Post Counts Return, eh?

[Mykul]

Post counts being displayed under our custom titles, hanging out there for all the world to see? Let's discuss how we feel about this.

Is it a huge deal? No.

Was it almost as easy, in the olden days (as they henceforth shall be called), to click on someone's profile and check out their post count? Yes. One short click away.

But is it still kind of annoying? You bet.

The numbers [I]themselves[/I] aren't harmful or aggravating in any way. Rather, the annoyance I feel comes from this just being another chronicle in the over-glorification of the post count. This action transforms post-counts from a random tidbit of information, accessible if needed, to an unwanted label. For example, my profile now says this about me:
[B]My name is probably Michael.
I do not participate in the Otaku Portfolio.
Archistrategos is a word that I like.
And I am a scrub with just over 200 posts.[/B]

I have been around since 8/2/2004. Even though I visit the site regularly to read news, get cool links, and check out interesting literature, random bouts of shyness have kept my post count low. Very low.

And none of this would be very bothersome at all, if it weren't for the statement that new titles will soon be accompanying new levels of post counts. I do not feel that this is right. I do not feel that a member's number of posts gives them the right to [I]anything:[/I] not a title, not a medal, not a cookie or a hug. Do I feel that I am as important as a member who has been on the boards for one year, and who has stockpiled 1,000 posts in that one year? Of course I do.

And I know that this is an incentive, and that making members care about post counts helps foster discussion and makes for a lively OB. I know that it's important to encourage posting, but is this the way to do it?

I don't know. You tell me. This is a discussion in The Lounge, and I've gone on long enough.

[Allamorph]

[QUOTE=Mykul][B]My name is probably Michael.
I do not participate in the Otaku Portfolio.
Archistrategos is a word that I like.
And I am a scrub with just over 200 posts.[/B][/QUOTE]
[FONT=Arial]Sounds like an AA meeting. Right-O!

[B]My name is . . . really cryptic, and means shapeshifter. So ha.
I DO participate in the Otaku Portfolio.
My vocabulary is antiquated and my mindset and values old-fashioned, so I refer to myself now and again as the Last of the Old Guard . . . . wait, that was the other title. Bother.
And . . . I don't even frilling know how many posts I have. It's a number. I post and it goes up. :p[/B]

Really? I'on't care. You an ancient board denizen who is proud of the many posts you have contributed over the years? I'on't care. You got basically bupkus? I'on't care. You wanna get up in arms about it 'cause it looks kinda tacky?

I'on't care.

Whatevs, man, makes no nevermind ta me.[/FONT]

[Rachmaninoff]

Well since this is more of a discussion about the site and improvements, it probably fits the Information Kiosk a little better. So I'm just going to shuffle this over to there once I'm done here.

Personally I don't have a problem with the option being available, I would however like to see it as one you could toggle off so people could choose to have it there or not.

But that's just my sense of how mine looks since the shorter line seems out of place with the others. So I just have the urge to turn it off to tidy things back up.

[Manic Webb]

It's weird enough that my name has "Senior Member" under it, as if I'm some old retiree who only started showing up again because he's collecting his social security/pension. Now everyone can see I have--- God Only Knows How Many posts.

--EDIT--
1,700+ posts? Really?

[TheShinje]

I missed the days when post counts were displayed and you could achieve new titles based on the amount of posts you had accrued, so I welcome their return. Does that make me superior to those who have only a few hundred posts? Yes, yes it does.

Different user titles are fun to both discover and achieve. Member customised ones are blah, since earning threm is half the fun.

And I'm kidding about being better than those with a lower post count. I feel the need to state that. ^_^

[James]

[font=franklin gothic medium]I don't want to sound dismissive, but I really wouldn't worry about this too much.

Each person puts their own weight on post counts. I personally don't think they matter and I know many people don't, but some do like to see them displayed.

For someone who has been around for a long time, you know that you can just easily view them in a profile. But you'd be surprised how many newer members aren't aware about a lot of things on the site - for someone who hasn't used a Virtual Bulletin site too, it can be daunting.

Post count is something we can easily show without making it too prominent or taking up too much space. That strikes a happy middle-ground I think. We will see how it goes.

In the meantime, I'd just say that if you actually don't place weight on post count, then this shouldn't be too much of a problem anyway.

For many years we had about ten titles I think - these were just fun, non-serious milestones that people achieved as they remained on the site. They don't grant a user any greater power, ability, authority or anything else - they are just a small milestone and it can be fun to discover new ones as you go.

So, at the end of the day, I wouldn't take any of this too seriously - doing so just misunderstands what it's all about.

I'd just keep doing what you're doing and enjoy the site as you always have. Nothing has really changed - we've just taken a piece of information and made it easier to access. That's all. We've certainly had visible user posts far longer than not having them![/font]

[quote]Different user titles are fun to both discover and achieve. Member customised ones are blah, since earning threm is half the fun.[/quote]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Said far more succinctly than I could have done! Thanks. Haha.

But yeah, that hits the nail on the head really.

Perhaps we can look at a compromise where users can choose to hide their post counts/titles if they like. I will speak with Petie about this and see if there's a hack to do it.

In the meantime, as I said, I would just treat this like it is intended - a bit of harmless fun for those who want it. For the rest of us, we can just keep enjoying doing what we've been doing. :catgirl:[/font]

[Nathan]

[FONT="Arial"]It seems harmless to me. I hadn't even realized they were showing until I saw this thread. I could see wanting to hide it for the aesthetic sense that Darren alluded to, but otherwise I think having them being visible is no big deal.

Also... 8,700+ posts James? Man, you about live here! :blulaugh:

[spoiler]And yes I'm kidding.[/spoiler] [/FONT]

[Boo]

[quote name='Nathan'][FONT="Arial"][spoiler]And yes I'm kidding.[/spoiler] [/FONT][/QUOTE][size=1]Why? You were just stating the obvious!

I think its fine to have a post count and it sort of gives more of the "forum vibe" back to Otaku[b]Boards[/b] that it seemed to have partly lost on the way. The post count and member titles make the site more dynamic than it was, in some magical way, just by being there! *rejoice*

And in any case, now the people without lives are actually proudly wearing their post counts on their sleeves for the world to see! *more rejoicing*

edit:

Oh yeah, and I am not so sure about the whole hiding thing. As said, the only reason would be aesthetics (same reason why I do not have any of my Otaku profiles linked), because by hiding it while others do not, you only make people wonder what your post count is and why you hide it. :^D

I would rather see it in some additional place together with maybe other small profile information, and then let users select in their "Edit Options" menu whether they want to see additional member information or not.

However, I do not really care about others seeing my post count, because the only thing they will see is that it is not going up very steeply. (:[/size]

[Rachmaninoff]

[quote name='Boo][size=1']Oh yeah, and I am not so sure about the whole hiding thing. As said, the only reason would be aesthetics (same reason why I do not have any of my Otaku profiles linked), because by hiding it while others do not, you only make people wonder what your post count is and why you hide it. :^D [/size][/quote]Exactly, it [strike]has nothing to do with my posting here [I]waaaay[/I] to much >_<[/strike] breaks up how my current postbit looks. So for aesthetic reasons, I'd prefer to hide it. The information would still be in my profile so people could see it if they were really curious. I don't care if people know what the count is. =P

[DeLarge]

[SIZE=1]Everyone knows it's about quality and not quantity.

And I'm in no way using this single, fairly pointless post to bolster my weedy post count....

Honest....
[/SIZE]

[SunfallE]

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]Well my postbit is pretty uneven anyway so another line doesn't really matter. That and a different board I visit has them visible so I don't really mind. I'm more curious about this part of the announcement here: [quote][FONT="Arial"]Soon we will be creating an all-new set of member titles, which will cover a full range of post counts.[/FONT][/quote]Now I'm curious to know just what the titles will be. Well other than you James, with so many posts you automatically get the [B]I Live Here[/B] title! XD[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Boo]

[quote name='SunfallE'][COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]Well other than you James, with so many posts you automatically get the [B]I Live Here[/B] title! XD[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE][size=1]I still wonder what was the title after

[list=1][*]Newbie[*]250 Junior Member[*]500 Member[*]1000 Otaku[*]2000 (something) Otaku[*]4000 No Life[*]6000 I Live Here[*]??????[/list]

Gosh, I do not even remember them all and this list is pretty flawed too. :([/size]

[Petie]

[COLOR=Blue]I've personally never placed too much weight on post count so I don't see displaying them as an issue (which should be evident by the fact that this is only my 630th post and I've been around since January 2004).

In terms of hiding them, I think I could probably work something out if it's really deemed necessary. I'll do a little research and see if my idea will work and then just talk it over with James.
[/COLOR]

[Vicky]

[size=1]You know what they say about a member with a bigger post count...

...okay I don't know either.

I'm glad they're back because it makes me feel better about spazzing out last time when I reached 1000. Although I would somewhat prefer my Otaku status back...[/size]

[Gavin]

[SIZE="1"]Honestly I'm convinced James just did this to show off he's got the highest post count on OB. ;)

In all seriousness though maybe we should do something about the way titles and post-counts are layout out because it's looking a bit cluttered to me.[/SIZE]

[Horendithas]

[FONT="Arial"][COLOR="Indigo"]Well my user name is and title are way off in terms of looking tidy so I'm fine either way. If the hack is easy to apply then I'd do it. It's nice to be able to customize how things look.

Anyway, I'm more curious about the titles than anything else. That sounds like it will be fun. Is that something we won't get to know until they're active? Oh and since I'm here...

[I][SIZE="1"]*pokes Gavin the[/SIZE] [B]No Life[/B] [SIZE="1"]member*[/SIZE][/I] :D[/COLOR][/FONT]

[Raiha]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]As second only to James, I can honestly say that it's really not a big deal. I didn't care about it when I was a 'no life' member and I didn't care after the titles disappeared. It's just extra flair to distract from the quality of the posts.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Petie]

[quote name='Gavin'][SIZE=1]In all seriousness though maybe we should do something about the way titles and post-counts are layout out because it's looking a bit cluttered to me.[/SIZE][/quote]
[COLOR=Blue]I'm open to suggestions here. My other idea involved putting the post count next to the user title and while this would remove a line, it will extend the length of the user title line. Just for the sake of putting another idea out there, here's a visual of what I mean:[/COLOR]

[U][B]Username[/B][/U]
Senior Member (1,243 posts)
Custom Title
theOtaku Portfolio

[COLOR=Blue]If anyone else has any ideas of how they'd like things displayed, by all means let us know.[/COLOR]

[Gavin]

[SIZE="1"]That certainly looks better to me Petie, and I think it makes sense overall to have the post count next to the member title considering the latter is based on the former. [/SIZE]

[Petie]

[quote name='Gavin'][SIZE=1]That certainly looks better to me Petie, and I think it makes sense overall to have the post count next to the member title considering the latter is based on the former. [/SIZE][/quote]
[COLOR=Blue]That was my logic to begin with but I didn't want to extend a line that far over when the issue of un-balancing the postbit came up. I'd be happy to change it if I could get a general idea of how people would react.[/COLOR]

[The Spectacular Professor]

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"][URL="http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n72/Aceburner85/Lolpostcounts.jpg"][COLOR="Blue"][U]http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n72/Aceburner85/Lolpostcounts.jpg[/U][/COLOR][/URL]

Someone's been busy, lol.[/FONT]

[Shy]

[size=1]Oh man I hated those old post count-based titles. Now I'm going to have to become a mod again!

-Shy[/size] :(

[Sangome]

[quote]Soon we will be creating an all-new set of member titles[/quote]

[SIZE="1"]W-Wait. ohgodwhatifsomeonehaxx0rsmeandchangesittosomethingdumblikehahaha[/SIZE]

[QUOTE]which will cover a full range of post counts.[/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]...oh.

AHAHAHA DISREGARD THAT THEN

Anyway, I wasn't here when post count things were the norm...so this doesn't faze me. Although, as Ace pointed out, it apparently does matter to some people.[/SIZE]

[Korey]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"][COLOR="Indigo"]Seeing as my title can't grow any regardless of my post count, it doesn't matter. The only qualm I have with it is this. Doesn't it look rather cluttered to you guys. I mean you have...

USERNAME
TITLE
POST COUNT
THEOTAKUPROFILE
PHONE NUMBER
E-MAIL

Ok, so the last two don't actually exist, but you get the point. It's too busy for my eyes and makes the title look cluttered. Also, if someone wanted to know your post count, they could simply look up your profile, since it's stated there. No need to publicly display it on every post, because you can see it on your own profile. But hey.[/COLOR][/FONT]

[desertphoenix]

[quote name='Sangome'][SIZE="1"]
Anyway, I wasn't here when post count things were the norm...so this doesn't faze me. Although, as Ace pointed out, it apparently does matter to some people.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

[COLOR="DarkRed"][FONT="Verdana"]In his defense, I would like to point out that he is at least doing his name justice:animesmil. But, back to the main point.

I'm not 100% sure when/if this idea was pitched a while back, but I've liked the idea of having your title obtained by incorporating the daily post average with your total number of posts. I'm just throwing this idea out there, because I don't really have any idea how this would be possible to pull off, but would be nice to.

Other than that, I don't think that the post count titles will be a big deal as long as there is a large variety, which I believe is the case now. And [B]Mykul[/B], I shall be the only one here to be labeled scrub with just over 200 posts Thank you very. much.:animesmil [/FONT][/COLOR]