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Veterans are easily discernible by the sheer number of Legacy badges they possess
You have to go to their page to see this, and most people only glance under the name, if that. Plus it's not a long term solution, unless you intend to wipe all progress and shift all badges to legacy status every 6 months.

While I agree with some of your points, I think that the changeover should have had a bit more prior consultation - though it's often hard to get people to notice until something has obviously changed.

The main problem I see is that immediately after the change, very few people had badges and still, what you did before the switch has very little impact on your current badges.
 
You have to go to their page to see this, and most people only glance under the name, if that. Plus it's not a long term solution, unless you intend to wipe all progress and shift all badges to legacy status every 6 months.

One of the items derived from this thread so far is increasing recognition for veterans and making users who have been more active on the forums more easily recognizable with iconography. This is in the works. :)
 

I do not have to take the challenge because in the old system I have gotten more than 5 BA's in a single day and sometimes more than 10 on a weekend when the traffic was the most. Now with the tags you get a single answer marked as BA's in all the tagged categories, do they all count towards the 5 or just one of them?

 

Yes but the question is, does it count as 1 or 5 towards veteran status? Basically is it achievable with one post!
 
Obviously I am not in charge, but there was a post where it was stated that a best answer on a thread with multiple tags means a best answer for each tag, so the extrapolation from that is that each must count.
It adds up onto the BA count the user has so I guess it must.

Mac
 
do consider that if you did NOT get credit then there would be complaining also. lets say you have a computer perepheral question, monitor question and router question all in one post. would it be fair to just give credit for perepherals, monitors OR wireless?

i completely agree that the system needs some tweaking but i think it has a very solid core. with a bit of work everything will pan out fine.
 


Why would people complain about something that they didn't get before and wouldn't be expecting to get now ?
This Multiple BA situation has only come about because of the Tag system.

People can now get multiple credit for a single post where this was not possible before.
jpishgar challenged my assertion that it was possible to achieve the same status that took years to earn in a matter of months. Clearly with this new ability to achieve multiple credit in a single post it is very achievable.
I did consider posting links to users with overly high post and BA counts as suggested but that would be unfair to the individuals in my opinion.
So we have gone from as I said, taking a lot of time and effort to achieve status to being able to attain the ability to assign and resign best answers on threads that you are not even involved with potentially after a single post on the forum. This used to be a Moderator only power and now its being given away pretty much gratis.
I can appreciate why this is happening from a business point of view yet this does nothing to alleviate the intense feeling of it being wrong that I feel.
We have raised the issue on more than one occasion and we are fully aware now that it wont change.

Its an issue that there will be no agreement on except to agree to disagree. So lets move on

Mac


 
Unless I'm a lot thicker than I give myself credit for, I don't see how this gaming of tags works. in this thread http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1736828/irql-blue-screen-error.html I took out tags named computer, PC and error which seemed irrelevant and added IRQL which is a valid search for that circumstances. The thread shows no sign of my having been there and I haven't posted a suggestion because there's a valid on already there. My post count hasn't changed because I didn't psot.

How can I gain from having made that small but important change? If I'm missing something then why not just bar me from posting into a thread where I've edited the tags? Make the two actions mutually exclusive.
 
This badge is under Publication, I could probably earn it in about 2 minutes if I wanted it bad enough its the top level badge for the section.

Encyclopedia
abr
More than 50 tags added: you are a compendium of tagging brilliance!

Seems like a simple badge to earn to me.

Mac
 
OK so it's a badge but how does it get you BAs unless you award them yourself - which would not go unnoticed - or in cahoots with someone else, which would also stick out a bit? How did it add to your post count?
 


By way of a test, of the system and not yourself you understand :)
I have just awarded myself a best answer by adding a Tag.
Does it stick out like a sore thumb ? Is it really noticeable ? Would it 100% be picked up during routine surveillance ?

Obviously It needs to be and will be undone.

Mac

 
Does it stick out like a sore thumb ?

Nope, but then again, you are on a list of users who have a very solid track record. Your history on Tom's Hardware is fairly well established. There would be no reason to investigate or audit you for tag abuse. When it happens, it usually happens as a result of someone truly gaming the system, and this is only occurring at a fractional rate. Users "stealing pennies" isn't a problem for mods or admins - it's the "millions" that we're concerned with, to use an analogy of banking. If I see mactronix pop to the top of the list of new tags added, and I reference those tags as inappropriate, I'll probably shrug it off, because I know who you are. There's a strong human element to moderation and administration that goes unseen because it happens behind the scenes.

Mod Discussions just today is talking in two or three separate threads about tag and best answer abuse, and potential targets for monitoring. We're also welcoming two new mods to the fold.
 
Mac, you can't award yourself a best answer, I can't award myself a best answer. You can add to the Encyclopedia badge by adding a tag but it was designed that way. If you go into a thread and post you do not see the pick as solution button in your post, someone else has to choose your answer as the BA.
A lot of new badges were added and continue to be added but they don't represent a status , I think that Best Answers would more represent status because others choose it and a high BA count seems to mean more as far as I'm concerned. Yes there's talk of people gaming the system but they are caught and pay a high price for it, if there are those that game the system but at a slow pace they are harder to catch but they do get caught when they are looked at and things don't add up. The report abuse button is an excellent way to help us catch them.
 


I am sure I can get a BA based on a tag if I add it after somebody selected my answer as the BA!
 


That is exactly what I did, just added a Tag to a thread I was best answer on.
I have just deleted the Tag in question.

Mac
 
Like Jpishgar said, you adding a single tag to a thread is going to fly under the radar, and if you were pinged then your reputation on the forum would mean that more than likely it wouldn't be investigated or acted on. He is right on the human element in the system, how we moderate does vary depending on the people involved.
Those who do add an excessive number of tags to threads are investigated for foul play, and we have a system in place to deal with them.

If you suspect someone of gaming the system, use the "Report Abuse" button to let us know and we will investigate.
 
That's what is the issue Mac and the members that don't care are not deleting but adding. It is hoped that the veterans who take pride in these forums will aid the Moderators by using the report abuse button when they see tag abuse.
 
Thanks Guys I do appreciate the kind words,
I'm just well, pretty disillusioned.
The last update before this one took 5 years of my forum history and many posts and Ba's. As I have said countless times personally I am not that bothered, but its being pushed to the fore now with this new update and its going to matter if I like it or not.
I recently found out that pretty much my whole sum total of Articles/news posts since as Chrome would put it "the start of time" has been wiped.
I have pointed out these things as and when they happened and each time its sorry nothing we can do.

I mean logically if its not really an issue to me then why am I bothered ? But extending that why bother with anything why care if I see abuse why report it ?
The problem is that I do care.
I have been on these boards for over a decade helping others and I like to think assisting with the betterment and to some degree the smooth running of the forum.
All I have to show for that is a lot of lost credit and a new system that makes what I have achieved seem pointless and irrelevant.
Joe has said there is another update due that may help to address some of the issues I feel strongly about, we will have to see.

Mac

 
I mentioned, and I mean it, that some of the suggestions you and the others have made will be in the next reputation system update, and originated from this very thread. Your input has not gone unheeded.
 
I am late to the party on this one. Interesting discussions. Honestly, I don't have anything substantial to add. I did prefer the previous system to the one we have now. This new system just "feels" too gimicky.

Regarding badges and BAs, while they are nice and do show our relative degree of input and accomplishment, they really don't carry much weight. They certainly don't raise our credibility with some members.

Whether I have a bazillion badges or none, I know what I know and I know who on Tom's knows their stuff.

Regardless of how we account for it, I'll keep helping others like the rest of the regulars on the site.

WOO HOO!!!