Quote Originally Posted by CameronCat View Post
-- Oh, look! Here is one now...

I will stand for the opposition and voice a strong opinion against titles based solely on the number of posts. No matter how cute the titles chosen, having them numerically based sets up a hierarchy, e.g, "I have a higher number, so I'm a more Grander Exalted Defending type-person than you."

To which I holler: Nonsense, and no you're not. Frequency doesn't always equate to knowledge or helpfulness, and other threads have noted the abundance of "nice picture," "I agree," and similar post padding that doesn't really add much to the discussion.

Steve said it best in the FAQ: "Post Ranks and Special Titles have now become more about separating us instead of bringing us together." and I call on Steve to stand his ground here.

Now to be clear, I am NOT against titles, be they cute, honorary, bestowed, hereditary or purchased at Wal-mart. My sole objection is to basing them upon the number of posts, which is an indicator of nothing at all Scottish or kiltish.
And here's another. I will also stand for the opposition and voice a strong opinion against titles based solely on the number of posts. Unfortunately, the poll doesn't contain this option, so I'm voicing my opinion here knowing that my input is probably not going to make me any friends.

Frankly, I'm tired of seeing people have their opinions dismissed during the course of a lively debate not because they failed to make a logical argument, not because they misunderstood a key point in the discussion, not because they presented facts that were in error, but simply because their post count was smaller. And I'm tired of seeing some of the folks doing it going back to edit their posts later to cover their tracks.

This isn't a frequent occurrence, but it doesn't have to be frequent to be damaging to the community. It leaves a lasting impression and it happens regularly enough that I firmly agree that it divides us. It's often hostile towards new members even before we're aware of their stances, knowledge and motives for being here. Some of the people doing it are some of the people voicing support for bringing back the post count driven titles. To those people I say,

"If you've demonstrated that you were going to hold members post counts against them with or without the titles in the past, why should we believe that you would reform and behave any differently if they were brought back now?"

The fact that nudging newcomers in the ribs has revealed one or two of them to be trolls does not justify treating everyone in this manner. While nudging your friends in the ribs and questioning their motives now and then can be fun and/or encourage lively debate, nudging people you've just met in the ribs and questioning their motives the moment they walk in the door is just plain boorish and obnoxious. This is, unfortunately, one of those times when a few of us can cast a bad light on all of us.

Are we not the Ladies and Gentlemen of X Marks the Scot?