Instead of a post count...

[Paradox]

I feel the same way. I think there would be far too many bugs to work out with it. It's nice to think that we're all mature adults here, Music, but the sad truth is that even on Elliquiy, social situations can spawn injustices. I wasn't around when the aforementioned Karma system was in place, but I can see where it would be a problem. Most systems that use Elliquiy's software platform incorporate a conspicuously-placed Post Count for their users. It may just be something we have to accept. People would undoubtedly complain if it were taken away.

[Sherona]

As Trieste said before, Some liket he post count, others are indifferent, and apparenlty there is one or two who don't like it.

Some consider milestones, like 5000 posts, 10000 posts etc to be a goal, and I know every single person on the "Most posts" in forum stats did so with substantial posts more so then word association.

Now that Veks removed the socializing threads from counting towards post ocunt I see no reason to remove them.

[GothicFires]

I honestly think the only thing that is going to work correctly each and every time is doing your 'homework'. If a person expresses interest in you then go check out their threads. If you intend on making a long term investment with this person by writing a game then its worth a little bit of time. If a person is new and there is not enough information there then ask them for what you need. Talk... converse... Sometimes the game will work out some times it wont. I've had games fail with both good and midline writers, new players and ones that had been around longer than I have. However I have never regretted giving any of those games a chance.

I think there are too many individual taste to do a rating system. There are writers out there that I like that write better with some writers than they do with others. I don't think rating those would do justice to the writer's capability in that situation. Also I would hate to hurt someone's feelings by rating them a 1. Its one thing to tell someone they are not what you are looking for in the privicy of a pm. It would really suck to be rated a 1 for everyone to see.

[Vekseid]

I have been thinking of including statistics like average game response time, average game response length, average game response reliability, etc.

I know I'd do fairly horribly there and we'd have to have something in place to boot people who tried to game the system, but no system can be inherently perfect.

[Sherona]

I have been thinking of including statistics like average game response time, average game response length, average game response reliability, etc.

I know I'd do fairly horribly there and we'd have to have something in place to boot people who tried to game the system, but no system can be inherently perfect.

Instead of removing post count, as I know more then a handful celebrate certain numbers, can we have that simply added as well? I think that would be pretty interesting, the average game response time and length, etc and so forth.

[Xillen]

Can we like put that in the profile and not in the mass of data left of everyone's post? It's cluttered enough as it is already.

Other than that, it sounds like useful info, and it would work quite well in 1on1 games, but this stuff would be pretty complex for group games.

Also, would it be really fair? Say someone from Europe and someone from North America have a game together. They both only log in in the evenings, making their post in the thread at 9 PM every day straight. This way, the american has a response time of 6 hours, while the european has a response time of 18 hours. Theoretically, the european is slacking more. Maybe a general value for less than 24 hours?

[Moondazed]

Isn't this supposed to be about having fun?  I'm not sure that adding statistics that put pressure on people to make their life revolve around posting is a good thing.  And really, does response time equal superiority?  What about someone who writes extremely well but doesn't have nearly as much free time as someone who is less thorough or imaginative?  I'm not sure that's value-added.

[Greenthorn]

I am totally against the idea of those stats being available!

All of my games are slow, sometimes it's my fault, sometimes it's my partners' and I think it would be totally unfair considering some of us have RL issues, to "downgrade" us because we don't answer posts quickly! 

And as for post length...yeah again, that would not be cool.  I know I am fairly adaptable with post length, but wouldn't that be putting on added pressure to write -longer posts- to not look...illiterate?

Personally...and it's my opinion (and I don't really need the backlash for -my- opinion), I think those stats create elitist and separation within the community.

[Moondazed]

I don't know about elitism and separation, I just think that they aren't representative of the point of the site, unless the point of the site is cranking out words :)

[MusicNeverDies]

I think that the average time for a reply post would just be a bad thing. It's already been stated about time differences and real life. But also, it wouldn't account for the length. Someone could whip up an obscure 2 sentence reply in a minute and get great stats, where someone who puts a lot of time and effort into 2-3 paragraph responses would be marked lower. Which is almost punishing people for making detailed, thoughtful posts.

I'd love to see the average post length though, not that quantity is so much better then quality, but it does help in getting an idea.

[Trieste]

I'm not really liking the idea of another stat in the lefthand display. I like postcount where it is.

I think another avatar would be cool, though. You could set your own personal avatar, and then you could have a space below the personal avatar to showcase what your characters would look like... It would be interesting to have them be animated and scrolling through a few pictures (like Darwishi's avatar does)... with their names underneath, so you knew who you were looking at.

Maybe a link below the second avatar that goes to the game thread for the character pictured...

I think that'd be way cool.

[Xillen]

At first I was going to mention that that would probably be part of character integration, which Vekseid is planning for the upgrade. However, the images being visible from outside the game is something else. It surely sounds interesting, but also spacehogging. The postlength in pixels is already doubled for most posts due to the left header as it is. Do we really need more stuff to clutter it up.

I'd rather like a bar right below or above the signature, since there's space left over nearly all the time anyhow (at least on my 1680x1050 screen).

Oh, and if you want to add links, make the images clickable, instead of providing a seperate link :P

[Trieste]

Well, I like the idea of being able to scroll down and see charpics.

And it'd be good to know what you're clicking, so the name of the game along the bottom would be clickable.

Maybe also the category below it so that people don't accidentally go into non-con if they don't want to.

[Moondazed]

That's a heck of a lot of information to clutter things up with :)  I like it when people keep an elluiki page of their threads so I can read their threads, and it would be easy to integrate character pictures on a wiki page.  I actually keep a wiki page on each thread with details about the characters, so that I don't have to go back and reread the entire thread if I'm away for a short while (which happens to me fairly often).

[Trieste]

But the pictures! The pretty pictures! :)

[Moondazed]

The pretty pictures are great for people who don't have dialup, and people who don't view from work :)  I was just thinking that it would be awesome to have a selection of things that you could display if you wanted to see them, that way those who don't want to for one reason or another don't have to, but those who want all of that info front and center could have it.  I'm not sure that wouldn't be a tad complex to pull off, though.

[Xillen]

If you check look and layout preferences in your profile settings, you'll find several "Don't show" flags, that could be useful for such a purpose as well.

[Moondazed]

Yup... I make use of those checkboxes :)

[MagicalPen]

As previously stated, Join Date is a pretty moot point compared to Post Count. For instance, some one might only post once a month and have been here 2 years, as opposed to some one who joined 5 months ago and posts 5 times a day.

Anyways, I do my research now. I check when the person registered and how many posts they have made. I typically don't try to start up anything with a person under 100 - 200 posts. From there, I go to check their On/Offs. If they don't have them, I will generally avoid. If they pass those first two checks, then I look at their profile (avatars are always a bonus)  and their last posts. If their last posts are 90% in the Fun/Games area, then I typically avoid them all together. If its mostly games, then i check out their posts and see their style etc.

Vek also mentioned a new profile change in the works a long time ago? Whats the latest on that?

[Haibane]

I am totally against the idea of those stats being available!

All of my games are slow, sometimes it's my fault, sometimes it's my partners' and I think it would be totally unfair considering some of us have RL issues, to "downgrade" us because we don't answer posts quickly!

I didn't read it as a stick to beat people with at all. I like quick turnaround posters... some people have a lifestyle that means they prefer one post a week response time. If you have that info you'd at least have a very general idea of the sort of game pacing you could expect if you had a game with that person. That is all I would see in that data, and I'm sure that was Vek's intent too, not a tool to name and shame the 'slackers' (for there is no such thing).

[Vandren]

Not to hijack or de-rail, but this is a good point.  :)

I like it when people keep an elluiki page of their threads so I can read their threads, and it would be easy to integrate character pictures on a wiki page.  I actually keep a wiki page on each thread with details about the characters, so that I don't have to go back and reread the entire thread if I'm away for a short while (which happens to me fairly often).

I think this and a personal page per site member are things we'll be encouraging people to do once the new wiki form is finally set up.  Once that happens (I guess there're some technical issues on Vek's end), people can choose whatever stats/images they wish to include on that page.  :) 

Regarding the overall thread . . . I personally see nothing wrong with the current left hand box as it currently stands.  However, adding things to it is probably more bells and whistles than the box or the site really needs - as with everything else the more bells and whistles there are, the greater the chance that something will break; sometimes simplicity is best.  As MagicalPen nee Silvestine has already pointed out, there are plenty of places to find more specific posting information already if one is interested.

If you have that info you'd at least have a very general idea of the sort of game pacing you could expect if you had a game with that person.

Alternatively, you can PM the person or talk to them in public boards and ask what sort of posting speed they're looking for.  ;)

[Sherona]

the only reason I don't use Elluiki is because it is highly confusing and just all around too much trouble for a very little reward. I write my games for my and my writing partner's enjoyment, and when I am not taking a week off of writing they stay pretty high up, so people are able to read them there if they want. If not, that is just as well.

To others Elluiki is really nice, but I find people using their O/O thread or their Game Idea threads for the same thing Elluiki is used for..to list games. It just seems a whole lot simpler to me to do that.

[Moondazed]

The size of the reward is in the eyes of the beholder :)  I think some people dislike technology and aren't interested in learning new ones, and that's not a crime, but it's a great option for those who want to learn it.  I'm happy to be a personal tutor :)

[Vandren]

the only reason I don't use Elluiki is because it is highly confusing and just all around too much trouble for a very little reward.

Hopefully this will change when the new version is implemented.  One of the reasons moondazed and I ended up on the non-technical development end is to make Elluiki more user friendly.  Personally, I'd like it to be easier to navigate, which I think we've done a good job of developing a system for.

[Sherona]

I would like to point out that I am at best...a barely technocologically literate person. Which is why I find Elluki to be confusing and kind of hard to work with. *grins* Not because fo the page, but my own ineptitude.