Let's go over THE RULES

[Darkfinn]

Howdy folks.

As many of you know... I am REALLY sick of this whole rep game. VIP, not VIP... VIP, not VIP... appeal appeal appeal... blah blah blah. It wastes my time, it wastes the Webmaster's time, it is juvenile, and really lame.

From what I can see there is a certain group of people... we'll term them the "Neg-Rep Mafia"... who are either:

1) Not quite clear on the rules governing usage of the rep system and how to tell the difference between a rude, malicious, and provocative post (deserving of neg-rep) and a post that is merely someone stating their opinion and point of view.

OR

2) Purposefully misusing the rep system to keep other members down and advance their own agenda... whatever it may be.

I prefer to stick with #1... because I personally dislike the thought that any member here would target another for simply speaking their mind.

So... to help clarify things here is a snippet from THE RULES that covers when and how neg-rep should be given.

Originally Posted by The Rules

Negative reputation should only be a last resort, for people who have screwed up, or are deliberately breaking the rules. If neither of the above applies, you should give them gray (neutral, 0-point) rep first, and explain in your rep comment what they did wrong. If they continue doing it, you can give them negative reputation for it. On the other hand, if they are seriously breaking the rules of ADISC, you should give them negative reputation immediately, and report their post to moderators.

Valid reasons to give negative reputation:

1. Insulting, attacking, ridiculing other members of ADISC.
2. Spamming the forum with messages that are against the rules.
3. Disrupting serious discussions/threads with silly or spam messages.
4. Posting obvious lies. Please think carefully before doing this because not everything that seems unbelievable to you must be a lie. Sometimes, things which seem completely crazy are, actually, the truth! Some people lead lives that most of us wouldn't believe...
5. Causing drama by purposely posting offensive or controversial messages. Remember that everyone has the right to present their own opinion in a mature manner. Doing so is not a valid reason for neg rep!


Do not give negative reputation if:

1. You disagree with someone's opinion.
2. You hate someone on a personal level.
3. You did not understand someone's joke, but the joke itself is not causing any harm.


Do not write offensive comments or insults into your rep comment! Instead, give suggestions on how the member can improve their behavior! If you curse at someone in a rep comment, or otherwise abuse the system, the rep will be reversed, and you may well be banned from using the rep system.

I would put that whole thing in my signature if I could... but alas I am limited to three lines.

Questions, comments... discuss, please.

[dogboy]

I've had it misused on me, though only once. I made a joke about Canada and someone didn't get that it was a joke. As I write this, my whole family is in Northern Toronto at our cottage. What concerns me is that adisc members can be drunk on their ass reading and writing threads, and negative repping members while under the influence. it's like hit and run driving. Who takes responsibility?

As someone said on Raccoon's thread, both positive and negative rep should be limited to 2 per person per thread. After that it becomes a contest. If you said something good, fine you get 2. If you've made an ass out of yourself, -2. Why go beyond that, and it would slow down gaining VIP status. It also would keep the foolish from accumulating -15 from one careless statement, and give them a more positive chance to see why what they said was offensive to the stated standards of adisc.

Personally, I have become so much more involved in my own world than here, and once school starts up for me, I really would like to get more sleep, so the cyber world may be seeing less of me if I keep to my plan. Ah yes, sleep........damn school.

[WoodlandWanderer]

I just thought of a few ideas and it seems like one of them is shared by dogboy. That being putting a limit on the amount of neg rep that can be given for any single post / thread.

My other suggestion would be having all rep comments approved before they are given. This is obviously a burden on staff members (I don't know how much rep is given a day) so maype it could all go into a request pool and various trusted people could be given the ability to access it.
The problem here is if one of the "neg-reppers" got in and were to dissapprove all the positive rep.

just my two cents.

[Darkfinn]

I don't think any amount of discussion or debate is going to change the nature of the system. At this point my primary goal is the spread of education and awareness.

If we take steps to ensure that everyone is aware of the rules and understands how the system should be used the number of incidents where rep is misused can be reduced.

[WoodlandWanderer]

good luck, ironically posting the neg rep rules everywhere would count as spamming and just earn you some of it.

[Dawes]

I'm going to describe a scenario to you:

Yesterday, I was sitting on the toilet, happily reading my book. I turned a few pages, did some humming, got drawn into the story. When I was done, I cleansed my rectum, deposited the used paper in the bowl, and then flushed. I watched as my daily children spun in circles and then jettisoned themselves down the drain. "Glub glub," said the toilet, and I picked up my book and went about my business.

Rep, you see, is like that, whether it's positive and negative. It can be good and enjoyable, or it can be painful and sudden, but either way, I flush the concept of it out of my brain a few mintues after I see it.

Clarification: Reputation points mean nothing more than digested food. They are shit and worth shit, so while it's nice to get positive rep, does it really fucking matter? While some people may think we are defined by our positive and negative numbers, we are actually defined by what we do and what we contribute. That comes at a risk, and one we should all be willing to take to cement our individuality.

Do we need twenty threads about it explaining the misuse or the use of reputation? Here's the way it works: 1) Click on the hour-glass, 2) Give some points, 3) Make a reason. People are going to use it wrong or their going to use it wisely. What we need to do as posters is be sure that we are giving people the tools by which to use it wisely. That means that we need to check ourselves before we wreck ourselves; that means we need to accept responsibility for what we say, and if it brings us a negative reputation point or twelve, so fucking be it.

Read the big-ass annoying, obnoxious, insanely over-emphasized capital letters:

LET'S STOP GIVING A SHIT ABOUT OUR REPUTATION, WHICH IS ENTIRELY SUBJECTIVE AND PRONE TO FLAWS.

Let's stop wasting our time crying tears about rep. Let's stop trying to be the superhero who teaches everybody how to use it. Let's stop bringing forward a focus on something that matters about as much as the shit I took last week that burned just a little bit. Let's stop giving a fuck about it, because this is a community based on communication, not on happy little super-fun green and red squares.

Too many red squares? Sad to be you, sucks to have an opinion, but suffer it.

Not enough green squares? Suck some dicks or play nice.

Any questions?

[h3g3l]

Rules are meaningless if they have no teeth.

Change is meaningless without a champion.

Data are meaningless if they do not demonstrate what their author supposes.

I propose we move to the "dick-sucking model" Rance has laid (huh, huh) out above. We should call it ... Rance-ID.

[Darkfinn]

Thank you Hegel... you saved me from having to post a rant on how some of us actually might give a damn about our standing here... VIP or otherwise. I would push the little red button enough to take his status away, then ask him how it feels... but that would make me into exactly what I am trying to fight.

[Dawes]

It's unfortunate that you express it that way, Darkfinn.

Your status here is defined by how you speak to others. It is defined by how you treat your fellow forum-members, by how you express yourself as a supportive member of the community. That status, while it is reflected by numbers, is not bound to these numbers.

One of the risks of expressing our individuality is the fact that people may not and will not always support it, understand it, or fairly accept it. This is where the majority of negative reputation comes from, and it's a viable result to anything that we say. Trying to police the reputation beyond how it's policed now threatens to undermine the flexibility of expression through both our words and our power to give and recieve reputation.

[Darkfinn]

I do understand what you are saying Dawes. I'm not asking for any more enforcement or changes in policy, or anything of the sort. I've seen that I cannot win that battle... and the wise warrior knows when to retire.

I am merely attempting to give everyone an opportunity to read this site's policies and examine their own judgments. In hopes that increased awareness will lead to a reduction in instances where rep is misused.

Call it a Public Service Announcement. Kinda like "Click it or ticket", "Booze it and lose it", or etc.