So I occasionally visit another forum that is on a website that is somewhat based on videogames, comedy and interwebz culture. On their forum any member has the option to go to any post and "mod this." This isn't "modding" like modifying, but, rather it is basically rating the post. No one can publically see who rated what on the post. Whatever rating it gets the most of, shows up in the corner of the post. The rating scale there goes: +1 cool +1 funny +1 ditto +1 zing! -1 lame -1 WTF -1 noob -1 flamebait This rating then goes back and determines your Karma level in your profile. The more + you get, obviously the higher your Karma becomes. Your Karma is basically your reputation on the forum. I think it could be a fun little feature that could be added here, obviously with it's own little LPA spin. What I like about the feature is that it really makes you think about what you're posting, conscidering you should care about your reputation. You can take it or leave it, but I think it could be fun. If you want me to provide a link to the site/forum, I can do that as well.
I think someone proposed a feature like this before. There was concern over people abusing it and giving bad ratings to otherwise good posts simply because of a disagreement, if I remember correctly.
That's our biggest concern with this plugin. We don't want people getting downvoted just cause of disagreements.
I don't see much good in this feature, just because of the chance someone wants to give someone a negative rating just for the sake of controversy.
The intent of forum reputation is, well, reputation. Just because 2 people disagree, it doesn't mean that one person's reputation is any higher than the other's. If there's a debate going, someone holding an unpopular opinion shouldn't get hit with negative reputation if they're backing up their points, making a good argument, and being respectful of everyone else. Negative reputation is supposed to be for those "FUCK ALL OF U IM RIGHT U ALL CAN GO FUCK URSELVES UR ALL FUCKING ASSHOLES AND LINCOLN PARK SUX!" posts, but that's what moderators are for. Every forum where I've seen reputation systems in place, it turns into a popularity contest. Someone makes a completely valid argument and everyone else piles on with the negative reputation because it's not the popular opinion. It serves no purpose IMO. Plus, if you disagree with someone, grow a pair and reply to their posts and counter their argument. Don't hide behind an anonymous reputation system, that's a cowardly thing to do.
Todd for the win. He pretty much nailed it. It's a great idea, until you write it out on paper and weigh the cons.
Personally I would rate it bad AND comment saying why they're wrong. But if it was an honest opinion and they had good reasoning I'd let them be. My mistake is that I tend to forget that everyone isn't me.
Hey... I was just giving an idea here. If it's good and can increase the enjoyment of coming here, then great. If it's bad, then that's fine too. LPA Staff said to give ideas on how to make the site better, So I did. With new ideas, there will be both good or bad ideas. To be honest, I was never a big fan of the rating system, but I figured I would throw out an idea (good or bad) anyway. I'm all for helping out. If this isn't right for the LPA, then that's fine in my eyes. No harm, no foul.