Post Count & Forum Games

[Adriane]

I'm a proponent of not having post counts at all, but that's me. I wouldn't know if that's actually an option on vB or not.

 

[opaltiger]

Counting posts is for counting posts. Wow. I really don't want to be mean or something, but that's a really stupid argument.

Some people like statistics for statistics' sake. Why should post count necessarily be for something other than counting posts?

 

[yiran]

Spoiler: :D

look at how many posts i have!

check out all of my cool functional posts.

This post is awesome.

Some people like statistics for statistics' sake. Why should post count necessarily be for something other than counting posts?

Hmm, yes, I haven't thought of that point. But they should have made it more clear rather than just saying "counting posts is for counting posts".

Anyway, wouldn't the statistics be more... on the spot if the posts were more similar? Otherwise it wouldn't have the "technical" ring to the statistic to it.

Heh, there goes my ridiculous justifications. I still think it's better to use the post count feature for the gain of those who judge people based on post count rather for some statistical-people's amusement. But it's an opinion. Just please don't say "counting posts is for counting posts" again. I really don't like it. Thanks.

 

[Abwayax]

Why is this ever an issue? Post count isn't ever supposed to be a metric of quality. It's a measure of quantity. For some reason, forums tend to show some indicator of rank based on post count. It's meaningless. No one really cares if you're a Metapod or a Butterfree or whatever (past versions of this forum had other ranks, such as Charizard and Flygon, but we don't care if you're one of those either).

It gives some impression of seniority because that's really the only way to express experience (not importance or rank) on a forum. Forums exist to be posted on, so the more you post on a forum, the more well known you are and the more you experience that forum. The ones with the most posts are, therefore, the ones who are the most active, because that is what that particular metric is meant to gauge. It says nothing about quality of those posts, only that those posts exist.

There is a forum feature called "reputation" or "karma" that's supposed to be a metric of post quality (sort of like upvotes on reddit, if you're familiar with reddit), but it's not enabled on this forum for various reasons I don't care to research right now.

 

[Butterfree]

Ugh.

Yes, post counts can influence people, and they are something of an indicator of how active the person is or has been on the forums (whereas join dates tell you only how long it's been since they joined, with no indication of how much they've contributed). However, post count is so inherently unable to measure the worth of a member's contributions that excluding forum games would be a really futile effort. It's kind of like putting a saddle on a wild lion: even if the saddle technically improves your chances of being able to ride it, the fact it's a lion still makes that impossible, so why don't you just let it be a lion and not bother with the saddle? Post count will always be unable to distinguish between a member who makes long, thought-out posts in Serious Business and a member who posts a one-liner answer to a bunch of polls in Miscellaneous Discussion or General Pokémon Discussion, so why go to lengths to let it discriminate against people who just play a bunch of forum games?

We used to have post count off in forum games, actually, several years ago. Then people made threads going "LOL BUTTERFREE IS THE SILLIEST ADMIN, DON'T YOU REALIZE THAT POST COUNT IS FOR COUNTING POSTS? ALSO REMOVE FORUM GAMES BECAUSE I DON'T LIKE IT AND ALSO I LOVE STOMPING ON CHILDREN'S SANDCASTLES." And I turned post count back on in forum games because I don't actually give a damn whether posts count in forum games and just wanted them to stop complaining. But the reasoning for that side of the matter is ultimately what I described above.

Also, you can make analogies involving genitalia even when they're not strictly necessary because they're often more amusing than their cleaner counterparts. I enjoy Music Dragon's strange analogies; from my previous impressions, many other members do too. One person not liking to hear about penises doesn't really counteract that, I think.

 

[Minish]

I still think it's better to use the post count feature for the gain of those who judge people based on post count rather for some statistical-people's amusement. But it's an opinion.

I don't get it, why are you so intent on encouraging weird pointless judgements?? You're even calling it 'judging'!

 

[Music Dragon]

I am aware that many don't care about post count. However, many others do. We should take them into consideration, because I just don't see a big makeover of their minds happening because of an argument like this.

Okay, for starters: who actually judges people based on post count? Can you point to some sort of vague evidence that this is the case?

Secondly: even if there were loads of people who judge based on post count, the proper way to handle that should be to attempt to change their minds, not adapt to their prejudices, as I explained earlier.

I don't know, you tell me. Why have it if it's for no purpose, like your words imply? (Apologies if I inferred your rhetorical questions' hidden meanings wrong.)

From an objective point of view, there is no such thing as purpose. Purpose is subjective. Purpose is arbitrary. Why are you discussing this with me? Why are you on these forums? Why do these forums even exist? What purpose does any of this serve? Why have fun? What is the purpose of fun?

I didn't burn any bush.
I don't know what "Rainbow Squirt" is.
I know that the Milkman is a hat in Team Fortress 2 which completes a set called Special Delivery along with Shortstop, Mad Milk, and Holy Mackerel. It boosts your health's maximum by 25 points, and is considered to be one of the better polycount sets.

I don't see how these questions are relevant.

What is the purpose of these questions?

The reason the post count is there is to for people to judge. If there is no reason for it to be there, then don't put it there.

We didn't put it there, it was here when we arrived and we just didn't bother getting rid of it. And anyway, I'm still not buying your "everything must have a reason" argument.

Signatures help portray personality, and possibly links to other websites. (Not just me, I've seen plenty of other people linking in their signatures.) It can also be used to conduct "social experiments". Custom User Titles also help portray personality, but that's about it. It still has an express purpose.

Post count has the express purpose of counting posts. And anyway, what is the purpose of portraying personality, linking to other websites and conducting social experiments?

It's present by default. If you don't remove it, best utilise it to the best it can.

This is probably the best argument you've made so far. Nevertheless, I highly doubt post count will ever be a meaningful indicator of anything other than post count; trying to turn it into one is futile as far as I'm concerned. Your proposed change would still not make post count a valid way to judge a person's merit as a poster.

No offense, but how do you not get this? I understand this is not a kid-friendly forum, but why speak of the male genitals when you could have easily used something else? Not all environments are as liberal as yours.

I enjoy discussing male genitals with strangers. It's what I do during spare hours, when I'm not using my vacuum cleaner to -

Severity matters greatly. For instance, the reaction to a murder is different from manslaughter, or theft, or violating copyright laws. The mods aren't going to ban someone just because they judge based on post count. People's reactions towards different things are bound to be limited by the "things"'s severity.

Murder is worse than violating copyright laws, but is that a justification for breaking copyright laws? If I commit a crime, can I just say "well it could have been a worse crime" and somehow use that as an excuse? Obviously not. In the same way, judging a person based on their post count is not a good thing, regardless of how it compares to sexism or manslaughter.

I didn't point out the "unrelated issue" — you did, so I used your own argument against you. I believe that is a valid method of gaining the upper hand of discussion, no?

I used sexism as an example to illustrate my point; it wasn't an inherent part of the argument. I could just as easily have used an example involving male genitals and vacuum cleaners, but I decided against it because I thought it would upset you. My actual argument is simply this: in the face of prejudice, the proper reaction is not to accept that prejudice as set in stone and then try to adapt reality to it, but rather to combat it.

In any case, your counter-argument still isn't valid for reasons explained above; sexism is bad, but that doesn't make other things good. How sexism compares to the issue at hand is completely irrelevant. I could just as easily say that first-world sexism is a minor issue compared to human rights violations in Syria, but does that somehow make sexism acceptable?

Counting posts is for counting posts. Wow. I really don't want to be mean or something, but that's a really stupid argument.

Give me an example of something that has a meaningful purpose, then.

If it has no point, why have it? Everything should have a point. Like a sharp pencil. *killed* Okay, being serious again, I don't see a reason to include something that serves no purpose, because... just why would you want something that is not beneficial in any way? Sorry for being kind of messy in my sentences, but... I don't get your logic. No offense.

Some people enjoy being able to count the number of posts they've made. That's good enough. What is it with you and points, anyway? What kind of higher purpose is it that you believe in? There is no point in having fun or loving other people or being alive or posting on the internet, but we do it anyway because screw points, and screw vacuum cleaners.

Since a lot of you say that you don't care about the post count, I infer that the reason is that you would like to keep the Forum Games' posts as a part of the post count simply because they are posts. Is that correct? Or have I inferred wrongly?

It's already there, some people enjoy it, and it causes no harm.

Again, sorry if I seem offensive in this post. I just don't get why you're using redundant and illogical arguments.

What is the purpose of logical arguments?

 

[Tailsy]

There is a forum feature called "reputation" or "karma" that's supposed to be a metric of post quality (sort of like upvotes on reddit, if you're familiar with reddit), but it's not enabled on this forum for various reasons I don't care to research right now.

you didn't... just... bring up the reputation scheme again... did you...?

what have you done to us!!! if you bring reputation up again, terrible things will happen!!!!

 

[Zora of Termina]

I remember I used to have the biggest postcount on tr'srockin! until someone came in and posted a lot more than me

I promptly hated them for it for no real reason :D

(and then everyone started overtaking me cause they all rp'd like crazy but that's different)

I um...
Um.

I.
But- I-
I- I didn't-
What are you talking about I never did anything like-

.../shame corner

 

[Zhorken]

The last time I remember one of these threads cropping up, I think I was still in the "Forum Games should go" squad, but I've pretty much settled down from my angry-at-everything hipster-nerd phase, and, hey, turns out Butterfree's making a lot of sense. Sure, I think Forum Games is a bunch of noise, personally, but some people are having fun, and I remember having lots of fun there when I was thirteen–fourteen, so I can just hide it and move on.

On postcount counting posts, I do like having that statistic (plus the average posts per day) and it's not just for the pure thrill of numbers or anything. I like seeing how often someone... posts. Uh. How often someone, like, actually takes part in the forums, I guess, how active they are, how frequent a thing it is in their lives. Separate from what they actually tend to post, especially since that's way more complicated.

 

[Zero Moment]

Okay, for starters: who actually judges people based on post count?

*raises hand*

 

[Autumn]

I um...
Um.

I.
But- I-
I- I didn't-
What are you talking about I never did anything like-

.../shame corner

The person who i unnecessarily hated for it wasn't you, it was Darkmewham2. (Although you and a ton of others were among the people who surpassed my count later on.)

*raises hand*

How so and why?

 

[Music Dragon]

*raises hand*

What's your opinion on palm reading?

 

[Zero Moment]

How so and why?

Well, the first thing I look at when I see an unfamiliar user is the postcount and joindate. If I see a high postcount (and the joindate doesn't contradict this) I think "oh, someone must have changed their username." If I see a high postcount and a relatively recent joindate, I think "oh it's one of those people who only post in the FG and nowhere else."
People with low joindates and postcounts are new, higher joindates and low postcounts are lurkers/people who're gone a lot.

The above also applies to when I join forums (which is pretty much never btw)

 

[Music Dragon]

Well, the first thing I look at when I see an unfamiliar user is the postcount and joindate. If I see a high postcount (and the joindate doesn't contradict this) I think "oh, someone must have changed their username." If I see a high postcount and a relatively recent joindate, I think "oh it's one of those people who only post in the FG and nowhere else."
People with low joindates and postcounts are new, higher joindates and low postcounts are lurkers/people who're gone a lot.

The above also applies to when I join forums (which is pretty much never btw)

It seems to me you're not really judging the expected quality of anyone's posts by their post count.

 

[Phantom]

Newbies care about post count.

So did I... when I was a newbie. I was a newbie back when FG and Insanity both didn't count. But I've seen it when someone brags about having sooo many posts.... Seriously I've seen it here where someone uses their post count as a sort of badge of honor to say "I'm better than you".

I still avoid FG. I just think its silly.

But I still think that the count should just be off in those categories again. Sure it doesn't guarantee long thought out posts, but it has a better chance than posting a three word post.

I am on the border of just turn the count off and I don't give a damn.


If you really want to be judged.... I do like the idea of rep. *ducks*

 

[Tailsy]

If you really want to be judged.... I do like the idea of rep. *ducks*

SCREAMS

 

[Zero Moment]

It seems to me you're not really judging the expected quality of anyone's posts by their post count.

Not really?

 

[sovram]

Not really?

That was kind of the issue.

 

[surskitty]

I'd like post counts to remain accurate.