Forum Rating/Reputation System

[Deer Thistle]

(07-23-2014 02:19 PM)Kayleigh McMillan Wrote:  Oké I'm going to be very frank here.
I think the ratingsystem is very much abused especially in Tad's rates case it is just noteworthy while checking his ratings how many of us fight to keep him above below zero xD
I'd be honest sometimes Tad and I disagree and sometimes big time and sometimes to the max but he is the perfect example why this ratingsystem fails.
But he can be just hilarious as well so to me Tad is never for ever a target to be negative about.
It is just not sound an individual is able to break someones reputation for ever because for ever is a long penalty >.<
I'd much rather see these people IM eachother or something to sort some things out than battle it like this it is unworthy I think.

Exactly. No one should feel compelled to give positive ratings only because they want to undo someone else's negative rating, especially those which are totally unwarranted. The worst part about all of this is the sheer amount of power KittyCatS grants forum members because of this system, and to top it off with unlimited power. There's no allotment on how many times a person can downrate another unlike forum posts where if you double post, they're merged for instance. It's set up to be abused with ease, and has been.

This system fails on so many levels; I don't care how much someone thinks another person deserved their negative rating or "w/e they had it coming ex dee xD", NO forum member should have the power to permanently give negative reputation to another, even if this negative rating is smothered in positives later on by other sympathetic members.

The bottom line is that this system has been abused and still continues to be abused, no member should have this sort of power. If something is really and truly wrong with that person's posts, KittyCatS should reprimand them as any other forum would where the moderators or administrators deal with the matter. It should not be in the hands and paws of KittyCatS forum members who have infinite power to downrate people into oblivion due to: a) tone - especially a blunt tone without all smileys and hearts to avoid potential offense, b) sense of humor - this applies most to sarcasm that others can't read so well online, c) difference of opinion that someone may take personally, d) Google Translator making someone sound condescending/mean, e) in-world dislike/differences seeping into the forum. Notice that four of these five deal with possible misunderstandings, the last is one that shouldn't even affect someone's forum reputation.

People are also allowed to change. If someone did post something condescending and cold-hearted, and it was very intentionally done without a doubt, they also have a right to start anew. Why should their past doings from 2011 be branded on their forum reputation forever by another member? No one deserves to feel unwanted or disliked because of someone else's forum rating where they may have been misunderstood, and no one should feel unable to move on from the past if they wish to continue KittyCatS on a new, positive note.

I know it's been mentioned that opinion-wise, some think that rating doesn't matter, some don't care about their own rating, etc, but not. everyone. is you. Not everyone reacts the same way as you. Beyond that, due to the way in which the reputation is set up for easy abuse, negative ratings are more likely to happen the more you participate in various topics, especially those from the feedback forum to a debate topic.

Should people really feel intimidated to post in fear of receiving a possibly negative rating for a difference in opinion, a bit of misunderstood sarcasm peppered into the thread, their translator making them sound rude, etc? We should want people to feel encouraged to post and share their thoughts without any fearful repercussions, no matter how low these repercussion occurrences are in comparison to the positive ratings received by others. A forum - and KittyCatS - should want everyone to feel welcome to post no matter how jumbled their translations are or how polar opposite their seemingly harsh opinion is from majority of other people in the thread.

With Second Life hosting a wonderful, very much international community, we all derive from different places with different acceptable tones, or are accustomed to a certain type of humor or etiquette, we're bound to step on someone's toes, it's inevitable. This current system doesn't work with that fact in mind. The bottom line is that no one forum member should have the power to permanently put a negative mark (or many more) on someone's reputation, no matter how much they believe it's warranted. On top of everything else, the ability to double-downrate someone within two minutes is downright ridiculous and abusing the system, I'm sure this is not how KittyCatS intended for the negative reputation to be utilized. KittyCatS: Remove the ability for forum members to add negative reputation, or remove the reputation system altogether.

(I could go on and on, this issue really bothers me and I'm notorious for typing up novels for forum posts, LOL sorry.)