And it's not already frustrating to wait this time to make studios or cloud variables? Due to these restrictions, I don't think the OP's suggestion is really going to cause any new types of frustration; restrictions for New Scratchers have already existed for quite some time.

astro-peach wrote:

Are you possibly saying that new users should be prevented from recognition (pfps are a great way of recognising someone) because they are new, and that this would improve site security? I am not so sure about that.

Recognition can also be done through username.

astro-peach wrote:

Also, people using inappropriate profile pictures are disrupting the community, not breaking Scratch's servers and code. Just correcting the term used there.

thanks for correcting

astropeach wrote:

I must say, the New Scratcher is quite likely to wonder why they're not allowed to do a certain action, and as a Scratcher less than 1 week old cannot use the forums, they can't really ask. And ordinary commenters are much less likely to go as far into detail as forumers do.

I'm betting if this will be an issue, its likely a pre-existing problem, considering New Scratchers are already limited in what they can do.

Thanks for responding!

jmdzti_0-0 wrote:

As for the trolls part — anyone can report the profile. And I’m not believing anyone is willing to include heavily inappropiate pictures in their pfp.

The anyone can report their profile thing is only sometimes effective though, considering how much Scratch Team has to deal with making them not able to get to things quickly. I think another measure could be useful in preventing stuff like that.

Also trolls like ban speedrunners would absolutely set their pfp to something inappropriate.

I know that I only use Scratch for the forums. And it should be quite clear k ain't here to troll.
Maybe it could be based off time? That is, after a week the user can, like the forums.

If they take away the option to completely customize your PFP while being a new scratcher, they should give at least give several different PFPs to choose from.

ilovestories wrote:

If they take away the option to completely customize your PFP while being a new scratcher, they should give at least give several different PFPs to choose from.

Yeah, that’d be nice.

GlitchedThrough wrote:

I know that I only use Scratch for the forums. And it should be quite clear k ain't here to troll.
Maybe it could be based off time? That is, after a week the user can, like the forums.

Perhaps. That’d also work.

@Za-Chary I was at school when posting that, so I forgot to elaborate over the impending public embarrassment that was Jump Rope For Heart. I meant to mention that removing that right that from New Scratchers is not a good choice.

Don’t even think about it. You have to link your Scratch profile to an email to do so anyway.