phantom you really, really need a girlfriend.

i second that...

Wait, wait... I tell you that I have problems with hostility and you tell me to get a girlfriend?

In other words, you are telling me that I should vent my frustrations by beating a young lady?!

What kind of monster are you?!

Or are you saying that a girlfriend would smooth out my rough edges?

Or do you think that I am really cool and entertaining and are hinting that I should get a girlfriend cause you'd love to step in and fill the vacancy?
Well, since Gil seconded it I'm going to assume it's not the latter. :p

And also, I don't think my single status has anything to do with the topic. You should be ashamed of yourselves- cluttering up the thread like this.

You should try to be dead serious and on topic at all times, or at least sprinkle in something on topic in every post.

For example-
I'd just like to say that this reputation system is really cool.

Now, do you notice how my post is suddenly on topic? Quite clever, eh?

I would suggest going back and editing your posts and inserting "I like reps" or "I got an unsigned rep today". That would probably be enough to pacify our hard-working, kind, very intelligent, and very forgiving moderators.

And if that doesn't work, try and butter them up with compliments (though I would never stoop so low myself).

One of the most enjoyable things about being able to leave unsigned reps is that it leaves you wide open to play delightful games. Like saying "I think your post was hilarious, but I'm not going to tell you who thinks it. Suffice to say, the answer is "I"." or other such nonsense. After all, it's the comment that's important, not the sender, correct? ;)

Oh get in line! Anyway, girlfriends solve all of men's problems...don't you know that? Wait...

Oh, almost forgot: Reps rock!

Well, they can cause more problems. It depends on the girl... and the guy... not that I disagree or agree, or.... oh piffle. Say what you want, I won't argue. :D ;)

But I think that the phantom has a valid point. Although I must ask if you look for something seriously bad to neg, or if you just randomly give someone a negative rep.

I can understand what he says. People get a lot of rep, they get cocky. They'll say about anything. One way to stop them is to cut them down. It keeps you honest.

Personally though, I'd be almost afraid to give a negative to someone very high up, as in very valueable in points. Just the thought of never receiving that high rep again is rather discouraging.

I must disagree that randomly giving bad rep is a good thing. I've seldom given negative rep but when I do it's because the post is offensive was a highly derogatory response that is not validated. Randomly giving out negative does nothing but create questions as to why and I feel inappropriate use of the system.

Weel Phantom , feel free to give me a bad rep anytime, I take stuff good, I'll only throw a chair ut the window. Wait................

No seriously, if anyone needs to blow off some steam, you come and give me a bad rep, I'm a good sport.

Who knows, maybe there's a "Fool of a Took" in there if you get enough bad reps. *Grin*

Hmm... there seems to be a misunderstanding.

Rule #1 here on The Barrow-Downs is- the phantom is full of hot air.

Never take him too seriously unless you are reading a very long post in the books forum or a post on a Werewolf thread.

(in other words, he doesn't honestly stroll about slapping negative reps on unsuspecting members)

Usually. ;)

And Rule #2 is that he is excellent for quotes. I think I'll just have to proclaim a month of phantom sigs in the near future so that I can unload all the ones I've been stockpiling. :D

Btw, did I mention that this thread is a good one?

Maybe this one needs to be in the FAQs for newbies...I'm sure you've raised a couple unsure eyebrows in your time phantom.

Negative reps with no signing? Rude, crass, uncouth...It's like leaving a "loser" sign on someone's locker, or even a "You might wanna buy some deoderant". It's just not done.

And here all of you are, just inflating phantom's ego all the more... *tsk, tsk.* Someone ought to randomly negative rep phantom just to knock him down a few notches. ;) He could use it. :p

(I wonder if I have to tack a "this is a joke" sign onto that paragraph to make sure no one actually randomly negative reps phantom?)

(Rule #3: Let phantom think everybody adores him - it's good for his self-esteem. And phantom just wouldn't be phantom if he didn't have too much self-esteem.)

Actually, Larien, one of the positive ratings (I think it's 50-100 rep points?) is "_____ is no Fool of a Took." So you weren't too far gone, there.

(Now that's how you really make a thread on topic. :p)

Let me point out phantom's sig.

And I did not say I supported random 'negging'; I said giving negatives, with reason, will keep people from becoming, well, arrogant...

:D

Oh I fully realize that you are full of hot air and yourself phantom ;) . I just wanted to say that I don't agree with your hot air approach. And I realize that Gurthang didn't fully back up you point but it was something fairly close and that's why I posted my opinion of rep.

I just came upon this thread... well, it's not like I dug it up, it's been sitting in front of my face for some time now... but anyway...

I'm lost as to this reputation thing. I'm assuming it's the little green boxes by our names, but I have no clue how people rate me or how to rate others. I remember on the old board there were the bones that you could give people, another rating system. But, how do you rate someone? Not that I'm going to, because I've never been one to judge people, but I'm curious. Perhaps I should read the last...err... however many pages long this thread is, to find out, but I'm feeling unmotivated at the moment.

Hah.. I probably lost some reputation just with this post. Ah well. I used to be scholarly, honest...before my hiatus from the boards. You'd have to go back a ways to find my good posts, I think. I've been tainted by the mutating threads on the boards at my site.

ETA: Ah ha! I've figured it out! I'm pretty clever when I put my mind to it. Wow, it's neat (yes, I did just say "neat") how you can leave comments and stuff with it. I shall start using this now. Time to put on my scholars hat and take a dive again! :) I appreciate that some liked my Eowyn post... I've been most scholarly about her lately, but it's hard not to learn a lot about a character when you build a site for her. I am quite opinionated about her :)

And what's Rule #3? Never discuss Fight Club? Oh, wrong board. ;)

You know, to be honest, I keep coming back to this thread and discussing the pros and cons of the Reputations system, but I've realized that I never really look at people's reputations. Granted I have only been back on here for about a week or two - therefore I've been spending most of my time reminding myself how to use the forum and to check out this thread, and haven't really had time to even wander over to the book section yet. I may utilize it at some point, I guess. But really, I tend to just find my last post and read up from there until I catch up, not skipping based on reputation or not.

And can you explain something very quickly? I heard someone mention something about a little "red" box - does the box turn red when people give you negative Reputation, such as if you commit some heinous board crime and manage to say something stupid enough that people feel the need to take all of your good merits away? Or is it always green, but the little personal received Reputation thing that I assume you get when you're rated (I haven't been yet) is red?

That's right.

Neat-o. Thanks. Gee, disappear for six months, and you have no clue how anything works around here.

So, if someone rates you, is there somewhere you're supposed to go check or does a message appear in Private Message form if you get a comment along with it?

ETA: LOL, I can get into Wellesley College, but I can't figure out how a Reputations system works. How pathetic is that?

It shows up in your 'USER CP' - top left under the Discussion Forum title.

Oooh! Okay! Thanks. Wow, reading those now also made me feel distinctly happier - there were some from a while ago that I never even noticed.

Hey, speaking of the 'received reputation' list, or whatever you call it, is there any way to view every rep you've ever gotten? It only shows like the last ten. Do we still have access to see those points we got when the system was new?

Excardon me...
 

Well ElizaGurth, I know that you can find out the reps you got on a single post by clicking the "give reputation" link on your own post, but I don't know if you can view all reps.

I agree with the first part, but you shouldn't be afraid of wounding someone's rep. if they are indeed doing something that is not respecting everyone else and the rules. It shouldn't matter how much reputation points you have, if you chose to give everyone a bad time, you will risk the chance of losing some, or many points. It just depends if you want to be responsible about it, and try not giving everyone a bad time, or you can be arrogant and continue to make it hard yourself. Trust me, i've made some really stupid, implusive and unwise posts before - and I indeed recieve a comment on each one of them. Thanks to those who did! ;)

~Ka

I vent my frustration by anonymously neg-repping the phantom every day. It helps cut down his ego.

Oh, wait, now he knows it was me... :eek:

On a more on-topic note, how often do people check their rep inbox? I used to check it every day but the reps are drying up, so from now on it's about once a week.

TGWBS, I check mine pretty much whenever I'm bored and have nothing better to do. Which means that I've already looked through all the interesting threads, I've already responded to anything that catches my interest, I've already answered any PMs, and I still have time. It was the neatest thing today though...

It's the Fourth of July, and my total rep points are currently at 1776. That's ironic in a way cool way.

I generally go to my User CP to check on subscribed threads when I log on, so I see any reps I have then.

I tend to check mine at the very end of a day when I've (finally) dealth with all the e-mails coming my way and posted on all the threads I've subscribed to or just found. It's a nice end to a day to find that someone has liked something you said.

I tend to check mine through the icon in each of my posts. For instance, I'll probably see if I've gained any points after I submit this post. If I've changed, I'll go see what it was for.

I check mine everyday. Not that I mean to...but it's right underneath my subscriptions, so when I read through them it catches my eye.

It varies: if I've made a spate of posts that I'm particularly proud of (usually RPG ones, most of what I post on the rest of the forum constitutes a grand total of about three lines generally...) then I might check it in the next day to see whether I've had any reps for them, especially if someone has PMed me to say they liked a post - hey, sometimes it's most happy-fun-time, sometimes not, that's the way it goes... And sometimes I won't check for a while then suddenly realise that I've acquired an extra box. Which, y'know, always makes a pleasant surprise :)

TGWBS - you're kinda right, the reps are 'drying up' to an extent, or did seem to be for a while. I get them all of the same crowd really, those who I RPG with, so maybe I have a warped view, but still... Maybe the novelty is wearing off?

I did notice that, too. Maybe it's because a dozen Downers have already reached the pinnacle of the system? There's a connection there...somewhere... :D

Personally I am still giving rep in the same way as I ever did. However I quite appreciate that many might think it pointless to rep me... or maybe I am just slacking!!!

I was astounded to find, in the members list, that I have the 70th highest rep. :eek: Cool!

I meant that my personal reps were drying up, but it's interesting to see that others think the same is happening on a larger scale.

Gurthang, there really should be nothing to worry about by giving someone high up there a negative rep. As long as it's deserved (and for me leave the name) because if there's miscommunication, or I deserved a negative rep and there's no name, I can't send a PM to apologize for what I may have said. Trust me, I won't hold a grudge, and allthough the others can have their own thoughts, from what I've seen all of them are kind people who care about the welfare of the downs, not how many points they get.

Boro has a wonderful point. The idea of reps is not necessarily to give us all uninflatable ego-boosts (although thanks to a silly comment I made in Mirth a little while ago, I've got a big grin), but so that we can communicate what we like or dislike about posts. There's no need to be leery about giving neg-reps to top-listers. The only one I ever gave was to someone that I'm quite terrified of. I still left my name, preceded by exactly what bothered me about that person's post. There've been no retributions, I swear.

Arr, a tale t' chill the bones, tae be sure....*drops the pirate accent* But indeed, my lady, you are braver than I.

I really don't like giving negative reps, still. Without saying how much each of my reps is worth (nothing compared to those who sit on High Taniquetil anyway), it's enough so that if I was to get one of that weight, it would seriously buoy me down - I personally hate getting negative reps. Subsequently, if I see something that really bothers me, I generally PM the poster about it asking them for a reason why they posted it/asking them if they would mind editting/explaining etc, in the hopes that they will remove or edit the post - no harm done :) I'd rather do that than give them a negative rep which is rather more permanent.

Probably the thing that bothers me is that once I posted on a thread(don't remember exactly what it was about). The two Downers who had posted ahead of me had just been going back and forth on nonsense, completely off topic and completely not Tolkien related. I put in my post that they were 'posting just to post posts'(with a ;) so they would know I was not really serious), then proceeded to comment on the topic. I received a negative rep for my comment, despite it being a joke. Not fun.

If only I had done what Amanaduial just said, about the PMing I mean.

But even besides all that, I've not seen anything recently that is near being worthy of a negative rep. I've generally thought that people kept those comments to themselves because of this system.

I do wish there was a way that a negative rep could be mutually retracted. Like if the repper & the repped PM for a bit & discover that there was a genuine misunderstanding; but then I suppose the repper might be unduly pressured by the repped to withdraw his negative rep & he might not want to.

If that makes sense. ;)

Well, if there has been a misunderstanding, the one who negatively repped could positively rep the person when he is able to again, to balance it out. This has happened with me before and it worked out nicely.

Speaking on the mentioned 'rep draught', I need to give out more rep, because I am pretty bad about not sharing. From now on I'll search for one or two rep-worthy posts every time I'm on. This would also help me with my 'need to spread more rep' problem, because I've gotten that message about the last seven times I've tried to give rep. (not that I disagree with that system, I think its a good safeguard)

P.S.
Just if you're wondering, I did not receive a signature from that negative rep.