What good are ATS points?

I have searched around alot and been unable to find information about this so please help me out.

I know i get one point for a reply to a thread and two if it is to my own thread. But then what? Do i get points for flags? for stars? How many if so?

And the big question: What good are they? I hear you could use them to buy ats email adress in the shop before, but this shop was taken down it seems. So what use are they? The only use i can find atm is to loose them when posting something inapropriate that gets your post censored. That seems pretty pointless to me

Also i have not found the formula for what the K and W is calculated either, although i have seen some speculation on this. Is there somewhere that explains all of this? If not, i think there definitely should be.

i searched for "w and k" and got www.abovetopsecret.com...

I don't really see the point in it all,sorry for the pun intended.

Points: Every member accumulates ATS Points as you post in our forums.
The intent of the points system on our forums is to provide a more meaningful measure of your contribution to the community than simple post-count.
The simple idea being, that active members who do well to participate in collaborative discussions that contribute to the goals of building our communities, will accumulate impressive point totals. Points are credited to you in the following ways (from lowest to highest).
Posting: Each time you post in an ATS, BTS, or PTS forum, you gain One Point. Getting Replies: If you author an active thread, this means you've generally done well to contribute to the community.
You earn Two Points for each reply to your thread.
Receiving Applause: Our staff (moderators, council members, and forum subject matter experts) have the ability to applaud posts we feel offer an excellent contribution to the discussion, or our community. You earn 250 points for each applause you receive. Participating in research, fiction, and debates: These generally earn very high points, as each post in a debate can be worth 250 points, or more if you win your debate.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

But I think it has changed cause I was getting 500 points for an applause.

The karma and wats is another matter,some ratio between threads and flags and stuff.

I would suggest using the search function to find your answer.

.

There used to be a "store" in which you could "buy" certain things with the points. For example 500 points used to by one month of RATS access.

You used to have to pay points to add text to your avatar, ( Where it says dirty liberal hippie on mine) and things like that.

You had to pay points to change the text color on your avatar....

These are the one I remember off the top of my head.

But now it's all free.

I think they are kept around as more of a factor for the wats index now.

Originally posted by kdog1982


But I think it has changed cause I was getting 500 points for an applause.


.

It's been 500 points since I have joined anyway. So, that is long over due for an update if it used to be 250 points

I eat mine...nummy!! I also use them in survival situations as fire starter. They take stains out of the carpet really well and if you put them under your tires when your stuck in the snow they help provide more traction. Some manufactures of specialized dyes use them as an additive to produce deep red tones. There is research being done to see if they can be used as small, low power, high speed transistors for a new generation of powerful processor chips.

Originally posted by NeoVain
Also i have not found the formula for what the K and W is calculated either, although i have seen some speculation on this. Is there somewhere that explains all of this? If not, i think there definitely should be.

*You will notice that as your Wats score increases, your Karma score decreases...
There's probably a lesson in that, somewhere...

reply to post by NeoVain


On the one hand, points are silly and petty.

However, I enjoy them. I rather like accumulating them for contributing meaningfully to the community.

And, it annoys me greatly when it seems like they are arbitrarily subtracet for 'incivility'

WHEN I've been working hard at being EXTRA CIVIL.

. . . particularlly when dozens of others on the SAME THREAD get away with very personal and very harsh personal assaults . . . e.g. about my sanity etc. . . . without any posts being pulled and evidently without any post subtractions.

However . . . that's life.

And, I still return to building points back up and watching when they get to round numbers etc. etc. as silly as it is.

It IS a rather simple, cheap and at least slightly to moderately reinforcing in behalf of good contributions to ATS.

And, that's not bad.

Once you reach 666,666,666 points you get entry to the "Hidden ATS Store". There you can use your points to purchase stuff like a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, 1996 Chteau La Mondotte Saint-Emilion, a Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon 5002 P, a private island in the Maldives or an iPod shuffle.

But it may be a myth, as I don't know anyone with that many points. I just know a guy, who met a girl who knew someone whose brother had nearly that many points...

There was a Pepsi point thing once (or was it Coke?) They offered a Harrier VTOL Jet as top prize. They never fihured anyone would collect so many but a kid did


And they didn't give him the plane... I don't think I ever heard how that ended

Maybe ATS points are like that?

You can buy new avatars with points
for mine i had to give 100 000 points
it was the most expensive one

Originally posted by NeoVain
Also i have not found the formula for what the K and W is calculated either, although i have seen some speculation on this. Is there somewhere that explains all of this? If not, i think there definitely should be.

I'm not sure whether I'm posting some arcane and esoteric knowledge here, so don't be surprised to read about me meeting an unfortunate end for posting this.

This is how your karma score is worked out:

k=karma i=initial karma points p=posts a=applause s=stars f=flags

k = i*20 + s*15 + a*10 + f*10 ÷ p (rounded up or down after the decimal point)

WATS is worked out with roughly the following formula:

w = p÷600 + s÷170 + f÷80

Although I think some adjustments are made due to how long you've been a member, to compensate those who made posts in the pre-star and flag era.

reply to post by zorgon


I couldnt help but look up that pepsi point debacle
www.snopes.com...
It didnt end well for Leonard and the Government got involved

Originally posted by Ben81
You can buy new avatars with points
for mine i had to give 100 000 points

it was the most expensive one

Where did you do that?
You better not be trolling.

Originally posted by FejkNick

Originally posted by Ben81
You can buy new avatars with points
for mine i had to give 100 000 points

it was the most expensive one

Where did you do that?
You better not be trolling.

You caught me
someday SO will figure out a genius solution for those point
we never know .. maybe in the futur we will be able to buy ats stuff
but for the moment .. they are just points for fun

Originally posted by Ben81

Originally posted by FejkNick

Originally posted by Ben81
You can buy new avatars with points
for mine i had to give 100 000 points

it was the most expensive one

Where did you do that?
You better not be trolling.

You caught me

someday SO will figure out a genius solution for those point
we never know .. maybe in the futur we will be able to buy ats stuff
but for the moment .. they are just points for fun

That was my first thought.
I did believed you for maybe 30 seconds.

For now points = internet-****,

reply to post by NeoVain


my ATS points are used to pay off the fines i get for T&C violations - they have no other use

Point/Counterpoint

For years, I've been trying to convince the owners to give us money for our points, say a dollar a point. And for some strange, inexplicable reason, they haven't gone for it.

Go figure.

With all the customization perks that used to sell for points now free, points are essentially "pointless" for now. However, there's no harm in holding on to them, and you never know...

Maybe we can negotiate fifty cents a point.

The stupid commies remove thousand points.

It would be cool if ATS designed bumper stickers to counter certain government bills such as SOPA and NDAA. ATS points could be used to purchase these bumper stickers for ourselves, relatives, and friends.

Plus, if ATS points had a value, maybe people would mind their Ps and Qs more.