Forums → News and Feedback → [Suggestion] Thanking posts

People would get their friends to thank them for no reason and they'd receive plenty of merits they didn't deserve.

At the end day the people who give merits are admins or mods. From looking through comments they can decide if it deserve a merit or not. From their perspectives they decide not normal users.

At the end day the people who give merits are admins or mods. From looking through comments they can decide if it deserve a merit or not.

One could argue that, if moderators started awarding merits for forum posts, the "thanks" option would just be the middle man, and it wouldn't even be needed for that particular process.

Not to say that the idea of thanking posts a is bad idea on its own, but there's no reason for a reward system to accompany it.

One could argue that, if moderators started awarding merits for forum posts, the "thanks" option would just be the middle man, and it wouldn't even be needed for that particular process.

If a very good guide is done, is it not deserving of a merit? If a comment is helpful it may be rewarded but it is likely a forum guide will help more people, than just a comment. I am not sure how often or if they are still out for the contents of the comment. I have seen some a few months ago but merits were mostly for game reviews and feedback. That has changed since the old days.

Not to say that the idea of thanking posts a is bad idea on its own, but there's no reason for a reward system to accompany it.

The op stated it was not to have any reward system, this was just purely for recognition from one user to the next. Sometimes there is a need to thank people.

Whats wrong with just sayin thanks.. xp

Because "thanks" by itself is spam. Besides, this is essentially positive reputation, which is a good idea as long as there's some form of abuse prevention. A similar thread suggests some sort of limit to positive rep, and I also think a reward system could lead to abuse.

[quote]People would get their friends to thank them for no reason and they'd receive plenty of merits they didn't deserve.

At the end day the people who give merits are admins or mods. From looking through comments they can decide if it deserve a merit or not. From their perspectives they decide not normal users.[/quote]

Forum merits would be a good idea as long as they're not influenced by a "thanking" or "reputation" system other than to flag as a possible merit. That is, only a mod or admin could merit a forum post, but positive rep is not a factor, though more rep would "flag" the post, giving the mods better access to the post for merit purposes.

Because "thanks" by itself is spam.

Thats true, but you could say 'thank you very much this helped a lot' and it would be less spam.. but i see what youre saying

If a very good guide is done, is it not deserving of a merit? If a comment is helpful it may be rewarded but it is likely a forum guide will help more people, than just a comment. I am not sure how often or if they are still out for the contents of the comment. I have seen some a few months ago but merits were mostly for game reviews and feedback. That has changed since the old days.

Whether merits should be awarded for forum posts was never in question. I was stating that if merits were to be awarded for outstanding posts, the "thanks" system would not be necessary for that particular process and therefore would remain separate, providing that both of these features were to be implemented (one isn't really a feature more than just a change in site customs, but you get the idea).

The op stated it was not to have any reward system,

Indeed, and that is wise. It was brought up later to add a reward system to this feature, so I thought I'd throw in my two pesos, and it seems people have been doing the same since the idea of the reward system is brought up.

But no matter. If there are no further arguments in favor of the reward system being attached to the "thanks" feature, there is no need for further discussion as to why and how it could be abused. Clearly we've covered that.

Forum merits would be a good idea as long as they're not influenced by a "thanking" or "reputation" system other than to flag as a possible merit.

If the team wanted to start awarding merits for forum posts, technically they could already do so without adding an entirely new feature. They would just have to do it the old fashion way, as in they'd have to contact the user who made the post, wait for their reply, and then merit their comment. It would be tedious, but it would make forum merits all the more precious.

but you could say 'thank you very much this helped a lot'

People are going to do this no matter what. With or without a "thanks" feature, there are always going to be those who post for the sake of posting. Often times they don't even read the post that supposedly helped them. No feature is going to stop that type of hooligan from committing that kind of tomfoolery.

The "thanks" feature would be aimed more at the users who actually read said posts and are actually looking for and could benefit from the kind of help that said posts can provide.