What if...post count wasn't listed?

[Gaard]

It seems to me that people are reading too much into this...and feel threatened by the suggestion. Nobody is suggesting (I don't think anyways) that certain types of posts or certain types of posters be policed...at least not more than they are now. The suggestion is to hide the post counts and remove the top 10 poster list. I have a hard time understanding why people would feel threatened by these suggestions unless somehow the post count/top 10 list is a reason/goal/inspiration for posting. And if that's the case, I don't see how that can be good for the forums...with Anand having troubles with bandwidth, even to the point of offering subscriptions and capping. Everyone remember a while back some member going around and posting "hmmm" in dozens of threads? Everyone remember that underwear topic mentioned above? Everyone remember all of the poop/crap threads a while back? If hiding post counts results in the elimination, or at least the reduction, of these, and the many more like them, would that be a bad thing?

And to the people who feel threatened here, why do you feel threatened? Ask yourself why it matters to you that your post count be visible to everyone.

 

[etech]

<< can hardly believe the amount of people whose sole purpose here is having more posts >>

Who thinks this way?

These people do. They are the top in post count race. It has been so obvious that threads have been started about it.

Place your bets! Adul or yakko, prince of Neffs

"yakko takes the crown on one liner posts but let's face it Adul is/was/and will always be Prince Nef. "

"it doesn't matter... soon enough mr skroob will take his place."

"Hmmm, shouldn't LordMaul be in the race too? Though he doesn't seem to be trying quite as hard as Yakko "

"gopunk will own everyone in a few months. "

"hey now!!! I made 200 post in 2 days "

"And yakko is still pulling away on post count "

"only because I was ahead of him by 30mlast night. he had to work hard to cacth up again "

"yakko has his work cut out for him now "

"yakko, because of his one liners "

"Sorry yakko, but I pick Adul. He is the champeen neffer of the world. "

"yeah i am gaining. At least my post count is higher for now. "

"Adul is nef champion "

"Besides, I'm already the self-crowed Lord Of Nefs. "

"Definately Yakko. He's in every post I looked at today. "

"Happy 19,000, yakko."

"<< dasm i blew past 19k >>

You did it while I was working though. "


Now tell me again how it isn't just about post count for some people!

Nefs, just like the orginal nef used to be banned. When did the rules change?

 

[aphex]

Im just curious why it bothers you so much? I mean, are these people really hurting you in any way...

 

[Azraele]

<< Im just curious why it bothers you so much? I mean, are these people really hurting you in any way... >>


It's frustrating to have to sift through obvious nef posts. Imagine for a second what the boards would be like if neffing weren't regulated. You'd be hard pressed to find some of the great threads that get created here. It'd be overshadowed by neffing. Also, the forums are already overburdened with users. The capped servers are slow already, what would they be like if a bunch of users were given free reign with nef posts?

 

[Migroo]

Adding to Azraele's point:

There are some truly great threads out there. Especcially in Off Topic sometimes - one of my al time favourites was one started by Skoorb, discussing car audio. It got me interested in improving my setup etcetc and contributed the the result I have now . Anyway the point is that imagine such a thread filled with nef posts - a w00t, a smilie, a quote of another poster (without additional comment) etc - thats highly annoying and can destroy the quality of a thread.

While some may argue that a 'w00t' (or other) post is contribution, I highly disagree. It is NOT a good way of showing appreciation of a thread - a proper sentence or even (gasp!) a proper contribution is far better. Same again goes for the excuse that a 'woot' post is a bump - there is high overcrowding of threads especially in the OT forum, and the more threads are bumped with such posts, the more threads get pushed to the bottom, and therefore the cycle continues.

One reason why the types of post that etech mentioned bother me is that it encourages worthless posting. If I start a thread with a serious question, be it Car Audio for the sake of an example, I am NOT interested in what people have to say if their response is along the lines of 'I have cool car audio' or 'I dont have a car'. I frequently see bad one liners out there which are WORTHLESS!

Cant you understand where we are coming from AphexII? At least understand that for some of us who dont spend a long time in OT do not feel (or want to) part of the 'ATOT' group, and therefore we dont want to be part of the 'chat', just want serious replies. Is that too much to ask for?

 

[etech]

Migroo and Azraele said it very well and better than I can.

If there was not a problem than people would not be starting threads with titles that have (no nefs please). There are threads like that and the nefs are posting in them anyway.

No one and especially me is saying that every post you make should be a work of are. Mine certainly aren't. There is a point though when some people are posting in almost every thread just to up their post count. Other people start to emulate them. The signal to noise ratio of the forum goes to near zero and that is what the problem is.

It's also about respect. Should the other members of the forum have to wade through their "I don't have a pager" posts in a thread about pagers just so they can have one more post count? If you can't find something more interesting to post than "interesting indeed" in a thread titled "Germany Had Plan to Take New York in 1900" than why post anything?

 

[Wolfsraider]

i guess i never saw both sides and often forget that there are even two sides

good posts guys i'm glad i read the whole thread and i will try harder to do my part

i didn't realize that it bothered people to see a woot or a smile or even a quote by itself

or that it was considered annoying,but since it does mine will stop.i thought it was acceptable

sorry

mike

 

[Red Dawn]

Mike it wouldn't be so bad if it were just done occasionally but unfortunately we have imbeciles who do that just to up thier post count. It's those imbeciles that ruin it for everybody else.

 

[Wolfsraider]

thanks red dawn but still, now that I know i can stop this too

 

[Farmall]

I agree with Red's statement, there does seem to be quite a number of the members who's sole purpose for posting is strictlty +1.

There are a lot of threads that are of the light hearted nature that I really enjoy and find myself laughing at the wit of some members. I don't post that often in any threads but have fun reading thru the threads that I find interesting this is my way of relaxing a bit after a long day at work. A few laughs can go a long way. I don't have a problem with members who feel they have something thats worth posting and do, chances are they follow current events etc. a lot more than I do. In regards to posts count I don't put a lot of weight into this, I base my opinions of members on what they posts instead of their member status or post count.

I don't see what the mods can do any differently than they are doing now, there seems to be quite a few more threads that are of the worthless nature (imo) that have been locked recently. We can't expect there to be a mod for each individual member to monitor every post.

How plausible would it be to have each new account locked for posting until the member has read the forum FAQ? I think for the most part what is reasonable should be allowed, and if the staff deems it fit to adjust the rules to account for "nef" of some sort that is for them to decide. Until then about all we can do is not add to the worthless posts by staying out of them entirely.

 

[bizmark]

I do think that it would be beneficial if post count wasn't listed.

However, I disagree with those who say that simple quote-posts aren't worthwhile. I hate it when I read a story or link or view the pic or whatever, and then I come up with my response in my head, and then I scroll down and somebody's already said the exact same thing that I was thinking. If you accept that these threads are a place where people should be allowed to give their opinions, then if their opinions have already been stated by somebody else, why not allow them to quote-post? It's a way of both stating one's opinion and acknowledging one's agreement with the first person who said it.

That said, the situations where quote-posts are most appropriate tend to be "nef threads" in which no real discussion is possible: "Hey, read this funny story." "Look at this pic." etc... This, I think, is a deeper issue for OT. Nobody denies the worthwhileness of these threads, but at the same time there's no real non-nef way to respond to them.

<rant>
What I really hate, though, is people who respond to Poll threads by just quoting one of the answers in the poll. WTH do you think the purpose of having a poll is? Just answer the poll, and if you don't have anything new to add, don't post in the thread! Man this annoys me.</rant>

Perhaps a solution would be to have an 'intelligent' post-counting algorithm? Like, if the person's post just has one line in it, then it doesn't increase their post count. Then again, this would be immediately abused -- people would start having two-line posts, or whatever, just to up their postcount some more. (Plus it'd probably piss off masters of the one-liner like Red Dawn.) However, one thing that kind of makes me mad is that people who sit in FS/FT all day bumping their FS/FT posts have like 25 postcount for a thread in which each of the posts is "^" or "ttt" or "bump". I feel that postcount SHOULD mean something, and it still does to some extent, but I hate to see it weakened.

I personally strive to make my posts meaningful. Sometimes I succomb to the nef-monster, however. But at the same time, sometimes I want to say "LOL" and nothing more. I would have no problem with all of my "LOL" posts not counting for anything. As it is, I've always somewhat limited myself in that degree, because I don't want to become someone who is thought of as a Neffer, but I've felt to some extent that my voice was being stifled by my desire to not nef.

 

[mastertech01]

How about changing to number of days logged on as a member?

1st logon day to 59th logged on day=JR Member
60Th logon day to 150th logon day= SR Member
Promotion comes every 150 logon days after that.
If you log on every day for a year you are promoted to Golden Member
If you lon on every day for two years you are promoted to Diamond Member
3 Years of logons earns a Lifer Badge

Elite Member stays the way it is. This way it takes a LOT of participation on the forums to be promoted.. whether as a lurker or a Nef or a legit poster.

This would drastically reduce neffing and killing post count competition. You could be a member for 5 years and still be a junior if you dont log on regularly.
You would not have to post a lot however to be promoted. You just do what the supporters of the forums ask.. show up regularly. This also gives Anandtech a real tool to measure viewers per day, rather than simply hits. How many members are actually logged on in a day.

 

[eleutheria]

Maybe this has been suggested already, but it would be interesting if post counts were not incremented beyond a certain level. Once you reached 1000, for instance, your post count just stayed the same, didn't keep growing and growing every time you made another nef post.

That way the stupid competition among the lifers would be meaningless, since no one would know how many posts anyone had, after the maximum level displayed was reached. They could continue posting, but their post odometer would not show it, and there would be much less motivation to "do a yakko" and blast the forum with dozens of one-word bumps and such.

 

[Hossenfeffer]

Originally posted by: mastertech01
How about changing to number of days logged on as a member?

1st logon day to 59th logged on day=JR Member
60Th logon day to 150th logon day= SR Member
Promotion comes every 150 logon days after that.
If you log on every day for a year you are promoted to Golden Member
If you lon on every day for two years you are promoted to Diamond Member
3 Years of logons earns a Lifer Badge

This would drastically reduce neffing and killing post count competition. You could be a member for 5 years and still be a junior if you dont log on regularly.
You would not have to post a lot however to be promoted. You just do what the supporters of the forums ask.. show up regularly. This also gives Anandtech a real tool to measure viewers per day, rather than simply hits. How many members are actually logged on in a day.

Very interesting idea. Would all but eliminate the desire to post for the purpose of climbing the membership level ladder. IMHO, this deserves a serious look.

 

[Migroo]

I agree with Hossenfeffer.

Very good idea indeed as one of the main arguments for keeping post counts is that it gives someone an idea of how well established a person is - This idea defeats that argument.

This idea would go beyond the join date, as that has no indication with regards to how active someone is or how much they participate.

This is one of the best ideas I've ever seen on the forums.

 

[yakko]

Originally posted by: etech


Now tell me again how it isn't just about post count for some people!

Ok. It is not about post count for some people. How hard is that to understand? Take away all my posts. Reset me to one. It will not change who I am.

 

[Paulson]

post count used to matter, but not anymore... Some people take it way too seriously. Hell I was at 11,000 some posts and had my account deleted and reset so I was back at one... big deal. I can see how you could think that way, but now not caring anymore, why bother with the damn thing... it's all just a matter of some people thinking they're bigger or better because they have a big post count or a wonderful title under their name.

 

[Gaard]

Paulson - are you saying that after your post count was reset you lost the urge to post a lot?

 

[etech]

yakko

Ok. It is not about post count for some people. How hard is that to understand? Take away all my posts. Reset me to one. It will not change who I am.

Place your bets! Adul or yakko, prince of Neffs
Adul "dasm i blew past 19k "

yakko "You did it while I was working though."
joohang "Happy 19,000, yakko. "

Ok, it's not about post count.

What is it about?

 

[yakko]

Read the part of my reply starting at the word take. I can only speak for me which is why, if you are bright enough to comprehend my long winded reply there, I said for some people. Why do you care so much about what I post anyway? Do you have a crush on me or something?

 

[Azraele]

yakko: Ok, so taking away post count may not change your posting habits. The key word here is your. You're not the only member on the board. Taking away post count may work with the rest of them.

 

[yakko]

But it probably wouldn't.

 

[Azraele]

Originally posted by: yakko
But it probably wouldn't.

I disagree, but fair enough, you're entitled to your opinion.

 

[Migroo]

Really yakko? I find that really hard to believe when I read posts such as these -

Adul
yeah i am gaining. At least my post count is higher for now.

Edit: Quote was taken from this thread.

 

[Azraele]

Why do you care so much about what I post anyway? Do you have a crush on me or something?

yakko, I don't think the issue is entirely about you, I think you're just being used as an example (perhaps unfairly, since you're being singled out). To answer your question, people care because worhtless posts (any worthless post) can interrupt the integrity of a thread. For example, in this thread, you simply state "I am not going to answer your questions." I personally found your post absurd. Others were answering the questions referenced to in the original post. Your reply brought nothing of value to the thread, it seemed to be simply a filler post to add yet another post to your count. I've seen other threads with perfectly good intentions fall to ruin because of a nef feeding feenzy. It gets frustrating. That's why people are bothered by such posts. Even if you don't agree, do you understand?