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RIFT and Rank
VirusDancer
Member UncommonPosts: 3,649
Please note this is not a discussion of moderation, per se; but rather it is a matter of a curious observation and wondering if others have noticed this as well.
Have you noticed that posting in RIFT threads has caused you to take a hit on your Rank here at MMORPG.com?
There have been a few (one that was a glaring example) examples of people that have gone from 5 Stars to None from posting in RIFT threads. People have disappeared as if "banned" for periods of time.
I have been around for a little while, and I have never noticed anything like this before in discussing a game. Oh sure, there were the extremely rare cases of taking a hit when debates got a little heated in regard to a very popular game out there. Yet it is very common to take a hit while discussing RIFT.
Some have noted it while trying to support the game. Odds are that some have noted it while attacking the game (though, usually these folks are used to taking hits on their Rank).
Between the "haters" and the "fanbois"; it is a very difficult position to find oneself in. You risk getting dinged for supporting the game and you risk getting dinged for not praising the game as the next best thing since sprayable butter.
Definitely a case of posting in interesting times...
I miss the MMORPG genre. Will a developer ever make one again?
Explorer: 87%, Killer: 67%, Achiever: 27%, Socializer: 20%
Comments
I noticed and I don't care. Rank means nothing in these forums.
I used to love this site and participated in topics quite often but the community here has become one that isn't that different from WoW's and for that reason I've decided just to not frequent this site as much anymmore. If people are losing their rank then perhaps it's because of that.
Well, if rank was based on recommendations I might be interested. Instead it's based on activity (how many posts you make and how many times you log in). It drops when either your own posts get moderated or sometimes when whole threads get locked/deleted and so on.
You can either "play" the system, or state your honest opinion. And since i'm not here to play the forum game, I tell things the way I see them, like it or not.
Rank (stars) is only a reflection of how often you post. The more frequently you post, the higher your rank. You only lose stars if you don't post for a while or post less frequently.
Even recommendations would turn into a system that could be gamed. The post was not really meant to discuss how moderation and the ranking system work, as much as it was an observation on how Rank may reflect the nature of how heavily divided the "community" is and the difficulty of being somewhat moderate in the discussions.
Defend the game and you will have those that "hate" the game (for whatever reason) come after you.
Critique a part of the game and you will have those that want to marry the game come after you.
Over the years, it has definitely been a case of drawing the ire of one side or the other - just found it curious how easily it was to end up on the crap list of both sides in regard to RIFT.
I miss the MMORPG genre. Will a developer ever make one again?
Explorer: 87%, Killer: 67%, Achiever: 27%, Socializer: 20%
As in politics, things are much more polarized now.
Those in the grey areas in between have the softest voices and the hardest hills to climb.
Sensationalism sells. Look at Fox news!
Fixed that for you...heh, they have a bunch of people that make Glenn look sane (and that is just short of requiring a mircale).
I miss the MMORPG genre. Will a developer ever make one again?
Explorer: 87%, Killer: 67%, Achiever: 27%, Socializer: 20%
I can neither confirm nor deny whether I was modded for telling someone to take an arguement elsewhere in what was attempted to be a positive post (followed by the post thread mysteriously disappearing [was a post about the overall smoothness of the launch]). I get what you're saying but I think it would be better should it remain unsaid. It is disheartening to say the least to feel you have been unjustly targeted by such but welcome to the internet.
I for one have been giving serious consideration to moving on from this site simply because it SEEMS like the chosen few are aloud to do what they will, willy-nilly and when you tell them to stop you get in trouble. I was always taught that if someone swing on me, I take'm down faster and I won't have to worry about it again. It's worked in life, I see no reason why it wouldn't work on here.
You take a 5 points penalty when your posts get removed, and you lose points if you only post fillers. (Edit: It lingers in your rank for 30 days)
Per observation, Rift gets an overall positive reaction from the readers. Which also makes an easy target for trolls. For some reason, I've seen a lot of posters wasting their time with trolls, while ignoring insightful arguments. And when all you do all day is to get into heathen arguments, you forget what is a civilized discussion. And you get modded.
They did lock down moderation in this forum in particular because Rift fans vs Haters gets
very aggresive and non-productive.
This is definitely what I was getting at, lol. It is not the moderation itself, it is what is drawing the moderation.
Looking back at some of the recent, ahem, wars that have taken place on here: WoW 4.0/Cata, FFXIV, Twitch, F2P, etc... it is amazing how much "aggression" appears in the RIFT discussions.
I miss the MMORPG genre. Will a developer ever make one again?
Explorer: 87%, Killer: 67%, Achiever: 27%, Socializer: 20%
There is a simple reason. In the past MMO games that have come out people that favor one
MMO over another have been able to blow up the slightest problem into major issues.
So when it comes to a new MMO that seems like it actually has a chance to maintain a
large population people will get defensive. Some of these people who left WoW for Rift
took perma bans spamming it or got banned from their long time guilds for it, so they have
an interest in not seeing it fail.
As soon as you're getting warnings or if your posts are getting mod edited, it affects your rank negatively.
So far the only thing that affects your rank positively that I could determine is your posting activity and general site activity.
The mmorpg.com mods are pretty stern, no personal attacks are allowed and no retaliation. It gets you warnings. Sure, some posters might seemingly get away with it, but that's only because of the mods not having seen it or not having been informed via others reporting the post.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."