Achievement unlocked

**Lady M** · 29th March 10, 06:47 PM

Unless a module has been specifically coded for this exact purpose already (a point system for VB, basically), that it's an unlikely venture to consider. The cost would be high, especially considering the purchase of this board came out of Steve's pocket. To ask him again to pay a programmer to create such a thing is unreasonable.

Even if said module did already exist, as a poster above me pointed out, it would require a great deal of extra moderation for it to work properly.

I greatly dislike the idea of achievement points, as I played an online game for a number of years that used them. I'd say I have had quite a lot of experience with them. Any points system will be treated in the same way a post based ranking system is treated. It will suffer the same issues, the same bias Steve is trying to avoid.

Points, post count, number of times you danced a jig, how many flat caps you own... It's unnecessary fluff, requires some level of extra moderation and in the end contributes nothing extra to the community knowledge base.

Make use of your username, icon, profile photo and your signature lines, within those you can create an online identity which others can use to get a better idea about you. I know I've never looked to see what post count based title someone had ("Kilted Member") but I have read their signature or looked at their images. They say a lot more to me then "500 points" or "17 Kilts" ever could.

Just my thoughts on the subject.

**Highlander31** · 29th March 10, 06:54 PM

Originally Posted by Lady M

...Make use of your username, icon, profile photo and your signature lines, within those you can create an online identity which others can use to get a better idea about you. I know I've never looked to see what post count based title someone had ("Kilted Member") but I have read their signature or looked at their images. They say a lot more to me then "500 points" or "17 Kilts" ever could.

Just my thoughts on the subject.

I agree. That's similar to what I do when I look at someone's profile.

**CDNSushi** · 29th March 10, 06:57 PM

Originally Posted by Lady M

Points, post count, number of times you danced a jig, how many flat caps you own... It's unnecessary fluff, requires some level of extra moderation and in the end contributes nothing extra to the community knowledge base.

First, let me just say that your honest comments and feedback on this are certainly appreciated.... But respectfully, I disagree. If all I wanted was a simple knowledge base, I'd read an encyclopedia, take an evening class at a community college, or read an online FAQ... But as for me, (and this is likely where we part ways)... I LOVE the unnecessary fluff!! Yes, it does require some level of extra moderation. No it does not contribute to the knowledge base, but FWIW, I really WOULD enjoy knowing how many times you danced the jig, LadyM....

That's part of what makes a close-knit community.

**Lady M** · 29th March 10, 07:14 PM

Originally Posted by CDNSushi

First, let me just say that your honest comments and feedback on this are certainly appreciated.... But respectfully, I disagree. If all I wanted was a simple knowledge base, I'd read an encyclopedia, take an evening class at a community college, or read an online FAQ... But as for me, (and this is likely where we part ways)... I LOVE the unnecessary fluff!! Yes, it does require some level of extra moderation. No it does not contribute to the knowledge base, but FWIW, I really WOULD enjoy knowing how many times you danced the jig, LadyM....

That's part of what makes a close-knit community.

If people want to get to know others more intimately, the off topic section, the PM system, people's signature files, their profile images, their photo albums, community meet ups, instant messenger systems or even banter during posting... We have a vast array of tools at our disposal to discover more about the members here at XMarks.

Are all of these things are not enough? We need an arbitrary number next to our name as well that basically means nothing unless we review the contents to see what the points actually came from? Anyone remember those "Geek Codes?" You filled out an online site and it generated a code you could post on your profiles. The number is meaningless unless you researched what it meant. This sounds exactly like that... A meaningless number based on some arbitrary set of rules that someone at some point designed. Pointless.

My profile displaying "100 points" for me welcoming 50 people, owning 3 kilt pins and getting married in a kilt adds nothing more than a line of text that took too much time and effort to add and was quickly forgotten a week later by those who had originally wanted to see it.

**CDNSushi** · 29th March 10, 07:33 PM

Originally Posted by Lady M

My profile displaying "100 points" for me welcoming 50 people, owning 3 kilt pins and getting married in a kilt adds nothing more than a line of text that took too much time and effort to add and was quickly forgotten a week later by those who had originally wanted to see it.

Let me just clarify, that I wasn't recommending that this be a "point" system at all. That was another poster's idea, and I just worked on the basis of what he said. I don't think that you can really justify that owning 10 kilts is worth "x" points and welcoming 50 people is worth "y" points... But just that they are just different ways to participate... It would be impractical to have most of this next to peoples' avatars... I think my idea was more along the lines of having "achievements" as part of a person's profile page that people can view if they wish...

LadyM, it is just human nature to desire to be recognized for something, or to feel special or unique. This is why, I suspect that so many of the forum were so fond of the titles, for instance. It doesn't even have to be anything significant or society-changing... Even when I play World of Warcraft, I've been there for a long, long time, new members routinely get achievements for silly, mundane things like catching 100 fish... Well, it's completely meaningless to me, but to that newbie, it's awesome! And everyone in the guild sends him a quick "gratz." To me it might sound trite, but to him, that probably just made his day.

Reminds me of a Farside cartoon...

**Lady M** · 29th March 10, 07:54 PM

Originally Posted by CDNSushi

Let me just clarify, that I wasn't recommending that this be a "point" system at all. That was another poster's idea, and I just worked on the basis of what he said. I don't think that you can really justify that owning 10 kilts is worth "x" points and welcoming 50 people is worth "y" points... But just that they are just different ways to participate... It would be impractical to have most of this next to peoples' avatars... I think my idea was more along the lines of having "achievements" as part of a person's profile page that people can view if they wish...

LadyM, it is just human nature to desire to be recognized for something, or to feel special or unique. This is why, I suspect that so many of the forum were so fond of the titles, for instance. It doesn't even have to be anything significant or society-changing... Even when I play World of Warcraft, I've been there for a long, long time, new members routinely get achievements for silly, mundane things like catching 100 fish... Well, it's completely meaningless to me, but to that newbie, it's awesome! And everyone in the guild sends him a quick "gratz." To me it might sound trite, but to him, that probably just made his day.

Again I will state, I do believe we have numerous ways to express ourselves on this forum that was can utilize and many ways to discover more about others. I will quickly add the reminder of the great deal of effort, money and time it would take to create such a system and leave with, a personal note which is slightly off topic... I hate the achievement system in WoW but I won't go into that here.

I believe we have to respectfully agree to disagree. If anyone would like to discuss with me further, I think it would be best to take it to private messages.

**robthehiker** · 29th March 10, 07:50 PM

Originally Posted by Lady M

My profile displaying "100 points" for me welcoming 50 people, owning 3 kilt pins and getting married in a kilt adds nothing more than a line of text that took too much time and effort to add and was quickly forgotten a week later by those who had originally wanted to see it.

Congrats on your 300th post!

**morrison** · 29th July 10, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by Lady M

. . . Make use of your username, icon, profile photo and your signature lines, within those you can create an online identity which others can use to get a better idea about you. I know I've never looked to see what post count based title someone had ("Kilted Member") but I have read their signature or looked at their images. They say a lot more to me then "500 points" or "17 Kilts" ever could.

Just my thoughts on the subject.

username? mine is slightly inaccurate!

icon? it's actually a photo of a stranger taken randomly from online!

signature line? probably as close as I could get to being openly candid without revealing too much inner personality!

the title or advancement recognition is relevant to my join date versus post per day statistics, etc.