What are forum points all about?

[Steve from Mogrify Studio]

I notice that when I post, at the top near the title there is something that mentions 5 or 10- points for helpful questions answered....does anyone know any more about this?

[Guest]

The points are sorta ment as a feel good reward for helping people out for free. You rate responders by their answers and reward how you want.

However, for the most part there are dozens of correct answers because nobody does the exact same work flow and everybody has their way of doing things. To "me", while others may differ, the points are worthless. Can't use them to buy a coffee or a night out on the town. Maybe the points might be worth something on e-bay.... hmmmm....

[pwillener]

While this topic is here again, I would like to ask a question myself.

Are these forum points in any way related to the number of "salami slices" (some call them "meat balls") ?

How do we get more salami; some people have plenty ?

[Guest]

Barter? lol

Who knows as them 4 meatball Gurus have points way higher then most yet have 4 meatballs. There should be a list of objectives posted so people know what has to be acheived in order to progress to the next level of meatball status. I wonder what it takes to become a 5 salami (meatball) holder?

[pwillener]

Ah, achieving is my ultimate goal

[Jochem van Dieten]

Yes, they are related. Not sure what the exact numbers are to get another slice. There is some info available, but I am unclear whether the limits there apply to the forums equaly as to the other parts of the site.

[pwillener]

There are five participation levels:

Level 1. User: 0 to 600 points
Level 2. Participant: 601 to 1,800 points
Level 3. Contributor: 1,801 to 5,400 points
Level 4. Star: 5,401 to 16,200 points
Level 5. All-Star: 16,201 points or more

Long way to go...

[Guest]

A whole long way to go so ya better get cracking!!

[the_wine_snob]

A whole long way to go so ya better get cracking!!

Or bartering like mad?

Hunt

[Jesseham]

I don't think that's right.  I got my second slab of jive at 505 points.

[Jesseham]

Also, I remember reading somewhere (maybe in a post I had written) that when you get 5 meatballs, you get one bug of your choosing fixed.

[Guest]

My kids bug me for money all the time. I wonder if that qualifies?

[Guest]

dec9 wrote:

My kids bug me for money all the time.

Tell them they can have your forum points.

[Guest]

They are too smart for that trick.

Buko. wrote:

dec9 wrote:

My kids bug me for money all the time.

Tell them they can have your forum points.

[the_wine_snob]

Tell them they can have your forum points.

Maybe set up a trust and list it in your will?

Hunt

[the_wine_snob]

Level 1. User: 0 to 600 points
Level 2. Participant: 601 to 1,800 points
Level 3. Contributor: 1,801 to 5,400 points
Level 4. Star: 5,401 to 16,200 points
Level 5. All-Star: 16,201 points or more

I'll bet that at 16,199, they make you a "Community Expert" and then you are out of the running for the lobster dinner in the Adobe Cafeteria - but you DO get to use the vending machine out in the hall.

Hunt

[Guest]

Thank you for the link.

[the_wine_snob]

Are these forum points in any way related to the number of "salami slices"

This has puzzled me, though I have yet to loose sleep over it.

On some fora I have but one "salami" (good descriptor), but on others I have 3 - 4. I assume that those come from the active participation in the said fora, but that is only a guess. On some of those, I have 4 appearing beneath my avatar, but only 3 in the "most prolific poster" chart to the right?

Maybe it's not the lobster in the cafeteria that we're all vying for, but pizza... Salami pizza.

Hunt

[Jacob Bugge]

The pointlessness of points has been up many times before, including thone, now locked:

http://forums.adobe.com/thread/435134?start=0&tstart=0

I would have included links to a number of other threads, but the Search seems unavailable now.

Jesse, maybe the 80 points stolen from you are somehow included as ghost points, at an increased rate, something like time and a half, or with a 25% bad conscience addition.

Jochem, thank you for the link in post #5. It is quite informative, and it underlines the silliness of the point structure, with the significant undervaluation of forum contributions, as compared to the other sources: even the most elaborate forum answers are rated like trivialities elsewhere, such as simple typographical error corrections. It also explains why some hosts/posters arrived here with huge amounts of points when the forum pointsgiving started.

There are also some other things to note, some of them mentioned in earlier threads. Points are given rather randomly, often especially for very simple answers about wellknown issues, often not for deep answers and careful instructions; the latter often happens when the OP, sometimes out of the inevitable ignorance of a new user, has marked an earlier post hastily/wrongly.

As mentioned earlier in this thread and elsewhere, apart from their detrimental effects on what was a community of equals, the  titles are silly. Some of the most knowledgeable contributors I know, who have never asked a question but answered many very difficult ones in great detail, are termed users.

After initially concentrating my efforts on this forum, trying to suggest and point out, I decided to partake at a lower level here, and to resume my contributions in other forums exactly as in the days of the fair forums, disregarding and keeping stumm about forum issues such as points there, and to keep hoping for the return of the fair forums.

[Larashots]

The point of points? It's to encourage users to do the job of Adobe's lousy customer support.

[Claudio González]

Larashots wrote:

The point of points? It's to encourage users to do the job of Adobe's lousy customer support.

Well, a curious sort of encouragement, it would seem.  To the best of my knowledge, not a single one of the many great contributors we have lost had a very high opinion of the points system. Just the opposite, I would say.

[the_wine_snob]

... not a single one of the many great contributors we have lost had a very high opinion of the points system. Just the opposite, I would say.

This could be, but I'd think that it would depend so very much on the forum. In Premiere, we lost some great contributors, but it was more because of the new forum layout, the software, and then some personal family issues. One of our best, most respected contributors is still there, and jokes openly about the "points." Though not in his league, it's about helping folk and learning something along the way. I find the points a curiosity and little more. Give me servers that stay up, the ability to stay logged-in for more than 15 mins. and a few problems to solve, and I am a happy camper.

Hunt

BTW Do I get the big points?

[Claudio González]

Hunt, I didn't say they left because of the points system; they didn't. Only that they didn't have a good opinion on the utility of awarding points. Regardeless of the rationality -or lack of it, it would seem-  with which they are awarded.

[Guest]

I think Hunt had a case of Compulsive Posting Disorder last night. 

[the_wine_snob]

Could be the dreaded CPD? I don't spend much time here, as I seldom have enough of that for my regular fora. Things were slow on each of those last night, and I found some interesting threads, so I commented.

In general, my lack of participation here is due to my "duties" elsewhere, and I don't often come here, as general site talk isn't that big of an interest to me. As I was having a few problems with the site, over the last few days, this seemed like a good place to do some reading to see if it was just me, or if others were haveing the same, or similar issues. They were, and I got my info. Still, some threads were interesting, so I stuck around. I hope that this did not offend you, or some of the regulars here.

Hunt