Points?

Arnold,

In my estimation, you have acquired a large number of forum "points" in a very short time. My compliments - although I, too, am not quite sure of their significance other than as a measure of forum activity...

MELGAR

The points don't mean anything.

Thanks for the quick response. I've never done an on-line forum before this one. It has been a lot of fun. And I've been able to connect with builders of layouts and operators, whereas I only knew collectors before this forum.

Back years ago the points were ranked and you could pull up the membership roll by their ranking  from highest to lowest. Those in power turned that option off when the topic came up a few times and it seemed folks were posting just to acquire points and not helpful or interesting content.  The management of the OGR forum may or may not look at these stats or use them.....but I am pretty sure it is a feature of the software of the forum that some users other than OGR may use.  For us....not much of anything!  ( I will admit I'd look at my ranking once and a while for fun)

AMCDave posted:

Back years ago the points were ranked and you could pull up the membership roll by their ranking  from highest to lowest. Those in power turned that option off when the topic came up a few times and it seemed folks were posting just to acquire points and not helpful or interesting content.  The management of the OGR forum may or may not look at these stats or use them.....but I am pretty sure it is a feature of the software of the forum that some users other than OGR may use.  For us....not much of anything!  ( I will admit I'd look at my ranking once and a while for fun)

Thanks Dave.

i try to write something different and creative, and after looking at the forum rules, I now know it is important to avoid controversial subjects, and avoid saying anything that might be regarded as risqué, because there are all different types of people of all different ages that may be on this forum. The rules make a lot of sense.

C W Burfle posted:

The points don't mean anything.

This is essentially true.

Points are acquired every time you participate here. If you start a thread, respond to a thread, post pictures or a video or engage in any forum activity, points are added to your profile. AMC Dave had it right when he said, "...folks were posting just to acquire points and not helpful or interesting content..."

The points feature is a function of this forum software that we can't shut off. So we do the best we can to just ignore them. 

I am sure those points do feed some egos, but that is a personal issue.  

Arnold, I pay no attention to points.  I suppose I have accumulated a few since I joined in 2012.  I wouldn’t know if a person is trying to accumulate points or not.  As Rich said, they are meaningless, but it is  certainly a great question for a new member to ask.

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Thanks for the quick response. I've never done an on-line forum before this one. It has been a lot of fun. And I've been able to connect with builders of layouts and operators, whereas I only knew collectors before this forum.

Also Arnold, I am glad you joined us!  You have made a great contribution with your thought provoking topics and comments.

There was a time when those who ran forums thought assigning different levels of membership based on participation points would generate interest and traffic. It was also thought to be a way to separate those who were more knowledgeable from the general membership. There are still some who do that, Trip Advisor and Gas Buddy for example. Here it pretty much just means that someone comments a lot and doesn't signal any particular level of expertise.

Good point, Dave!

I feel so honored that I got all this feedback including that of the OGR Webmaster, CEO and Publisher, Mr. Melvin!  

The gist of what I get from this feedback is that the points are now meaningless and it is best to focus on quality, not quantity, when making posts and replies. Also, to generally mention interesting things that have a connection to trains.

Since we live in diverse geographic areas, I will try to make it to at least one of the train shows at York in 2018, where I might have a chance to meet many of you in person.

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season.

I made my first trip to York in October, and met many Forum members for the first time.  I hope to go back and meet you too Arnold.