R.A.T.S. Advice

Hi Guys,

I'd like to know if I'll find a better standard of debate in R.A.T.S. I'm getting quite frustrated in the normal boards because of the amount of members hell bent in derailing threads with personal slanging matches.

If I do purchase R.A.T.S. it will mean nearly all my points dissapearing and as alot of members judge credibility on the amount of points you have, I'd basically like other members opinions of whether the trade off of R.A.T.S. Vs. Credibility will be worth it.

Thanks

Rule # 1: You are not your points.

I have no clue whats in RATS but....*not derailing this thread!*


It doesn't really matter how many points you have. If you post good posts you will have great credibility anyway. Regardless of the amount of points you have.

Like Mechanic 32 (sorry for using you, man ) He has what? 100 points? Still credibile in my book and a lot of others too.

Don't worry about the points

I would wait, after you get into RATs it's going to cost you 250 points for monthly access, and we are part way through the month, start in March and get one month included, After that you can let your access slid and only pay 250 when you want in again.

Thanks for the info guys

I would say that the caliber of posts in RATS is at least slightly higher. It will be worth the purchase.

It is definitely worth the initial purchase. I know I was too damn curious to continue to wait after I could finally make the purchase, and I thought it was worth it. It is the same members discussing issues, so I think the level is around the same. However, you do not run into the members who are spewing ignorance from their ears. 5000 points can be tough to come by at times, so it does indicate that those who do participate, can carry themselves with a certain level of decorum.

However, RATS is not as active as the regular boards. So when you make your 5000 point purchase, you may be expecting to delve into several current discussions. It is not always the case. Sometimes there may be a few days between posts. Other times you would see some threads being quite active.

So in time certainly jump in. But as Sauron has said, wait until the beginning of the month. It's not a "30 day" purchase. When the month rolls over, your access expires. (We've had months where it did not though)

Kudos for asking questions though. It's always good to have the information before jumping in head first.



ed:

Your credibility is not going anywhere by making a purchase that may eat up a large portion of your points. If you run into a member that decides what he or she thinks of you by the amount of points you have, I would not dig too deep into what that member thought. The caliber of your posts determines your credibility, nothing more.

Points are merely the icing on the cake.

[edit on 12-2-2007 by chissler]

The number of points doesn't really cover what I think of someone on here, Mechanic32 for example seems to spend the points amazingly fast, but one of the best indicators of how good a member is at posts is the colour and size of the bar, the redder is more applauses until it becomes black on a large number.

But I also find that certain members are better on each topic, and I will be more likely to look carefully at what is posted by them, but a really interesting post is always likely to add someone to my list of members that it is good to read the posts of.

Jimmy1880, there are a fair number of threads covering this very question of yours here in the Board Business & Questions forum.

I'd recommend typing in some keywords and phrases into either the ATS (Google) Search at the top of the page or the Advanced Search. You'll come up with alot of opinions for and against buying RATS access.

Originally posted by Jimmy1880and as alot of members judge credibility on the amount of points you have,

What???

You're kidding me right??? The points system is not and never will be a status symbol. I don't know who told you this, but they are dead wrong.

They're only points man... The only time I look at mine is when I plan on using them, other times I don't even notice. When I'm applauded I don't really care about the points so much as the fact that I made a valid and insightful contribution.

And if you are worried about 'wasting' your points, I'd recommend you dive right into ATS and find topics you know a lot about, that way you can make a good post and hopefully be applauded which will automatically give you two months worth of RATS points instantly.

Although, I say again, They're only points. No one on ATS looks at how many points someone has when they read their posts and thinks "Only 100? S/He's obviously not reliable." Your posts are judged on their content only, and the only time people pre-judge is if you've done something stupid like hoax a picture, or blatantly lied for no reason before.


edit: I'm liking the avatar man

[edit on 12/2/07 by JackofBlades]

Points Points and more Points
I am willing to give out a whopping 1500 points, yeap thats right 1500 points to anyone and everyone who can make a decent well thought out interesting and informative post in the Energy & Science Issues Forum

Edit to ad same goes for a reply to threads already started, but they have to be good.

[edit on 12/2/2007 by Sauron]

Originally posted by enjoies05

Like Mechanic 32 (sorry for using you, man

) He has what? 100 points? Still credibile in my book and a lot of others too.

I heard that, enjoies...

Actually I agree with his post, otherwise.

Points in all actuality are worthless. Sure you can customize your profile, and "buy" access to RATS, "buy" a blog, among other things.

But the most important factor that members should look at when judging the credibility of another members, is post content, and posting history.

How many points they have, and even their registration date, have little to do with credibility.

My 2 cents

Everything else aside, I say go for it. It's not as if you will never have a chance to recooperate some of the points investment if you make quality posts that others reply to.

And if they are exceptional posts that you make, you may even receive "Staff Applause" for your postsing, which has a special points bonus awarded also.

[edit on 2/12/2007 by Mechanic 32]

I really don't see why anyone wouldn't want to get RATS access.

Yeah, the stuff discussed there may be thin and not that secret, but still it's a small price to pay if you're an active ATS user. There's not much else you can do with your points anyway.

Well, I'd say go for it, but like has been said, wait til the beginning of
next month.

R.A.T.S does in general have a higher quality of posts, but it pays the
price that you getmaybe three new posts in the entire section every
two days.

As for the points thing, I'm sure there are probably some who see the
points as a status symbol, but the more mature members and those
that have been here awhile don't look at the points that way.
I mean you can post a dozen posts and have thousands of points,
either through tagging or through contests or staff applauses.

If anything, the amount of posts is really what is more impressive
than points, that said, the quality of posts is more important than the
quantity.