Forums Rating System

[RoyalWolfe]

OK, first of all let me get the disclaimer up front and center. I have a personal opinion, these opinions do not reflect the minority, or the majority, of those that use these forums. as such you are welcomed to share you personal opinion if you wish to do so. Whether it agrees, or disagrees, with my own. you however are not welcomed to take my opinion as a personal attack on your counter opinion. So please take your insults, unnecessary remarks, or troll bating elsewhere. This Disclaimer means you have been warned in advance.

I have seen the kind, and the unkind side of the forums rating system. both have their respective problems. So, since the last time this particular issue was brought up was way back in November of last year. when the community manager saw fit to go back and change the system. ending up in the removal of what were deemed NEGATIVE feedback ratings. there has been a massive debate since about it, but it isn't going back, so lets not debate that any more. I thought it necessary to not revive the zombi thread about it. therefore I'm staring this one to discuss my thought and ides to further change that system here.

Now to the point, the system itself was designed to get some data mining, for feedback on what you guys wanted both out of the game, and this website. At first it worked, and did so just fine, until someone abused the hell out of it.

First off I have made some rather casual long term observations on the way people are using this thing. and some of those are the exact reason it was changed last year. The one reason was people were using it to do exactly what my disclaimer says not to do. they were intentionally going around and negatively rating people so as to trigger a mass dislike for the persons making the rational arguments that disagreed with their personal opinion. It was designed as a tool, and one wonderfully arrogant ass hole came along, and turned the damn thing into a weapon. way to go for reason there huh.

Now, I'm not going to debate on right and wrong here. people are entitled to their own opinions, but it helps no one to argue with a wrench taped to an air tanks release valve aimed at any0ne else that disagrees with them. That is my opinion on the negative side issue. It was resolved, mostly when the negative rating were removed. however the fact that I still have one negative point on my account which if anyone bothers to look up, will find it is an OLD rating, for a brand new never seen before post about a station I built, and someone used it exactly as described above. proving my point.

Another casual observation I have made however pertains towards the positive side of the rating system as well. A lot of people would use them to highlight points, with absolutely no real comment or elaboration on why they rated it what so ever. This may be interpreted as as completely lazy, but in some rare cases it was warranted when the rating exquisitely conveyed to whatever they were rating. unfortunately the few who abused it for negative also then did the same this way as well. using it to keep threads bumped so as to popularize the threads they wanted kept suggested towards.

Now again right, and wrong mean nothing against moral opinions. but, consider expressing that with real, and actual feedback that elaborates on why you are rating something in the future.

now on the the real reason for this thread. I would like to suggest an addendum or amendment to the rating system. how about a comments section for posting short but more accurate comments when rating something allowing for quick posting of responses. to further highlight the ratings. it could even just make a quick post for you, so you don't have to scroll all the way to the bottom to do so.

what do you think and please consider doing more than clicking agree, or some other rating.

 

[Crashmaster]

...have to scroll all the way to the bottom...

The horror, the horror.

 

[CyberTao]

A short area to write a comment as to why you rated it as such? You mean posting in the thread and quoting/mentioning the points you agree to, while also pointing out those you don't?

When I agree, it's because I agree with the majority of the post, and the parts which I don't I'm not against. People hitting an agree instead of posting a pointless "I agree" or "I support" is far better, as it removes the useless clutter from the thread that would otherwise make it seem like a circlejerk. Save posting for actual suggestions, opposition, concerns, opinions, or otherwise voicing what you think about the post you are replying to.

Making people type in an reason for why they rated it as such would just bring back the hatred that was inserting a title into each post on the last site, and would dis-sway people from doing any rating, and if they had nothing to say or add, make it seem as though they don't support/like/agree with what was said. Make it optional and I assure you, most wouldn't. Some people browse on phones at work, they just don't have time to waste filling in tiny fields for a 'reason'.

Honestly, the whole "Positive/neutral/Negative" thing is a load of bull to start with. Just list the options for the post, and give people the option of whether or not they want people to see their overall accumulated ratings. The ratings on the single post mean a lot more than any form of "tally", and the focus should be on the actual post in a thread, not a "past history" according to people on the forums who happen to be in a bad/good mood. Custom ratings for each board would be interesting.

Why I rate things as such is really none of anyone's business, as half the time it wouldn't have any relevance to the post. The rating itself should show my reasoning if you cared to know who is rating, and if you don't, you don't care why either.

 

[jayman38]

Regarding the OP: How do you calculate how long or short the rating-comment needs to be? If you don't, people will not put in anything, except maybe to reiterate the name of the rating. It will be unused. It's much better to leave full comments.

In a few rare cases, a comment shows a spark of brilliance that inspires the dev team. They have replied to such comments positively, and it adds to the development of the game.