Feedback Please: Point Counts

[Andy]

Of all the things the coming literature update needs to achieve, the fair earning of points is probably the most important. Points would be earned when you critique things, and spent to submit them. This would ensure nobody can submit things without first doing critiques for others.

Please give your input on the following ideas. Suggest any changes you want.


Critiques will earn 1 point for every 100 words. No points for anything less than 100.
The maximum possible points earned per critique would be:

6 for stories/novels/essays/scripts
3 for poetry/lyrics/experimental/other
2 for art/photos

To submit, the points required would be:

9 for stories/novels/essays/scripts
5 for poetry/lyrics/experimental/other
3 for art/photos

[Carraka]

Is it possible to do points per words for submissions as well?

[Andy]

Is it possible to do points per words for submissions as well?
Yes.

However in my opinion it's better if everyone knows how many points they need to submit prior to actually submitting. If the cost is determined by word count, people might get annoyed to find they don't have enough because it was longer than they thought. But if it's always something like 10, then there's no confusion and no surprises.

[Shaun]

Critiques will earn 1 point for every 100 words. No points for anything less than 100.
The maximum possible points earned per critique would be:

6 for stories/novels/essays/scripts
3 for poetry/lyrics/experimental/other
2 for art/photos

To submit, the points required would be:

9 for stories/novels/essays/scripts
5 for poetry/lyrics/experimental/other
3 for art/photos



1. There better be a minimum word limit for critiques. All those one liner "I luv it" stuff should be left to the new comments section. Critiques should be 100 words or more, to be honest. I don't think anything should be put in the critique section that isn't going to earn someone points, because that mens they didn't do the job necessary. Make sure links to guides are right in plain view too.

2. I prefer a 2 to 1 ratio at a minimum, so if you can make sure that's possible, that would be great.

That's all I've got. If those are fulfilled, I'm happy.

[Peppermental]

I'm not sure if this is already in place or not, but I think the crit sheriffs should have the authority to deduct points from critiques on the basis of quality. I think other positions can do this already, but it would make sense for the crit sheriffs to be able to do this as well.

[Andy]

1. There better be a minimum word limit for critiques. All those one liner "I luv it" stuff should be left to the new comments section. Critiques should be 100 words or more, to be honest. I don't think anything should be put in the critique section that isn't going to earn someone points, because that mens they didn't do the job necessary. Make sure links to guides are right in plain view too.
If I do one point per 100 words, than anything less will by definition get no points. I'll probably make an error message pop up so nothing short gets submitted as a critique.

2. I prefer a 2 to 1 ratio at a minimum, so if you can make sure that's possible, that would be great.
I'd prefer that as well, though it might not be easy to adjust for some members.

[Clarissa]

I agree with Peppermental, they should be able to deduct points... That might be difficult to arrange though...

Is there still a limit to the total number of points you can have? At the moment, it's 30 (but you knew that, of course, being the people who run this world) and I was just wondering whether that would change or stay the same?
I'll butt right back out now. Toodleloo.

[Bowie20049]

I'm not sure if this is already in place or not, but I think the crit sheriffs should have the authority to deduct points from critiques on the basis of quality. I think other positions can do this already, but it would make sense for the crit sheriffs to be able to do this as well.

ATM I don't even have the ability to do that :blush:

[jcsk88]

I think I've mentioned this before, but perhaps the "Thanks" icon could somehow be linked to the number of points? Maybe, say, 2 points per "thank you" received or something like that. This may help encourage people to crit and give thanks for useful crits. But I don't know what goes into making this possible, if it can even be done at all.

[Shaun]

By the way, thanks to all of you who have given your feedback on this. Andy and I appreciate it. We want to make sure everything we do for the site will go down well with the members. So...yeah!

[Andy]

I'm not sure if this is already in place or not, but I think the crit sheriffs should have the authority to deduct points from critiques on the basis of quality. I think other positions can do this already, but it would make sense for the crit sheriffs to be able to do this as well.
As it stands, the update will already take a tougher stance on quality. It measures by word count, not letter count, and so attempts to gain another point by adding 100 words will be more difficult and more obvious to spot. Maybe in the future mods will be able to edit points for each critique, but for now I'd rather see if the update alone will be enough of a quality enforcer.

Is there still a limit to the total number of points you can have? At the moment, it's 30 (but you knew that, of course, being the people who run this world) and I was just wondering whether that would change or stay the same?
I'll butt right back out now. Toodleloo.
There's no need to flee. I don't bite. :rolleyes:

To keep people from getting an obscene number of points, some sort of limit will exist. I'm not sure what it will be though, since we're still deciding how many points it will cost to submit. If any, it will probably be higher than what it is now.

I want it to work differently too. Instead of a hard limit, I want members to be able to go past it. Until the end of the month, when everyone with more than the limit will have their points reset to that limit, and the members who had the most will get some sort of award and possibly privileges for the month.

So if the limit is 50...
You can get more than 50.
But at the end of the month, if you still have more, you will be reset to exactly 50.
And if you were among the people with the most points, you'd get some sort of prize.

I think I've mentioned this before, but perhaps the "Thanks" icon could somehow be linked to the number of points? Maybe, say, 2 points per "thank you" received or something like that. This may help encourage people to crit and give thanks for useful crits. But I don't know what goes into making this possible, if it can even be done at all.
Getting points just for thanking people could be abused (give a dozen thanks and then just post something), but I like the idea of encouraging people to give thanks more often. Points just isn't the best way, in my opinion.

By the way, thanks to all of you who have given your feedback on this. Andy and I appreciate it. We want to make sure everything we do for the site will go down well with the members. So...yeah!
+1

[Shaun]

We can try to think of other things to act as incentive for thanking people. Not sure what, but if anyone has ideas for that, bring them our direction :P

[Simmi]

Maybe if you post a certain number of words in a critique you get a free thanks. Like you write 200 words in a critique then you're automatically thanked or something.

[Majyk]

Maybe if you post a certain number of words in a critique you get a free thanks. Like you write 200 words in a critique then you're automatically thanked or something.

Except that 200 words really isn't that much. Well, it actually depends upon what you're critiquing I suppose. 200 words in the novels or short stories sections isn't a terribly big critique. On a short critique, I can still get about 300 words, and for very detailed ones I can get anywhere from 500 words to 1,000 words. Now for poetry, 200 might be a lot. I don't really know since I don't critique poetry.

[Simmi]

Except that 200 words really isn't that much. Well, it actually depends upon what you're critiquing I suppose. 200 words in the novels or short stories sections isn't a terribly big critique. On a short critique, I can still get about 300 words, and for very detailed ones I can get anywhere from 500 words to 1,000 words. Now for poetry, 200 might be a lot. I don't really know since I don't critique poetry.

Jeez, Maj, I was just giving and example!

*runs to a corner and cries*

[Majyk]

Oh. Well, in case anyone wanted to use that number...

Sorry, Simmi. :p

/spam

[jcsk88]

Getting points just for thanking people could be abused (give a dozen thanks and then just post something), but I like the idea of encouraging people to give thanks more often. Points just isn't the best way, in my opinion.

Perhaps I did not word myself carefully enough. I was thinking of, say, Person A crits Person B's story. Person B finds the crit immensely useful and so clicks on the little green tick. Person A will thus be awarded 1 "Times thanked" and 2 points.

At the moment, the little green tick can be found in every section, and this might leave such a thanks-related points system open to abuse. So, if such a points system ever comes into play, it might be better to keep the little green tick strictly to the writing section.

Another possible way to abuse such a points system is members mutually thanking each other (Person A and B take turns to post useless stuff, then start thanking each other just to gain points). A possible solution to this possible problem of abuse of a possible thanks-related points system is to restrict the thanking to once per person per thread (This might already in place. I haven't tried thanking someone more than once in a single thread).

Yeah. Just some clarification and further suggestions...

[Jaraix]

Linking thanks with points sounds good, as it gives an incentive for more insightful critiques, which is hard to tell from word count alone. Perhaps a submission could give the original poster the discretion to nominate the critique he or she found most helpful, and if it is warranted, a crit sheriff or mod could award points. It's a bit more tedious and crude, technologically speaking, but it'd allow some element of human judgment into the picture.

Also, wouldn't the common practice of copying the submission and adding notes in between add much to the post count, especially for novels?