Just a summary of some of earlier threads and statements, and a bit of elaboration: Apart from the fact that any kind of ranking divides forum members, as does the whole appearance, and apart from the possible misleading and the inevitable shallowing of threads, as we warned against, it seems that the points in themselves are repeatedly proven bad in numerous subtle, and less subtle, ways. In the days of the fair forums, at least in the Illustrator (Windows) forum, there was often an ongoing healthy and innocent sport of giving the answer first, if possible within the minute of the OP, just for the fun of it, and the 30 minute edit option was sometimes used for joking comments/predictions of following posts. Also, it was custom to step back if others had made a good answer that the OP needed elaboration upon, unless you knew from their normal hours that they would not be back for a long time, especially if the OP had a deadline; now, you can only step in on behalf of others at the peril of being punished with their points, and even worse if they actually want them. And there was time for exchanges of knowledge and inspiration, and for friendly banter. All that may be(come) lost, too. After a considerable effort in this forum, trying to prevent and amend, I have tried to resume my participation in the other forum(s), and to do it in the same way as in the the days of the fair forums. I suppose we are all dealing with the losses, issues, and annoyances, in different ways. The forums have lost at least one contributor expressly because of the points, and others avoid the unpleasantness of seeing them by simplifying the forum look. I have chosen not to make the new look, and the points, invisible, thus seeing what most forum members see, and hoping to see it all go away. Here are a few threads about the pointlessness of points: http://forums.adobe.com/message/1132570#1132570 http://forums.adobe.com/message/1133300#1133300. http://forums.adobe.com/message/1927404#1927404 And a bit about other losses: http://forums.adobe.com/thread/294108 Unfortunately, in itself the point giving seems to cause possibly irreversible damage. Recently, I stumbled upon something about behaviour which may be summarized in the Selfishness vs. altruism section here (the day care experience being a real horror story): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Bowles_(economist) Although the points represent intangible wealth, as does karma status mentioned in one of the links above, it sets members apart, and the effect is undoubtedly the same. So it is something to take really seriously. But to live with it, we shall have to try not to.
... View more