A suggestion to encourage/recognize good posting behaviour

[Retty]

Hello everyone, hope you are enjoying your weekend! 

Since i joined this forum, i have literally lost count of the amount of times i have seen asking about how to rank up and how to get merit. It seems fairly straightforward to a lot of us here as its not exactly Quantum Physics. Put the effort in consistently and get rewarded (hopefully).

Where i see a lot of people going wrong here, is the belief that it is impossible to get Merit and rank up in the forum. When you start out here you are a little fish in a big pond so it can be a little intimidating and hard to get recognised initially. Or, what i have seen a good few times now when i have trawled the site looking to give out S-merit and some posts are decent but not quite meritable. I wish there was a way i could signal to the person who's posts i have seen that they are nearly there and definitely on the right track.

So i came up with an idea- a system to recognize posting behaviour.

The Traffic light system

Spam/Crap/poor: If you seen anyone posting crap, this would signal to the member that their posts are not really what we are looking for, and depending on the person (i.e. if they have a good attitude) it gives them a chance to change their posting habits to get on track.

Somewhat agree/ok/on topic: This is to highlight that that the profile user is posting correctly, is relevant and on topic, and there post is of a reasonable standard.

Great post/merit worthy/good standard:To show the profile user that they are definitely on the right track, their post history is decent, and someone to watch.

Rules/Requirements (to be debated obviously)

• In order for a member to use the system, they must have attained a required level of Merit or rank (this is to ensure fairness and proof the member who is awarding is indeed trustworthy)
• There would be set amount of these per day/week/month that a user can send
• The 'traffic light' would be displayed on a users profile beside their name, if it were green it would indicate to a merit source (or someone who has S-merit) that this person should be looked at to potentially receive merit (at givers discretion obviously)
• Leaderboard, whereby a member who has been voted  throughout the course of a day/week/month could see what they have achieved and to show transparency

Why am i suggesting this?

Firstly, let me just say this is just theoretical. I don't know if this could even be put in place as i dont know what the forum is capable of doing with regards to changes or what is possible.

The reason i'm suggesting this, is a LOT of people who i have came across when i have been looking to send S-Merit were very nearly there but not quite Merit worthy. Some are posting good content and getting no recognition. This system would encourage the user to continually post good content as they are officially on the radar if they are in the 'green'. It would encourage the people in the 'red' to post better or be forever ignored, and would show the 'amber' that their input is noted and they actually exist.

With the amount of people here, it is very tough to stand out from the crowd. Some are no doubt discouraged that they are not able to rank up as they are not receiving Merit, this gives support and hope to those who are making an effort. It discourages those who spam, who will then NEVER have the right to moan again as you could point them immediately to the fact they are posting crap via the in-house traffic light system.

As i said, this is just an idea- one i think could solve a few problems here, and will certainly improve the quality forum wide! 

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Oh, and sorry for the long post! 

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[LoyceMobile]

What you're suggesting is basically the trust system duplicated for post quality.
I think it's better to get rid of users with only crappy posts. Ban them instead of turning them red.
The merit system takes care of the good posters, and allows them to stand out.

[Thekool1s]

Just like Loyce Said, It won't serve any purpose. The Merit sources won't go through the trouble of viewing user's recent posts. It doesn't make their "Job" any easier. Unless you mean a "Traffic light system" for each and every post. So if someone responds and the answer is helpful it could be sort of "Upvoted" and the "Traffic light system" would turn green against that post. Even if you mean the latter. Developing these things would take years and by then "Spamming" may not be an issue anymore But that's wishful thinking on my part.

Some are posting good content and getting no recognition.

That's why I am trying to build a team who would look out for these "Good Content" Posts and report back in a thread. Each member would be assigned to a different board and will report in weekly. It's not a perfect solution but it will be something "Hopefully".

[cabalism13]

What you're suggesting is basically the trust system duplicated for post quality.
I think it's better to get rid of users with only crappy posts. Ban them instead of turning them red.
The merit system takes care of the good posters, and allows them to stand out.

Even though you have a good suggestion there, like what've been discussed before it won't stop those homos from coming here just to spread spams in the entire forum. Even if you ban them, as long as its free to create an account here the problem within the community will never be gone.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

When you start out here you are a little fish in a big pond so it can be a little intimidating and hard to get recognised initially.

If you start out here with the attitude that you want to be a recognized forum member, you probably have a problem with egotism.  I did not create an account here with the goal that I was going to be respected or on DT or any of that.  I didn't even understand the trust system when I started.

I also thought Vod was being an extreme dick to people, until I realized how bad the loan scam situation was.  If you don't realize the things that are happening, it seems like DT members are bullies.

Most noobs have two main problems:

1) They put zero effort into their posts, which are usually short and poorly thought out.  They just don't take their time to make good points on whatever the thread in which they're posting is about. 

2) They are trying to write in English, which a lot of people from non-English speaking countries have great trouble with.  If they end up writing a 300-character post (or whatever the character minimum is for the campaign they're in *ahem*), it's almost guaranteed that it'll be repetitive and obviously padded.

This traffic light system seems too complicated, and I don't think such a system is necessary.  The problems I listed with most noobs won't be solved, and I highly doubt these idiots would even understand the traffic light analogy.  The merit system tells people loudly and clearly whether they're a shitposter or not.  I think that's all we need at this point.

[slocker]

2) They are trying to write in English, which a lot of people from non-English speaking countries have great trouble with.  If they end up writing a 300-character post (or whatever the character minimum is for the campaign they're in *ahem*), it's almost guaranteed that it'll be repetitive and obviously padded.

Problem with is that most use google translate and must admit that i saw most of this on local they use google translate for token translation and put this on local board. Sadly even on my local board i see this that people are using google as service for translation. This is bad and English is one of languages that are easy to learn. My kid in school is learning English and he can pick second from German French and Russian.

Dont think is just this a problem more like is that they want to have major post count in bounty campaign and they post mostly spam or shit post. So far that im reading on most of the topic here (including merit section that i think is good for forum less spam or more likely spam is controlled) this can be at least in some point controlled.

[mainconcept]

Spam/Crap/poor: If you seen anyone posting crap, this would signal to the member that their posts are not really what we are looking for, and depending on the person (i.e. if they have a good attitude) it gives them a chance to change their posting habits to get on track.

Define "crap". If the post is spam, report to moderator -> post gets deleted.

I don't see the point in having a traffic light system for spam posts.

[Joel_Jantsen]

So you really want to be a step ahead of everything and that only makes you look like an idiot. I mean not "You" but people in general who come up with such weird ideas without knowing the feasibility of it. I get it everyone wants merits through new threads but make sure your content is somewhat practical.

I don't even want to talk about your idea but do you think will it ever be implemented by theymos?

[cabalism13]

I don't even want to talk about your idea but do you think will it ever be implemented by theymos?

And I guess, in addition to some common reality, NONE of these presented Ideas (even the proposed genuine resolution by the other high ranking members ), up until now,... will ever be accepted by theymos...

[petyang12]

The post that is good but it's not his/her post or called plagiarism but with the traffic lights color is green so, is it meritable? No, but what about the one who merit the thread already and then someone reply that the thread is the same as the other thread created before the new thread then that means the merit is wasted and high ranks or merit sources doesn't have time to scan the forum just to find the good post to merit. There's no need for it as getting merits needs high quality and giving merits depends on the user if he/she will merit you.

[Thirdspace]

the main intention of current merit system is to stop spam and account farmers
we have simple merit system added as a requirement for ranking up to do that 
its direct effect is encouraging people to post quality post to get merit  
why add another this "The Traffic light system" and make it over complicated?

[BALIK]

This system would easily be abused, and is quite similar to the current system in place, but with a few additional flaws. Somebody posting extremely low quality can be reported for doing so, or you can put them on your ignore list. Yellow posts are generic posts that are neither good or bad, so what's the point of wasting peoples time voting on their quality? And the merit system is used to highlight great posts. I do agree that it would be a good idea to have a way to demonstrate when a post is merit worthy, but there are already a number of threads for this exact purpose and they appear to do their job well.

[AT101ET]

Personal opinions shouldn’t be used to determine a post’s nature as the individual’s view will always be subjective. The merit system is meant to reward quality posters but given the limited number of merit individuals have, the current number of merit sources and the fact that it’s still quite a novel system, it will take a while before it has as great an effect as was intended.

[darklus123]

This traffic light system seems too complicated, and I don't think such a system is necessary.  The problems I listed with most noobs won't be solved, and I highly doubt these idiots would even understand the traffic light analogy.  The merit system tells people loudly and clearly whether they're a shitposter or not.  I think that's all we need at this point.

It is indeed really hard to understand the traffic light analogy, that only adds up to the current confusions that the newbies  are currently having with regards to merit or DT system. Plus who will actually do the system as that only make another job for some the older members.

This idea also is just quite similar to merit system.