"abuse" of rep?

I personally love the rep system here, it's a lot like some of the old forums from back in the day and really functional, it's made me feel a lot more comfortable and at home here.

This rep system helps keep people in better spirits and with a better attitude on here because no one wants everyone slapping them on the wrist, and it prevents a lot of arguments (to be honest, in layman the term is sh*t stirring) that would otherwise happen if people weren't worried about the impact it would have on their reputation at the site, this place is FAR less hostiles than forums with either no rating system, or flawed rating systems.

Unfortunately no system is absolutely perfect and there is always still room for some small amount of abuse, but I believe you need to have a certain amount of positive rep in the first place before any rep you may give to others (positive or negative) has much, or even any impact on the other members reputation.

Overall, as long as you're polite and positive (you don't come down on people, name call, make outrageous claims etc) as a new member, your reputation will slowly climb. But if someone is already memorable only as an instigator, and it reflects in their reputation, people are not going to go as easy on them.

It's like any social situation; you can't force people to like you or reward you with positive feedback, but you can encourage it with the right behavior

 

you forget that some people dont care about a green box beside their username on an internet forum

 

Those people can be broken into a few categories as well, the people who are still going to be decent, polite and good to those around them when they have no reason not to be, and the people who are intentionally ignoring the rep system so they can 'troll' flame and abuse those around them.

That's another use for the system, too much of the later and I'm pretty sure your IP gets banned and that user loses all access to the site.

Sure, they can come back elsewhere, but they can either be decent human beings or they'll simply be banned again.

 

get rid of rep and post count

 

hell dudes...i love the rep thingy ma bobber...its pretty cool imo...i may just rep everyone in this thread...lol
but ive been gettin a lot of rep lately and there not adding up or somethin...i should have more bars it seems like...anyways who cares

 

Says the person w/ 1 bar and under 100 posts!!!

I'm kidding.

Here have some rep.


But seriously rep is the best way to see who the coolest people are. I think 8 bars is where you start to be really cool.

 

The reputation system and post count are not only fun (and what would life be without a little fun) but they service a valid purpose, several valid purposes really.

People not only want to know which members are aggressive and should be avoided, but they want to know whose information they can trust in a pinch, when they have a grow problem, or they have their hands on some questionable smoke, or when they have a pipe, bowl or bong question, or anything else on their minds they need help with.

Knowing not only how much positive rep a member has, but seeing how long they've been here to maintain that kind of good reputation, helps someone make a more informed and accurate judgment on whether or not they can trust the response they were given.

People really stress over their plants sometimes. Seeing a few people with good rep giving the same advice is very comforting in the right situation

It's also one more aspect that lets members get to know each other quicker without as many questions, it openly shares their level of experience, sometimes with cannabis and sometimes simply with dealing with people and problem solving in general, and experienced members can, if they choose, seek out new members who need help more easily as well with this system.

Overall, it's fun, it's useful, and it helps the site self-maintain and perpetuates the usually non-hostile environment that it has.

 

not funny

have some neg rep

 

Check out the level of reputation (green bars) on the user who gave you the +rep, if they have a lot of green bars, their +rep (and presumably their -rep as well) are worth much more than someone with little to no reputation

I'm pretty sure someone with zero or negative rep can't effect anyone's reputation in any way at all, positively or negatively, it's more of a quiet pat on the back until people who do have rep have boosted them up a little. Hope that helps!

 

I believe you may have missed my point: people who give neg rep willy-nilly, who are hostile and abusive of the system, are generally reprimanded until they cease, or they are IP-banned.

So yes, there is some small room for abuse, and like anywhere and in any situation you will have some people who like to wag their achievements in your face.

But if it was able to get beyond that point believe me, you'd be seeing a lot more hostility, a lot more snarkyness, and a lot more negativity around here.

A bad rep system has led to the redesign, and even the closure of more than a few forums in the past, all due to user generated negetivity. You don't see that here because of the rep system, and the mods quiet and modest moderation procedures, when either a reprimand or banning is necessary.

The gray rep just means the person can't give rep at the moment I believe, either due to their own negative rep, or due to the fact they've already handed out their rep-quota for the time period (which prevents people from abusing the system and handing out too much reputation one way or another).

 

Wow. I gave you positive rep and you returned w/ negative?

Maybe the rep system works just fine. Incidentally, I guess it's a good thing yours doesn't count.

Jeez. I don't wanna be your friend anymore.

Way to be true to your sig too. Nice.

 

FYI for anyone being given a hard time, since I think that's the issue here: the mods here are not psychic, and they are not automatically alerted by the website to every argument or unnecessary negative rep given.

If you feel you have been wronged in any way, your BEST bet is to alert a mod and find out for sure if you have rather than pushing things even further on your own. It's a big site, no one's getting paid as far as I'm aware, and sometimes things progress a lot further than they need to before a mod is even made aware of the situation. So just let them know what's going on, and they will let you know how they will (and how you should) proceed from there.

When the system fails, however minutely, the mods are usually more than happy to step in and mediate the situation and put things back in order

 

didnt know GC had an offical spokesman

 

If you are unhappy with the mods here, you have not been to many forums my friend. I have been to some very... well, I won't go into any WWII slang, but there are forums out there where the mods have clicks of their own who they give titles, have site-wide contests and and competitions where they award prizes to their friends only, give their OWN negative rep for no reason, and close down threads when they're jealous of peoples work.

Mods are human too, they make mistakes, get angry, can harbor negativity and bad feelings towards others. But there is worse out there when it comes down to it.

This site is a true gem among the dirt when compared to the alternatives.

In another forum, this thread would likely have been long gone without giving us the opportunity to even discuss.

 

Damn dude, you're just one big ball of negativity aren't ya?

 

I'm not an official spokesperson, I have modded at larger sites than this in the past, and have been a member of various forums big and small, on and off, for over a dozen years.

After all that time and experience, I have settled down here and rarely if ever post anywhere else. There's a reason for it, and that's all I shared, my reason for picking this site and system over a lesser more hostile system.

If anyone feels they can do better and come up with a more reliable system to keep the peace, feel free to try, but in my humble opinion and with a few years experience under my belt, this is as close to peace as humanity has managed on the internet so far