User Ratings

[MisfitNerd]

This idea is similar to that which was designed originally by Doge. Original thread can be found here.

So currently many users here use the rep system to say things like "This guy is very nice" or "User is very toxic in shoutbox", you know, general opinions they feel should be considered valid. The problem is, they have no place in the reputation system itself. So here's my idea.

On user profiles, we add a tab called "User Ratings", where users can simply type in whatever opinion they want to on someone. It can be filled with a hundred "Nice guy", "Really helpful", or things like "Very mean to people, "Immature kid", etc. if you wanted it to, as it won't count against you in any way. This wouldn't be shown on posts next to a profile picture and info like Reputation is. If users want the community opinions of someone, they can go to their profiles and view this new tab.

This would help solve a lot of the issues of the misunderstanding of the reputation system and how to properly use it, while still keeping community opinions valid. Comments made in this tab would not be considered Positive/Neutral/Negative, or whatever. Each message could be reported however if it's clearly false, but this wouldn't have to negatively show up in the reputation system. This would ultimately help make both business reputation/deals plus community opinions both completely valid in their own separate places.

Note: I talked to Doge about this and he already liked the idea. I'm not attempting to steal his idea and still give great credit to his original idea.

I know this will probably become controversial, I'm just sick of nobody understanding how the reputation system works.

Thoughts and opinions are welcome, simply explain why you may disagree if you do. Thanks for reading!

 

[tjrgg]

If what you're saying is true, this is definitely a problem. Users shouldn't use the reputation system for sharing opinions like those that you described. That being said, I don't believe that a section for random opinions like these is the best way to go about solving this problem.

a) These "opinions" don't have any real value. There is no context behind these opinions often times. The feedback you leave about users should be focused on your experience with them with regard to the marketplace.
b) "Ratings" could easily be confused with "Reputation" and I could see problems occurring where users confuse the two, thus not solving the problem that you're trying to solve with this suggestion.

I'd argue that a better solution would be education and experience. Modify the experience of the reputation system to educate users on how and when it should be used. That would be a better and more practical solution to the problem you describe, I think.

 

[MisfitNerd]

If what you're saying is true, this is definitely a problem. Users shouldn't use the reputation system for sharing opinions like those that you described. That being said, I don't believe that a section for random opinions like these is the best way to go about solving this problem.

a) These "opinions" don't have any real value. There is no context behind these opinions often times. The feedback you leave about users should be focused on your experience with them with regard to the marketplace.
b) "Ratings" could easily be confused with "Reputation" and I could see problems occurring where users confuse the two, thus not solving the problem that you're trying to solve with this suggestion.

I'd argue that a better solution would be education and experience. Modify the experience of the reputation system to educate users on how and when it should be used. That would be a better and more practical solution to the problem you describe, I think.

I'd agree these opinions aren't really needed, but so many users here would think differently. Plenty of people like to know how the community feels about a user as a person before dealing with them, including if they're nice/toxic/etc. So that's the only reason why I'm suggesting this, so there's a place to still allow the community to do so without messing up the reputation system. I'm also suggesting in a different thread that the staff reevaluate the reputation system and make it work better for everyone, including updating the rules and making a proper explanation to the community about it.

 

[tjrgg]

I'd agree these opinions aren't really needed, but so many users here would think differently. Plenty of people like to know how the community feels about a user as a person before dealing with them, including if they're nice/toxic/etc. So that's the only reason why I'm suggesting this, so there's a place to still allow the community to do so without messing up the reputation system. I'm also suggesting in a different thread that the staff reevaluate the reputation system and make it work better for everyone, including updating the rules and making a proper explanation to the community about it.

There are ways to get to know someone without having a section for that. There are even other features on the site that you can use, such as private messaging and the shoutbox. This forum is a communication tool. This isn't something that I feel is appropriate for MCM to create a feature/section for. If you want to know how the community feels about someone, do a search for their name, I'm sure you'll find something. Or, just ask them. Talk to people that have dealt with the person. If all else fails, talk to the guy and get a feel for yourself. Why do we need to make things so complicated?

 

[_-_]

If this were to be implemented, one category rating shouldn't simply suffice; I have an idea:

There should be ratings for multiple things such as:

• Maturity (are they friendly, are they calm?)
• Time Efficient (Is the person offline alot during the dealing? Are responses to questions almost immediate?)
• Trust (Can you put all your faith in this person? Do you think he's safe?)
• Reflect (Would you deal with this guy again? Would you recommend him?)

These all would come with a total rating by calculating the average for these.

Anyone's free to expand on this if they want to.

 

[root]

I do agree with this and it can have some restrictions as it would then be abused to ruin the creditability of someone.

This would be a good implement for MCM though.

 

[Mick]

We are not planning on splitting up deal and opinion reputations, it needlessly makes the system more complex.

Denied, thanks for the suggestion.