[Attilitus]

Just a quick question:

Why is it a problem to add a subforum to the Paid Service request forum called "Feedback" with the same permissions that currently exist in the Paid Service Request forum? A user can create a thread that only they and staff can reply to.

There seem to be two arguments against this kind of addition:

1) It would be too difficult to moderate/control.
2) It would undermine the site's roots as a free coding community.
3) User's currently do not update their service request threads, therefore there does not appear to be a desire to post feedback.

The first issue is true to a small extent. However, such a simple feedback forum would be only marginally more difficult to manage than the status quo in which feedback is mainly "hidden" in updated service threads.

The second issue is basically a mute point. The unpaid modification request forum was demoted to a subforum, and the Paid Service Request forum exists. Both of these details have undermined the purity of vBulletin's title as a free modification community. Like it or not, it is now also the best place to hire talented freelancers familiar with vBulletin.

The third issue is also valid to a certain extent. User's do not consistently update their threads with feedback. However, the underuse of feedback systems is fairly common on many sites in which trade/hiring occurs. Also having a clear location for user's feedback to be heard will promote, rather than discourage clients to "follow up" on their experiences.

Finally, the goal of the feedback forum is very conservative: stop serial scammers. Right now when clients post a paid service thread they have no way of easily checking to see if a coder is a known scammer. Having a feedback forum will make it absolutely clear where a client ought to check before hiring.