Remove post counts

[Bauke]

Spammers will be spammers so they will get into mischief anyway. With or without the post count.

 

There are a number of different types of spammers.

 

1. Users who spam just to raise their post count as they think they will gain more respect from other users.

 

2. People who sign up to the forum just to spam advertise a site/link etc.

 

3. Users who are trying to cause trouble and don't really care about getting banned.

 

 

 

I'm sure there are a few others too, but with this suggestion of removing post counts we are trying to get rid of number 1.

 

If their precious post count is gone then they will have to find a new way of gaining respect.

 

 

 

 

 

I know sites with ratring type systems instead of post counts but don't know exactly if they work. Anyone know?

 

 

 

I see your point, but... is number 1 really such a big problem on this forum? It might be just me, but I haven't seen a lot of people trying to get their post count up on purpose. I don't think they have to either. There are a lot of "noob" topics coming and going on this forum where pretty much everyone can answer.

 

Getting rid of spammers would be easier if the rules would be thighter. A lot of people just create a topic for every minor question they have instead of using their eyes. Quite a lot of easy posts are to be made there.

 

 

 

But I know, when having those rules, a lot of users would be quite mad and leave tip.it

[Anesthesia]

If it was people leaving as a reaction to post counts being removed, Bauke, then that is not the case. Post counts have been removed before and no one made a point of leaving because of it.

[Loge_05]

If I could get away with it without 40,000 people whining and crying , trust me , it would be gone ....

 

 

 

Why not just changing things so that you can view your own post count, but not other users' post counts?

 

40,000 couldn't complain as they still have a post count, but only they can see it. This way there would be less incentive to spam as no-one could see your post count.

[The_Sith]

That's just it though - who cares what "rank" you have? Whenever staff are looking for possible people to nominate, we are not looking at whether or not they are a chicken feather or a ghost cloak..

 

 

 

Kinda figured that. It is, though, kinda funny while you're doing that selection to walk by and see that funky title just hanging on someone.

 

 

 

Although, having that title can give an idea of how much positive impact a person can give to the forums. If they're a "Chicken Feather" and yet they have an extreme positive impact, they may do EXTREMELY WELL working for you people! Did you ever think of this? :-k :| :? :)

 

 

 

Of course - what you quoted was basically what I was getting at. :P We've added multiple moderators who have gone on to be fantastic staff members and have doubled or tripled their post count during that time. Whenever someone has asked about becoming a staff member, I mention post count is something that isn't taken into account (along with seniority) - and that still rings true today. (With the obvious exception of someone who has only posted ten times.. we need a bit more than that)

 

 

 

And yup Anesthesia, those who donate automatically become staff. :lol: (Kidding, of course)

[peche]

Well if we added ban on this forum the administrators would have more (maybe too much) work. They'r the only people that can ban somebody.

 

So maybe we spare them that :P

 

And mods at 10 posts would be fun :lol:. You only don't know allot of them.

 

And donaters automatically moderater. I'll donate 10 $ :lol: :P

[Phil]

Well if we added ban on this forum the administrators would have more (maybe too much) work. They'r the only people that can ban somebody.

 

Well not exactly but that's another discussion completely.

[Bauke]

If it was people leaving as a reaction to post counts being removed, Bauke, then that is not the case. Post counts have been removed before and no one made a point of leaving because of it.

 

 

 

No, that's not what I ment. Read my post a little better ;)

 

 

 

If people left because of the postcount was being removed, it would only be better, because it proved those people are only here for their postcount.

[Ard_Choille]

Hmm... Maybe a way to help with this concept is to have a count for "Reports" (number of times the user has been reported for bad threads/posts). Spam posts (among other things) are reported all the time.

 

 

 

Perhaps if the report number was published...these people would think twice about posting nonsense.

[DaanTheDude]

That does sound like a good idea to me :) Btw has anyone noticed the irony in this topic being popular? Lots of posts about whether or not lots of posts should be numbered :-w

[Cruiser]

Simple solution. Do it like RSO and hide the stupid thing, and don't tell me it's "copying jagex". It fixes the problem.

 

 

 

Limit view of the post count to the person's profile and just their replys. No more publicly viewable post count means no more bragging about it. Anyone that posts anything about it will automatically be assumed a liar as they always are without "proof". No more post count spammers trying to raise their rank, and no more mud fights over a stupid number.

 

 

 

if (post author == current logged in name) { display post count in post }

 

 

 

So, you will see your post count in only your own posts, and your profile. Then make a shiny new rule about posting screenshots of your postcount. :lol:

 

 

 

Or you could just bite the bullet, remove it entirely and let the kiddies cry. If they leave over a number, they weren't worth the bandwidth anyway. :?

[Guest]

That does sound like a good idea to me :) Btw has anyone noticed the irony in this topic being popular? Lots of posts about whether or not lots of posts should be numbered :-w

 

 

 

No. It's just the fact that people want to have their suggestion heard on a highly debatable topic. :wink:

 

 

 

 

 

Hmm... Maybe a way to help with this concept is to have a count for "Reports" (number of times the user has been reported for bad threads/posts). Spam posts (among other things) are reported all the time.

 

 

 

Perhaps if the report number was published...these people would think twice about posting nonsense.

 

 

 

I love your thinking Ard. You do come up with some good ideas! (Looks back at my "Memberlist" thread) :)

 

 

 

Though would the report function be open for the whole of the tip.it community? Or just the Mods? Because there are a far few brainless immature people out there who would just report for the fact that they don't like another person/or they have a high post count.

 

 

 

So would the mods have to look at these reports first? To clarify that they are actual accurate and truthful reports. As with such a massive community based forum, this would only result in alot more work for the Mods. :wink:

[Ard_Choille]

I love your thinking Ard. You do come up with some good ideas! (Looks back at my "Memberlist" thread) :)

 

 

 

Though would the report function be open for the whole of the tip.it community? Or just the Mods? Because there are a far few brainless immature people out there who would just report for the fact that they don't like another person/or they have a high post count.

 

 

 

So would the mods have to look at these reports first? To clarify that they are actual accurate and truthful reports. As with such a massive community based forum, this would only result in alot more work for the Mods. :wink:

 

 

 

Thanks for the compliment. :oops:

 

 

 

I have no idea how the function/visibility would work at this point. Another board I frequent has it as part of the user profile, but not visible alongside posts on the general boards. I'd have to do some research to see how phpBB allows for it and how it would integrate with the access levels/reporting mechanism.

[D. V. Devnull]

I have no idea how the function/visibility would work at this point. Another board I frequent has it as part of the user profile, but not visible alongside posts on the general boards. I'd have to do some research to see how phpBB allows for it and how it would integrate with the access levels/reporting mechanism.

 

 

 

I'm guessing those boards run on VBulletin???

[Dayking321]

Agreed. Be like the RS fourms, no post counts=less "noob" calling and people being judged less on how many posts they have posted.

[Arcticrunite]

Or you could just bite the bullet, remove it entirely and let the kiddies cry. If they leave over a number, they weren't worth the bandwidth anyway. :?

 

 

 

 

 

I rarely, and i mean RARELY, agree with Cruiser on an issue ( :^o ) but this one i do have to agree with. If anything post counts are made for people to spam. People will see they have a low post count and say "Hey, i should get it up a little bit". Now some people who do that just post meaningless topics, but some people actually have a decent opinion on somethings or a great contributive post.

 

 

 

If anything i think people should be rewarded for the quality of the post. Possibly setting up a reward system such as custom titles, among other things (Maybe even new skins unlockable for quality posts?). Maybe have a rating system (and ill be damned but im referring back to rscommunity if im not mistaken, dunno that was about 4 years ago), where if a Moderator/Admin sees a good quality post, they could "up the button" so to speak, and click on a special button allowing for a "QPP" (or quality post point) and maybe X points get you a reward, such as i mentioned before.

 

 

 

It should be limited to Mods/Admins only though (the QPP button). You dont want users to spam just for the QPP.

[Loge_05]

 

So, you will see your post count in only your own posts, and your profile...

 

 

 

Isin't that just what I suggested? :-s

 

 

 

I'm not a big fan of reward systems. If we're trying to remove the different class of people and the perceptions someone has of a high post count, then why replace it with something else? We won't be judged on our post count anymore but our rating. Which will eventually lead us back to square one, as people will make topics, hoping for a rating.

[DragnFly]

The thing is, what you're dealing with is quite an tricky issue, in my own humble opinion.

 

 

 

As Albosky said, if you remove the post count/rank system outright, its clearly going to cause quite abit of outrage among certain people. While their kind isn't really needed around here, I just dont see tip it doing something that could possibly anger that many of its users.

 

 

 

The ranks, I think, should stay as they have been here longer than 99%+ of the users of this forum now. As misplacedme said in another thread, "The ranks are just a fun little thing that we've had for over 5 years now. (minus the time we removed them completely...)."

 

 

 

However, I do think more needs to be done to discourage people from spamming to increase their postcount/rank.

 

 

 

I really couldn't tell you the best approach to handling this, perhaps moving the ranks and post counts to the users profile only? That way, they are available to be seen by anybody who loads someones profile, yet most people aren't going to be bothered loading everyones profile specifically to see this sort of information, thus reducing the urge to spam to increase them.

 

 

 

Another idea that I posted before is actually marking the "deleted topics" forum as not counting towards post count. Since users can spam with new topics all they like, and if they are just moved to an hidden board which still counts towards post, it doesn't do that much to deter people from spamming in the first place. Afterall with all the boards on this site that doesn't count towards it, such as marketplace, clan, and graveyard ones, I really have an hard time understanding why the hidden deleted topics board does anyways.

[nvw08]

I myself like post count for one reason. If someone that has just joined today, and posts a link to download a .wmv file you are going to be a but suspicious... right? I think post count is a good thing to have because it shows how long this person has been here (in a different way as their join date) and how well they know the other people and rules on the board.

[Dayking321]

I myself like post count for one reason. If someone that has just joined today, and posts a link to download a .wmv file you are going to be a but suspicious... right? I think post count is a good thing to have because it shows how long this person has been here (in a different way as their join date) and how well they know the other people and rules on the board.

 

You have a point there, probably the best one against removing post counts. Theres not really much I can say against this, but if it was so true, then we would have lots of people who wanted to install a keylogger just spamming and then posting their link. Join date gives more of a better idea.

[D. V. Devnull]

I myself like post count for one reason. If someone that has just joined today, and posts a link to download a .wmv file you are going to be a but suspicious... right? I think post count is a good thing to have because it shows how long this person has been here (in a different way as their join date) and how well they know the other people and rules on the board.

 

You have a point there, probably the best one against removing post counts. Theres not really much I can say against this, but if it was so true, then we would have lots of people who wanted to install a keylogger just spamming and then posting their link. Join date gives more of a better idea.

 

 

 

The two together, though, is the best combo, in my personal opinion. Especially with the forum titles as they are. Makes for a good atmosphere along with being able to make a reasonable determination. :)

[Cruiser]

I myself like post count for one reason. If someone that has just joined today, and posts a link to download a .wmv file you are going to be a but suspicious... right? I think post count is a good thing to have because it shows how long this person has been here (in a different way as their join date) and how well they know the other people and rules on the board.

 

 

 

I have a whole 60 some posts on this reincarnation of TIF. I guarantee you it has nothing to do with how much I know people or know the rules. Trusting someone over an arbitrary number is going to get you burned.

 

 

 

What would you think if someone spent the time over a few days making meaningful posts, getting several hundred post count and THEN infecting you? Trusting post count for maturity/security is like trusting notepad as your virus scanner.

 

 

 

 

So, you will see your post count in only your own posts, and your profile...

 

 

 

Isin't that just what I suggested? :-s

 

 

 

Woops. I must have missed reading it somehow. :oops:

[Satenza]

Indeed, *cough* skatermaster *cough*

[BloodAngel]

If people leave if post counts are removed then it just shows that they were in it to gain a respect from users. I like having titles but I would like to see post counts removed because it will decrease the amount of mindless spamming.

 

 

 

-Bloodangel

[assassin_696]

I agree, post counts should be removed. They encourage users to post for all the wrong reasons.

[Guest]

If people leave if post counts are removed then it just shows that they were in it to gain a respect from users. I like having titles but I would like to see post counts removed because it will decrease the amount of mindless spamming.

 

 

 

-Bloodangel

 

 

 

Yeah I agree, keep the titles but remove the post counts! And also tip.it should bring in more competitions where the winning prize is your own custom title, there always good fun. :) \