Post Counts

[DoctorP]

As I am inching up to my 1,000th post plateau. I noticed something quite interesting today. I remember when Maciamo mentioned a while back that some changes were made to the forum. This was when there was a big stink going on about reputation and what not. Anyway, he stated something to the fact that the system had been modified and now posts in the Chit Chat and Misc. section do not count towards post counts.

I was fine with that when it was first announced, but lately I have been wondering. Why would that section be less important than say the JPOP section or the Introductions section?

I never post in the Introduction section (I did today, but only to see if that post would count) but I quite often post in the Chit Chat section (probably an additional 500 posts that are not currently counted).

Does this seem right to everyone?

[RockLee]

I'd be at my 3500+ posts if chit/chat counted!

[Dutch Baka]

Lol I would be at my 5000 if that would count hahahaha

[Tsuyoiko]

I agree CC1. If it was my choice, everything would count. It's possible to have a worthwhile discussion in any of the forums - especially chit chat.

[Glenn]

The reason the Chit-Chat posts stopped counting was because of the huge amounts of "lol" type messages. It seems that the JPop forum isn't all that different from that now, and the Members' Introductions is certainly an offender, with the people just going in and responding to any thread with a "welcome!" I've seen some people welcome the same person twice in the same thread because they just don't pay attention. Then there are the people who welcome people who've been around sometimes as much as a year longer than them. There was even the one person who welcomed someone from a year before, a thread that was on page 36 or so. Some people just use the Members' Introductions forum as a post count booster, it seems.

[kirei_na_me]

Yeah, as I recall, the Chit Chat stopped counting when there were several RPG threads, which were miles long. It was getting to be more than a little ridiculous, so there went the Chit Chat posts.

I think the J-Pop/Rock section is the culprit now, though. That, and the Intro section. There are some people who have an average of well over ten posts per day. People who have made a thousand or more posts than me, but have been here six months/a year to my three years.

I'm going to stop now before I go off on a tangent... :okashii:

[DoctorP]

Please don't take my aim here wrong. I am not trying to get the Chit Chat posts to count...just the opposite I would like the Intro and some other tedious threads to not count.

As was stated before, there are people who have more posts than me, if for no other reason than they go through the intro thread and say hi to everyone who comes in...yet they never make a valid contribution to any credible threads.

[Glenn]

Yeah, the people with 5000 posts after half a year make you wonder, eh?

[Dutch Baka]

One other funny thing that I found out a couple of weeks ago, is that there are over 12.000 members who have 0, I repeat 0 posts!!! there are only around 300 members who have over 100 posts.... suddenly the forum looks pretty small with this right :p

[Mars Man]

:jama: HI !! Well, for what if might be worth, I just kind of thought that I'd say something here--just to share my thoughts and provide a little information.

I am not one to give much concern to either rep or post count. I do realize that post count can, in some virtual (yet nonetheless non-existent) reality ,give leverage to the opinion of a high-count holding poster--the rank thing. I do like to give rep for those well thought out and/or good or timely comments and points--giving is better than recieving is my focus. (though I wouldn't say I'm not happy to get rep.)

I was not aware of the Chit-Chat area not counting for posts. (I never really paid that much attention to the count except when I hit 1000, over which I felt no need to especially celebrate.) But now that the matter has been brought up, along with the data on the 'Introductions' area and such, I'd like to say the following:

Firstly, I think it is a kindness to welcome most newcomers to the forum. For that, yes, I'd say that a post count would be fair. However, the quality of the post should perhaps be taken into consideration. Say, the number of characters in the post determining whether a post gets counted or not. (of course, this may not be mechanically feasible.)

I make every effort to say more than just 'welcome' there (not perfect though) and I feel that that should be encouraged. As for the other areas, say Jpop and whatever, I don't know.

Thanks for the listening ears. :-)

[nice gaijin]

While I agree that worthwhile conversations can take place at in point in the forums, there are certain areas where those conversations without much merit are more likely to be held, and for that reason it's necessary to restrict what actually counts towards one's post count.

Rather than stick to any particular forum, I browse threads via the "new posts" button, which I find to be quite efficient for going through a site with many subfora, not all of which are as active as one another. I've blocked all the fora that I find to be not worth my time (which, to date, numbers one). I look at the thread itself, rather than what forum it is in (with an obvious exception), and respond to it based on whether I feel I can contribute something to the conversation, with no regard to my post count.

I think that counting posts from the introduction forum is alright; not only for the sake of those new users, but for people like Mars Man, who I've noticed more than anyone else putting effort into making those newcomers feel welcome. I think that such efforts deserve the merit they already receive, if not more.

I'm not sure if post counts are entirely necessary, but at a glance they do separate the established members from the newbies. Some people get more excited about their post count and feel a need to celebrate when they hit some arbritrary number. I find this mildly amusing, especially when the user has only been around a short while; their contribution takes a back seat to their obnoxious attempts to say everything (or nothing) all at once. Here at Jref, I've striven to make what I say worthwhile (and at time a bit jocular), and many times, this means not hitting that reply button.

[yukio_michael]

I say we make the JPop section not count against post count as well. That, would seriously be a decent indicator of someone's contribution to this forum...
Common JPop forum user: 16 years old, hundreds of posts, zero reputation.

I think the J-Pop/Rock section is the culprit now, though. That, and the Intro section. There are some people who have an average of well over ten posts per day. People who have made a thousand or more posts than me, but have been here six months/a year to my three years.

The reason the Chit-Chat posts stopped counting was because of the huge amounts of "lol" type messages. It seems that the JPop forum isn't all that different from that now[...]

[heliobacter]

+1
seriously, if you want to avoid spam, just remove the post counter. anyway, talking with people whose conception of recognition is a number under his or her nickname isn't worth anything - you can't expect any valuable output:okashii:

[Nana007]

I say we make the JPop section not count against post count as well. That, would seriously be a decent indicator of someone's contribution to this forum...
Common JPop forum user: 16 years old, hundreds of posts, zero reputation.
What is it that you have against the JPop section. If you don't like it and find it a waste just ignore it. Its not that hard to do.
Yes you do have a lot of pointless posts and threads there. But you make it seem as if every single post and thread is nothing but a bunch of spam. Some of those threads do have actual conversation besides X member of X band is so hot, cute, sexy whatever. And as I said before those threads don't really interest me because after the first 5/10 pages or so they get boring and monotanous.
I think that the problem is that in the past year or so there has been an Increase in JRock fans and the JPop fans are outnumbered and feel as if they can no longer post in that forum. That is why we are currently trying to see if we can have that thread Split which it seems most people want.
And you do have fans who seem to post all the times and in a short period of time have a ton of posts. But that really shouldn't be a threat to some of you older members who feel as if post count matters. Since many of those posters don't post outside anywhere else besides the JPop thread.

Also a good number of the people in the JPop subforum (myself included) are internet junkies and so may get a lost of posts in a short period of time, because they are on the forum alot are you to punish them for their bad habits?

[Dutch Baka]

I say we make the JPop section not count against post count as well. That, would seriously be a decent indicator of someone's contribution to this forum...
Common JPop forum user: 16 years old, hundreds of posts, zero reputation.

Let them first do something else with the Jpop section PLEASE!!!! and after that take care of the postcount.

when this is taken care off, I think the postcount don't need to be removed from that section anymore:-)

[yukio_michael]

What is it that you have against the JPop section. If you don't like it and find it a waste just ignore it. Its not that hard to do.I don't think that post count alone is a huge indication of someone's worth, but on this forum, it's a good indication that someone is experienced with the forums, the regulars, and the topics therin that have been covered and written about...

The combination of reputation and post count give you an indication of how much time and effort people have put into the forum, and who appreciates that effort. Its not an exacting science, but it gives you some indication.

What I have against the <strike>JPop</strike> JRock forum is that it is now essentially useless to everyone else since not only are there a dearth of Jpop threads (something odd for a forum entitled "Jpop"), but that there is a sheer abundance of what could be termed "rabid fangirl" (to quote a thread created in JPop), threads, "Cutest Jrocker!!!!1", such that noone reads the forum anymore.

It really doesn't matter if you create a non-Jrock thread in that message board, everyone has soured on it now & are mostly ignoring it, I have it on block for New Threads personally, so, any new threads won't be read as nobody will even know that they exist.

And please, don't tell me to ingnore a forum simply because I criticise if it's content is relevant to it's name. I do in fact like Jpop, I listen to it, & I'm not saying it's better or worse than Jrock, which I don't care for, I'm just saying that that the Jpop forum is no longer a Jpop forum... so, please don't tell me to go elsewhere because I happen to point that out.*

*ed: Edited w/ MS Notepad. :(

[yukio_michael]

+1
seriously, if you want to avoid spam, just remove the post counter. anyway, talking with people whose conception of recognition is a number under his or her nickname isn't worth anything - you can't expect any valuable output:okashii: I would say that there only a core group of people who are interested in post count, those people who may have been on the board longer (I myself am but a child on this board), and they are solely interested in increasing the quality of threads or maintaining that quality--- not in any fake or false pride in the number of posts they have.

[Dutch Baka]

you know what it is with post count, in the beginning you want to get a lot, you see that you got 100, so you want to get 200, etc. but later on it doesn't matter anymore, and you start to think about more quality posting! I don't know anyone in here, with over 500-1000 posts, that have a competition of getting the most posts!

It is great to get 1000, 1500, 3000 because there great numbers, but the meaning well no big deal for the regulars! only the rookies want to be with the big boys in my opinion!!

[Nana007]

And please, don't tell me to ingnore a forum simply because I criticise if it's content is relevant to it's name. I do in fact like Jpop, I listen to it, & I'm not saying it's better or worse than Jrock, which I don't care for, I'm just saying that that the Jpop forum is no longer a Jpop forum... so, please don't tell me to go elsewhere because I happen to point that out.*
*ed: Edited w/ MS Notepad. :(

I said absolutely nothing about going somewhere else. All I said was if you don't like it to put it on ignore, which you say you have already done, and others as well. Nore did I say that you arent a JPop fan/JRock.

[Dutch Baka]

It's so easy to put Jpop on ignore, but I am sure that there are so many people who like Jpop, and other kind of Japanese music. and on this forum there is just NO attention to it!! that's the problem with this forum please for the people who have not read the Jpop Split thread , read it!

http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22576

[DoctorP]

someone please lock/delete this thread before it gets ugly. It was merely an observation!

*Let me add this one thing. If I were merely obsessed with reaching a certain post count, I would have obviously posted 20-30 meaningless welcomes in the introduction threads! That, in a way, is what I was trying to bring attention to. Many days you log in and find 35-40 straight welcomes which are not at all well thought out posts and don't really sound sincere at all!

I for one subscribe to the idea that if I can't add something positive to the conversation, sit back and listen and learn. Of course there are times when I, like everyone here, feels the need to lower myself and get into a mudslinging contest over an idea I disagree with.

As I stated before I was merely pointing out the way the post counts run amok at times...

perform a quick scan of the Introduction forums and see how many times you find this reply: "Welcome to the forum"

[Dutch Baka]

I find it nice that people welcome each other, but most of them will only post 1-5 posts on this forum. that's why I only say Hello the the people who show there reall interrest in Japan, and something extra that I have in comment with... and sometimes when she is cute :p

[sl0thmachin3]

Here's a few quick questions.

Why are post counts improtant?

Is there a prize for the most number of posts other than bragging rights?

I'm just curious.

[nice gaijin]

They aren't really important to most, though it does in a way speak to one's "contribution" to the forum, if only in a quantitative sense.

...bragging rights are there for the taking, I suppose. But rather than point to the number under my name, I'd encourage someone to look at the actual posts that I've made to determine the kind of contribution I put in around here. I just find it funny that a thoughtful discussion on the philosophy of religion, or the foreigner's experience in Japan "counts" the same as an airheaded debate over the roundness of Miyavi's nipples, or what hair color he looked best in. I'm not saying that such discussions should be stopped, but that their merit is questionable.

Just to put things in perspective: amongst all the subforum in JREF (excluding jpop and the china and europe fora) there is an average of 1170 threads per forum, with an average of under 16,000 posts apiece. Not counting chit chat those numbers are 993 and 11,400. Jpop boasts 3,470 threads and 101,412 posts (and has actually increased since I started writing this message).

[Tsuyoiko]

Why are post counts improtant?

Is there a prize for the most number of posts other than bragging rights?
As far as I know, the only thing post counts matter for is they contribute to how much 'clought' you have when giving reputation. For example, Maciamo has the most clought. If you get rep from Maciamo, it will count for a lot more points than if anyone else gives you rep. That's because a) he has the highest rep himself, b) he has been a member for a long time and c) he has a very high post count. If a new member with few posts and no rep gives you rep, it won't count towards your points. So on its own, post count doesn't matter much, but in conjunction with the other two things, it can increase your rep clought.

[nurizeko]

Take the J-rockers sig's aswell as post-count, mwahahahaha!.

I think post count should be taken from intro and J-rocker central, put back in chit-chat.

Or better yet, have post-count hidden, this has been on another forum i frequent to good effect, but then that forum is a highly admined one, theres ussually always a moderator on and yeah, that forum is definately a little less casual then this one.

[Dutch Baka]

I think that Only mods can have post counts, and the Rep point system should be deleted. so that everyone is equal, except the managment

MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA :evil:

what's the big fuzz about post count anyway

[yukio_michael]

I don't mind invisible post counts, then it would perhaps prevent someone telling me my opinion is invalid because I only have 500. It would still be nice to see how many I have myself though, if only to anticipate when the little graphic under your name changes.

[sl0thmachin3]

I don't mind invisible post counts, then it would perhaps prevent someone telling me my opinion is invalid because I only have 500.
Maybe it would be better to have post counts invisible to other posters. Or, make it visible only when somebody views a persons profile. I think it is lame when situations like what yukio_michael describes happen. Discussions that devolve into who has the higher post count wins could be avoided that way.

Reputation on the other hand, is a great way to gauge a poster's "integrity" (can't think of a better word here). I mean, rep is given by other members of the forum. That should count for much since it means a poster with a high rep makes valid contributions to discussions and to the forum in general and the forum members acknowledge this.

Post quality >> post count!

[DoctorP]

I thought that when the OP requested a thread locked, it usually was done.

[kirei_na_me]

I thought that when the OP requested a thread locked, it usually was done.

Ok, it's done.