It's Not A Competition, I've Almost Had It Options

[T-Hybrid]

Recently I've been receiving countless PMs from members telling me about how many posts they've made...and how far they've come as far as post counts.

Recently I recieved this message...which I will cut the names out of to protect them...

Quote

hi, ***** and ***** compeating, but at this rate we can easily get 2000 post in 2 months

Honestly..I'm really upset by the number of people that have turned BZ into a competition.  IT ISN'T!

Granted...most people joined BZ because of the curiousity about the ranks...but that seems to be the only thing that people care about anymore!

C'mon you guys!  Even more now I'm beginning to see a severe increase in overall multi-posting/inflation/spamming than ever before...and I can't help but think it's because the only thing people want are high post counts and high up ranks.

High ranks do not a respected member make.  Just because you may have made 2000 posts in two months doesn't make you a respected member.  Respect comes from what you put in those posts and what you do with those posts to better the forum.

I can't help but think this is partially my fault.  I have had the highest post count for some time now...and it seems part of the reason people are so eager to get to the top is so that they can say that they beat Torhu.

Well you know what.  I don't care.  Do you think people will respect you more because you spammed your way to the top?  They won't.  In fact...they'll be much more eager to beat you fair and sqaure, which will continue the vicious cycle some members seemed to be trapped in.

So you know what...go on with your little game.  If that's all that BZ means to you...I'm sorry.

I can't go on taking PMs and messages talking about how quickly somebody can beat me, or how quickly somebody's going to get to the top.

If this continues, it may severly damage the forum.

What does this mean for Torhu?  Simple...I'm not gonna bother anymore.  A lot of the people that are racing to the top weren't here to see Rahi Master and I as newbies...and any of the BZ 20 can tell you that I was a master in my day as well.  But I learned, quite quickly in fact.  I was able to overcome my competitive nature in a matter of months (probably 2 or so).  I'm surprised that others haven't done the same.

So please, for the sake of the forum...don't make it a race.  It never has and hopefully it never will be.

[Master of the Kr...]

Well said, Torhu. I agree. If you're here to get to the top, you're useless. If you're hrer to talk about Bionicle, then you DO belong here.

[Pickle]

Ditto! though id hate to admit it, i was in a rush when i was a Newbie. but im past that now, i just want to be a scavenger. and im not rushing that either. and the thing i really wish for, isthat this A.k.a. linkage11 rank is gone.

and you should pin this.

[Mahalis]

I quite agree, Torhu. There are some people who manage to get high post counts without spamming, but they're pretty rare. I've seen a lot of people who joined in April or May and already have 500 posts, a lot of them probably just spam.

[Tamarukid]

Well, Torhu is obviously right, but what can we do about it? My awnser would be to punish ANY second-time offenders, with a post reduction of three for every bad post. If we do this to enough people, with the reasons, then they will stop racing.

[T-Hybrid]

Quote (Tamarukid @ June 07 2002, 09:36)

but what can we do about it?

It's the mods duty to punish offending posters...

But you do have a good question.  What can you do to help BZ?

Most importantly...don't compete.  Just come on and post at a decent rate.  Come on, spend a little time...and get off.

If somebody passes you...it's no big deal.  If somebody's ahead of you...leave em alone.

Overall...just don't worry about post count.  It pains me to think what people may do if ranks were to disappear.

[The Lone One]

I really don't care about my post rank. I mean I see people who joined in in like April to May and have twice as much posts as me, but all they do is spam and just talk about how big their rank is. Some newbies here think they get all the respect because they have the highest post count, but everybody dislikes them because all they do is spam. And people who do this "competition" are just making Big D pay even more money for BZ. Yeah if the ranks got taken away a lot of people would leave. I really don't see what the big deal is with the ranks. I mean they're just letters a pictures. They're not that cool enough to make someone pay a lot of money for BZ.

[Kopaka Toa of Ic...]

Torhu I agree on you that posts don't count.  When I first joined BZ in Dec. I'm sad to say but that was one reason I came.  I hope newer members learn not to post just so your post count adds up.

[kongu1313]

I hope i get to be a scavenger soon.
P.S. Who knows what comes after inhabitant

[wazzup]

who am i    

(Somebody whose looking for trouble right from the get go)

[Infected Pakari ...]

Quote (Torhu @ June 07 2002, 09:51)

Recently I've been receiving countless PMs from members telling me about how many posts they've made...and how far they've come as far as post counts. Recently I recieved this message...which I will cut the names out of to protect them... Quote hi, ***** and ***** compeating, but at this rate we can easily get 2000 post in 2 months Honestly..I'm really upset by the number of people that have turned BZ into a competition.  IT ISN'T! Granted...most people joined BZ because of the curiousity about the ranks...but that seems to be the only thing that people care about anymore! C'mon you guys!  Even more now I'm beginning to see a severe increase in overall multi-posting/inflation/spamming than ever before...and I can't help but think it's because the only thing people want are high post counts and high up ranks. High ranks do not a respected member make.  Just because you may have made 2000 posts in two months doesn't make you a respected member.  Respect comes from what you put in those posts and what you do with those posts to better the forum. I can't help but think this is partially my fault.  I have had the highest post count for some time now...and it seems part of the reason people are so eager to get to the top is so that they can say that they beat Torhu. Well you know what.  I don't care.  Do you think people will respect you more because you spammed your way to the top?  They won't.  In fact...they'll be much more eager to beat you fair and sqaure, which will continue the vicious cycle some members seemed to be trapped in. So you know what...go on with your little game.  If that's all that BZ means to you...I'm sorry. I can't go on taking PMs and messages talking about how quickly somebody can beat me, or how quickly somebody's going to get to the top. If this continues, it may severly damage the forum. What does this mean for Torhu?  Simple...I'm not gonna bother anymore.  A lot of the people that are racing to the top weren't here to see Rahi Master and I as newbies...and any of the BZ 20 can tell you that I was a master in my day as well.  But I learned, quite quickly in fact.  I was able to overcome my competitive nature in a matter of months (probably 2 or so).  I'm surprised that others haven't done the same. So please, for the sake of the forum...don't make it a race.  It never has and hopefully it never will be.

It's so beautiful! snif snif  

[Kanohi_Kakama]

When you read those words up there who do you think about? Do you think about me? I hope not, because if you do your thinkin wrong. Yes I've made about 200 Posts or more in my past, but guess what.... The past is Behind us. From post 1500 to post 2500 I've looked at this as some what of a game, but then I became a Support Team Member, and Realized it was much more than that. We've all got our Share of bad history here on BZ, and I've gotten alot, but I'm tryin to put that behid Me. My last 1500 posts have been nothing close to spam, and I work long, and hard on BZ to get those. I look at BZ now as a Place to hang when you have nowhere else to Go Now. I know some people who are in a race, and I know some people who have actually PM'd me about racing, and I've Turned around, and told them we Aren't. BZ is not a Race Track. Sure the posts counts and ranks are cool, but thats not the Soul purpose of BZ. When I had about three hundred posts or so I went on a posting spree, and racked up almost three-hundred posts in Two days. Bink Pm'd me and pointed me in the right direction, and thats why I have so many today. If you want a High post count then go For it. JUST DON"T SPAM.. Sure I'd like to have as many posts as Torhu, but I'm not racing, and I'm not Spamming. When I get there I'll be satisfied that I made it without Spam, and those of you that do Spam, and get to the top you'll find yourself not to be Satisfied because your at the top, but your really at the bottom when it comes down to what othere memebers think. Torhu I know who you most likely got that PM from, and I was most likely mentioned in it, but I'm not racing, and I'm Definately not spamming...

-KK

[Tamarukid]

Well, who noticed a strange thing in this topic? We have a mod telling us that spamming, etc. for a higher post count, and I have 3 posts here that seem kind of pointless.
1. I agree, all i want is to be a turaga.
2. who am i        
3. Quoting all of torhus first message, and then saying: It's so beautiful! snif snif  
They are in the order they were posted, and copied directly from the message, but the point is, that people are spamming in the main anti-spam topic.
I feel that I may be taking this too seriously, but these people, who read the topic, and know what spamming is, should be punished, however slightly, even if they are newbies.

[Infected Pakari ...]

Quote (Tamarukid @ June 07 2002, 1:44)

3. Quoting all of torhus first message, and then saying: It's so beautiful! snif snif

My bad

[Spirit in Black]

Why do people make such a fuss about post counts?

[MS-14S Gelgoog]

When I first joined, I spammed alot, but after I tokk a break form here, I just started to help people as much as I could.

[Slash]

I never got to post alot, but during Spring Break it all changed. But is it OK that I joined in September and I'm a Scavenger?

[Eagle]

Quote (Chewbacca @ June 07 2002, 1:47)

Quote My bad

Uh... you just did it again


Anyways im sorry if I ever spammed in anyway but I do not under any circumstance intend to. I post about 4-5 times a day. But the reason why people care about posts is because each post on BZ costs a certain ammount of money which Dimennsioneer has to pay for and it ends up being a lot each month read this post for more info

How you can help

1. Make every post meaningful i.e. don't just post "cool" or "AWESOME!" in the BBC or art fourm and try and make every post atleast 10 words

[Mahalis]

Quote (Toa Pohatu @ June 07 2002, 7:02)

I never got to post alot, but during Spring Break it all changed. But is it OK that I joined in September and I'm a Scavenger?

There's nothing wrong with having a high post count, as long as you did it w/o spamming. I joined in December, left BZ for two months, and have 4 krana already.

[Lewa of Le-Koro]

Quote (Eagle @ June 07 2002, 7:04)

Quote (Chewbacca @ June 07 2002, 1:47) Quote My bad Uh... you just did it again Anyways im sorry if I ever spammed in anyway but I do not under any circumstance intend to. I post about 4-5 times a day. But the reason why people care about posts is because each post on BZ costs a certain ammount of money which Dimennsioneer has to pay for and it ends up being a lot each month read this post for more info How you can help 1. Make every post meaningful i.e. don't just post "cool" or "AWESOME!" in the BBC or art fourm and try and make every post atleast 10 words

That's right. D has to pay for all of this. But if the cost gets too high becuase people are spamming......



D will have to end BZ due to high expense costs!!!!!!!!!!!!!





So help D and the Mods out by not SPAMMING oh, and in reply to the guy that said "all i want to be is a Taranga" well, you will most likely want to be toa,and then Scavenger,and the..

[Lewa11]

Yep, when I first joined, I was prett much a spammer, until I finally got over it after a while, and now... I'm actull getting fed up with spamming, has it has increased over a matter of days. I've never seen it like this before, and do you know what? Torhu couldn't have posted this at a better time! Whoohoo! Horray for Torhu!

And my word of advice is, everybody wants to get to a higer rank and all, but don't push it too hard. Relax, don't rush... use your instincs.. I'm starting to sound like Obi-Wan Kenobi!

[Mahalis]

Over a few days? It would seem to me like it's been building up since.. ehm.. about the time most schools got out.. It probably means that a lot of people, having lots of free time on their hands, decided to sign up here, found out about ranks, and started spamming.

[LekuSol]

I agree with Torhu!

[Makuta Master]

Well put Torhu. I don't remember if I spammed much. I don't think so, but I remember one of my first topic was something new to all- the 2nd copper mask give-away at TRU back in October 3 days after I joined.

Those who spam get on my nerves. I bet a lot of you people know who I'm thinking of. I won't mention names.

Hey Lewa of Le-Koro, Big D wouldn't close it. He'd just make it Premier-only. I might wanna hurry and join.

I'm like Eagle. I have big-post days, usually weekends. Weekdays I have things to do. Some people have lives outside of BZ. I've only got 900 some posts and I'm proud of it!

[KoliChampHuki]

Now,somtimes I dislike things that Torhu says(I have my reasons,mostly my opinionated personality),but this was his most on-the-nose concept yet.I try to the best of my abilities not to spam.Sometimes folks have disagreements with my posts,but it isn't something that could be considered spam.
Please,everyone posting after me in this thread,if you're going to post,make a post worth typing.Not just "I agree with Torhu," something a bit closer to what I have said.
Thank you for your time,
KoliChampHuki

[Binkmeister]

For me, personally, I don't really understand the need to spam. Spamming just makes someone look like a jerk, and I spend enough time and effort trying not to look like a jerk to do it intentionally.

- Bink

[flognobin]

this really needed to be said. i agree with everyone who has said it before me, the main problem is kids joining just for the ranks. most of them never post in any topics like bbc, loc, art, or things like that. they just spam. and it REALLY makes me angry! the only person who likes a spammer is another spammer. EVERYBODY OUT THERE PLANNING ON JOINING FOR THE POST COUNT, DONT EXPECT TO MAKE MANY FREINDS.  

ps: i think a mod should lock this to avoid spam, such as ''torhu's right!" ect.

[Leopold]

Maybe sometimes I really want to get lotso posts, but the reason I joined here is because I like Bionicle!! Toa Pohatu told me to join here. Thanx, TP!!

[jaga]

l'm not racing to the top,infact l'm cheering Torhu on! Although l am posting as fast as l can.

[Mahalis]

Yes, in about 16 more posts, we'll finally know what comes after the Krana!! I'm posting as fast as I can, too.

[Kanohi_Kakama]

Quote (jaga @ June 08 2002, 12:34)

l am posting as fast as l can.

Just Make sure your posts are at least ten words long, and Arent considered spam. Don't post too fast either. You'll get bored, and the ngradually slow down.

-KK

[Onua511]

Quote (Mahalis @ June 07 2002, 10:17)

I quite agree, Torhu. There are some people who manage to get high post counts without spamming, but they're pretty rare. I've seen a lot of people who joined in April or May and already have 500 posts, a lot of them probably just spam.

Forget that! I've seen members who joined in May and are Scavengers! More than a lot of those posts are probably spam!
Sure, I'm trying to up my rank, but I make posts that have a point and aren't considered spam.

[Mahalis]

Quote (Kanohi Kakama @ June 08 2002, 11:19)

Quote (jaga @ June 08 2002, 12:34) l am posting as fast as l can. Just Make sure your posts are at least ten words long, and Arent considered spam. Don't post too fast either. You'll get bored, and the ngradually slow down. -KK

As far as I can remember, I've never spammed and don't intend to. And it's true, that does occasionally happen (mostly when nobody else is online), but it's only a temporary problem.

EDIT: Doh! I thought KK was quoting me!

[jaga]

Quote (heheye @ June 08 2002, 12:03)

Wow. If I took it too seriously, this topic might make me feel guilty about posting at all. knows, most of us post when we have something to say. But just think about it, the system here does seem to reward those who post often. Maybe to make it more accurately reflect the goal of building community, rather than just posting for its own sake, some one of the mods could weight individual postings based on their quality? If so, what would you look for in a post to make it worth a full point? Anyway, do posts in this forum tick up the count? I thought I read they would not. So I'm hoping to stay at "0" for awhile.

Well you just made your first post and now your post acount is"1".     But avoiding posting is also wrong,if you have news,a theroie,or somthing to trade then do it! And if you wan't to help Big D then become a Prime.

[Darkelvenkiwi]

I also try to advance trough the levels very quick, but not by spamming...
Not by double or one word posts....
It's not about who has the most posts....
Its about making new friends, having fun and discussibg a shared hobby...
That's what Bz is about and if some newb can'tunderstand that, just lower his postcount back to 0..

[Tahnok04]

1) I think there should be a mod who goes round deleting useless posts and taking ,the person who posted the useless post, post count down.

2) When you post try and post long messages instead of writing loads of little messages.

3) I agree totally with Torhu.


Tahnok02

[Super Sonic Poha...]

Wow. I dont know what to say.
Thanx Torhu.I totaly agree.
Hey i have something to say:Emoticons cost alot of bandwidth.lets try to use LESS EMOTICONS
That way there would be not as much bandwidth cost for D!
also,lets make our sigs smaller!
Nuff' said.
Hapori tohu needs less bandwidth cost.(only emoticon im gonna use today)

[Mahalis]

Also, the "Premier Member" graphic is kind of useless- it's just a thing to sort of show off, but anyone could figure that out just by seeing the *displayed* rank images and "Premier" prefix to the member's group.

[T-Hybrid]

Quote (Mahalis @ June 08 2002, 2:32)

Also, the "Premier Member" graphic is kind of useless

It's purpose is to call to the attention of anybody who doesn't know how Premier Membership works.

If you didn't know that a Premier Member was the only person that got those (which most newbies don't) you would have to see the Premier Thingie.

[RahiHunter]

Quote

I can't help but think this is partially my fault.  I have had the highest post count for some time now...and it seems part of the reason people are so eager to get to the top is so that they can say that they beat Torhu.

Don't blame yourself. If you didn't have the highest post count, people would just want to be higher than whoever did. You're never going to get rid of the competitive feelings some people have, the best you can do is try to minimize the damage they do. I think a limit of posts per day would be a step in the right direction.