Reputation points......

Paratrooper said:
what are they, and how do they work?

I think this is the 1st forum that I have ever been a member of, that has this classification as a feature. :confused:
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Do a search. This has been discussed at length many times before. Look in the Technical help forum at the bottom of the General Knife Discussion page.
 
Well, I read what I was supposed to....and I'm still confused.

But.....it looks like I'm not the only one. That makes me feel better....I think. :rolleyes:

Anyway, thanks to all for the help. That was a blatant "kiss-up" maneuver. I hope it's good for a couple of positive points..... :D
 
Esav,

The link you posted very broadly lays out the possible configurations of the reputation system, but I have looked and have yet to find a clear explanation as to how the reputation system works for Bladeforums in particular. Every now and then someone posts a question similar to Paratroopers, and one of the mods says "this has all been explained before". But I've looked, and I'm semi-literate, and I've not been able to find a clear, specific explanation. Of course I may be dumber than I realize (we're always the last to know), but at the very least the system is far from transparent.
 
It's one of the "who cares" features for most people because they really don't care about their rep points. For some, you know the type, obsessive compulise, wants to know if people like them and approve of them, bitch when they get negative points, etc. It provides the "mirror" of public approval they crave so much. To search for "meaning" beyond that is pointless.

Oh and BTW, does this post make me look fat?
 
I can't see that making the specific details public about how the system has been set up to prevent abuse would be very helpful to anyone but people trying to abuse the system. (How many other members do I have to rate before I can give that member I hate so much another bad rating?) I think that's why the vBulletin people made those specific details configurable, so they aren't the same on all vBulletin websites and aren't so easy for abusers to figure out.

For the rest of us, do the details of the system really matter?
 
Cougar Allen said:
I can't see that making the specific details public about how the system has been set up to prevent abuse would be very helpful to anyone but people trying to abuse the system. (How many other members do I have to rate before I can give that member I hate so much another bad rating?) I think that's why the vBulletin people made those specific details configurable, so they aren't the same on all vBulletin websites and aren't so easy for abusers to figure out.

For the rest of us, do the details of the system really matter?
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With all due respect, following that logic, one could argue that citizens should be kept ignorant of the legal systems we are subject to, so as to curtail abuse of those systems. Or, perhaps the IRS should just send us a bill every year and we should pay it, because if you make the tax system transparent it only invites abuse of that system. And yes, both the legal system and the tax laws in this country are abused, but would you prefer a less transparent system? I know, I know, these are extreme examples, but I'm using them to make a point. If you want people to care about the reputation system you have to make it transparent. If you don't want people to care about it, no changes are necessary. But if nobody cares about it or understands it, then why not just get rid of it? I now request blindfold and cigarette, and await the fusilade of negative reputation points
:eek:
 
Ritt said:
With all due respect, following that logic, one could argue that citizens should be kept ignorant of the legal systems we are subject to, so as to curtail [or perpetuate - HJK] abuse of those systems. Or, perhaps the IRS should just send us a bill every year and we should pay it, because if you make the tax system transparent it only invites abuse of that system...
:eek:
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A more succinct statement of how things actually work would be hard to find! Well done!! ;)
I just added two little words to insert a more jaundiced view :)
 
Good analogy -- in fact tax and law enforcement agencies go to a great deal of effort to try to keep citizens ignorant of things like the formulas used to decide which tax returns to audit, exactly how much metal you can take through a metal detector without setting it off, baggage inspection procedures, etc.

"Why not get rid of it?" is a good question. So is "Why get rid of it?" We're told other websites have had great success with it. So far, so few at Bladeforums are paying any attention to it that it doesn't seem to be accomplishing much. Who knows, maybe it never will. Doesn't seem to be doing any harm, though. Why not give it a chance?
 
I have failed to effectively communicate my point. In both of your analogies you're going to the next step and focusing on enforcement of systems in which the rules are clearly and publicly stated. I'm all for enforcing the rules and doing everything possible to prevent abuse. What I'm saying is we don't even know what the system is, how the system works. Airport security doesn't just say "don't bring anything dangerous in your carry-on", they provide a list, you know what is and what is not allowed. The IRS doesn't just say, "send us your fair share of money", they provide us with an abundance of rules and formulae for determining "our fair share". The need for some secrecy in efforts of enforcement is understandable, but you seem to be arguing for keeping the basic rules and functioning of the system itself secret.

Perhaps more people would pay attention to the system, and certainly I would be happier about giving it a chance, if we knew what "it" was.
 
I'm not sure I understand the confusion with the reputation system. It seems rather self explanatory. If someone posts something you like or you find helpful or funny, then give them a rep point. If you find something offensive or in bad taste, subtract a point. Past that,,the confusion sounds more like a "why are we here" debate.

:D
 
notdos said:
If someone posts something you like or you find helpful or funny, then give them a rep point. If you find something offensive or in bad taste, subtract a point.
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If it were that simple, I don't think people would ask for explanations of the system.
 
I guess there is some failure of communication here. As far as I can see the way the system basically works is exactly as Notdos put it. I don't know exactly how Spark configured the configurable parameters and that's the kind of thing he's likely to fiddle with and change around a little from time to time anyway. He might be willing to talk about some of it, but what's the point? Whatever weight (if any) might be given to your number of posts or your length of membership, you still click on the same mouse buttons for expressing your approval or disapproval of a post....

The validity of the ratings, if they have any validity, depends mostly on whether the majority of the people who take the trouble to vote have any sense or not. Fine-tuning the system is not going to help much if only a few people bother to use it and they mostly happen to be idiots. I think if a lot of people start using it the ratings will have some validity -- the ratings given by idiots will be overwhelmed by rational ratings. There aren't that many idiots here.... Even now the ratings I see for those members who have ratings seem to me to be pretty valid. The people with the highest ratings are good sensible people. I've only seen a couple of members with negative ratings and it's not at all difficult to see why they have them. There are a vast number of members with very few or no rating points, though, and many of them are deserving of high ratings IMHO. Will they ever get them? Who knows....
 
Basically, it's a tiered system. The longer you've been here, the higher your rep points are for rating others. Same for the number of posts you have. Same if you are a mod.

If you like / dislike someone's post, you just rate them accordingly. Once you've repped someone, you have to rep a set number of others before you can rep them again to prevent rep spamming.

I can also arbitrarily change someone's rep in the positive or negatives should I see fit - something I haven't done yet.

It's a pretty simple system overall. By and large it should balance itself out. Here, I changed my rep as an example.
 
I was wondering why some people had multiple rep dots. That's a good explanation, Kevin, thank you. .
 
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