I absolutely agree. I have only given negative reputation twice, and both times I have left an explanation and signed my screen name. I expect others to at least do the former for me, though I'll note that many have not.

I have only received one negative point and it came with a pretty offensive comment as well (and without a signature, of course :rolleyes: ). This irked me somewhat, especially as the post which prompted this proverbial assault was really a nothing post in which I criticised the Departure of Denethor in the film.

I would argue that it is bad form to negative-ise someone without leaving a comment as well as your screenname. It's not a playground, we should be able to deal with differences easily here.

I may just be paranoid, but the thought occured to me that anyone can sign their name as anyone. It's a little disconcerting. I seriously doubt anyone with much rep points to give would do something so immature, but the identity thieving comment would still be there, wouldn't it? I am paranoid. :)

Edit: Oh, duh. Nevermind me. I got the bright idea to go back and read the guidelines on the first page of this thread, and apparently anyone who hasn't been around very long/has less than 50 posts/has a low reputation, should not be able to give reputation points or comments.

The problem is solvable - if the person allegedly giving you bad rep have rated you before, you may know how much points his/her rate is worth. Per instance, if Mr BW rates you positive, you've got 10 points. If another instance you get negative of 2 points and it is signed BW, you know it's fake. The worth of rating of each member may increase (say, another 1,000 posts or similar will bring 1 point to the rating power), but over considerable period of time, and gradually.

edit: in answer to 'edit' of the preceding post :)

Anybody can give comments and points. Just prior to reaching 51st post (or so I gather) the points equal zero. So, the reputed member gets nice/grudgy comment and neutral blue-gray box with 0 points (not no points, 0 points, if you follow my meaning, kind ladies and gentlemen)

That is not deduction - I talk out of experience - several times I've been rated by newbies and the total score did not change, but the comments were there.

Thanks to all who took time, btw :)

cheers

Erm, Child of the 7th Age wrote this in my reputation:

However it was attached to a negative reputation point thing. What's going on?
:S :confused: :o

The reputation idea is fine by me, though no doubt it has some flaws (what doesn't?). Having said that, I personally don't put a lot of stock in reputations, because anyone could be making a lot of really excellent post & not getting them rated like they deserve because the right people aren't seeing them. Some people chose not to rate often, & some chose not to rate at all. As long as you're making good posts that contribute to the forums, it makes no difference (to me) what your reputation is :). As long as it's not negative (for a real reason) ;).


If anyone recieves a negative rating from 'me', PM me & find out if it was really me or not. I'm sure I wouldn't mind explaining it if it was me anyway...

Possibley either an error or sarcasm..... why not PM to find out if you are bothered...

H-I said:

I have a question about this: are these non-scoring reputation comments considered in bad taste? I have wanted to rate many posts but have refrained from doing so because I know I wouldn't be giving out any points. (I've used PMs instead a few times.) And at the rate I post, it is taking me quite a while to get to 50. So what do you think: is it better to get a gray box with comments in it, or to get a PM?

Either way works, I suppose. I have gotten a few comments with the blue/gray box, and even though it's not worth any points it's still nice to know people appreciate your posts. I don't think you should not rate people just because you don't have any points to give. You're almost to 50 anyway though, so you'll have points soon. :)

I'm with Firefoot. I personally would rather read what the person had to say about my post then quickly check & see how many points I got because of it. If I were you, I'd go with rating over PMs, rating is much quicker & more to the point.

True, but then, I'd rather receive a negative PM than a negatice rating :D I'm not gonna get two squares that way ;)

Ah, but the key is-would you have deserved the negative rating? ;)

But, if you say rating is better than Pming, I'd rather receive a pm for a small negative comment, than a rating. No matter how minor the problem is, it can take away a lot of points!

That's why I've only given out one negative rating so far. ;) A post has to be really bad for me to want to lower someone's rating. (I.E. off topic, offensive, and inarticulate all in one). Though I have not computed how many points I actually have to give or take away.

Indeed, those who have the power should wield it carefully. :smokin:

Posted by The Barrow-Wight:

I'm guessing there are some in-between levels? For instance, I've seen at least one of my posts that was rated 'somewhat positive'...

Just for all of you who were discussing...
 

We seem to have a new "high" on the rankings. Fordim Hedgethistle has now reached "---has the fame of Frodo". Hmm...wonder if there could be any higher? Possibly one naming Eru himself?

I have noticed that, too. (Who wouldn't, anyway?) Congrats, Fordim!

I was thinking the next one would be related to Aragorn...or maybe not. Eru is a lot more appropriate.

Or maybe one of the Valar... Sharku said So I don't think it would go straight to Eru just yet.

Does that mean there could be up to ten little green boxes?! :eek:

Please can someone explain how I have got a "somewhat positive " rating on a post with only one comment on it? I could understand say if there had been two ratings one positive and one negative ... but the positive one packed more points ...but ..it just puzzles me....

I love this reputation system. Since it’s been in effect I think I've begun to improve my posts. Now that I know what people will not like and what people will like. All in all a good idea Mr Wight!

Oh yes, I recently got upgraded so now it reads;
"Hookbill the goomba is no fool of a took." Damn right I'm not! :D

Somewhat positive means you got one positive rating.
I should know that... :rolleyes:

I received a *Blue* reputation point once. What's that all about?

But I have other posts with one positive comment which are plain positive .... and the person who gave me them were lower in the rep ranking than the person who gave the somewhat positive rating :confused:

Hookbill, blue ones are neutral. They are made by people with less than a fifty post count. They don't effect your score...

I'm sorry about the negative rep Aman..that's just mean.

And I'm sorry about that post being made - a case of, shall we say, 'mistaken identity'. There is another user who has my username and password and who I asked to come on to send a few PMs as to why I was AWOL (I anticipated not being able to get on for another week or so). I texted her before she actually sent anything on my account, but unfortunately it seems she didn't sign out - and thus that post was born.

Incidentally, I don't like answamachines...and I am liable to quoting films...but otherwise, that post is not true on my account.

My apologies for that :(

More levels in both directions? Hmm, I wonder how many more there are to go downwards...

How low can y'go...how low can y'go...

Repeating myself... again
 

I've just sent out a few PMs reminding specific people that negative reputations should have a comment. If you've got nothing to say, don't click the button.

Also, for those of you who get negative reputations given, please don't write to me asking for an investigation. So far, everyone that has contacted me with a concern has each had a grand total of one (1) bad reputation with a point value of -1. This is nothing to panic about. The reputations system is a wonderful tool, and if you doubt me, just sort the Members List by Reputation and you will see how accurate it is.

Thanks

(Psst: if you find that an urgent reason to complain to the Wight, the bad reputation might have been quite accurate)

Well said.

And special congratulations to Fordim and davem for breaking the illusionary glass ceiling!

Make sure that you don't just assume that your post shouldn't have been rated negativly & see if you can change the way you post in the future because of it. And if you actually didn't deserve it; then like the BW said, it's usually only -1 points anyway, don't sweat it! :)

I like the ratings system; I like being able to "reward" people for a good post even if I don't hold much sway. The desire to get a good rating has encouraged me to make better posts, so my argument skills (as well as Tolkien knowledge, of course) have increased.

I've only gotten one bad rep... it upset me at first but then I realized that a rude awakening was rather what I needed! The person who gave it was good enough to provide their identity, too. So even the negative option can be a good thing, as long as it's not obscene or anything.

I have a question, though I don't know if it can be answered. Is there any way of knowing how many reputation points we must get before our level changes? I mean, with the titles under our names, you reach a certain number of posts, and your title upgrades, if it can be said that way. Does anyone know what the point levels are for reputations?

I don't know, I suppose only the mods do. I suspect its 100 points per box, although I have no way of knowing.

There's your answer.

And, to Quote the BW himself:

I guess we're just going to have to accept that it is just one big mystery, the carrot in front of the mule, as it were, to get us all to write nice, informative, good posts.

I suppose that we'll just have to accept the fact that we'll change when we change.

I do know that when you reach 50 you become "No Fool of a Took" and "Faithful as Samwise" when you get passed 100.

I'm hoping for something along the lines of '...the Might of a Wight' or '...the Mana of Manwë.'

:rolleyes:

Sono apologizes for the off-topic post, sneaks out the back door.

Maybe we should keep a tracking device on Fordim or Daven for the answer :D

Dear Barrow-Wight,

Speaking of reputation, and rating posts:

Is there any way of seeing the top-ten rated posts of all time?

Excellent idea, mark12_30! I did a bit of evil wizardry and came up with the following list. It is rated by taking the total number of reputations (by individual members) each post got and multiplying it by the total reputation points it got. I did it this way so that posts that were only rated a few times by admins didn't rate unfairly high against posts that were rated by more people who had less rating power. I think I've come up with a fairly good top 10 list.

Special notice should go to our reputation hero, The Squatter of Amon Rûdh, who appears on the list three times!

1 The Squatter of Amon Rûdh
2 Fordim Hedgethistle
3 tar-ancalime
4 HerenIstarion
5 The Squatter of Amon Rûdh
6 Nurumaiel
7 Joy
8 The Squatter of Amon Rûdh
9 Marileangorifurnimaluim
10 Fingolfin II

* Click the number to see the post.

Interesting. 60% are the first posts on threads, most of which have become renowned/infamous on the Downs (including, of course, Fordim's opener on the Canonicity thread :rolleyes: :D ). So, thread-starting is good for the reputation (depending, of course, on the nature of the thread.).