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It seems some EF members are confused about the purpose and proper usage of the forum reputation system.
Hopefully this guide will clear things up a bit.
Basic Overview
The forum reputation system is intended to allow members to provide feedback to one another relating to their threads, posts and contributions to forum discussions. If another member makes a particulary noteworthy contribution to a discussion, the reputation system provides a way to show appreciation. On the other hand, if a post is unfair, off-topic, inflammatory or otherwise objectionable, the reputation system gives the forum community a way to self-police itself.
The display of reputation levels in the member info and profile areas is intended as a rough guide of member's esteem within the forum community. This of course does not mean that the opinions or information provided by someone with a high reputation level is always accurate, nor does it mean that someone with low reputation should be ignored or belittled. When judging the value of a post or opinion, readers should put more weight on the content and logic of the content, rather than on who the author is.
When to give positive reputation
As mentioned above, members are encouraged to give one another feedback for thoughtful, constructive posts that help to inform the community and contribute to the thread topic. This helps create a more informative and positive atmosphere to the forum in general, and results in a more enjoyable and worthwhile experience when reading the forums.
When NOT to give positive reputation
The reputation system should not be abused. Friends should not dilute the purpose of the reputation system and regularly hand out +reps to their friends and society mates just because they like them. Positive reps should be given directly as feedback and thanks for meaningful contributions to the forum.
When to give negative reputation
If you find a post that is clearly off-topic, rude, inciteful, inflammatory, flaming or unfair, you should let the poster know this with a negative reputation comment, with reasons why you think the post in question was objectionable. In all cases, reputation comments are subject to the same forum rules as public posts.
When NOT to give negative reputation
You should not leave a negative reputation simply because you disagree with another member's opinion. If you have a strong disagreement, your views should be aired within the thread, so that others can read and comment in kind. You should not give a negative rep as revenge for a negative rep left by another member for you. You also should not make a campaign of leaving negative reps for members that you simply dislike, or have had differences with in the past.
Notes
All reputation comments are subject to the same rules as public posts on the forum. This means you should not flame, insult or threaten another member with your reputation comments. There seems to be a recent trend toward very hostile reputation comments. Such behavior will no longer be tolerated. Forum admins (MindBuster and myself) have the ability to review repuation comments left by members if a complaint is made. If any member feels they have been attacked in such a manner, please send a Private Message to MindBuster or 711 with the offending member's name, and we will investigate and take appropriate action.
Moderators and admins also make use of the reputation system, so members should not be surprised to see both positive or negative reputation comments from forum staff.
Now since you're talking about me I want to make some clarifications:
- I am NOT stalking you with -reps, just like I am not stalking anybody else with -reps;
- I consider -reps just the opposite of +reps, nothing more, so I consider it fair that someone to give, on average, about the same amount of -reps and +reps, so either being really reluctant in giving any (both -rep and +rep), either give them both like candies;
- I am generally giving -reps (or +reps) only for posts made in the threads I started or on posts directly related to me and not for posts made in threads started by someone else or not directly related to me;
- I am NOT giving you -reps (or +reps), but I am giving -reps or +reps to your posts;
- I also try to add to each -rep or +rep a meaningful feedback message stating why I gave you the -rep or +rep, so you can potentially know what to avoid doing in the future;
- That means that depending on your posts contents, you may get both -reps and +reps from me, many times within the same thread (actually that is true in your particular case and that thread and also that, if you made more than one post, then you might get more than one -rep or +rep; that also means that you may get a -rep even if I actually really like you, just as you may get a +rep even if I actually really dislike you;
- Since there is a limit of how many -rep or +rep we can give on a day, I sometimes have to keep a backlog of -rep or +rep that I owe to various posts and catch up with it later as the forum software lets me;
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If you want to -rep me (either as a retaliation or because you genuinely believe I deserve it) feel free to; in opposition to some of you, I honestly don't care and I would sure not run crying to mommy, daddy or other forum users to whine about it;
- If you are convinced that the posts for which I did negatively rate you were neither off-topic (that was the main reason for my -rep ratings), rude, inciteful, inflammatory, flaming or unfair and you consider that I actually abused the system, then I politely ask you to report me and I'm ready to face any judgment bestowed upon me by the forum admins or moderators;
- If the suggested reason for giving -rep and +rep would be changed (for example to no longer include off-topic messages as a valid reason for -rep) I would certainly stop doing it too; similarly, if any admin or moderator will tell me I misunderstood said quoted reasoning (although it seems to be crystal clear to me) I would certainly stop doing it;
- Otherwise, I am sorry for you, but I don't intend to stop doing what I consider to be my civic duty of punishing people posting off-topic, rude, inciteful, inflammatory, flaming or unfair messages in my threads;
- I don't do it to piss you off, just like I won't stop do it because it pisses you off and I also don't care how much or how less power my -rep or +rep messages carry or how this affects you (if in any way); actually I simply don't care about you. I'm simply doing what I interpret as my civic duty of educating you and trying to provide you constructive feedback of why off-topic, rude, inciteful, inflammatory, flaming or unfair messages are not ok. It's not you, it's about me, more exactly about me doing my duty.
Btw, if you find more of your messages in the following list, expect further reputation messages (not necessarily all minus) since that's my backlog:07-21-2017, 22:19 #109, 07-22-2017, 00:37 #118, 07-22-2017, 10:01 #133, 07-22-2017, 12:05 #136, 07-22-2017, 12:23 #137, 07-22-2017, 12:48 #139, 07-22-2017, 12:59 #141, 07-22-2017, 21:58 #150, 07-22-2017, 22:21 #152, 07-23-2017, 02:24 #156, 07-23-2017, 12:43 #170, 07-23-2017, 13:53 #171, 07-23-2017, 14:01 #173, 07-23-2017, 14:32 #175, 07-23-2017, 19:31 #178, 07-23-2017, 19:31 #179, 07-23-2017, 19:32 #180, 07-23-2017, 19:33 #181, 07-23-2017, 19:33 #182, 07-23-2017, 19:34 #183, 07-23-2017, 20:09 #185, 07-23-2017, 20:09 #186, 07-23-2017, 20:34 #188, 07-23-2017, 21:29 #193, 07-23-2017, 22:26 #194, 07-23-2017, 22:43 #195, 07-23-2017, 22:51 #197, 07-23-2017, 22:54 #198, 07-23-2017, 23:04 #199, 07-23-2017, 23:08 #200, 07-23-2017, 23:14 #204, 07-23-2017, 23:22 #205, 07-23-2017, 23:33 #209, 07-23-2017, 23:37 #212, 07-23-2017, 23:40 #214, 07-23-2017, 23:44 #215, 07-23-2017, 23:46 #216, 07-23-2017, 23:49 #217, 07-23-2017, 23:49 #219, 07-23-2017, 23:53 #220, 07-23-2017, 23:54 #222, 07-23-2017, 23:57 #223, 07-23-2017, 23:58 #224, 07-23-2017, 23:59 #225, 07-24-2017, 00:00 #226, 07-24-2017, 00:05 #228, 07-24-2017, 00:13 #229, 07-24-2017, 00:15 #230, 07-24-2017, 00:27 #235, 07-24-2017, 08:25 #246, 07-24-2017, 10:27 #248
Anyway, I have to say that I find it terribly funny how important these -rep things can be for some grown up people that claim they don't give a dime about me and about what I have to say. Almost as amusing as seeing the very same people criticize me for staying too much on forums when they actually post more than me in my own threads - lol.