Circle Jerks, and improving the MGoPoints

Submitted by SFBayAreaBlue on

I think the point system has done some good, but I would like to have the ability to see who voted and how on everyone's posts.

If I step over a line, the negs are a pretty quick feedback indicating such. But often times some posts are negged for absolutely no reason.

I also find it disheartening that while I have tried to improve my behavior to be more polite and limit posts that are simple one liners, some of the post whores on here who have accumulated massive amounts of points feel no need to do likewise.

Certain posters with large point totals have no qualms about tossing around flames and calling people rude names. It's rather unpleasant to be talking about football and then to have to suffer through incessant PERSONAL attacks.

I think they behave this way because they sense little threat of punishment. And they have circle jerkers that follow their lead and anonymously neg bang for the fun of it.

So I suggest two possible solutions that might not be feasible in the near term but I would hope could be implemented someday.

1. Allow Brian or some other mods to hand out 4 hour posting suspensions. Or this could be an automatic result of a specified level of down votes. This would allow the violator some time to rethink what they wrote or calm down from an emotional high following a game. It's not a permanent ban, but a way of really hitting the post whores where it hurts.

2. Allow everyone to see how everyone votes. This way we could see if one fellow with 22 points was going around and negging everything from a fellow member for no reason. This would also help prevent the use of sock puppets and would allow for retaliation against such silly behavior. If one person goes on a vendetta (which I've been tempted to do) it would be visible to others and could be punished accordingly. Plus it's good to be able to confront people who neg you so that you can understand their point of view by having direct discussions with them and improve your future posts.

well, what do you guys think?

chitownblue2

October 4th, 2009 at 1:37 PM ^

I've re-read what you wrote and came to the same conclusion. When I first questioned you on it, your reaction initially wasn't that I misinterpreted you, but that you'd need to watch film before you could speak more intelligently on it. You're backing off now.

SFBayAreaBlue

October 4th, 2009 at 1:16 PM ^

I was responding to the someone's questioning my use of the word "disheartening". That one word has very little to do with the rest of the points brought up. You're right, undesirable behavior will continue to be a problem under any system. But giving the mods more tools will help curb and educate the posters.

CheckOutMyRod

October 4th, 2009 at 10:55 AM ^

I cant believe people actually care about points! just because someone has 2,000 points doesnt makes that person more of a fan or even a smart fan. people can negbang me all day,has NO effect on my life or my view of this great blog. I will admit I find it sad that some posters hold grudges against other posters. I get negged by the same few people on here but I dont give a shit. I will say for the most part though,most the people are pretty cool on here and are great fans.

Meeechigan Dan

October 4th, 2009 at 12:23 PM ^

Points are meaningless, yes, but it is behavior, not some random accumulation of points that BlueSeoul is discussing. Which is the whole point of the point system: to modify behavior. So everyone who begins their post by belittling people who are valuing a value-less point has already missed the point of the points. No one values points for the points sake. But everyone has an issue for getting negged for no apparent reason. I, for example, know that I get negged for my avatar. Probably have a good -500 for my avatar since this all began. Now, that irritates in a very, very, very small way because that is stupid and not the point of the points.

CPS

October 4th, 2009 at 4:05 PM ^

But everyone has an issue for getting negged for no apparent reason.

No, not everyone. Some, but not everyone. And for those that do have an issue, I have to wonder why. If some anonymous stranger in this little corner of the internet has a problem with me and simply clicks an arrow because he/she is too lazy or reluctant to explain the reason, then I, for one, am not going to spend even the smallest amount of time, energy or emotion necessary to make it an issue.

CPS

October 5th, 2009 at 11:59 AM ^

At most, I find it curious or humorous. So if I say "WTF?" in response to a -4, it's in that sort of lighthearted context only, and not because I have an issue with it.

Even if the reason isn’t apparent, I assume there is one. That is, we don’t get positive or negative points for absolutely no reason. Usually I already know what that reason is. But in the instances that I don’t, I don’t worry about it in the slightest. Because if the person can’t be bothered to tell me the reason, then I’m not going to be bothered trying to figure it out. In short, I've got better things to do.

CPS

October 5th, 2009 at 2:13 PM ^

One can't demonstrate a mindset or express a thought without taking the time to do so. That should be fairly evident, though I don't see two comments as that big of a time commitment.

Mostly I’ve spent time on this because I find threads worrying about points somewhat interesting, just as I find it somewhat interesting that you are continuing to partake in a conversation that you've already dubbed "silly". We all waste our time here for various reasons.

thee1jersey

October 4th, 2009 at 12:43 PM ^

Dwight: Don’t you want to earn MGoPoints?
Stanley: No. In fact, I’ll give you a billion Stanley nickels if you never talk to me again.
Dwight: What’s the ratio of Stanley nickels to MGoPoints?
Stanley: The same as the ratio of unicorns to leprechauns.