Forum:Removal of Halopedia's Point System (Part 3)

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Forums: Index → Archive → Removal of Halopedia's Point System (Part 3)
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This is the third and (hopefully) final part of my campaign to remove Halopedia's point system. The first part was a simple petition, which I used to see whether there was enough support to further my campaign. With 75 signatures, many of which were from Halopedia's grizzled veterans, this proved to be true. The second part was more detailed - a blog, providing advantages and disadvantages of the system. A vote was added to that blog against my wishes, I even said in the blog that I never intended it to be the deciding vote - I wanted everyone to give their reasons, and let it simmer while they made up their minds.

Now, the ultimatum, if you will. In this final part, I'm going to list the basic pros and cons once again (adding the reasons provided by the comments in the blog), and leave the vote up to you.

Please, drink in the reasons, don't just rush in with "DOWN WITH POINT WHORES" or "I EARNED MY POINTS", read my pros and cons, and, for further details, read the comments in the blog as well.

This is the official vote. If I get enough support, I'm going to show this to staff (along with the petition and blog), and they have the power to remove the system. As with all voting on Halopedia, everyone is entitled to one vote, with administrator votes tending to carry more weight.

Anyway, on to the pros and the cons of the point system...and yes, I realise that its rather one-sided, but that's why I think it should go.

Advantages of the Point System

  • Encourages users to edit Halopedia's articles.
  • Closely linked with Halo 3 multiplayer rank, integrating the site with the games
  • Simpler than usergroups

Disadvantages of the Point System

  • The point system is a way of gauging individual progress on Halopedia. Basically, users are rewarded with a higher rank for making more edits. However, because the system is automatic, and based on quantity of edits, some users have found ways to exploit this, either by exploiting faults in the automated system, or making lots of tiny edits to boost their rank (unofficially known as "point-whoring"). This is unfair on the real hardworking users, who have contributed more to Halopedia, but have less points than the exploiters. The Top Users list has only the users with the highest number of edits, not the users with the best edits. I'm going to use forgottenlord as an example for this - he has contributed as much as some of the administrators, but as he improves articles individually, planning them in his user namespace before completely overhauling the article to his high standards, he has a relatively small edit count.
  • The system distracts users from the benefits of the usergroups - all of the usergroups are inactive, when they should be thriving with the influx of new information from the various Halo projects. A promotion in a usergroup is completely different from being promoted in the point system. In the usergroups, the councillors review your edits, judging them on their quality, and making promotions as necessary. Get enough promotions and you actually have a say in what goes on in the usergroups. As well as the promotions, the usergroups are superior to the point system in other ways - each group (focused on different aspects of the Halo universe) has an Article for Improvement page, dedicated to collaborative editing to improve one article.
  • Collaborative editing is becoming less and less common, which is a shame as it is one of the most fundamental features of a wiki. The term "collaborative editing" means that users work together to improve articles. This is preferable as different users have different goals when it comes to improvement - some may focus on spelling, some on adding the latest content, some want to ensure all the info is correct by referencing them. All great traits, but now I fear that users only wish to work individually, as there is no 'team aspect to the point system, unlike the usergroups. Users no longer communicate with each other on how an article can be improved, there's a general attitude of "look for edits I alone can make" rather than focused, concentrated editing.
  • Several users have asked whether it would be possible to base the number of points awarded per edits proportional to the size of the edits, but as I understand it, this would be 1) Very hard to programme, and 2) Open to further abuse, such as page flooding and/or spamming.

Thank you for your time - and don't be tempted to vote before reading all my reasonings (and everyone else's). Reclaimer simon rjh 13:17, 14 September 2008 (UTC)

Voting

  • Support means "in favour of removal".
  • (x/y), where x is the total number of votes, and y is the number of administrator votes.

Support (51/3)

  1. Support.svg Support - Per proposal(s) - Reclaimer simon rjh 13:17, 14 September 2008 (UTC)
    Support.svg Support - hey second vote. i said it here. DOWN WITH THE POINTS! -- PATX 13:24, 14 September 2008 (UTC) -Less than 50 mainspace edits.
    Support.svg Support - I'm all for getting rid of them. Gunnery Sergeant Matoro3311 | 13:27, 14 September 2008 (UTC)
  2. Support.svg Support-DOWN WITH POINTS AND DOWN WITH VANDALIZERSISHNESS??? SPARTAN-A984 13:52, 14 September 2008 (UTC)
  3. Support.svg Support As per Simon. SPARTAN-G156 COM Channel Past Battles My History 13:55, 14 September 2008 (UTC)
  4. Support.svg Support As per simon. Also, wtf 984?- ONI recon 111
  5. Support.svg Support I never really saw the points system as a motivator to edit. But Simon brings up good reason for it's removal. The End is Near for All 14:44, 14 September 2008 (UTC)
  6. Support.svg Support I have done many things for this site, edits that I take hours making, but because of this system, their pointless, because of this system I have given up on Halopeida. Blake Talk Work 14:49, 14 September 2008 (UTC)
  7. Support.svg Support You're not here to earn points. You're not here to be praised. You're not here to gain recognition. You're here to work towards compiling a database because you love Halo. No other reason. The point system is not only retarded in itself, but is detrimental to this. Therefore, it should go. Darth tom (talk)
  8. Support.svg Support We're here to edit and improve this site. Unfortunately, thats not enough for some people, lets find other ways to attract new users, I'm with Simon on this one. Spartansniper450 12:19PM Sept. 14, 2008
  9. Support.svg Support If we leave the points system as it is, most of the people are going to make edits for the wrong reasons. I never cared about the point system but i'm getting a bit tired that we have to clean up the mess that the point whores created. I totally agree with Simon! Black Katana 19:23, 14 September 2008 (UTC)
  10. Support.svg Support - Lets end this once and for all...... WraithAscendant TacComm Classified Operations 18:44, 14 September 2008 (UTC)
  11. Support.svg Support - As I have said before, the points system must be eliminated, and I give my unwavering support to this cause. Our Wikia must be kept in the utmost care of its real users, and this is the first step to a better future. We will win, no matter what the cost! Demon Razgriz 933 19:01, 14 September 2008 (UTC)
  12. Support.svg Support HaloDude 19:27, 14 September 2008 (UTC)
  13. Support.svg Support - It's about time. Now that you're an administrator, more people will take you seriously.Thunderstream328 19:39, 14 September 2008 (UTC)
  14. Support.svg Support - RaZoRKilleR117, Zurxoz 'Warkum 19:42, 14 September 2008 (UTC)
  15. Support.svg Support - Nice idea, really would help this site, maybe. Its got more advantages without than with-Genrealkits34
  16. Support.svg Support --Andrew-996 "Radio Frequency 9.96" "Confirmed Kills" 21:06, 14 September 2008 (UTC)
  17. Support.svg Support -- SLH 1908
  18. Support.svg Support - I think we should abolish point because of point whores, but also because responsible users are sometimes accused of point whoring when they're really not. For example, if a user makes lots of good, quality edits to a page, and someone sees they are making lots of edits to one page, they report them and the user gets banned. I personally think the point system is causing a lot of banning, and banning is discouraging users, and not putting on a good display for people to join our site. --Agodo Kala Bura
  19. Support.svg Support - Sure, points may encourage some people to edit articles. But not everyone is motivated to edit pages simply to get another rank. It may cut down on overall edits, but if they're only minor ones or something, so what? Remove the points system. It's a wiki, not a game show or something. People will always edit, though at varying degrees. XRoadToDawnX 00:14, 15 September 2008 (UTC)
  20. Support.svg SupportDown with vandals, hackers, and there noobish ways!!!Gears of War 2
  21. Support.svg Support Though the point system may be a way to encourage new users to edit and contribute to articles, it also raises problems like point whoring and useless editing. Some Halopedian may find it interesting with lots of points and kept running around telling people that they're commander and are superior then other Halopedians, which in truth doesn't represent anything. The point system does not emphasize edits of quality, it's about edits of quantity. MasterChiefPettyOfficerSpartan Contribution 03:06, 15 September 2008 (UTC)
  22. Support.svg Support - Yes, please remove. Special:Editcount is much easier to use, and with usergroup ranks, you actually have to work for your rank. Chiafriend12 03:08, 15 September 2008 (UTC)
  23. Support.svg Support - I agree...the Points System needs to be abolished. Mcloganator
    Support.svg Support As per Simon. (Great Job with this man) --Councilor Εw C 'DnaudeeBattle Net My Editcount 08:30, 15 September 2008 (UTC)
    Change of vote. --Councilor Εw C 'DnaudeeBattle Net My Editcount 09:10, 16 September 2008 (UTC)
  24. Support.svg Support for these reasons:
    • Encourages useless and sometimes even destructive edits.
    • Not good milestones. For example, "Sergeant" is 178 edits.
    • Not as good as editcount. With editcount, you just look at their editcount. With points, in order to figure out how many edits they have, you have to subtract 1000 points, subtract 100 more if they have an avatar, then divide by 50.
    • Gives people who make hundreds of useless edits much more respect than they deserve. User0(contribs)(talk) 00:21, 15 September 2008 (UTC)
  25. Support.svg S