Please, do away with post counts.....

[Oldskool]

It seems as though some people post complete crap in order to bump up their post count.

I think we could all live without it........

[paigeoliver]

I both agree and disagree. I agree that people DO that. But at the same time I disagree with doing away with post counts. Post counts serve a couple of real functions.

#1. They identify newbies. Important to know who you are dealing with.

#2. They help identify longterm active community members. This is very important when it comes to financial transactions. Even if I was a relatively new member I would know that I could probably trust Peale, Oscar, Howard Casto, or even PaigeOliver based on the fact that they are longterm community members, and thus aren't likely to screw me out of my money.

[abrannan]

Then why not replace post counts with a "member since" date?  The problem I've seen is that people have a tendency to equate post count and  knowlege.  So if I post a bunch in the "Everything Else" category's movie quote game, I potentially look like I know more than someone else.  For people like me who aren't very vocal on the boards (Though I've been more vocal lately), I can get incorrect labeled as a "newbie".  I personally favor an "experience point" style system like the everything engine supports.  (see Perlmonks.org and everything2.org).  Granted, no system is perfect, and any system that can be gamed to boost percieved importance will be.

Also, I believe all of the individuals you've mentioned as being able to trust have some sort of special title to identify them, so my guess is you're not judging based on their post counts.  

[paigeoliver]

Actually post count alone is usually a good indicator as to if you can take a chance on someone.

Look at it this way, if someone has 1000, 2000, or 3000 posts, then it is obvious that the message board is a big part of their life. A part of their life they are not likely to want to screw up over some minor deal.

[nighthawk2099]

I agree with Paige.  I do feel that some people abuse the posts with junk, but when I first started looking around the board, I knew that when I read a reply to my questions from someone with a larger number of posts that person had some experience in that area.  Just my 2 pennies.

[bdsjake]

I must agree, I mean my only purpose for this post is to get to 100 (sorry, couldn't resist! do I get a prize or something for 100?).

[steve_pss]

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say

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is.

[maraxle]

If there has to be some sort of status indicator, I'd lean toward the "member since" idea.  All a high post count tells me is that someone has a lot of time to post.  It says nothing about skill, value to the community, trustworthiness, or even the length of time spent as part of the community.  "Member Since" at least lets you know that they have been around for a while - not that they spent 40 hours last week debating the relative merits of salsa and ketchup in the Everything Else board.

[rampy]

*Shrug*

I think there should be a badge for people who actually donate or contribute to the site in some appreciable fashion (financial or otheriwse)...kinda like a totalfark badge... or osemthing... *Shrug*

rampy

PS I have a high post count comment, but i'll stuff it =P

[Santoro]

Steve_pss, I appreciated the humor.
 

[Howard_Casto]

The reason the post counts stay.....

The time a person has joined has absolutely nothing to do with how much they've contributed.  We have members that have been here since the first day and have barely made 4 posts.  In other words, they are lurkers who don't actively keep up with developments in the community.  

I think I can be impartial on this since I would be considered a "veteran" on both respects, going by both my post count and the fact that I was one of the first dozen people to join the new message board.  


Badges of significance I think are a good idea and saint actually started that at one point, but it kinda fell through.  If you'll notice I have a "developers" tag on my handle.  Every seasoned developer is supposed to have one, but if they actually do or not is beyond me.  Pj stuck the "idiot police" on for my tireless efforts getting rid of.... err, I mean dealing with.... the more troublesome members.  

I think some sort of badge for donations would also be nice.  The main problem with all of this though is it gives more work for the moderators.  I think that's the main reason none of it is implemented.  


Getting back to your issues though.  


If you don't interact that much then you kinda are a newbie. Please don't be offended by that, it's just that if you aren't interacting then you aren't learning the "practical experince" that talking with and helping out other members can bring.  Now that doesn't mean that you don't know your stuff, you might very well, but the question remains.... If you do know so much then why aren't you helping people out?  If the answer is "I don't want to" then you get what is coming to you. If it's "I don't have time"  then you obviously don't have time to keep up with the constantly changing and evolving information in the community.  I'm not trying to be rude at all, but do you kinda understand my point?

I wasn't aware that "post padding" was still in practice.  It must happen on the main board... which is cluttered with already asked, archived, and "faq-ed" questions anyway.  That's kind of the reason I don't visit it anymore, too many questions are being asked when people already have access to the answers. Also too many people post stuff that really doesn't belong there. (Like comments, statments, "hey look at me", ect)

Anyway, don't let it bother you... I am well aware of some members that barely say a word and yet their word is always right.  I'm also aware of people who have a thousand posts that say absolutely nothing.  The true veterans know the difference and anyone else doesn't matter that much anyway as they are newbs themselves and don't know any better.  

[Jam161]

This happens in basicly any forum, its not a byoac problem, eventually those people give up or get bored. or they start posting useful things.... or the admin bans them  

hehe but generally speaking people who are only concerned with thier post count arent a real big problem, say they reply to a thread with nonsense you would just skip thier post, or if they make a nonsense thread it would be in that off topic forum :S

[SirPoonga]

There's always excepyions to either syste.  Planetjay, JustMichael are admins but they don't post that much.  StarGoddess has been in the chat room forever but has very few posts here.

Then there are lurkers that have been a member since day one but don't do much.

[Matthew Anderson]

Do not do away with post counts. I would hate for someone to think I actually know what I am talking about when I post. I may look at byoac a fair amount but that does not mean I would know what I am talking about if I were to offer advice. I like the current system myself. Hah!