Experience points

[Bullgrit]

I know there was some contraversy or hesitation about the forum experience points concept, but I gotta say, now that I've given and received some, I like the function.

Giving xp is a good way of giving a quick acknowledgement that someone made a good point or made me laugh or some such without having to add a new post to the discussion.

Receiving xp is good because it's simple positive feedback.

I give the concept of forum experience points an experience point click for being a good idea.

Bullgrit

 

[Nifft]

I think they're terrible.

I get far more XP for what borders on "threadcrapping" than I do for thoughtful contributions. People reward quips, slogans, and the easy laugh -- which often means a cut-down, or putting someone in his place.

If my behavior were to be influenced by the XP given on this forum, it would be to the detriment of this forum.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Obryn]

If my behavior were to be influenced by the XP given on this forum, it would be to the detriment of this forum.

If you're getting XP, you're amusing someone.

I come to a forum to be amused.

It's a win-win, in my book!

-O

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

I disagree with the OP. I didn't want them when they were implemented, I still find them detrimental at worst and insignificant at best. I sometimes give people xp for good posts, but that was mostly a habit borne out of guilt, because people were giving me xp for my posts they liked despite me using the hide xp opt-out option (and I'm thankful it's an option), and I felt like I was a jerk if I didn't give out the pointless things myself.

Aside from my original objections, I also noted not far into starting the xp system that it "rewarded" (it's a pointless award, hence the quotes) people who had larger interest groups. The most noticable being that there's a larger group of 4E posters than 3E, so there's a larger group of people on the forum who agree with you, thus a larger pool of xp givers. Two posters who posted equally helpful posts with equal frequency would likely have different xp totals, probably by a large margin, based solely on where they happened to liek posting and how many like-minded people are also on the forums. Which destroys any semblence of "merit" a high xp count might otherwise mean. I wouldn't be surprised if the "hive" clique had similar xp groupings. Which goes back to one of my main reasons against xp: the reinforcement of cliques.

I think they're terrible.

I get far more XP for what borders on "threadcrapping" than I do for thoughtful contributions. People reward quips, slogans, and the easy laugh -- which often means a cut-down, or putting someone in his place.

If my behavior were to be influenced by the XP given on this forum, it would be to the detriment of this forum.

Cheers, -- N

Well said.

 

[LightPhoenix]

I fall into the camp of them being mostly inconsequential. For one thing, there's no overt mention of how many experience points a user has. Sure, you can hover over the green box, but I have to wonder how many people actually do that. On the other hand, I mostly don't use the XP system, so perhaps that's my own bias on the whole thing showing through.

My second thought is that, despite XP, I can still tell who among the board posters is not worth listening to (no names). On the flip side, I generally read all of the posts in a thread, and posts are judged on the merit of whether or not they contribute something useful. There are, of course, posters who I note tend to post things interesting to me, and I know who they are (again, no names). I suppose my natural tendency is to judge a post by its own merit, and not that of who posted it.

While I thought it was a bad idea, and I'm mostly indifferent to it now, there are a couple of downsides. Like StreamOfTheSky, I would be very surprised if there were no "cliques" that emerged from analyzing the XP given/received. I think the XP system is most likely used as a Digg-style "I agree" button, versus an actual receptions to a post. That lends itself to precipitating out groups of like-minded posters. I think it would be even more pronounced if there were a negative-XP button.

I also have a theory that XP is directly related to post count. At first blush, that seems like a dumb statement; of course people who post more will have more XP, because they have more chances to receive it (ie, have posted more quality posts). I don't think that is the reason though. My suspicion is that XP in reality has nothing to with the inherent quality of posts and everything to do with post count. It could possibly be due to posters basically giving XP randomly (due to XP giving limitations). I'm not sure as to the why because we don't have any data to analyze.

 

[MichaelSomething]

Well I like the EXP system. It's something cool to play with.

 

[Umbran]

Aside from my original objections, I also noted not far into starting the xp system that it "rewarded" (it's a pointless award, hence the quotes) people who had larger interest groups.
...
Which goes back to one of my main reasons against xp: the reinforcement of cliques.

The system is tuned specifically to make cliquisness. You cannot give a second XP to the same person until you've given points to fifty others. A group has to be very large before it can sit around reinforcing itself.

 

[Bullgrit]

Maybe my positive view of it is because I don't ever look at my or other's total xp count. (I just did in this thread out of curiosity, after it was mentioned here.) My support of xp comes mostly from simply getting the virtual thumbs up or pat on the back, and secondarily from the note left with the xp.

Here's examples of notes left with my xp:
"Nice work"
"Great idea for a thread"
"lol-nice"
"Thanks for sharing"

I've even gotten xp and notes from people who generally disagree or argue with me. I've also given such xp:
"Although I disagree with some of your interpretations, you make me LOL with your phrasology. 'the Yoko factor' LOL!"

Bullgrit

 

[jaerdaph]

I really enjoy getting some XP for helping someone out ("thanks for the info/link") or giving them a laugh in their day ("LOL! "). It makes me feel useful and connected to the community.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Personally, the only problem I have with the system is that I think 50 is too big a number to have to pass out. I've had to pass on giving XP to people who deserved it- be it for being funny or helpful or both- more times than I can count...or remember.