Some time ago (okay, a month or so ago), we quietly introduced the MEMBER REPUTATION SYSTEM. We haven't said too much about it, and neither have you, [you]. Since we have not heard any questions or rumbles, we thought we would point it out and explain it, and why it is becoming important...When ever someone makes a post, at the bottom of their message will be:

Up / Down Selection & Numerical Score

This is equivalent to a "thumbs up / thumbs down" vote on the poster's content or whatever else you might wish to assess the post on; "tone", "attitude", sarcasm, value of insight / help, etc. The Grey number will show the plus or minus numbers representing the cumulative "thumbs up" or "down" that users have "voted" for that message. If you are looking at your own message, you will not see anything but the Grey numerical standing; we would not want you voting for yourself, would we? If you have already voted, you won't see the arrows either.A Green vote is a positive number of 1, and the Red vote is a negative number of 1. Therefore, as time goes by and the message accumulates votes, it can be a positive or a negative number. These ultimately are translated into REPUTATION POINTS:

Cumulative Reputation Points Shown in User's Profile

The cumulative points across every message posted by a user is reported in their profile, as shown in the example shown above (I don't know who this dude is, but he appears to walk on water... ).You will see that in areas such as the Classified Ads system that this becomes important. An advertiser with a questionable reputation might not be someone who you want to be buying things from. In the case of the Classified Ads system, there are other factors that can contribute to your decision, and reputation points are just one of them.We have implemented this more as a "peer review" system for members of the forums. I don't know about you, but I can forget from day to day how a particular member has contributed to, or not, the forums. Having a reputation score will greatly help me (and you too I am sure) jog my memory, and help all of us to show our appreciation for those that really do contribute beneficially, or not, to the community at AVSIM.Before any one starts wringing their hands about being abused by other users, not to fear. We have means of detecting abuse. The first impediment is that a reader can only select green or red once for a specific message. If we do detect abuse by a user, they will be dealt with accordingly (we can pile on negative reputation points to begin with). :(

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately!), the negative voting doesn't work, e.g., I deliberately tried to give your post above a negative and saw this:

An error occurredYou have reached your quota of negative votes for the day

I would like to add that this has been this way since the day this feature was introduced, as I have tried over the weeks to give some truly awful posters a "negative" report for their abusive post. :(

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately!), the negative voting doesn't work, e.g., I deliberately tried to give your post above a negative and saw this:I would like to add that this has been this way since the day this feature was introduced, as I have tried over the weeks to give some truly awful posters a "negative" report for their abusive post. :(

Ugh, that was one of the design features to keep it from being abused. I guess that Zero in the form should have been something higher. Give me a sec, and let's try it again. :(

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately!), the negative voting doesn't work, e.g., I deliberately tried to give your post above a negative and saw this:I would like to add that this has been this way since the day this feature was introduced, as I have tried over the weeks to give some truly awful posters a "negative" report for their abusive post. :(

Try it now.

Works.

You are all ugly.LOLj/k

Works.

Forgot to give staff (and moi) immunity keys and golden halos. Will have to change that post haste.

Hey guys, let's all dislike Tom's post.

Try it now.

:(

Tom I gave you two thumbs down. I am sorry for testing on you......

Tom I gave you two thumbs down. I am sorry for testing on you......

You know what they say about "payback", right? :(

Thanks, Tom. It is working just fine now. I've tested it several times and it's worked each time. :(

[or whatever else you might wish to assess the post on; "tone", "attitude", sarcasm, value of insight / help, etc. ...//...You will see that in areas such as the Classified Ads system that this becomes important. An advertiser with a questionable reputation might not be someone who you want to be buying things from. In the case of the Classified Ads system, there are other factors that can contribute to your decision, and reputation points are just one of them....//...Before any one starts wringing their hands about being abused by other users, not to fear. We have means of detecting abuse. The first impediment is that a reader can only select green or red once for a specific message. If we do detect abuse by a user, they will be dealt with accordingly (we can pile on negative reputation points to begin with). :(

Hi Tom,My 2 cents:While the idea certainly has merits and positive aspects, and is certainly positive in intent, it is - in my opinion - a good example of a "false (or wrong) good idea" because forum users should be able to form their own opinion on the validity of a point expressed by a poster without refering to a rating system. I am happy to rely on ratings when buying something on Amazon or Ebay because the ratings are - mostly - based on FACTS (delivery on time, etc..)But as far as forming an opinion on a subject, I think it's better to let posters present their views, opinions and knowledge without any kind of interference, filtering or bias. In the vast majority of cases, the truth will allways emerge at the end of the thread.Finally, as you mention in your post, too many different criterions (sarcasm, help, insight etc...) are mixed in a single rating.Rgds,Bruno

I like this and have been using the up buttons since I saw them, I'm also glad the down button works now too. I really hope we start seeing fewer posts that simply say +1. Especially when someone quotes 8 paragraphs and 4 screenshots to say it, lol. I think it will also help to point out the trolls to people. I hate when you take the time to respond to someone asking a question only to find out they are simply a troll or have an ax to grind.