Where did the User Ranks go?

[Oniontchi]

Hello TamaTalkers!As many of you have noticed, the user rank system has been changed a bit... And by change I mean more like removed. The Guides and I have been discussing a change to the user rank system based on this poll. Our discussions ended up leading us into the issue of spam posting and the quest of many to increase their post counts/user rank for the sole purpose of seeing it change. This is usually done by posts consisting of single words, smilies or "ooh look I'm almost a TamaMax" type posts and topics. This leaves the TamaTalk Guide team with the job of cleaning house to get rid of these posts. As the site has grown so has the task of cleaning up. It gets difficult to read through and filter 1000 posts each day. So the thought of getting rid of the user rank system came up. The idea is that, in reality, user ranks really don't serve much of a purpose. Just because you become a TamaMax or TamaElder does not mean you have contributed hundreds and hundreds of useful posts. In much the same way, just because you have 200 posts doesn't mean you haven't contributed/participated as much as somebody with 5 times as many posts. The quality of the posts is not reflected in the post count and user rank. I have yet to find a system that easily tracks the quality versus the quantity.

So now what? We'd like to test out TamaTalk without user ranks for a while. If the "goal" of reaching a new rank is no longer available, will people still spam the forums as much? Let's go without it for a little while... See what happens.

We hope you understand that this was not a simple decision to make... It took a lot of discussion. I really believe it is worth trying out. After a short period without user ranks, we can create a poll to see how people feel about user ranks. Let's give ourselves a chance to get used to it and see if it is still missed after a few weeks without them.

I look forward to hearing your comments on this... Please feel free to reply to this topic and add your thoughts. As always, we are always open to suggestion and love to hear your thoughts.

Oh, good idea Admin. Testing the members on what will be better is fine! Do all you want. We won't miss the user rank.

 

[jappyx]

I would just like to say how rediculas it is that people are thinking of leaving because of the ranks being removed. Sorry, but that's just stupid.

I think it's a good idea. Let's just see what the poll brings.

 

[*tamafan!*]

im a little dissapointed..... i was proud when i became a tamamax a few days ago.

 

[tammy mad]

I think we should keep the user ranks!

 

[DarkCore]

I think we should keep the user ranks!

Me too, but we will have to wait until we have the poll in October...

 

[ryta.k2]

i think this is a sensible idea, and u still c ur posts but it dosent show the squares or tamamax...............

and i don't mind

 

[Heraspax The Living Dead]

Stop That!admin and the guides are just trying somthing out. im sorry you were hacked, but this is a Serious tryout. Don't blame admin for going to change it for 3 weeks or more. remember, they will change it if people don't like it.

P.S Great idea admin! still the spammers will spam, but not all of them!

*edited by me*

ive done nothing bad

i was saying i liked the idea that all

and y i liked it

 

[tamapenguin2]

I know, and I changed it a bit so that people wouldn't post thing like "Hey don't be mean to tamapenguin2." I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. I just wanted to point out the fact that people are being rather mean to newbies these days...

oooOOOooo.... I thought you meant... Ok. I see.

 

[hazza legend3]

i dont like the idea.

nosiree!

 

[Mimitchiz]

I think that was a good idea admin.

I think going without them for a while to see, I hope it works!

 

[DarkCore]

I totally agree with you, Dragon.
And I have a feeling I know what you're talking about... It's just I didn't really say "You're a Newbie, I'm a Tamamax. Don't talk to me"

..... I didn't mean it like that.

Actually,

 

You said, "Why am I talking to you? You're a newbie I'm a TamaMax..." Alot of people say stuff like that and look where it got us... :furawatchi:

 

 

-Darkcore

 

[jappyx]

Actually,  

You said, "Why am I talking to you? You're a newbie I'm a TamaMax..." Alot of people say stuff like that and look where it got us...

 

 

-Darkcore

Don't start blamming other people for the change. It is no-one in particular.

 

[mimitchi11]

so.......are we leaving the posts?? i'm sure no-one's going to delete them all because that would take days to delete 13.000 memebers posts!!!
if we leave it without ranks i'm sure it'll go well!

it would probably take years to delete 14000 members posts!

 

[jamester.call.me.jamester]

It sounds ok, sometimes it is anoying when my friends at school (that are also members) brag about how great they are just because they have a higher post count, but if you get rid of the post count, if you put it back, will we still have the amount of posts we allready did?

 

[Tech Admin]

It sounds ok, sometimes it is anoying when my friends at school (that are also members) brag about how great they are just because they have a higher post count, but if you get rid of the post count, if you put it back, will we still have the amount of posts we allready did?

Yes! Post counts will remain! We have no interest in removing all posts by people... Where would that leave us?! What we are interested in doing is reducing the amount of posts which get in the way of finding useful information or good conversation. We have a lot of members... It can be difficult to try and not have too much fluff/bad posts between useful ones.

 

[sprogs]

i was working hard to become a tama max

 

[DarkCore]

Don't start blamming other people for the change. It is no-one in particular.

Don't get me wrong I am not blaming a single person. It's people in general...

 

[Tech Admin]

i was working hard to become a tama max

Well actually... This is kind of what we are hoping to stop... Posting JUST to change ranks... It's much better for everyone if the emphasis is more on lots of productive/useful/helpful posts instead of lots of people trying to increase their rank up to the next level...

Three weeks... We'll see what happens. I'm trying to keep an open mind so that I do not lean one way or the other on what would be best... I'd rather just wait and see what works.

 

[Fyrefox]

I don't care too much about my rank (although it is nice to reach a new stage). Someone can make lots of random or useless posts and then go "Yay I'm a Tamaelder now! I'm better than all you Tamamaxes!"

I like the idea. After all, it's probably only for 3 weeks now, isn't it, anyway? No biggie. And it might help the spam issues, we'll just have to wait and see.

-BlooRegards,

Fyrefox

 

[tamadogg]

Even though it is a bit nice to reach the next rank, I still think this is a good idea, at least to try. I don't know how much less spam there will be, but the amount of spam will definitely decrease, which will make it easier to find useful information, for long-time members and newbies alike. I would not be too disappointed to see the ranks be gone for good.