Post Count: Goodbye!!!

[AwallaceUNC]

It should also be noted that a new member who makes 50 fluff posts is not given an avatar, and that's made clear in the forum guidelines, so they shouldn't feel encouraged to speed through the first fifty posts in order to get an avatar.

-Aaron

[Isidour]

first of all: I haven´t noticed this until I saw this thread

I support the idea of a flag image, it would be a nice change and it would make a more colorfull forum

We could also add the male or female image, but as an optional, and we could let know our gendr just if we want to

[Raydawggie]

I'm pleased. Enough with having something like five thousand posts, but my lookup saying I have 150!

[indianajdp]

Count me as one that DEFINITELY favored this move. There are too many folks that come-and-go that, for whatever reason, are only interested in padding their post-count numbers. I have NEVER understood that mentality, and believe that it only serves to cheapen the product of the message boards. Discussions become of much less subtance. This is of no consequence to 99% of teh members here that are interested in discussing all things Disney.

So...I say "about time"

[numba1lostboy]

Just adding my feedback, I liked the postcount. I liked how how many posts you had got you a subtitle (eg Gold Collection, Collector's Edition, etc).
If the postcount is gone, whats the point of the subtitles?

Also, the postcount gave me a rough look at who on the forum knew what they were talking about. I figure those who have many posts and have been here a long time know more than those who haven't.

Just my two cents.

[Escapay]

Just adding my feedback, I liked the postcount. I liked how how many posts you had got you a subtitle (eg Gold Collection, Collector's Edition, etc).
If the postcount is gone, whats the point of the subtitles?

The subtitles are still there, and it makes it more fun, cause if your title changes, you'll realize you passed another "level" of sorts.

Also, the postcount gave me a rough look at who on the forum knew what they were talking about. I figure those who have many posts and have been here a long time know more than those who haven't.

Well consider the following type of forum members:

1. A longtime forum member since 2003 who knows quite a lot, but doesn't post very frequently, could have a little over 1000 posts.

2. A new forum member who joined only a few months ago, posts often but usually has one-liners or conversational posts and this forum member could have...say, 800+ posts, and will likely escalate that to the 1400 mark in the next few months.

3. A new forum member who joined within the last year, does not post often, but provides a lot of substantial information, though only has less that 500 posts.

4. A very infrequent forum member who posts at most once or twice a month, but offers a WEALTH of valuable information, and their post count hasn't even reached 100.

Who would you trust to give you information about the history of "Silly Symphonies" if all you knew about them was the quantity of posts?

If anything, the absence of post count now gives readers an added responsibility to:

1. Make their own posts about quality, not quantity.
2. Recognize in other posters the quality of posts, not quantity of posts.

Post count can rot and die in a filthy cell with the rats gnawing at its eyes.

Escapay

[Zoltack]

I'm glad it's gone, I was getting tired of people (like me ) making post that...

1. Wasn't on topic
2. One line or 3 word posts and...
3. The most aggravating is the conversation posts, there is a reason why you got an email account so you can personally talk to others. There is also a chat room too but you have to excuse the newbies, because it's hidden and I don't think they know it exists.

Now I'll admit I have done all three of those things and it was because I wanted to get my post count up. Now, there is no post count, so there is no point for me to do that anymore. However, I do believe it's not deterring some other members; eliminating the post count doesn't send the message to make thought out post. A thought out post doesn't have to be 1000 words but at least 50 words or greater just as long as they're quality posts by sharing your ideas, opinions and knowledge.

[Pluto Region1]

Just to play devil's advocate I was also on a forum (spawn.com) that had the "reputation" thing but it didn't work at all. Certain groups (clics) would get together and just run each other's "Rep" up. So many people had millions and millions of points (represented by Hearts) that it no longer had any validity.

I don't see why we need points, post counts, whatever. If those are more important to people than just participating in threads for the love of Disney, etc... then they are here for the wrong reason.
James

Well I came over here to find out what happened to that post count - I noticed it immediately when I came back to the forums this week - I miss seeing it--I thought the feature was broken. So the reason for the removal is because of people posting fluff posts to get a high post count? I do think there should be some way to show senior status, however, there are people here like Aaron, Nettie and Loomis, Escapay etc. who had tons of posts - I know Loomis has said it doesn't matter to him, but I think there should be some recognition of these senior members. I really never thought that a one word post or someone posting a smiley or something after a post they liked was an abuse. but I'm not on the boards enough I guess to see blatant abuse of this. There's probably no way of showing seniority on the board without creating an incentive for fluff posts. so I guess I withdraw the suggestion.

Back to what James is saying, my husband is on Dig which has a feature like this reputation thing you guys are discussing - I guess you can dig a story up or down or dig a commenter up or down - but to me this just seems like it could become rife for abuse in a smaller forum like this where people can gang up on people etc. I'm afraid of that type of thing going on where some members would go after others -because we do have quite a few members carrying grudges against others and carrying on feuds with each other. But I agree with you, post counts should not be why people are here.

BTW going to the members list to determine how many posts you have, is so cumbersome to comb through that I finally gave up after clicking about 15 pages. How many of those people are actually active members? I thnk we should be weeding out the "dead" accounts here.

[Pluto Region1]

This site attracts a tremendous amount of traffic, so yes, bandwidth is an issue.

Well since we are discussing bandwidth and one-line posts - we have whole threads like this "what food did you just eat" "what DVD did you just buy"
etc. Some of these threads are 30+ pages long.... going in and posting that I just ate some cake -how is that a quality post? So if someone goes in and says, "hey that is funny" after someone else posted a witty post, how can one say that that is not a quality post vs someone going in and posting about what they just ate? I have been operating under the assumption that these "what food did you just eat" etc are tolerated because they build camaraderie (or are popular) but how many people are actually reading those 30+ pages of what everyone else just ate or what everyone else just bought before they post what they just ate or bought? Those types of threads are akin to spams in that people just go in and dive-bomb the thread by posting what they just ate and then leave. I don't think there is a lot of quality conversation going on in those posts, other than a comment or two that might occasionally happen (like someone saying "nice choice" or "I just bought that", etc) Then again, are we going to have the "post police" and have mods start deleting posts that they don't think are quality? How can one necessarily say that one post vs. another has merit? I dunno.... I am worried about the big-brother syndrome taking hold. Just my 2 cents.

[2099net]

I believe the "What Food Did You Just Eat?" was a joke thread started by Loomis as a response to some of the other similar threads (bless his little cotton pants... wherever they are) and he's actually amazed how many people have posted on it.

Still, I do think that threads like that do help build some form of community. I just wish people would actually comment on what movie/film/television/dvd/song etc they've watched/bought/listened to. Nothing annoys me more than a single title in these threads.

I don't see how any forum can be immune from abuse, but to my mind, dropping the post count helps more than anything else, so I'm all for it.

I don't think the double/triple posts we have were connected to post counts though. Sometimes the update when posting can be slow, and people can be impatiant. I alwats type my response and if its a long one (which it inevitably is ) I cut and paste it into notepad and wait.

[Disney Duster]

I do think there should be some way to show senior status, however, there are people here like Aaron, Nettie and Loomis, Escapay etc. who had tons of posts - I know Loomis has said it doesn't matter to him, but I think there should be some recognition of these senior members.

The titles are still in place (Newbie, Member, Gold Collection, etc.), and we can use that to determine "seniority". Platinum Edition is a great indicator of who knows what they're talking about. And even though I like seniority, remember, some people don't learn no matter how much they've been around, and some people know a lot even though they don't post a lot.

BTW going to the members list to determine how many posts you have, is so cumbersome to comb through that I finally gave up after clicking about 15 pages. How many of those people are actually active members? I thnk we should be weeding out the "dead" accounts here.

Well, I think there should be some record of every member who ever was, but some indicator of who is active and who is "dead".

[Pluto Region1]

The titles are still in place (Newbie, Member, Gold Collection, etc.), and we can use that to determine "seniority". Platinum Edition is a great indicator of who knows what they're talking about.

Yeah, I didn't realize the titles "gold edition" etc were still there, but I don't know the significance of the hierarchy of those titles. (I suppose if that was commonly posted info, the titles would then become like the post counts). Right after I posted I was talking to my husband and he said I didn't have to go through the membership list to find myself but just could click on my own profile to see my own post count. So I guess that resolves my problem of not being able to know how many posts I've made.

However I've noticed a possible problem with removing post count (and in this case knowing the hierarchy to the titles would probably help resolve this) - I went over to the trade section last night and noticed there's an issue with a seller trying to sell DVDs to some seasoned members. The person was subsequently accused of being a thief (Luke was looking into it) Without the post count, one doesn't know if a seller is a seasoned member or a person who just opened a forum account to rip people off.... the post count was a gauge as to if someone could be trusted as a seller.

And even though I like seniority, remember, some people don't learn no matter how much they've been around...

Yep, there I am, in that bunch. I haven't learned a lot but I'm trying.

[Luke]

Without the post count, one doesn't know if a seller is a seasoned member or a person who just opened a forum account to rip people off.... the post count was a gauge as to if someone could be trusted as a seller.

We do have the Trade Forum Feedback thread: http://www.ultimatedisney.com/forum/vie ... php?t=2423

As always, one needs to be skeptical of newbies to trading, whether they've made a bunch of posts or not.

[Jules]

Besides that, we musn't forget that to guage a seller's reliability, you could always click "profile" and view post count from there.

[Spongebob Squarepants]

When we post a topic now,why does it only show our location area and not how many post we've made?

[Disney-Fan]

Sigh...
clicky

[Spongebob Squarepants]

Sigh...
clicky

Heh..heh...sorry about that!(whistles)

[James]

Sorry, that I'm so behind on posting here, but it just dawned on me to post here. I personally liked the post count. I liked it because I guess it showed how much I had grown since coming here. What I mean is like in May 2005, I had been here a week and had only done like 5 posts and was a newbie. Now not even two years later I'm at 769 posts (just checked ). It was nice to see the growth in writing, but I can see the disadvantages what with over posting and such. For me it was never a competition with other people to see who could post more or whatever, it was just nice to see how much I've grown since I joined. Oh well. That new idea of the flag seems good, but I'd rather see the reputation count thing come to fruition.
-James