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Post by RicWilly on Jan 20, 2015 10:15:10 GMT
Hey, Josh. I had me a buttload of karma in the forums first incarnation and I'd like to think most was deserved. I also think people usually give karma for good reasons. Sometimes they"d give it just because I said something funny and I did the same and I don't think that was wrong. Karma was just a fun thing and that's the problem. People took it too seriously. Especially when the smite feature was around.
You think I do a good job on something. Tell me in a post. It'll mean more to me than if you just click on a karma icon.
This is just my opinion and it's moot as it doesn't appear karma is an option here.
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Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Jan 20, 2015 11:52:34 GMT
I'm with Rick. I opted-out of the Karma system on the old board... just felt like gold stars for popularity, a pointless contrivance. As for the ranking system, I don't really care but gun to my head I'd say there is no need for it, or any sort of affectation that separates us. I know this thread isn't about karma but, with all due respect, I just had to call bs on this. I gave karma to those who were helpful, made good reviews, made my experience on the forum that day better in some way, and many other substantial reasons. I never gave karma to someone just for being popular and I never really saw anyone else do that either. I know you shouldn't do reviews or help people just for a reward but it's nice to be able to give a virtual pat on the back when you think someone did a good job on something they didn't have to do. People like Adrian, Chris Peroni, Dodger, and many more had a lot of karma because people appreciated what they contributed to the sbg community. I miss being able to give karma when someone goes out of their way for fellow forumites. A high post count on it's own is hardly commendable imho but the karma function will be missed. btw, if you say I said all this just because I had karma and also lost about 3000 posts off my total count during the migration, I'll just say that I knew you were going to say that -Josh Agree.
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Sean (Shadowhowler)
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Retired Moderator
No matter where you go, there you are.
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Post by Sean (Shadowhowler) on Jan 20, 2015 13:23:27 GMT
I won't say that Josh, and your welcome to call "BS" on anything you wish... but my thoughts about the Karma function are only my opinion... and YOUR thoughts about it are likewise only your opinion... and I think its kinda hard to call BS on differing opinions on what is, essentially, a subjective matter. I didn't like the Karma system and thus opted out... you did like it. Not having the ability to be rewarded with Karma never stopped me from being, I like to think, one of the most constructive contributing members of the forums. So yeah, to me it was just a popularity contest that served no real purpose, which is why I opted out.
To each their own.
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Sean (Shadowhowler)
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Retired Moderator
No matter where you go, there you are.
Posts: 8,828
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Post by Sean (Shadowhowler) on Jan 20, 2015 13:29:49 GMT
You think I do a good job on something. Tell me in a post. It'll mean more to me than if you just click on a karma icon. ^ THIS
On the old system when i had Karma, and I also had a butt load of it like Rick did, I often received Karma from people from things as simple as telling a joke, or agreeing with someone in a thread. Sure, sometimes I got karma from people for a review... but I got a lot of Karma for pointless and trivial reasons as well. I feel MUCH more rewarded by the respect and trust of the forum members... by the guys who trust me enough to send me 1500 dollar swords to review without ever having met me in person, based only on the fact that they trust me from my actions on this and other forums. That means the world to me... much more then a number next to my name be it post count or karma. So when we switched from the original pro-boards forum to the last one, I disabled it and didn't miss it one bit.
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Razor
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Posts: 1,883
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Post by Razor on Jan 20, 2015 15:42:12 GMT
You think I do a good job on something. Tell me in a post. It'll mean more to me than if you just click on a karma icon. ^ THIS
On the old system when i had Karma, and I also had a butt load of it like Rick did, I often received Karma from people from things as simple as telling a joke, or agreeing with someone in a thread. Sure, sometimes I got karma from people for a review... but I got a lot of Karma for pointless and trivial reasons as well. I feel MUCH more rewarded by the respect and trust of the forum members... by the guys who trust me enough to send me 1500 dollar swords to review without ever having met me in person, based only on the fact that they trust me from my actions on this and other forums. That means the world to me... much more then a number next to my name be it post count or karma. So when we switched from the original pro-boards forum to the last one, I disabled it and didn't miss it one bit. This is why I feel that the "like" button has replaced karma quite nicely.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Jan 20, 2015 15:42:58 GMT
I voted no. But I would like to see the number of posts of an individual.
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Razor
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Post by Razor on Jan 20, 2015 16:02:12 GMT
I voted no. But I would like to see the number of posts of an individual. I agree.
In the beginning, SBG was the silly sword forum compared to the other order and more respected ones, so ranking and karma fit. Now that SBG as grown and matured, it's time to drop the kiddy stuff(ranking/karma) .
If members are butthurt for not having meaningless karma points for reviews, then don't do them! No one is forcing anyone to do reviews. It's not really a big deal if the butthurt ones don't do anymore reviews, because others love doing reviews and will do them with or without karma points.
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Post by William Swiger on Jan 20, 2015 16:27:49 GMT
I voted no. But I would like to see the number of posts of an individual. Number of posts will still show.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2015 21:06:54 GMT
I would prefer something like the old Karma points also...so "NOT keeping it" voted...
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Post by Robert in California on Jan 20, 2015 22:25:13 GMT
Post counts do not guarantee the poster has value added. The karma system was a better indicator. Still, the question of what to do as recognition for decent sword reviews remains. Warm fuzzies work for some. Don't work for others. Put in a full day of work on a text & pic review and get a "gee, thanks." And post count + 1 to post count? Insufficient. The SBG sword reviews database is perhaps SBG's most valuable intellectual property. Adding to it needs be encouraged. To be a mercenary was an honorable profession :-) RinC
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Post by Jussi Ekholm on Jan 20, 2015 23:15:16 GMT
I'm kinda really old school when it comes to stuff, even though at my age I should still be hyped for everything new, I guess... For example I will always like to participate forums with my own name. I know some members here back from SFI times before SBG but it's always hard to identify nicknames. Of course by time you'll start knowing people by the nick name they go by, but as many of us are members of various forums it's easy to identify by name. I used to have good bunch of karma on the pre-move forum (will we call that mid phase?) but it was funny how I got some of it. Most came from reviews probably and good chunk from pretty helpful posts. I also did get some from posts that I didn't consider to be karma worthy. What I think funny is that sometimes when you wrote a post that you think it's very useful and gives valuable insight, it gets no response at all... I didn't really care about the karma that much. I tried to give it to everyone who made a review or a post that I found helpful and informative, I think I gave it out a good bit trying to encourage people to post. I think for new members it could help to get them more involved. More important than karma I feel is that people would read posts and reviews. It saddens me a bit that we have very fine threads with great information and great reviews that offer valuable insight, yet they have so few views...
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Razor
Senior Forumite
Posts: 1,883
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Post by Razor on Jan 20, 2015 23:17:12 GMT
Post counts do not guarantee the poster has value added. The karma system was a better indicator. Still, the question of what to do as recognition for decent sword reviews remains. Warm fuzzies work for some. Don't work for others. Put in a full day of work on a text & pic review and get a "gee, thanks." And post 1 to post count? Insufficient. The SBG sword reviews database is perhaps SBG's most valuable intellectual property. Adding to it needs be encouraged. To be a mercenary was an honorable profession :-) RinC Karma doesn't guarantee the poster has value either. You can spend all day writing up a review with pics and vids and get karma. Now I could just post a kid on youtube farting for 30 sec in the cafe subforum and also get karma. And this is why karma is meaningless. It also sounds like it's not coming back so lets just let it rest in peace. Don't worry members will still write reviews without karma points. I also think the review datebase is important but it's not the only valuable thing on SBG. I met a lot of awesome people on here plus there is lots of Knowledge here.
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Post by RicWilly on Jan 20, 2015 23:36:38 GMT
I don't write reviews because it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. I do it because I enjoy doing it. It is part of a hobby I enjoy. I have a job I do for money.
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Post by Afoo on Jan 20, 2015 23:57:50 GMT
[...]The SBG sword reviews database is perhaps SBG's most valuable intellectual property. Adding to it needs be encouraged[...] I think updating the review index on a regular basis might go some way towards this. I write reviews because I want to share my thoughts and ideas with other people - the more people read it and find it useful, the happier I am. Having it on the index would definitely help. I would also help other members access and use the intellectual property we have worked so hard to accumulate ~ As for the rankings, I agree with the view that they should not be used for personal ego stroking, and I feel most other members would agree. However, I still think they have some value with regards to helping beginners identify who's who on the forums. Sure, post count does not necessarily equate with experience 100% of the time, but there is still a general correlation across the overall population. Besides, its better than no information. Doesn't matter if that information is represented in the form of rankings or just a plain number - so long as its somewhere.
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Post by Robert in California on Jan 21, 2015 1:36:26 GMT
"I also think the review datebase is important but it's not the only valuable thing on SBG. I met a lot of awesome people on here plus there is lots of Knowledge here"
Yes, but I have more stars than you, so only my wishes count (your post count is in really small letters so I will pretend not to notice it :-))
RinC
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Post by Robert in California on Jan 21, 2015 18:34:35 GMT
It is gratifying to see all those of us SBG family who put together sword reviews with no desire for any recognition for their valuable contributions to the SBG reviews database.
And I applaud it.
In fact, I applaud all volunteerism, whether at a chat site, or in the real world. Part of what has made America great, has been this selfless spirit.
That said, the real world has progress done by volunteers. And progress done by those who got some sort of compensation.
Some people are happy to do sword reviews without extra recognition. Some people who would not spend to the time and effort to do a sword review for nothing, will do one if recognized.
Karma was a recognition. Lacking karma, say 100 post points awarded?
Fair to say, that a decent sword review for the database is worth 100 post points. For me, if I have a day of time for myself (rare), do I write that review for the good of the SBG community? Or, given a SBG policy of "do or not do...whatever floats your boat..", do I go knock some rust off my sword technique.
(the altruism of my youth wandered off somewhere over the many years since...) (is it not bigotry to look down upon those of us who don't care?)
(I can identify now with Grimma)
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Post by Robert in California on Jan 21, 2015 18:39:30 GMT
Even the samurai of that epic b&w film, The Seven Samurai, got paid for their efforts. (got eats!)
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Post by randomnobody on Jan 21, 2015 18:52:44 GMT
Yikes, going a bit overboard there, aren't ya Rob? Okay, we get it, you want to be recognized, nay, LAUDED for your grand and wonderful contributions to all internet sword owner kind. Otherwise, well, you just won't play with us. ...okay. I'm up for that. Our original review team, way back when, never asked for any recognition or compensation. Pretty much every other reviewer since then has been in the same line of thought: reviews are fun, and they provide useful information to prospective buyers. They give us the opportunity to talk to an actual person who holds in their hands a model of sword we are interested in, and gives us the opportunity to ask questions we might not be able to ask vendors and manufacturers. Mostly, reviews really are done sheerly for the love of it, altruism aside, it's just fun. I'm starting to get the feeling you won't be satisfied until you're taking royalties off the sale of every sword you should be so gracious as to review. That's just not in the spirit of this forum, or any community at all. If you need an incentive to contribute, that's your deal. The rest of us are fine with "volunteer labor" and ask nothing. If not being rewarded makes you want to not contribute, well, don't. It's really okay, somebody else will, and they'll do it for the sake of having done something. My opinion of you is as neutral as can be, but your constant parroting of demands for compensation in return for what has always been a voluntary process is getting really, really annoying. We're here because we like sharing. Not because we want to be rewarded. At least, most of us.
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Post by Cottontail Customs on Jan 21, 2015 19:43:54 GMT
The karma system was pretty simple, those who did not find it beneficial and didn't want it for themselves were able to opt out, those who preferred it had the option. Simple. Is it possible for some to retain their post count ranking or is it all or nothing?
-Josh
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Post by randomnobody on Jan 21, 2015 20:03:20 GMT
I'd wager all or nothing, but I think it's been said that moderators and the like can assign custom titles, so maybe those who feel they want to carry one can ask for one, maybe for a small donation to the forum's server costs?
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