Some forums out there have a feature to give out +/- reputation to users. It would be a good idea to add that on MFGG3?

I don't like the idea of reputation. I think simply showing how many posts a user has had liked / reacted to would be enough, and my understanding is that forum currency would be doled out for liked posts and whatnot which is enough incentive to keep a good reputation. I especially don't like the idea of being able to take away reputation, it promotes negativity and can be abused. Reputation is something that is earned (or lost) naturally, not displayed for all to see.

i'm all for the other changes and additions, especially reactions as they can liven up posting and allow users to interact without necessarily making pointless posts that just say "i agree" but a reputation system would get out of hand quickly, it would become a stupid contest and for once i'm going to have to agree with kritter that mfgg could do without one, you don't need a magic number to say what people think of you

[quote="Vimimin"]i'm all for the other changes and additions, especially reactions as they can liven up posting and allow users to interact without necessarily making pointless posts that just say "i agree" but a reputation system would get out of hand quickly, it would become a stupid contest and for once i'm going to have to agree with kritter that mfgg could do without one, you don't need a magic number to say what people think of you[/quote] Agreed. Reputation systems [b]WILL[/b] be abused.

if the rep system on tSR is anything to go by i highly doubt it would be abused except for specific cases, and even then you can just downrep back or report it if it bothers you that much. even with that being said though, i don't think a rep system is totally necessary. i can see it working both as a motivator for newbies ("gee, this guy's got over a hundred rep, i wanna be that respected someday!") and as a demotivator ("gee, this guy's got over a hundred rep, i'll never be that cool"). i do prefer a rep system backed by community input over staff-backed reputation things like badges and the like, as being well liked by the community and well liked by staff are two very, very different things.

I'm against reputation, myself. I definitely don't expect to look at someone's rep to get a good idea of them. It's more like, "how many petty people have they offended" vs "how many nice people have they done something remotely good for".

This would be a nice addition. If you're new to the forums, it'd tell you at a glance who gets along with others and who doesn't. From what I've seen on the VG-Resource, people don't dip into the single digits or negatives unless there's a good reason for it. Oftentimes, these people are argumentative, spammy or just generally rude. In rare cases I've seen people dip into the double-negative digits, see the error of their ways and reform. Low rep is a good way to tell people "Hey, it's not just x and y that have a problem with me, I have a serious problem that is causing many people to downrep me." We already have this system in the form of Happy Heart badges (or the lack thereof). A reputation system would just take that a step further.

I'm entirely against a reputation system.

[quote="Mit"]if the [i]rep system on tSR is anything to go by[/i] i highly doubt it would be abused except for specific cases[/quote] What exactly do you mean by this? How it's used on the VG Resource isn't exactly that perfect either. While it's true that the reputation system is used for its intended purpose (even on the negative side), Bullock and I could tell you about the bad situations it has brought, too. Not only could anyone give rep points based on the values they personally believe in regardless of how misguided they are, it's also easily manipulated by the bandwagon effect. On top of that, reporting reputation doesn't always work either. For example, I reported a rep point on another user's profile that claims he's "worse than Hitler." Sadly, nothing was done about it. With all this considered, I wouldn't even be surprised if the rep system is weaponized against you if you have legitimate criticism against one of the more respected users on that site. Besides, even if those are hardly issues, it would force certain users to improve themselves in the worst way possible. At best, they'll lose certain aspects that made them unique in the first place, while haphazardly making changes to the point of irritation at worst. Much like a thank you system, it's the last thing this site really needs.

I do think that a reputation system will almost definitely have inherent flaws even if implemented here, but if I'm going to be fair, half the problem with it on VGR is that the way it's used is a [i]symptom[/i] of some of the site's overarching issues (i.e. rampant elitism/popularity-contests and an often apathetic moderation team). But that's neither here nor there.

Reputation systems are fairly worthless if you ask me though. They might lean in the right direction, but I feel like they'll just end up bullying people. I can think of a few users who would certainly have very low reps. You can come back in character and still have that scarlet [s]letter[/s] number by your name.

yea, i really don't see how a reputation system would benefit the forum in the slightest, it'd just be a popularity contest and that's literally it for what it's worth, the "staff given" reputation system we have in place now isn't perfect either - i've been critical of the current happy heart implementation and i might just make a thread about it now that i can, but i think a user-controlled reputation system would be pointless, even if it winds up being harmless and nobody uses it to skew certain peoples' reputations down (which i can almost guarantee would happy anyways so!)

[quote="E-Man"][quote="Mit"]if the [i]rep system on tSR is anything to go by[/i] i highly doubt it would be abused except for specific cases[/quote] What exactly do you mean by this? How it's used on the VG Resource isn't exactly that perfect either. While it's true that the reputation system is used for its intended purpose (even on the negative side), Bullock and I could tell you about the bad situations it has brought, too. Not only could anyone give rep points based on the values they personally believe in regardless of how misguided they are, it's also easily manipulated by the bandwagon effect. On top of that, reporting reputation doesn't always work either. For example, I reported a rep point on another user's profile that claims he's "worse than Hitler." Sadly, nothing was done about it. With all this considered, I wouldn't even be surprised if the rep system is weaponized against you if you have legitimate criticism against one of the more respected users on that site. Besides, even if those are hardly issues, it would force certain users to improve themselves in the worst way possible. At best, they'll lose certain aspects that made them unique in the first place, while haphazardly making changes to the point of irritation at worst. Much like a thank you system, it's the last thing this site really needs.[/quote] [quote="me, immediately after"]and even then you can just downrep back or report it if it bothers you that much.[/quote] different staffs do different things and i even said i'm not personally for it. from my experience at tSR common consensus was that it wasn't typically abused and worked as intended. every feature gets abused by someone at some point but if it's a vast minority and easily managed then the pros outweigh the cons.

[quote="Gatete"]Some forums out there have a feature to give out +/- reputation to users. It would be a good idea to add that on MFGG3?[/quote] No. No need to turn this place into Reddit.

I hated Reddit and many other sites that have rep systems, promotes elitism, negative competition and discrimination among users.

I think Using the likes/reactions system suggested in the other topic would be better than a rep system, and instead include badges for people who get a certain number of "liked" posts. Sort of like the Happy Heart, but for good posts and not so much good behaviour, 'cause everyone makes a mistake every once in a while, right? This provides a quasi-rep system that would help good posters be recognized, whilst also promoting making good posts to get "likes" on. Still kind of like rep, because in the end, it is the community who decides who gets these theoretical badges.

I'm with Kritter on this one. And I think for a place like MFGG (despite some dispute in this thread over them being handed out by authority) badges are already a sort of "reputation system," and a better one at that. If you win a minigame competition the staff aren't going to refuse to give you a golden hammer badge if they don't like you. Badges show what contributions we've made to the community, which to me seems like a more accurate indication of merit than say, upvotes reflecting how many epick or funny posts a person makes on the forum. Vertette is right. We don't want MFGG to become Reddit.

[quote="Puddin"]Badges show what contributions we've made to the community, which to me seems like a more accurate indication of merit than say, upvotes reflecting how many epick or funny posts a person makes on the forum.[/quote] :agree: I've always liked the badge system. It's an instant visual indicator of someone who has been active in the community and most of the badges are earned based on fair community voting rather than because someone is popular. I wouldn't mind the badges being reworked so their design meant something more than mostly random shapes, but that's another topic of discussion altogether.

The existing badge system has many elements of a reputation system. Most of the badges - like the competition badges - are determined by community vote, and every member has an equal opportunity to earn them. (A case could be made that prominent members tend to get more attention in competitions, but new members winning competitions has happened many times before). The Game of the Month badge (and, indirectly, the Happy Heart badges) are the only badges determined by staff input. There are also plenty of opportunities to earn badges automatically without participating in competitions - for example, Submitter, Secret Santa, and assorted event badges. Badges recognize member contributions and provide a visual indication of exactly how the member has contributed to MFGG, whether in the form of submitting games, winning competitions, being recognized at MFGG Awards, or posting regularly without getting warned. I've seen reputation systems on other communities lead to bickering and drama. Reputation systems do help identify members who have contributed a lot, but our badge system (and, to a lesser extent, the post count) essentially does the same thing without the risk of negative side effects.