Reputations

[Imladris]

And when you're engrossed in a wonderful post that only a handful of people participate in, whom you'd like to award, it's rather hard to stop in the middle of it and search for old discussions to spread more reputation.

I think that 20 is a good number. Even though only a few people are involved with a good topic (and usually topics such as the chapter by chapter are long), that means those people will keep on getting reputation because they are so smart. Eventually a clique will form which is what the BDs want to avoid. Twenty will more effectively keep that from happening instead of ten.

it's rather hard to stop in the middle of it and search for old discussions to spread more reputation.

I don't know if I'm reading more into this statement, but spreading reputation isn't the point of the forums. If people go out of their way to spread reputation so that they can give to their favourites, it will destroy the whole point of the system. It will give rep to people who don't necessarily deserve it just so that the faves can get get two little green squares beside their name. Eventually, if that continues, everyone will be No Fool of a Tooks and then eventually everyone will have two squares. Thus the two squares just become another thing and not a badge of worthiness.

Old discussions? What about new discussions? Surely there has to be more than just a few new good discussions and posts? And even if there are, why is that a bad thing? The lack of reputation will surely inspire some budding corpse to create good topics? *coughFordimHedgthistlecough*. But please do not understand me to say that I believe that there are no good old Discussions. That is the fartherst thing from my mind. I just find it silly to look for good Old Discussion when good new ones are around you.

But those are just my humble thoughts.