in reply to /msg me the reason of --

Jenda,
We all know that the XP system shouldn't be taken seriously, but that doesn't prevent people from talking about it or spending endless hours devising ways to make it better. To say that XP is meaningless is a bit of a fib since gaining XP allows monks to have an impact on the site. They can approve nodes, consider nodes, and post that uber cool picture of themself.

I have heard the argument from monks that they want to know which nodes they got the downvotes for as much as they want to know why they got the downvote. This is so they can make themselves a better monk. The problem with this is that we do not live in an ideal world. The reality is monks do not universally vote on nodes soley based on content.

A counter suggestion would be just to /msg a monk with "node #### was downvoted at GMT" each time someone downvotes them. I think this is an insane idea. You would have to offer an "opt-out/in" policy since a lot of active monks do not care and would prefer to keep their inbox free of spam.

So for me it boils down to "value added" weighed against effort. My opinion, and I well could be wrong, is that only a small number of monks would want or use this functionality, while a far number would want the ability to not be bothered.

As a side note, if there was a way to get an "on-demand" report of a nodes reputation (not just delta) through time that didn't require a great deal of developer effort or strain on the server - I would be all for that.

Cheers - L~R

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Re: Re: /msg me the reason of --
by Jenda (Abbot) on Dec 01, 2003 at 14:56 UTC

    The automated "node ### was downvoted as GMT" would definitely be an insane idea. Getting a message for each downvote would be too much. What I propose is to give the readers an easier way to explain the vote should they feel like it. How often they will I have no idea. But I would not expect this to be used all that often.

    Besides ... a flood of "--: Homework!" would get the point across very quickly ;-)

    Jenda
    Always code as if the guy who ends up maintaining your code will be a violent psychopath who knows where you live.
       -- Rick Osborne

    Edit by castaway: Closed small tag in signature

[reply]
      Jenda,
      I check upcoming birthdays everyday and send a Happy Bday /msg to the monks provided they have logged in within the last few months. I have never received a "please do not do this" reply. Mostly, I hear nothing at all, a few thank you notes, and one or two "I forgot all about that". The last, in at least one case, was followed by removing the birthday tags from their homenode.

      Personally, I like the fact now that it takes effort to /msg someone to mention a upvote or a downvote. I have received a few personal thank you notes. I have also received a few "I believe you meant x on node ###". I was greatful for those - the effort made them that much nicer. On the other hand, if I were more prolific and there was an automated way to do this, I am betting I might begin to consider these notes spam. Furthermore, I would the ability to automatically delete them or not receive them at all. Then there is the "did you get my /msg about xyz?".

      Again, I might be wrong, but I believe the value added doesn't outweigh the effort.

      Cheers - L~R

[reply]

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