Reputation System - Abuse of .... *** WARNING ***

[Saracen]

It's been brought to my attention that some people are playing silly beggars with the Reputation System.

I would draw your attention to the rules about the Rep system. They've been in a Sticky in GD since the day the Rep system was introduced. Rules 1 says :-

Rules
1. If anyone tries to abuse the system they will be banned. No second chances, no excuses, just banned.

If some people play games witht he Rep system, it ruins any benefit it might have for the rest of us, so people deliberately abusing it is NOT going to be viewed as funny.

If you value your accounts here, please don't do it.

If you don't like the Rep system. go to your UserCP and TURN IT OFF. But if you deliberately abuse it, you know what to expect.

[Rob]

If some people play games with the Rep system, it ruins any benefit it might have for the rest of us, so people deliberately abusing it is NOT going to be viewed as funny.

Thank you Saracen. Saved us saying it.


*edit* Time for bed methinks

[myth]

My bad...... My reps were falling like crazy, so I figured why not loss them all! Hey! atleast it worked! People can learn from my mythstakes!

[Flash]

If some people play games witht he Rep system, it ruins any benefit it might have for the rest of us, so people deliberately abusing it is NOT going to be viewed as funny.

What sort of abuse has been happening mate? Ive noticed a few people with sub 10 reps lately have members been droppings other members reps intentionally?

[Kezzer]

Mine's been fine and I haven't been really dishing out any rep points yet.

[Stoo]

My bad...... My reps were falling like crazy, so I figured why not loss them all! Hey! atleast it worked! People can learn from my mythstakes!

Most of your posts have either been unhelpful or pointless at best, hence why your rep points were dropping, take that as a fairly sizeable hint.

[Saracen]

What sort of abuse has been happening mate? Ive noticed a few people with sub 10 reps lately have members been droppings other members reps intentionally?

I don't really want to get into specifics - it wouldn't be fair to members that might well not have realised the implications of what they were doing.

All we expect is that people use the Rep system honestly. Downgrade people if you must, and if there's a legitimate reason, but it's usually a more positive move to upgrade people when they do something worthy of gaining Reputation.

But if we catch people playing games with the system, the won't like it. For instance, if we catch a bunch of friends uprating each other, or if we catch people downgrading someone they've got a personal dislike for, without a decent reason/justification for the downgrade - we'll likely view it as abuse.

The Reputation system is supposed to benefit everybody, that that depends on sensible usage. If I catch anyone behaving like a 5-year-old and throwing a hissy-fit, they'll get treated like one and get their behind electronically spanked.

[Allen]

and get their behind electronically spanked.

Ooh, sounds like fun! Can anyone get their behind electronically spanked?

[Skii]

It does appear to me the system seems to be doing as much harm as good right now, not that I have an objection to it being in place but it does seem far too easy to abuse, and appears to be creating more work for the admins than it should.

Question is - is it too hard to police effectively, especially when we consider that these forums are growing, and if or rather *when* we grow to the volumes of OcUk post counts theres going to be some serious round-the clock monitoring required ?

[GreenPiggy]

I think only Zak is in danger of reaching those sort of levels

[MAS]

Downgrade people if you must, and if there's a legitimate reason

So downgrading people for the reason 'j00 sux11!!' is still alright, yeah?

[Allen]

How about making it so you can only add to people's reps, and mods/admins can remove?

[myth]

How about making it so you can only add to people's reps, and mods/admins can remove?

Sounds great!

[Saracen]

How about making it so you can only add to people's reps, and mods/admins can remove?

Well, there's a limit to what we can do to change the system without hacking the VB code (albeit that should be a VERY small hack), and that carries problems of its own.

However, the whole Rep system is currently under review. The current implementation is effectively a trial, and we're actively considering its future. I think we may have come up with a considerable improvement, without needing a hack, but it's early days yet.

[Zak33]

I like the system when it works. I hate t when it gets used for childish "knock backs"

Simple rule for Reps in my opinion...use the GOOD REP BUTTON when you like a particular thing on a thread cos it stands out as exceptional..

HOVER OVER the BAD REP BUTTON, then dont hit it unless that person makes you hover over it again a few times. Then if after several bad posts you feel the need, dole it out, but be aware that a bit like EBAY POINTS, you can only really expect human nature to take hold and a tantrum to ensue.

HOWEVER...and its a big however, IF you get a bad point yourself, I'd go and give that person a GOOD REP POINT for helping me realise I was being a jerk.

IE make yourself humble.

[Knoxville]

Never given anyone a bad rep point, even when they've been dished out on me, no-one has annoyed me with a post yet to deserve one.