UKCraigE

I am a user of many forums, all of which have a "Thanks" button which is used to great effect.
Some also have a "Groan" button which is fun if not taken too seriously.

I believe this forum would benefit from both... anyone else agree?

abc

Tell us why you think this forum would benefit from either or both of those buttons in no less than 2000 relavent well chosen words, please?

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"I don't like new Linkin Park, I don't like old Linkin Park... I JUST LIKE LINKIN PARK"

COD owner - COD expansion pack owner - COD2 owner - COD2: BRO player - COD3 owner - COD4 owner - COD:WaW owner - COD: MW2 owner - COD: BO owner

This is getting repetitive.

UKCraigE

okie dokie... here goes....

Adding any new feature to a well supported message forum always requires careful consideration and forethought. With many additions, there are of course pros and cons... the final decision should be a compromise between forum administrators (who have to maintain and police the use of newly added feature) and the general consensus from forum users (who have the benefit/hassle of using the newly added feature)... explaining my original feature request being a poll.

Within this short ("no less than 2000 relevant well chosen words") forum post, I shall attempt to discuss both points of view and hopefully convince "the powers that be" that adding a "Thanks" and "Groan" button would be of benefit to the majority of the community.

The general idea behind the added functionality is that users refrain from spamming a thread with single and generally non-value adding posts containing a single word or two... typical examples would be "Thanks", "I Agree", "Awesome", "Great Idea".
Conversely it could be argued that this feature could hinder debate and force perhaps lazier users from replying at all... whether this features inclusion into the forum software would have effected these said lazy posters input is almost impossible to quantify... but surely any input from lazy posters should be grabbed with both arms.
The non-lazy of us will, as normal, post insightful and awe-inspiring contributing material into the discussion... hopefully receiving some recognition for our efforts.

This recognition is again often arising as a pro/con for adding the "Thanks" and "Groan" buttons to any well established forum.

So, who doesn't like the be recognised for their contribution to a community; it's nice to know you are welcomed and your views, post, topics are helping others. In addition, if there were varying views within a topic, this recognition might assist the reader in making up their own mind based on others responses... possibly by adding weight to one post over anothers based on the amount of times they've been thanked.
Of course, for this to happen, the recognition would need to be recorded and displayed which naturally some feel this turns into a reputation system (not discussed here, "Thanks"/"Groan" isn't reputation system). The displaying of the "Thanks", "Thanked", "Groans" and "Groaned at" of course does not guarantee the adding of any validity to one post or another, but in this increasingly online world, differentiators between users surely cannot be a harmful thing.

Personally; I think it's nice to be nice, so wherever i find a post useful, enjoyable to read, well constructed or highly amusing, i like to show my appreciation and spread a little thanks.



I think that should do for now, my boss is probably expecting me to do at least some work today so i should get back... please don't treat this as the end of my contribution to this request; if anyone has an opinion for/against i/we/all would sure like to hear it.

oneinchwunda

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abc

Oh hello oneinchwonda's mobo. snap your one should be able to unlock the 2 dormant cores on your dual core too if it's the newer version. ANNNNYYYWWWAAAAAYYYY, sorry.

Nice reply, that's kinda an interesting thought as I initially thought you just meant a rep system where people can actually leave "stfu and gtfo you ****" comments with negative rep which is partly why we don't currently have one. Much more similar to facebook's "like" feature. I shall see what Mike thinks.

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"I don't like new Linkin Park, I don't like old Linkin Park... I JUST LIKE LINKIN PARK"

COD owner - COD expansion pack owner - COD2 owner - COD2: BRO player - COD3 owner - COD4 owner - COD:WaW owner - COD: MW2 owner - COD: BO owner

This is getting repetitive.

UKCraigE

I am not familiar with Facebook so cannot comment on the "Like", but following a quick Google search, it sounds similar.

This forum uses the vBulletin software; here is the add-on enhancement I presume Mike would make use of... Thank You

JieDee

Sounds like a wolf pack system to me..!! If enough of my mates click on the ass kissing button then the rest of the world will kiss my ass too..??

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UKCraigE

and this abcis a perfect example of why we'd need a "Groan" button.
Thank you JieDee, you have most expertly proved my reasoning why these systems would be helpful... with a (suspected) relatively high groan count, people could ignore your useless babbling knowing that basically you are a jerk

Please, lets keep on topic, ta.

E Hizz

He would, indeed, have an incredibly high groan count. Lol

This system actually seems like it would work rather well; I often times find myself about to post, but refrain from doing so because I have nothing more to say other than "thanks for the info", and don't want to clutter up the page for people who actually want to read about the topic.

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JieDee

Well I was on topic Craig..!! This also proves my point, if someone disagrees or sees a different point of view with one of the wolves then the pack will jump in and click the ass kiss button just to discredit the objection to their views..!! Its not that I dont think it could be a good system just that it could be abused..!!
P.S. Craig you must be the only person from the UK who insults people by calling them a jerk..!! Wheres that groan button you American wannabe..!

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abc

And the last 4 posts are the reason that any sort of system that can have a negative outcome (i.e. negative repping or groaning) will just become a source of conflict.

__________________
"I don't like new Linkin Park, I don't like old Linkin Park... I JUST LIKE LINKIN PARK"

COD owner - COD expansion pack owner - COD2 owner - COD2: BRO player - COD3 owner - COD4 owner - COD:WaW owner - COD: MW2 owner - COD: BO owner

This is getting repetitive.

oneinchwunda

Regarding the mobo I have actually been away, so I havent had time to power it up and find out so fingers crossed

Sorry, back OT: I think a like button or similar would be great but not so keen on groan, because of reasons stated already.

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whiterhinolord

let's keep the fighting to the battlefield, gents!

I have to vote against it - not because it's a bad idea but because all these things get abused and add more work for mods

believe me when i say that any rep system/thanks system WILL be abused

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Quote:

Originally Posted by gamefreak People who complain about noobs, are just noobs in denial.

UKCraigE

May I enquire as to what you think the point of the "Level" and "Activity" are then below your forum name?
Surely these are the reputation system that the forum admin have decided upon... the Thanks button merely reduces database spam and reduces the amount of scrolling I have to perform to get to the interesting posts, but by still allowing me to show my appreciation to a useful/helpful/funny post.

JieDee's reaction to the groan button is typical (in my experience) of the people who take it all a little too seriously.
JieDee; no one is out to get you and make you look bad on a silly game's message forum... there's more important thing in life, trust me. There is also no "wolf pack", no one cares that much to make you feel bad about yourself, especially to a bunch of strangers across the www and you shouldn't either tbh.
If you are worried about people trying to make you look like a jerk, i suggest you stop posting completely and sell you PC... much safer that way.

whiterhinolord

I dont think about them at all - in fact, I couldnt care less!

besides, i'm sure you realise that there is a difference between the two - one is automated and the other is at the discretion of the user

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Quote:

Originally Posted by gamefreak People who complain about noobs, are just noobs in denial.

JieDee

LoL..!! I dont take things to serious quite the contrary if you actually got my intentions in most of my posts..!! But this time I am serious, this thing would get abused and you know it..!! Look at ViS he done the same thing that other people do on this he gets a ban and others dont..!! those others would abuse the groan system and thats why I think it is wrong..!! To be honest I think the forum is great the way it is, it`s obviously well moderated and not too strict which I think is great as most people on here seem to be adult like ( apart from the petty name calling and the spelling police) So keep up the good work mods..!!

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UKCraigE

whiterhinolord; Err... perhaps I typed my reply in a misleading way (apologies)... you stated that "any" reputation system would get abused... my point was to show that the members here don't place much value into the rep system enough to abuse it as is evident by the current rep system we are using which is the "level" and "activity" modification added in the vB software.I genuinely hadn't considered the differences between them being automated or not making a difference to be honest... the fact it's automated probably removes credibility from them if you ask me. The Thanks system allows users to show user-appreciation for valued contribution rather than mere forum spamming.


Anyway; it was just a suggestion that I've seen work before and have enjoyed using. I suspect it wont get added on the basis that people are more inclined to write a bad review and slate on the www than put themselves out to write something positive... or at least vote... or care about the site enough to vote.
I'm happy in the knowledge I'm at least attempting to make things a little nicer.

JoLo

What if the "Thanks" or "Groan" buttons were for actual posts people make? Liiiiike on youtube(I know bad example but it's all I got)?

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whiterhinolord

dude - I appreciate you are trying to help and make the forum more personal

BUT the problem is that it's more work, more bandwidth, more abuse

the forum is fine as it is and if you think it isnt then perhaps you should frequent an alternative with a feedback system you want installed

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Quote:

Originally Posted by gamefreak People who complain about noobs, are just noobs in denial.

UKCraigE

I give up!
Some people just can't be told.

abc

I can assure you bandwidth is not an issue if this is running on a server of remotely the same spec that C4F is...

The only "issue" here is making sure any ideas are relatively simple to implement and will not cause significant troubles for what they are worth before I go and ask someone, who no doubt has more immediately important things to do, to install a mod that may just cause more problems than it's worth.

On inspection the mod linked to earlier seems fairly ideal as it seems to have a lot of options that can be used to prevent abuse such as "thanks" being awarded to individual posts not members.

__________________
"I don't like new Linkin Park, I don't like old Linkin Park... I JUST LIKE LINKIN PARK"

COD owner - COD expansion pack owner - COD2 owner - COD2: BRO player - COD3 owner - COD4 owner - COD:WaW owner - COD: MW2 owner - COD: BO owner

This is getting repetitive.

whiterhinolord

you dont get it either - i'm talking about the bandwidth needed to host all the threads about abuse!

anyway, it's not up to me

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Quote:

Originally Posted by gamefreak People who complain about noobs, are just noobs in denial.

abc

As I was about to say before the flaming/arguing recommenced I think the particular mod linked to, given that there is no being abusive and negative only positive, is an ok solution.

Since the mods are happy that, if the correct mod is chosen, this will yield much more benefit than issues it has been personally passed on to Mike.

__________________
"I don't like new Linkin Park, I don't like old Linkin Park... I JUST LIKE LINKIN PARK"

COD owner - COD expansion pack owner - COD2 owner - COD2: BRO player - COD3 owner - COD4 owner - COD:WaW owner - COD: MW2 owner - COD: BO owner

This is getting repetitive.

E Hizz

Okay, so I see it was added, but how do I thank people?

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Loftusboi

niiice to see the thanks button was added

ive seen it done the same way on a number of other forums. The fact of noting which post you have thanked stops anyone from doing the 'you're my friend, so ill click thanks' if its obviously not a useful post lol.

nice job adding it and good suggestion craig, already thanked 2 people, it gives a reward for intelligent/polite talk on the forums

If anyone turns my mood from anger when i logged on, into happiness when i log off, they deserve a thanks

amhasing: the thanks button is in the bottom right corner of every post. if you like it you just simply click the button. You could try it on this post that im writing now... for example

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