So I tried to find a generic forum to post this, but the General one seemed to be fairly short on traffic.

How is my community rating calculated anyway? I mean, I see a number, but it doesn't really tell me much, other than "yep, that's my number". Is it simply a accumulation of "likes" from my posts, showing that my content is generally liked or what? Just curious every time I see it.

Thanks.

I think it's just your lifetime likes received. I personally don't really care for ratings like that, all they do is push everyone to conform to popular opinion if they actually want to have a high score. Group think isn't a virtue.

I don't care what the number is, as I'm confident in my online behavior to know that I behave. Besides, it says my reputation is "excellent", which is all I really care about. I just look at the number, and then other people's numbers, and I'm not sure how they calculate it, and was curious. It could be the number of Rainbow Puppies from the Moon of Squee that think I'm funny for all I care, but I would like to know the system behind it, whatever it is.

Maybe the reputation can go down if you receive infractions from moderators, but I don't think these boards are very heavily moderated, if at all.

I had been thinking it was ratio of likes to posts, but that doesn't seem right. No idea. Huh.

That'd be an even worse way of actually encouraging people to have a discussion of different viewpoints and not just create a sycophantic circle jerk.

Think on this. If it's just likes or likes-to-posts, that creates a problem if people actually care about their score (first time I've seen this discussion, so I think the vast majority don't care). But, if everyone cared for the number of likes versus posts, they would be comparing those two numbers below their avatar to compute a ratio. Thus, they would only be making posts that guaranteed a high probability of likes and thus discussion would dwindle. "This is important to me to say, but I don't think anyone will LIKE it so I better not post".

Example: Aetrion you have a fairly high Rep to Post ratio (currently 400/564) but you just made three posts in this thread, only one which got a like! Your score is on a downward trend you better start being more conservative in your posts!!

Well, I just compared my previous score, before getting 2 new likes today from posters, and it went up by 2 points. So apparently it's just a like tracker.

12 hours ago, Aetrion said:

That'd be an even worse way of actually encouraging people to have a discussion of different viewpoints and not just create a sycophantic circle jerk.

How can you say that? Considering the conversations, and conflicts that are clearly evident between posters. It's clearly not making an echo chamber circle jerk mentality like you suggest. Otherwise we wouldn't see the passive aggressive banter when people derail a thread for a pedantic argument about some minor bit of lore. I mean you and I alone, have had conflicting opinions on things in these very forums. So I fail to see how it's compelling us to become a single minded borg-like group. I mean, now that you know it's a like tracker, are you going to suddenly change your posting behavior and personality as a result? I seriously doubt it.

3 hours ago, Sturn said:

Think on this. If it's just likes or likes-to-posts, that creates a problem if people actually care about their score (first time I've seen this discussion, so I think the vast majority don't care).

I don't care about the score itself either, I just wanted to know what the heck the number was measuring. It was bugging me when I'd see it and kept asking myself "700+ what?!"

3 hours ago, Sturn said:

But, if everyone cared for the number of likes versus posts, they would be comparing those two numbers below their avatar to compute a ratio. Thus, they would only be making posts that guaranteed a high probability of likes and thus discussion would dwindle. "This is important to me to say, but I don't think anyone will LIKE it so I better not post".

Sorry I just really don't think that's going to happen. I mean, you said yourself, I'm apparently the first person to even ask waht the heck it's measuring, so apparently not too many people are concerned with the system.

3 hours ago, Sturn said:

Example: Aetrion you have a fairly high Rep to Post ratio (currently 400/564) but you just made three posts in this thread, only one which got a like! Your score is on a downward trend you better start being more conservative in your posts!!

Yeah but if Aetrion's not getting negative hits for bad behavior, it doesn't matter. It still ends up being a positive reflection of their posting habits. Simply meaning he generally says things that people like, for some reason or another. And since he's not getting negative posts, his rep is good.

On 4/21/2017 at 3:59 PM, Aetrion said:

Maybe the reputation can go down if you receive infractions from moderators, but I don't think these boards are very heavily moderated, if at all.

Start posting racial slurs and let's see.

Frelling Twi'leks!

54 minutes ago, Mark Caliber said:

Frelling Twi'leks!

Reported...to the Empire! Muahahahahaaaaa!!!

Yo mommas so haireh, when she dropped her pants she looked like she had a wookie in a leg lock! Bluuarrrgghghhh

On 4/21/2017 at 2:33 PM, Aetrion said:

Group think isn't a virtue.

Neither is dissent from popular opinion.

13 minutes ago, awayputurwpn said:

Neither is dissent from popular opinion.

Reasoned and polite dissent should be welcome. Sadly, there is so very little of it...

8 hours ago, awayputurwpn said:

Neither is dissent from popular opinion.

Eh, I'm not really worried about this honestly. I mean, even in this very thread, their is dissent in the "everyone will now all agree, just to get likes" theory....and we're disagreeing on that. Not to mention the constant disagreements in other threads on this forum. So yeah, I really don't see an issue with knowing what the score is actually tracking. It's hardly going to create an echo chamber.

I mean, you can say some annoying, rude, argumentative stuff, and there will always be a percentage of the posters that like that, and will put a Like down. And as long as you aren't breaking the CoC, your score will improve. Also, there's no real rhyme or reason to why someone will Like something. I've posted in depth analysis of various aspects of the game system/setting, and they won't get likes. But, I make a Monty Python reference and it gets 5.

Conversely, I'll make a Princess Bride joke, and nobody Likes it, but then my clarification of a single rule gets 7 Likes.

So it's all random, and not something to really worry about.

You could always just edit your rules-clarification post to include a Princess Bride joke after you get 7 Likes...

10 hours ago, Alderaan Crumbs said:

Reasoned and polite dissent should be welcome. Sadly, there is so very little of it...

Yeah, I suppose my comment was a little more than cryptic. I just meant that just because one dissents from the popular opinion, doesn't make him more correct or more virtuous (just as someone who hops on the bandwagon isn't necessarily either of those things).

But if that type of person is betting in a horse race and wins, he makes out like a bandit. So perhaps there's an element of that in there, the feeling of possibly being the only one that's right.

There are plenty of virtues to be extolled in an Internet forum, of course; among them "reason" and "politeness" I would also add "wisdom" (as wisdom seeks wisdom) and "patience" to the list.

12 hours ago, Alderaan Crumbs said:

Reasoned and polite dissent should be welcome. Sadly, there is so very little of it...

Eh, in my personal experience, compared to a lot of other forum sites, this site's WAY more civil and reasoned. Sure there are a few outliers that seem to thrive on constantly being contrary and argumentative, but...well, welcome to the human race. Despite that, even they are usually at least civil in their barb tossing for the most part. I've yet to see a discussion be shut down by moderators, or seen anyone banned for hostile behavior here. Maybe it's happening on some of the other forums, as I only browse the 3 related to the FFG game lines. But if these 3 are indicative of the other forums, I feel that the majority of people are reasoned and polite when they disagree with you...including me, who is posting a reasoned, and, I feel, polite disagreement about your reasoned and pilot comment

I mean, I've lost count on this forum, from my own posting history alone, how many times I've gotten into a disagreement with someone about some nuanced bit of Star Wars minutia, and we go back and forth for several posts. And while we ended still disagreeing, it was perfectly civil. We just said "eh, we have different opinions on this, let's see what happens when it actually comes out." And left it at that. No name calling, no passive aggressive barbs. Just a differing of opinions. Compared to other forums, where a thread can't go 5 posts without it devolving into some flame war, rage fest of poo flinging, this place is downright utopian when it comes to poster behavior.

"So, Conflict..."

That's how you get the poo flying!

5 hours ago, awayputurwpn said:

Yeah, I suppose my comment was a little more than cryptic. I just meant that just because one dissents from the popular opinion, doesn't make him more correct or more virtuous (just as someone who hops on the bandwagon isn't necessarily either of those things).

But if that type of person is betting in a horse race and wins, he makes out like a bandit. So perhaps there's an element of that in there, the feeling of possibly being the only one that's right.

There are plenty of virtues to be extolled in an Internet forum, of course; among them "reason" and "politeness" I would also add "wisdom" (as wisdom seeks wisdom) and "patience" to the list.

My comment wasn't in any way a jab at you and your comment wasn't cryptic. We've both seen those posters who start throwing virtual punches like two blind Antifa trapped in a Trump-sack, all to insult a rule they don't like or some other aspect. They drive us all batty.

10 hours ago, KungFuFerret said:

I've yet to see a discussion be shut down by moderators, or seen anyone banned for hostile behavior here.

It has been a while since I saw a thread shut down by a moderator. And the same with banning. ErikB's previous avatar AluminumWolf may have been banned or deleted. Or just removed by himself. Not sure. And even at his worst he entertained me. Just as the theorycraft and armchair game designers do. Sometimes a good idea can come from a conversation, even a contrary one. So in the end I read, and if something catches my fancy, may comment. I leave it to others to decide on the weight of my comments and don't begrudge them no matter how they choose.

I dont think people care about their reputation because no one is having competitions to "see who is better". Its simply a number which can roughly tell a visitor how much experience another member has on these pages. Low ratios of likes to posts probably indicates they don't have much to say (or gm/play a lot of PBP), a higher ratio indicates an overall agreement with that persons general views.

You could post 20 times and only get 1 like, then the 21st gets 15 and your numbers look good. I do enjoy the general consensus that RAW is discussed politely and House Rules are critiqued with honest feedback.

No one cares, don't judge, just take what people say at face value, attack the idea not the person.

4 hours ago, Richardbuxton said:

I dont think people care about their reputation because no one is having competitions to "see who is better". Its simply a number which can roughly tell a visitor how much experience another member has on these pages. Low ratios of likes to posts probably indicates they don't have much to say (or gm/play a lot of PBP), a higher ratio indicates an overall agreement with that persons general views.

You could post 20 times and only get 1 like, then the 21st gets 15 and your numbers look good. I do enjoy the general consensus that RAW is discussed politely and House Rules are critiqued with honest feedback.

No one cares, don't judge, just take what people say at face value, attack the idea not the person.

Yeah, that was pretty much my point. I don't care what the number was tracking, I just couldn't find any way to actually know what it was there for. It was just, a number and it kept bugging me. My head kept saying "WHAT ARE YOU?!?"

55 minutes ago, KungFuFerret said:

Yeah, that was pretty much my point. I don't care what the number was tracking, I just couldn't find any way to actually know what it was there for. It was just, a number and it kept bugging me. My head kept saying "WHAT ARE YOU?!?"

Maybe that's the whole point, like the mystery object in a J.J. Abrams movie/show.

Or it's to give you a purpose.

Well having actually confirmed it is a Like tracker, it's no longer like JJ's mystery box, which is good. Because that can just go die in a fire for it's corniness