59 replies to this topic

[Hogfather]

Does anyone else feel that this forum feels a lot better all of a sudden?

I don't mean it's looks, or it's content... but I mean the way memebrs are treating each other? Theres little of this veteran on newbie bashing, and the genuine new members actually have some bite in their posts instead of going "oww... they're old... I best be careful..."

Regardless of what we may think or want others to think... post counts will always have a huge influencing factor to them. It's almost as though, the higher the number, the greater the influence or power that user has.

Yet we've just had something happen that no forum really ever has... a total wipe... everyone is back to zero... and... something has changed. Everyone seems nicer than they were last month, and we've actually got a lot of new members registering and sticking around.

The only thing that has really changed with us, the older members... is that we no longer have our post counts. We have the same usernames... the same signatures, avatars, interests, errors, positives etc...

But something has changed. And my guess would be that it's the post count. Nobody at the moment looks like an old member, everyone is new. Theres never really been on this forum a "Must have a higher post count than you" culture, we don't have spam forums, and when we did post count was disabled, we rarely see "Yay 4000th post!" remarks (they usually stop at 1000 when people discover nobody cares anyway).

Even if it's just a trial for a week or two, scrap the post count and see what happens, if newbies stick around and if this "I feel happy!" period continues.

[Serperior]

This is actually a good idea and I fully agree with your points however I dont think its possible to do that.

[The Cheese]

I'm gonna have to agree on that one. I've seen noobs make tons of spam posts to add to their postcount as if it even means anything in the first place - ditching it could actually generally reduce the number of shit posts we get around these parts imo.

[Indigo Rush]

This is actually a good idea and I fully agree with your points however I dont think its possible to do that.

Anything is possible with a little modding!

I second the idea.

[Urtheart]

To quote from one of the videos I think everyone should watch before going on the internet:

Step 5:
Post Count
Every time you post, your post count goes up by one. Some people seem to think that the higher the post count, the more worthy and valuable they are to society at large. Frankly, the exact opposite seems to be the case; posting just to up your count is insanely annoying, so make sure all your messages add to a discussion in some way. If you're replying in a thread, make sure what you're writing is funny, interesting or funny and interesting. “yeh i agree lol” is not, in any way, shape or form, a valid reply, ever.

[Saint Nathan]

Not a bad idea. It would help with people acting nicer.

[Remz]

It wouldn't make people nicer, just removes the arms race to be number #1.


I think it's a good idea.

[Eileanach]

I need to agree that this place seems a lot less snobbish because all the older members are now back to being n00bs with the rest of us. So it is rather pleasant as we are all in the same boat. I don't think there is a way of scrapping post counts altogether but I think there is way to hide it so no one else but you can see it which would perhaps be a nice idea.

[Blue Blood]

I actually got this done on another site long while back for the same reasons, Cas. Really, it's a wonderful idea.

[Roarz]

Might do it, but it'll require some discussion with the staff and to see how many other people support the idea. I don't think it matters if people post to raise their post count, as long as no rules are being broken. Why should someones' interest in posting be looked down upon because it's not in line with your ideals? I like to see my post count go up too, it's fun, it's a bit of entertaining statistics to look at now and then.

I don't think people are being nicer to eachother because seniority has been removed by the absence of past post numbers, I think it has more to do with the fact that this forum has barely been open after a major hit. In terms of members it's a fraction of the size it used to be and most people who have registered here still aren't posting, so it feels like a smaller, closer community. That is temporary, a board of this size, when it fills up again, will inevitably repeat that small feeling of alienation. Don't fight against popularity contests, they aren't your enemy, it's how societies and communities thrive rather than fall. You can never really have complete equality, and that's not really such a big issue on a message board, is it?

EDIT: Oh and I don't really have any hope that the current sentiment on the forum actually sticks, because at the moment it's like swimming in a river of awful, awful cheese. I'm practically cringing when I read most topics.

[Kevin]

I agree with the idea and think it would help prevent people from bragging due to them having a higher post count.

It's entirely possible to remove the post counts by the way. Basically it's done by turning off posts counting towards post count and removing the part in the skin HTML that has the code for post count displays.

[Paul Str337]

So if you don’t think the post count is the problem maybe once a year the forum could be ‘accidentally’ reset to get rid of all the people who’ve registered but not posted anything

[American Ristar]

I look at the top posters for the day also, and that's a fun little game. It's a little lame to post just for the sake of posting, but I don't think too many people do that on here anyways. Most posters try to have something to say.

While I think Casanova makes a good point, because I've seen it on the forum too, the people that have been here the longest will still know the most people, and the post count only sort of reflects that. I think the influx of new members is just the natural repopulation after the apocalypse kind of thing. I'd be for eliminating post counts though, I could live without.

[Roarz]

So if you don’t think the post count is the problem maybe once a year the forum could be ‘accidentally’ reset to get rid of all the people who’ve registered but not posted anything

We used to do that anyway, until the main TSS site had a TSS network account for each member that was linked with forum registrations; so there were people who just registered for a TSS account and had no interest in the forums. I don't think that will be making a return now though, so we'll probably go back to periodical account cleanups.

[Spanner]

I don't see the point with post counts, unless you're trying to increase your e-penis one inch every time you hit something amazing such as 666 posts. There's no "reward" for post counts anyway and unless you're Breech Loader people shouldn't get all so crazy over them. It's like promoting someone to staff who only has 6 posts while others who had a higher post count should've got it according to them.
Just my two cents.

[HelenBaby]

I agree with Roarey. If it ain't broke don't fix it, I say =P

[Flyboy Fox]

I like my post count. I don't see it as a status symbol (ie e-peen). It's just a record of my activity on each forum I post at. I'm a fairly regular poster, so if I see that my count hasn't moved much in a while, it's a good reminder that maybe I need to get back into posting more often or paying more attention to that forum. That way, I can keep balanced between my forums. =SSMB= has priority, naturally

[Remz]

The problem however, is not with those using it as a record of their activity, but those using it to boost their status, treating it as a game. I like to see my own count, becauses I'm a whore for statistics, but I don't like to see thousands of braindead posts.

I personally belive getting rid of it will improve post quality. People will post when they have something to say, nto just to plus one their number. (which after this forum rebirth, seems to be happening a lot.)

But whatever.

[The Cheese]

The problem however, is not with those using it as a record of their activity, but those using it to boost their status, treating it as a game. I like to see my own count, becauses I'm a whore for statistics, but I don't like to see thousands of braindead posts.

If I may make a suggestion? Perhaps you could only make postcount viewable from a person's forum profile instead. That way, statisticfags can keep track of their post count whenever they feel like, and postcountfags don't have it openly displayed on the forum whenever they post as a constant reminder of their e-peen length. I mean, chances are if you know well enough to check a person's profile for these things chances are you're already intelligent enough not to give a shit or take it too seriously.

I'd still much rather it be removed overall, but I see that as the next best thing.

EDIT:

and unless you're Breech Loader people shouldn't get all so crazy over them.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who was thinking of that in particular. XD

Edited by Blacklightning, 09 March 2009 - 11:11 PM.

[Diz]

This is actually a good idea and I fully agree with your points however I dont think its possible to do that.

Actually, the staff team (I was still a normal member then) had a laugh reducing one member's post count down to zero and making it stay there. So I think this thing would be more or less a piece of cake to do.

As for the idea itself, ow, I do not know. It could be nice, but at the same time, the SSMB always had its post count feature. I would not mind trying it out for a bit, but at the same time, you can start feeling sort of naked without it.