So, I think it's been around seven months since the big rep changes and I believe Lanzman has promised a six month span before looking at it...sorry we're a bit late. At first, there really did seem to be a change in the board...an upswing in discussion and less threads on the subject of rep. But as time has gone by, it has just fallen back into the usual habits with different tactics. And the mood of the board has gone more vicious than anything. Since the experiment has landed us with no real big changes or benefits to the board, I've decided to put the future of rep in the membership's hands. Should we keep NuRep as it is now? Or shall be go back to the old system, except that everyone will be able to give and receive rep regardless of rep status...thus retaining both the game and the functionality for everyone?
We should go back to the old Rep system. I have probably "benefited" as much as is possible from the new system, but I hate it. Also, you should let Lanzman do this, usurper.
I still don't know what exactly has changed. But whatever lets me rep-slam Sokar until he's red in the face and screaming like a piggie is fine with me
I do not agree that this is true. The rep warriors are no longer able to try to intimidate people off the board in the way that they used to, and whatever "new tactics" they have are far more impotent and less noticable. Rep is now for the most part a function that is being used to express agreement or disagreement with a particular post, which is how it should be. Leave it as it is.
It is unfortunate that you have prejudiced the debate by asserting in the OP that it hasn't made an improvement.
The main difference is that the old way encouraged comment trolling by people who take rep seriously so that the objects of their troll could no longer affect their rep. Encouraging trolling is bad enough; encouraging trolling by people uncreative and unthinking enough that they take rep seriously is thoroughly ridiculous. Tolerance for tedious uncreative trolls is a board killer. A more minor difference is that the old way discouraged the use of comments to express mere disagreement out of fear that the neg rep aspect would be taken too personally and lead to some of that tedious rep trolling in retaliation. The comments are more functional for expressing quick disagreement unworthy of a post without the neg-rep aspect.
Why don't we go with a different idea? There were plenty of suggestions that sounded fun. You don't have to take the fun out of everything to please the boring people like Zombie, Anc and garamet.
Zombie actually makes a good point. The rep system, in the end, is nothing but a popularity contest or a tool for trolls. Maybe try dumping rep completely for six months and see how that goes.
I'm not sure what you're referring to. I don't have that impression at all. There has been a definite improvement in discussions because rep whining and rep wars no longer derail a thread. And the various "rep warriors" have either left or are posting here so infrequently to just whine about rep as they always do. Sure, we have the same derailments we've always had (someone getting into a pissing match with garamet, for instance), but that is completely separate.
We don't really need it. Rep doesn't really contribute to the board at all, in fact it is a distraction from facilitating actual forum discussions.
It's nice to be able to leave short comments on posts, though, and it kind of serves the same purpose as a Facebook "like" button.
Yes. I don't like cluttering up a thread with a bunch of "This." or "What X said" posts, but I still like to show my agreement sometimes.
Rep is a great way to leave comments in other rooms without cluttering up the thread. I liked the old way. People love to complain about 'rep war OMGWTFBBQ!!', but it was fun.
Rep war was nothing but tedious and boring trolling. Boring trolls have no positive purpose. They certainly are not in any way fun to normal people.
+3. No matter what Zombie says. Face it, WF will never get rid of it altogether. So take away the "points" that are so very important to the crybabies, and make it a simple comment system.
It's only not fun for people who are not fun. Of course, ... I have a strange way of looking at the universe and I laugh at funerals. I'll probably go to hell too. So ..., you might be right.