User Reputations II

[Bob R]

Sorry should have made my point a bit more clear. The software makes the rep message able to be viewed. Greg is not Big brother.

[Grassi21]

I'm in the middle on this one. The power/rep fields are irrelevant to me. I could have a rep power of -126 and 0 reputation and still feel comfortable posting my newbie responses here and there. But if the goal of this community is to increase the number of posters then I would do away with it. Those numbers can be intimidating to a new member and as someone said, make them feel as if their comments have no weight in this forum.

My 2 cents...

[Lostone]

I just find that clique things like these generally cause more dissention than they're worth.

[Greg]

Originally Posted by Grassi21

I'm in the middle on this one. The power/rep fields are irrelevant to me. I could have a rep power of -126 and 0 reputation and still feel comfortable posting my newbie responses here and there. But if the goal of this community is to increase the number of posters then I would do away with it. Those numbers can be intimidating to a new member and as someone said, make them feel as if their comments have no weight in this forum.

My 2 cents...

Thank you for the great comments, especially from a newbie's point of view. I'm being swayed a bit; not so much that I think this will become a popularity contest, but it may result in a feeling of exclusion by some members, especially new ones. The last thing I'd like is to come across as a group pf elitists...

[Grassi21]

Originally Posted by Lostone

I just find that clique things like these generally cause more dissention than they're worth.

Or we can roll with this system and let cliques form. We could settle disputes with a ski-off at future AZ gatherings.

[Greg]

Originally Posted by Greg

Thank you for the great comments, especially from a newbie's point of view. I'm being swayed a bit; not so much that I think this will become a popularity contest, but it may result in a feeling of exclusion by some members, especially new ones. The last thing I'd like is to come across as a group pf elitists...

To follow up here and to expand on Austin's suggestion in the other thread. How about we reset everyone's rep power to "1" and only increment it by 1 for every 100 rep points earned? This would keep the reputation system completely unrelated to post count or age of membership. It seems that folks have more of a problem with Rep "power" than the rep system itself. It might also allow the newbs to feel more equal to other members. If a user earns enough legit rep points that their rep power increases, they probably deserve it. This may add a bit of fairness to the whole thing. I still think there is some value to this, but perhaps we need to find the right balance. I'm not totally adverse to reducing the minimum post count needed to make your rep power work too.

[JimG.]

There's one place where the numbers are the only thing that count...the poll at the top of this thread.

And the numbers say folks don't like it.

I think it's fun, but if folks are put off by it then I'd get rid of it rather than ferkel with it.

[Greg]

Originally Posted by JimG.

There's one place where the numbers are the only thing that count...the poll at the top of this thread.

And the numbers say folks don't like it.

I think it's fun, but if folks are put off by it then I'd get rid of it rather than ferkel with it.

Well said. Very well - I'll just let this poll play out.

[ChileMass]

I suppose user rep ratings could be fun, but overall I feel there's a big potential downside to it. What's the point of earning 5000 rep points? I stopped going on VFTT a long time ago because the tone (and, admittedly, the discussion) was so far over my level I didn't feel comfortable participating, even as an eager newbie.

AZ has always welcomed newcomers and I hope it always stays that way. I remember a while back when that woman from Ireland needed help in setting up a New England ski vacation and got about 30 responses in just a few days. I thought that was great. I'm concerned interested newcomers could be too intimidated to ask simple, startup-level questions.

Everyone's input has been regarded as equal on here, at least to date. A newbie can offer useful info as well as a lifelong outdoorsman/woman. I agree with some other posters on this thread - there's an elitist element to user rep that could definitely put new people off. Bob said it well - words are more important.

[andyzee]

I say scratch the idea. When I saw my reputation numbers go up, I actually tried to post usefull info to try and drive it up higher, can't have that!