"topics started" stats

[Flash Falcon X]

Just an idea, under our avatars it shows how many posts and and1s we have.

We should also show many threads a poster started.

I think it allows users to know who's active with sparking conversations on the boards.

Also, having our # of topics tracked might also subconsciously make posters want to start even more topics because they want to see that number go up. It'll help create a more active forum.


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[Howard Mass]

Flash,

We will consider this when we do more forum upgrades sometime next year.

Thank you for the suggestion.

[FluLikeSymptoms]

I think I would die if this happened to the Raps board. I spend the bulk of my time merging/deleting/locking unnecessary threads.

[tsherkin]

Agreed. I don't think we need to give any further incentive to start stupid, useless threads when posters are already too lazy to go back a page or two to see if something was started earlier that day.

[Flash Falcon X]

Good points. People could just "stat pad" to get their topic numbers up which would be worse than post padding.

Maybe you can do an 'And1' type of system for topics, though.

Like if someone makes a thread, people can click a button which would be like an And1.

If you get a minimum of 5 and1s you get awarded a stat called a 'bronze thread'. 10 And1s would be a Silver thread and 15 and1s would be a gold thread.

Maybe if it's done that way people wouldn't bother making pointless topics to get their stats up because they know they won't get any And1s on the thread which means it would count. Instead, it would encourage them to want to post quality threads.

This might add a little more work for mods, but only because people are being more active with trying to start quality threads (rather than pointless threads) which in general makes the boards more active and lively.

For example the stats under a user's avatar could be like:

Bob2013
Posts: 1,234
Member since: January 1, 2013

Bronze Topics: 5
Silver Topics: 2
Gold Topics: 1

If you post a topic and get 5 And1's, you'll get a notification that says, "Congratulations! Your topic, "______" has been certified Bronze!"

Kinda like a reward system like a video game which gives RealGM's users a happy vibe while being a member.

It makes users want to be more active with starting conversations and at the same time it lowers the chances of "stat padding" because they'll know that they won't get rewarded just for starting a thread.

Also, there may be incidents when people might post a quality topic when it's been posted before, but I think for every thread like that that that happens RealGM would probably have 10-15 more threads that are actually good quality.

Again this is just an idea. I'm not saying we should have this, just tryna throw some ideas out there.

EDIT:

Or instead of Bronze, Silver and Gold, you can use Gold, Platinum and Diamond.

People may associate the word "bronze" with something bad since it's usually used to represent 3rd place. Instead we'd want users to feel good and content with just 5 And 1's; so to have 5 and1's be Gold would add a positive reaction for the user.

The only downside is that platinum and diamond strays away from the sports theme whereas bronze, silver and gold are more synonymous with sports awards.

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[tsherkin]

I think And1s alone kind of do that already and active threads stick around anyway. Some forums do a "Thread Hall of Fame" already, making this not really all that relevant. Maybe just work in your specific forum community to get certain threads recognized in a sticky post? That could make memorialize those threads right now, instead of waiting for a somewhat-redundant feature to be coded in.

[eliasrapp98]

I love the bronze, silver, gold idea personally. And to not do it because of worry of abuse is like when people didn't want the and-1s because people would team up and and-1 each other to get their stats up. I haven't seen THAT yet, so I don't see why not to do it.

[Howard Mass]

Again, we will see what happens when we get to the board upgrades.

We do appreciate the feedback and are excited about making this place even better for our users.