Reputation System - Better now or then?

[Choco]

Okay so the staff has been talking about rep (yet again) and about how the prestige system combined with the caps on rep have made it significantly harder members to earn rep and climb the rankings. Not to mention it's nearly impossible for members who have registered after the rep cap to even have a chance of catching members who were around and active before it.

To quote Needa:



Now this thread is a poll to see what reputation system YOU prefer, the current, the one we have now, etc. etc.
Please keep in mind that this is just a general consensus to see what you all prefer, and if one 'wins' the poll, that doesn't mean that system is being enacted. We're just looking for opinions.

Personally, I believe the best reputation system to be the one that was here when I joined - Not regulated at all. No +/- cap truly let members get what they deserve out of their hard work or bad posts. The more effort you put into things, the more effort you'd get out of them. It promoted activity in my eyes, and that is how I would want it to be now. Rep boosters or people who exploit and abuse it would have a more harsh punishment.

I'm all for the uncapped rep system, but the problem is that then the -rep would be abused to no end. I think there should be a cap on -rep (let's say 100?) and no cap for +rep

[MCPADDINGTON]

+5/-3 and without the prestiges is perfect.

[Vince]

+5/-3 and without the prestiges is perfect.

Would completely defeat the purpose of reverting then. Besides we tried that before and it failed miserably.

[NeedaLifeSoon]

I've been in favor of a change in the rep system for a long time.

I realize that many will say it is just a number but I think we lost some of the FUN we had during the past system.
And there is no denying that it caused more activity in good posts and threads.

The main issue for staff under the original system were the number of complaints over negative rep that was received.
The negative cap of -30 has helped reduce the number if complaints, while still allowing members to punish deserving posts.
My main concern with a totally uncapped system is new members who make innocent mistakes and are put in a hole they can never climb out of.
So I feel that the neg should continue to be capped at some reasonable number.
Or protect members from going below neg 200 so they can have a legit chance to dig their way out.
Some A-holes are never going to change, but a neg capped system will still keep them in the red even if they never change their behavior, as well as keeping some members from going for Neg stars when they feel they can't get back to positive.

I'm not sure how to deal with the prestige issue, I like showing them, but not at the cost in rep power. Perhaps prestige emblems can be given on total rep count without having to buy them. But that would cause running the prestige and star system in conjunction. So the rep ranking would need to revert back to rep power on the community list.

Giving and getting rep is a lot of fun and develops a community atmosphere that we have lost during the CL era.
It causes members to make quality threads and posts in an effort to gain rep and to check back regularly to see how they are progressing.
In my opinion, the change to the rep system was the reason that the General discussion section was changed.
It was always one of the biggest sections on the site before spring of last year and has seen a steady decline since then.

I admit that after so long under the current system that there are about 15 members with rep power that can never be caught up with and about 100 members with much higher rep than avg. But they are all older members here who understand the benefits of the old Rep system and harms caused by rep abuse and would not be a problem if the old system was reinstituted.

So I am in favor of a rep change for the benefit of both new and old members alike.

Just try and protect the little guy, unless he is begging for a lesson

PS: In an effort to improve my useless Like count, Please do not like this post or any post I ever make

[MCPADDINGTON]

Would completely defeat the purpose of reverting then. Besides we tried that before and it failed miserably.

Unless I misunderstand one of the options available in the poll, how would defeat the purpose of changing the rep system?

[MCPADDINGTON]

My main concern with a totally uncapped system is new members who make innocent mistakes and are put in a hole they can never climb out of.

Give the mods the ability to wipe all rep from a post is a user has under 10 posts? A kind-hearted user could report the post for the n00b concerned, mod wipes the rep and then the n00b is out of the pre-variable hole.

[Wartortle]

i chose other because i dont care about rep

[Lovol]

I completely, and 100% agree with Needa. I couldn't have said it better myself. Some people make shitty, stupid mistakes and obviously deserve punishment for it. However, that's no reason for someone to be put in a hole they can't dig themselves out of (used Needa's analogy). Because you know when someone gets negged, it's just not that one person. He gets neg-trained. So I totally think there should be a cap on -rep to something reasonable.

In addition to my opinions on -rep being capped, I think the prestiges should stay with uncapped +rep. Thus will create a "race to tenth prestige" influencing members to post useful things.

I don't know. Just my take on things.