How do you want the Rating System to work?

[Schine]

Greetings ladies and gentlemen,

Thanks to many members of the community pointing out changes they want to be made to the Rating System, we have decided to take a look into restructuring it to best fit our community. As every forum community is different, we can not know how a implemented system will be used and how well it will be received without testing.

Changes to this system have been stalled, due to the release of the wiki, major forum features under the works as well as behind the scenes work at Schine (Administration has been temporarily taken over by DukeofRealms whilst resba is away).

Many weeks ago you voiced your opinions on how the system should work, and the flaws with the system we currently have. We welcome you to link to those posts, or voice your concerns and suggestions in this thread. Once we have gained enough responses and information, the StarMade Dock staff will attempt to design the best system for the community.

Before you make a suggestion about removing the rating system altogether, post activity, user activity (how many different users interact with the forum) and site viewing time have all increased drastically from when the system was introduced. So it is a feature that is statistically and directly backed in improving forum activity.

Post away!

 

[Orphaniel]

Rating system? Fine by my reckoning.

 

[moox10]

I pretty much agree with orph aside from wanting a stronger disagree option

 

[SmilingDemon]

remove the counters . they have no meaning mostly. the only information needed is the direct feedback on a posting someone makes!

 

[ResonKinetic]

consolidate it to an "Agree" and "Disagree" button.

That's all that has to be done, and that's all that ever had to be done.

 

[Sven_The_Slayer]

I pretty much agree with orph aside from wanting a stronger disagree option

They used to have disagree options, but I'm pretty sure it was removed because it was abused. You couldn't disagree with any post without the person immediately down-voting your posts, essentially becoming a flame war. Some people trolled the forums and "disagreed" with everything they could. I've also had people "disagree" when I've stated strait facts and not even my personal opinions.

The only thing I'd like seen done is add trophies to coincide with the expanded system.

 

[moox10]

They used to have disagree options, but I'm pretty sure it was removed because it was abused. You couldn't disagree with any post without the person immediately down-voting your posts, essentially becoming a flame war. Some people trolled the forums and "disagreed" with everything they could. I've also had people "disagree" when I've stated strait facts and not even my personal opinions.

The only thing I'd like seen done is add trophies to coincide with the expanded system.

I just use the Old option as a sort of disagree.

 

[Viridis00]

I still do not think we need any system at all. You guys say that statistically your user count and activity increased, but is there really a direct correlation to that? With new updates, contests, and other things that have happened over the course of this system being introduced I find it hard to believe this system has that much of an effect, especially with a growing game like StarMade.

Especially now that this forum has been implementing more useful features like the chatrooms and those little awards for people who contribute to the site, this system actually contributes very little in the grand scheme of things, and has actually been more derisive to some members since day one. We wouldn't have had to remove "disagrees" or even have this thread if this were not the case.

 

[starhaiden]

maybe there could be a community competition category, where the anyone can post their competitions.

 

[Orphaniel]

If anything, fine folks, maybe customize it to be more relevant to Starmade.

Along with some regular agree, yes, no and such what, have "Great Build" "Good suggestion" "Awesome idea" and other more starmade specific options that might apply to our forum posts. But that's just a suggestion for if you really want to change it.

Also if someone likes something I say I should get a hundred trillion likes automatically..

 

[WaffulMann]

IMO it should be like this:
1>Remove ALL counters or make them only admin-accessible. Ratings should be towards the post and not the poster.
2>The "active member" or "new member" place should get more options to CHOOSE (and maybe unlock) from, like "builder"
3>Because of #1, add a positive/negative like Youtube ratings. Then add another rating bar with the current ones (funny, old, informative)

 

[jath]

I think you should still be able to down vote someone.... BUT... you need to earn your down votes.

Say you have to give 5 positive ratings before you get a disagree.

 

[Valiant70]

Please add ratings:

• Disagree - This was there before and should never have been removed as arguments against it were never sound.
• Hostile/Rude - If people realize they're being rude, some (not many, but some) will stop.

Please change "Bad spelling" to "Poor spelling/grammar"

To combat rating abuse, an option should be added to click a rating on a post and flag it as spam. If a certain number of people consider a rating spam, it disappears from the bottom of the post.

 

[Viridis00]

Hostile/Rude - If people realize they're being rude, some (not many, but some) will stop.

What exactly entails "hostile/rude"? "Someone's opinion I don't like" or something harsh enough that the mods would be taking care of any way with a proper report?

To combat rating abuse, an option should be added to click a rating on a post and flag it as spam. If a certain number of people consider a rating spam, it disappears from the bottom of the post.

So, a rating for the ratings to keep a negative rating off of a post? That's completely redundant.

 

[Valiant70]

What exactly entails "hostile/rude"? "Someone's opinion I don't like" or something harsh enough that the mods would be taking care of any way with a proper report?

In the absence of facial expressions and vocal tones, some form of feedback is useful. Most inconsiderate remarks fall well in-between those two categories. It would also start to become obvious when someone has a habit of being rude, and no one wants to be that guy. I have a feeling the community would wind up being marginally more polite if this rating is added.

So, a rating for the ratings to keep a negative rating off of a post? That's completely redundant.

Redundant? Not at all. If a rating that has been placed is clearly a troll (i.e. a very friendly comment rated hostile) it can be removed. It's a way for the community to police itself. This is a measure to fight abuse of the rating system, such as abuse that led to the disagree rating being censored/removed recently.

 

[Viridis00]

In the absence of facial expressions and vocal tones, some form of feedback is useful.

So either respond to them with a post, or better yet ignore them, or report them. If what you define as rude/hostile is breaking rules, report them. If not, ignore it or get thicker skin on the internet.

This is a measure to fight abuse of the rating system

There seem to be a lot of means to "abuse" this system, so quite frankly it's a bad system that serves little purpose. Community Content ratings are useful ratings because they inform about content before download, and ship/stations carry with them at least some slight level of objectivity to a rating (eg: powerful, fast, well-balanced, etc.). Post/user ratings serve no purpose. Post quality has no relation to who's saying it, who rated it, or how many people have rated it. Only the reader themselves can decide the quality of a post.

If a user is trolling, policing his ratings doesn't solve the problem. You're putting out tiny fires, but not stopping the arsonist.

 

[Valiant70]

So either respond to them with a post, or better yet ignore them, or report them. If what you define as rude/hostile is breaking rules, report them.

• Responding with a post complaining about someone being rude only causes flame wars.
• Rudeness does not always run awry of the forum rules.

If not, ignore it or get thicker skin on the internet.

The point is not getting under one another's skin, but that incivility is unpleasant even for a mature person. Some folks probably don't even realize they're being rude, which makes the rating constructive.

 

[Ithirahad]

Consolidate to Like, Agree, and Disagree, and remove user rating counters/reputation/whatever, which really isn't doing anyone any good. Or, hell. Just use the Reddit +/- system along with a Like button. Simple enough, and it works.