Anybody else notice ATS being throttled?

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More than that, I've noticed a strange withholding of stars from "noo ppl" what's that all about.. It's as if what they say somehow has different meanings than what everyone else says?

originally posted by: Ohthewey778
More than that, I've noticed a strange withholding of stars from "noo ppl" what's that all about.. It's as if what they say somehow has different meanings than what everyone else says?

You get stars and flags if people like your posts and threads. If they don't, you won't get them. It's as simple as that. Generally speaking, people who put obvious thought and effort into their posts will score higher, where people who post snarky one-liners will not. Opposing viewpoints isn't really the issue. A thoughtful well-thought out post in opposition will be well-treated. Someone saying, "You don't know what you are talking about" probably will not. But basically, stars are a popularity contest. If you parrot the prevailing view, you're more likely to get stars.

Stars and flags are used to compute your WATS and Karma scores, which you see below your avatar. In theory, this is a measure of your reputation on ATS, though in some sense it's also a measure of longevity. These scores are supposed to reflect how other members like or dislike your posts. In theory, if you 'get into trouble' on ATS by continually violating terms & conditions, getting your posts removed for manners violations, etc. moderators use these scores to determine your fate. You, for example, haven't been here very long so you don't have much in "reserve." If you screw up, you could find yourself gone in a heartbeat where someone like Phage would (still in theory, mind you) would have more leeway.

HOWEVER, there's a huge bug in the computation algorithm. For many people who have been here awhile, this glitch throws the scores way off. My scores, for example, should not be anywhere near as high as they are. For a lot of us, SOMETHING has thrown those scores off, making them often meaningless. This goes back to my post above: ATS either does not have the will to fix this, they don't care, or they may not have the means.

Of course, you do have quite a few members who, every time this comes up, maintain that such scoring is meaningless regardless because, you know, they put their pants on the same way as anyone else and they feel their IQ is as high as anyone. They resent being judged because "everyone is equal" and all that.

If you are interested in how all this works, here's a thread I did on the subject several years ago.

a reply to: schuyler
Well that's nice and predictably pablumy and im sure your owners thank you but I don't buy it by like 100% I do think it's a popularity contest, and I don't believe "everybody's equal" or anything like that..

And no I'm not going to bow and scrape, but I will say no to stuff that just seems too "clubby." Some clubby stuff online is ass-kissing nothx. I mean I'm not all jackbooted up but I think you'll find me an ok guy


*sniffs*...giggles, runs off stage....

a reply to: schuyler

Ooh I better even check all that stuff..

........

a reply to: sunnyade

Yeah, for a bit over a month now. Very frustrating.

It can take over a minute to star someone and have it update the star; or to load the next page. I've never seen the website run this slow. It's actually taken so long to load a page a few days ago I just closed the browser and gave up, it's not worth waiting that long.

I thought it was just my ISP.

No plans for today. Only grocery store shopping and buying some beer while at it. Then some real profound ATS browsing, i will do it via VPN and post my findings, trying not to post dumb nonsense. If it stops the lag, then i owe big fat thanks to the OP who suggested VPN.

I am not a busy man. At all. But waiting 40 sec - 1 min for a page to show up somehow gets under my skin

The suspicious side of me is inching toward this problem being deliberate.

Perhaps it is warfare against those using ad blockers.

Or ... the NWO is getting some revenge.

It is annoying and no help in this thread from the mods.

P

a reply to: schuyler

For a lot of us, SOMETHING has thrown those scores off, making them often meaningless. This goes back to my post above: ATS either does not have the will to fix this, they don't care, or they may not have the means.

The bug was 'fixed' and nobody is getting a windfall of tens of thousands of stars anymore. The excess stars remain because there's no known way to tell how many the glitch gave you compared to someone else. It means there's no chance of SO simply subtracting a number to restore the genuine star count.

Coming at it in a slightly different way doesn't help either. Who stars whom isn't stored; stars are anonymous. This means there's no method of counting every legitimate star you've received and thereby subtracting the remainder to restore the rightful star count.

But basically, stars are a popularity contest. If you parrot the prevailing view, you're more likely to get stars.

Yes they are and they're also part of the furniture on social media sites in general - positive reinforcement.

a reply to: Kandinsky


I don't know if I believe in positive reinforcement on a site that promises deny ignorance. Too bootcampy. I'd rather just people star at random as if someone has no status. I get that people will heap stars on eloquent posts and proven users. I'm not down with the theory of segmenting people into camps based off one or the other in service to how they serve a tagline although I do know that this site probably runs on ads and whatnot. I have seen posts starred that were average and noticed like a big hush of throwing me one or two, and I'm glad you mentioned stars are anonymous because it seemed odd like a collective chill that I wouldn't expect from a fully teeming site full of probably site irregulars and fly by posters. I'd expect maybe like one or two but I don't know if it works like i think it do..

originally posted by: pheonix358
The suspicious side of me is inching toward this problem being deliberate.

Perhaps it is warfare against those using ad blockers.

Or ... the NWO is getting some revenge.

It is annoying and no help in this thread from the mods.

P

I had the feeling you wrote that with a spark of humor in your eyes, but i will answer anyway:

I don't use ad-block on this site. For two reasons: 1. to upload pics 2. to create my tiny amount of ad revenue to ATS. And still it is slow at times (often).

NWO getting revenge did you suggest that this is some kind of "they know too much, they need to be eliminated" situation? OK there are great writers, great minds, great people on this site, but in reality, we don't "know too much"

I just remembered this thread when i got a huge delay while opening someone's new thread. Switching to opera + VPN now

Editing: Half an hour done with VPN + ATS. Not a single lag moment. Everything is lightning quick. Ok it is a short period of time, but i feel good about this. Usually i get one "lag-click" every 5 minutes if i am here constantly, not on youtube or something.

nope haven't notice sorrry...

Getting a lot of "connection time outs" today

a reply to: Kandinsky

Coming at it in a slightly different way doesn't help either. Who stars whom isn't stored; stars are anonymous. This means there's no method of counting every legitimate star you've received and thereby subtracting the remainder to restore the rightful star count.

So when you get one of those u2u telling you that you have been naughty and has 500 pt. deducted from your total; are those stars or something else?

If not...what do points do?

a reply to: olaru12

From what I gather, there used to be an ATS store where you redeemed the points or something. basically the points don't mean anything anymore.

originally posted by: Autorico
a reply to: olaru12

From what I gather, there used to be an ATS store where you redeemed the points or something. basically the points don't mean anything anymore.

That's a shame. I would gladly spend a few points to keep the throttle under control. Had an incident where the page never loaded. Had to log out and log back in.

originally posted by: Kandinsky
a reply to: schuyler

For a lot of us, SOMETHING has thrown those scores off, making them often meaningless. This goes back to my post above: ATS either does not have the will to fix this, they don't care, or they may not have the means.

The bug was 'fixed' and nobody is getting a windfall of tens of thousands of stars anymore. The excess stars remain because there's no known way to tell how many the glitch gave you compared to someone else. It means there's no chance of SO simply subtracting a number to restore the genuine star count.

Coming at it in a slightly different way doesn't help either. Who stars whom isn't stored; stars are anonymous. This means there's no method of counting every legitimate star you've received and thereby subtracting the remainder to restore the rightful star count.

But basically, stars are a popularity contest. If you parrot the prevailing view, you're more likely to get stars.

Yes they are and they're also part of the furniture on social media sites in general - positive reinforcement.

Thanks for “the goods” w.r.t. stars. A “know-it-all” with a geriatric predisposition to remind posters of their inferiority conerning....whatever, is, well...par for the course. It is what is is, but those dicerning minds see right throughout. #DuplicitiousnessFTW