OT/meta - Bring back the negbang/posbang.

Submitted by uniqenam on

Don't like this post?  Downvote it, oh wait you have less than imaginary negative internet points to harm me with.

But srsly, can we have them back?  Now that it's offseason, let's get back to what truly matters: MGoPoints.

Bosch

January 9th, 2012 at 11:01 PM ^

posting on this blog, I said something unpopular and wound up in the negative... but I climbed out.  It doesn't take too much effort to understand the general mood of this board. 

There is no perfect system.  It is inevitable that a quality poster will get neg banged due to group think, a misunderstanding, or a one time lapse in judgement.  However, IMO, it is a sacrifice I'm willing to make to improve the quality of posts on this board.

FTR, the comment that set me back but pretty mild compared to some of the garbage posts that get thrown up daily.

Also, FWIW, I emailed Brian to express some frustration with the current system, and he responded that a tweaking was in the plans post football season.

Dion

January 9th, 2012 at 5:56 PM ^

can someone explain what difference this makes.  I've read the rules and know you can down/upvote after a certain number of points, so what would bringing these things back change?

mGrowOld

January 9th, 2012 at 6:01 PM ^

I really miss them.   It was awesome when somebody would post something ridiculous and watch helplessly as their point total evaporated.  Conversely it was waaaay cool when you'd say something pithy or snarky and people could upvote your wit.  

It was one hell of an effecient policemen in keeping crap off the board and encouraging people with something to say to say it.  If I remember correctly it was collateral damage in the great malware disaster of '11.  Nobody wanted it gone and for a while Brian promised it would come back once he got a handle on all the other issues he was dealing with at the time.  I'll bet if we put it to a vote it would drop 9-1 in favor of restoration.

Bring it back Brian......bring it back!

 

burtcomma

January 9th, 2012 at 6:03 PM ^

The posbang and negbangs disappeared during the great crash last year.  Are you guys willing to pony up some cash to Brian in order to have this restarted?  Afterall, likely requires some programming costs, so put your money where your posts and mouth are!

lakeside

January 9th, 2012 at 9:29 PM ^

I have a feeling we have the current system because it was free to implement and largely met Brian's goals.  If he's open to reverting to the old system (?) I'd like to see how much it would cost.  Probably a couple thousand dollars depending on how good a deal he can get on a developer.

LSAClassOf2000

January 9th, 2012 at 6:12 PM ^

I remember learning quite a bit about the ins and outs here based on which posts were soundly negged and which ones were upvoted. This was a valuable life experience and I think others would benefit. 

go16blue

January 9th, 2012 at 6:18 PM ^

How about we bring back upvotes and downvotes? I know Brian likes it, but the reaction to the new moderation system has been overwhelmingly negative. Upvotes and downvotes are much better, and the vast majority of mgobloggers feel this way.

bjk

January 9th, 2012 at 7:14 PM ^

the old system is fairly exhaustively explained in the MgoBoard FAQ and comments there; has the new system ever been clearly explained anywhere? Part of my discomfort with the new system is just from not really understanding how it works.

Someone did finally explain the "moderate" button to me. How about "karma?"

go16blue

January 9th, 2012 at 7:32 PM ^

Karma is a reward/punishment for having consistently good/bad posts. If the vast majority of my comments were upvoted, at some point my comments would just start with a score of 2 instead of 1. Conversely, if I prove to be a terrible commenter and most of my posts are downvoted, my new posts will start with a score of 0. It's easy to move back and forth (negative karma isn't a death sentence), and it is a good way of highlighting good posts.

AMazinBlue

January 9th, 2012 at 6:21 PM ^

the problem with it was if you wrote something contrarian, but it based in fact, you still were neg-banged to bolivian just because your post didn't positively reflect on the program, coach player or decision of the day.  It did stifle free speech to a point.

Now, I will agree there is way too much ridiculousness on the board these days and some of the more insightful posters have left the building, but I think that was due more to the harshness of the negativity towards some subjects as opposed to too many free opinions flying around the board.

btw, I negbanged the OP cuz that was them thar direkshuns.

polometer

January 9th, 2012 at 6:55 PM ^

might be possible.  Something along the lines of posbang/negbang, plus senior overlords.  This could be where the average poster could posbang/negbang all they would like.  However, senior posters--with let's say above 1500 points--could correct the situation or give points as is done now.  This way all the fun of banging, but the free speech security of old people.

bjk

January 9th, 2012 at 7:28 PM ^

what about new-comers with clearly plainspoken ideas on sensitive topics? (Perhaps someone with background knowledge coming from outside the Mgoblogosphere?) Some of the most interesting albeit controversial observations from commenters came before the pos/neg-bang system, around the time of Carr's last season. There hasn't been a lot of commentary from people with deep background coming from outside the Mgoblog family since that time.

Some of the RR-related flame wars indicate that senior overlords may not be the short-cut to serene governance. One of the more distressing sights under any system is the sight of oldtimers with points in the 10,000's slinging ad-hominems at each other.