A new way to thank our members who contribute consistent quality -- no ads!

reply to post by MajorDisaster

Originally posted by MajorDisaster
The ArMaP's of ATS who have a very high number of applauses certainly deserve their own special stripe too!

I want to second this suggestion. ArMaP is a quiet fellow who has helped me out more than once with hw/sw issues that I have had. He is a fountain of knowledge, imo.

Great idea, those members really disserve such a token of appreciation for all there no doubt important and interesting input on ATS so far.
There input is the fuel that keeps this ATS engine running.

Didn't mind them myself, I was oblivious to their dribble, but each to their own.

It's a very nice reward guys I am sure that people really will appreciate it.

It's also something to strive for.

Though for the most part the ads never bothered me, I know why they are there and understand what it does for the site. The only ones that had ever bothered me were the ones that talked. Those were removed.

But this is a very nice gesture and gift. Thank you!

Well, Ive got more than 250 posts, more than 250 stars.....
But only 2 Flags as I rarely start threads.
Guess I'll have to work on that!

Originally posted by Flighty
Well, Ive got more than 250 posts, more than 250 stars.....
But only 2 Flags as I rarely start threads.
Guess I'll have to work on that!

Which is the only thing that makes me think of this new feature as slightly quirky.

What if you have a specific member that is praised to high heaven for his perfect debates, his divine posts, but rarely starts threads because he never stumbles on anything interesting enough to post? If there was some sort of ''exchange'' algorithm possible I would fully agree. Otherwise it's okay, but not perfect.

So aside of that, nice job

Honestly the ad's have never bothered me in the slightest.

I think what bothers me a bit about it is the human psychology aspect to it. Where people develop a unfounded level of self-importance surrounding it. Basically a "look, what I've got to say is (obviously) more important than what you've got to say as is prominently displayed by my status as an important member". The points system sometimes foments that attitude to a degree, this could exacerbate that.

In my opinion this could foster some of the negativity (based upon this self-importance) that you have just gone to great lengths to ensure doesn't happen, nor would I want to see that happen.

I'm not suggesting that the majority of those who have attained that status would necessarily, but let's face it guys, look at the current trend of what's been taking place here, am I out of the realm of possibility by suggesting it could?


just my $.02,


AB1

[edit on 11-5-2009 by alphabetaone]

Originally posted by johnsky
I apparently have only 20 flags?

I have over 3500 posts,
almost 3500 stars,

but only 20 flags?

Member since 05

Originally posted by DragonsDemesne

There are the (possibly) relevant numbers.

ATS Points: 10979
BTS Points: -2875

Flags: 14
Stars: 255

Last Visit: May 11, 2009
Threads Started: 65
Total Replies: 466
Post Count: 1,999
Applause: 22
Flagged: 15 times

Member also since 05.

My stats

Flags: 42
Stars: 874

Last Visit: May 11, 2009
Threads Started: 84
Total Replies: 973
Post Count: 2,424
Applause: 18
Flagged: 54 times

Notice this 54 times flagged but it says 42 flags.. interesting that..

Anyway this is a point to make that some of us dont add alot of garbage to ats in the way of making trash threads, we would rather contribute...

Anyway whatever..

reply to post by ThichHeaded


Okay, since we are sharing stats and I am one of the members who got the "250" token.....

Member since Dec.27th, 2007

Threads Started: 96
Total Replies: 4,385
Post Count: 2,516
Applause: 34
Flagged: 902 times
Flags: 902
Stars: 1041

I am just pointing this out to show the more activity I have had in the short 8-9 months (I was gone for 9 months) I've been here.

In no way am I gloating, I am just pointing out some information. And yes the point system does give an air of respect, that is really what it is for. This could give members more 'stance' than others, but probably not. It is not like we all were made FSME's or Conspiracy Maters,lol.

For those who don't know yet...

The old flag number in your profile showed how many flags you gave out...

The new stats show how many you have received...

Springer...

reply to post by Springer


Wow, thats weird then, lol I have the exact same number of flags as I have given out (coincidence OR conspiracy.....lol)!!

[edit on 5/11/2009 by jkrog08]

reply to post by jkrog08


You are just synchronized with yourself.

S...

Originally posted by Springer
For those who don't know yet...

The old flag number in your profile showed how many flags you gave out...

The new stats show how many you have received...

Springer...

I don't see how that could possibly be right. You 100% sure on that? I knew that the flags I gave my own threads were included in the old count, but I have seen that number change almost daily as people flagged my threads. I don't mean to question you Mark on that, but it doesn't go with what I have seen... Weird.

Being busy with a couple other things, I didn't notice the questions relating to possible flag confusion until now, then then just recently removed the "flagged" display in the profile.

When we added the flagging system a couple years ago, a new field needed to be created in the database for the thread table, and a default value was assigned. The "flagged" number in your user profile inadvertently tallied those default values for old threads, as well as actual member-applied flags.

The new member-specific flag tally is now attached to your member database record, and reflects a tally of all flags actually applied by members, without inadvertently including the default values of older threads.

We want to ensure that the flag-tally used for this reward is calculated from actual member-awarded flags... so that's why a new total was calculated for all members.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


So is the number of times I have flagged threads still in the same spot?

Awesome plan, I personally think the number 250 is a little low.. I mean, it won't be hard for everyone to get... and if to many are in this 250 club, won't that hurt your advertising revenue?

I would like to transfer my star and post balance to my flag balance.

I do not like making nw topics, but make good replies to the ones I get involved with

Great to see!

Now I know that ATS doesn't care about quality and only cares about the numbers.......

They have people going out and "soliciting" others to have them flag, tag and star their threads for one purpose... to get points to prevent them from seeing ads...

Yet, they tell you that the flags, tags and stars are there for a reason, to show you that the posts that display the stars, and the threads that have the flags are worthy of reading.... Utter garbage to me now....

These "Symbols" of valued reading have now changed to meaning little or nothing.... actually I shouldn't be easy and just go with what I see it as and that is nothing.... They've lost all meaning and there goes any credibility to your Flag/Tag/Star system....

Not that you had any credibility in my view anyways... with the trolls that continue to "Gang" up on others within threads and little to nothing is done to these 'gangs' and everything is done to the ones they gang up on or the thread is closed because your staff hasn't got the time to properly moderate the thread... usually from you own people too... I speak of certain mods that have threads closed down because people can't stay on "topic", yet the mods are the ones that continue with the "off topic" talk...

Everyone seems so happy to have the ads disappear.... how about just dropping this stupid system that only negates what the flags are for and dropping the ads for people that have been on for more than a year or two... That wouldn't even qualify me.... I don't care about most of the ads myself but to get rid of them in light of now thinking that someones thread that has 50 star is worthy of reading is wrong and utter stupidity in my eyes... and I'm not the only one I'm sure.

Do you really expect that having people go off and arrange for their friends to flag, tag and star their threads will make it better? The only ones that are benefiting are those that reach the 250 club. The "real" ATS reader will not benefit in any way... he/she will be led astray by the misappropriated symbols that have been left by people that think little or nothing about the "quality" of the thread...


ATS... your losing it.... its time to rethink your mentality... Do you want numbers or quality? You keep saying quality and you harp on it continually... Let's see some things that really show that you consider quality as the motive for this site... Stop playing the numbers game...

***ADDED***
This is an example of the thinking now...


"I figure the only way to get stars and flags to be part of the 250 250 250 club is by posting new threads. So a star and flag would be very much appreciated."

Yes, pretty obvious that this has led to quality on ATS...



[edit on 11-5-2009 by AllTiedTogether]

ok..but i think i might get epileptic from these flashy banners..everytime i visited ATS i get this foam dripping from my mouth and all shaky and stuff.. ..



which got me thinking, usually when you press the red cross (stop) button the page stops downloading and causes banners to stop flashing or moving, not in here why?

[edit on 11-5-2009 by Foppezao]

Originally posted by AllTiedTogether
They have people going out and "soliciting" others to have them flag, tag and star their threads for one purpose... to get points to prevent them from seeing ads...

Well, no doubt there will be an initial wave of abuse here. People U2Uing all their friends and asking them to flag some of their old threads to increase their flag count and all that.

But, overall I still think this is a fantastic idea, and the system will normalize itself eventually, as it always does. Will there be various cliques and factions and "gangs" of members who have hidden agreements to Flag/Star/Bump each other all the time? Of course, but I'm sure that's already been happening anyway