User Reputations II

Greg · Apr 25, 2006

A lot of interesting feedback in the original User Reputations thread. It's amazing that that first thread saw 10 pages of replies. It seems some folks feel strongly one way or another about it. It also seems like the people that don't like it, REALLY don't like it. I don't see it as that big of a deal, but I appreciate all AlpineZone members' opinions and would like to put this out there for a majority vote.

With that said, now that it's been in place for almost a week, I think everyone should have a good feel for what the system is and how it works. I'd like to start a new poll with only a Yes/No option. Please vote in this poll and post any additional comments below. I will let this poll run for 7 days. If you still haven't decided, try it for a few more days before voting, but please remember to vote. At the end of this period, the final result of this poll will determine if we keep the User Reputations system in place or not, at least for the forseeable future.

JimG. · Apr 25, 2006

Well, I like it. I guess it's because I don't pay much attention to my reputation, I just like to make positive comments about certain posts or posters. I doubt I'll ever give negative rep, although it could happen with a real troll I guess.

I gave up on my reputation long before I found AZ!

andyzee · Apr 25, 2006

Greg, what is Rep power? Is there a FAQ on this?

Greg · Apr 25, 2006

andyzee said:
Greg, what is Rep power? Is there a FAQ on this?

It's been asked a few times in the original thread:

http://forums.alpinezone.com/8326-user-reputations-5.html#post84937

Most if not all questions are answered in that thread.

andyzee · Apr 25, 2006

Greg said:
It's been asked a few times in the original thread:

http://forums.alpinezone.com/8326-user-reputations-5.html#post84937

Most if not all questions are answered in that thread.

OK, I was being lazy, I'll look. ;-)

Vortex · Apr 25, 2006

I'm speaking not as a mod here... just me.

I really stongly dislike this idea. I think there are some intimidation issues here. Some of those who have a similar opinions have already posted the reasons.

I also don't like that private rep messages are able to be viewed by administration. To me those are personal. IF I give a rep point it will come with a PM not a note from now on.

I also think it can lead to a popularity contest. I have a decent amount of rep points. The pm's I get, and the on board back and forth is nice and enough satifaction for me. No disrepect to those that sent me rep points. I appeciate it. The words mean more than the numbers. I also am majority rule guy. I will go with the group.
Greg plays fair in these matters.

Greg · Apr 25, 2006

Bob R said:
I'm speaking not as a mod here... just me.

I really stongly dislike this idea. I think there are some intimidation issues here. Some of those who have a similar opinions have already posted the reasons.

I also don't like that private rep messages are able to be viewed by administration. To me those are personal. IF I give a rep point it will come with a PM not a note from now on.

I also think it can lead to a popularity contest. I have a decent amount of rep points. The pm's I get, and the on board back and forth is nice and enough satifaction for me. No disrepect to those that sent me rep points. I appeciate it. The words mean more than the numbers. I also am majority rule guy. I will go with the group.
Greg plays fair in these matters.

Thanks Bob. I think you very succinctly, yet successfully outlined why many others don't like the system. The "words mean more than the numbers" comment is also very admirable.

A quick note about admins and mods being able to view rep comments. First of all, it's simply built into the system. The usefulness here is to detect whether the system is being abused or not. Likely, we will only need to look up rep comments if we get a complaint in order to confirm. In any event, this feature may sway someone who's on the fence so I figured I'd confirm this functionality and explain why it exists.

highpeaksdrifter · Apr 25, 2006

In my quest for knowledge I’d like to know how rep power increases. What are the increments?

Example: every year you’re a member, every 500 posts, or combo of the 2.

I voted yes cause what the heck. My major problem is that some people have no rep power. It's inadvertantly saying that their opinions hold no weight. I think everyone should have at least 1 power point.

You have to see the humor in all this because as we discuss it, it sometimes sounds like a game my 11 year old and his pals made up. :spin:

BeanoNYC · Apr 25, 2006

I voted no. I don't find the use for it. Even though I enjoy reading rep comments.

Greg · Apr 25, 2006

highpeaksdrifter said:
In my quest for knowledge I’d like to know how rep power increases. What are the increments?

Example: every year you’re a member, every 500 posts, or combo of the 2.

I voted yes cause what the heck. My major problem is that some people have no rep power. It's inadvertantly saying that their opinions hold no weight. I think everyone should have at least 1 power point.

You have to see the humor in all this because as we discuss it, it sometimes sounds like a game my 11 year old and his pals made up.

Your rep power increases by 1 for each year you're a member, for each 1,000 posts you make, and for every 100 reputation points you earn. All of the current settings are outlined here:

http://forums.alpinezone.com/8326-user-reputations-2.html#post84734

You need to make at least 100 posts in order to alter other members' rep point total. I arbitrarily picked this number (the default is 50). My reason for selecting 100 is, to me, once someone makes around 100 posts, they start to feel like a familiar, dedicated member. It's sort of a "reward" for their commitment and contributions. Certainly nothing against newbies and you all know that the mods and I, as well as many older members here are always warm and welcoming to new members. We'd all like to see new members contribute and post often and if they do, making 100 posts doesn't normally take that long. I can certainly tweak this value if you all would like it reduced, but I won't put it at 0 posts as that way any troll can sign in and start neg-repping members.

Vortex · Apr 25, 2006

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 · Apr 25, 2006

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 · Apr 25, 2006

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

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Greg · Apr 25, 2006

Grassi21 said:
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 · Apr 25, 2006

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

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

Greg · Apr 25, 2006

Greg said:
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. · Apr 25, 2006

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 · Apr 25, 2006

JimG. said:
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 · Apr 25, 2006

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 · Apr 25, 2006

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!

User Reputations II

Should we keep the User Reputations system?

Yes

No

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Member

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Moderator

Member

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New member

Moderator

New member

Moderator

Moderator

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New member

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