Kobold King

I took pains to say "to me." I apologize if I sounded harsh or argumentative, but my point remains; Meg says that she would like to see the rep system go, and states her rationale as being because the context of upvotes has changed over time. There are many people who adore the rep system as it is now. It brings joy to people. If someone advocates removing it from the forum, I strongly believe there should be a stronger reason than an anti-off-topic bias. Deleting the reputation system solely because it isn't always used for on-topic discussions would serve no practical purpose to anyone. I believe that if the system is removed, it should be for a reason that actually benefits members of the community.

Judging people by how many points they have will always be a bad idea. The reputation system is not for judging the overall quality of a member; perhaps thinking that is where it all went wrong in the first place. In any case, this is not solely a BS discussion board. It is a community, and getting rid of an entire system solely because it's being used for purposes that aren't strictly related to Brandon Sanderson seems needless and harsh to me. What good would getting rid of it be? How would you ever ensure that only strictly Sanderson-related posts get upvoted? What good would come of deleting the reputation system just because people use it on off-topic threads?

It comes in red?

Never fear! I arrive with a single upvote. Let this most precious thing be counted as +1 to every participant on this thread, now and forever.

Thank you Mark, but Brandon Sanderson would have responded with at least twenty thousand words, the last five thousand of which would have been dedicated to a sudden twist in his opinion that leaves us all gasping and theorizing about his true intent for the next year. I also trust our wonderful staff, but I feel the admins are placing too much emphasis on the "value" of rep points when rep points have no value outside of their basic communicative purpose. The reputation system is not a currency; talk of inflating or devaluing it does not make logical sense. The reputation system is not a competition; it has no need of rules to keep it fair or arbitrarily small. The reputation system is a smile, or a nod, or in the case of downvotes a frown or a stern shaking of the head. It's a form of communication that's meant to be applied post by post, not member by member. Keeping up with rep and rep titles is good fun, but I feel like these newest measures are meant to moderate the system solely for the sake of that fun, at the expense of the system's actual function. The game of rep is tangential to the system. The new quota is like outlawing smiles to prevent the "devaluing" of mirth. I feel what we had before was perfect; a quota of ten, or Domi forbid, getting rid of the system altogether, doesn't sit well with me.

Can I make my opinion known? The value of the reputation system does not now nor has it ever lay in the sum total of upvotes a member acquires during his/her time here. The value of the rep system lies in the happiness it gives people to see their individual posts upvoted. If someone posts a joke in the joke thread, upvotes are a sign that they made people laugh--a sign that people who won't necessarily comment saw the post and enjoyed it, indicating that the person's continued presence is desirable. When it comes to RP posts, upvotes are a sign that people's hard work and nearly obsessive writing is appreciated and that they didn't go through the toil of writing a long post for nothing. This forum is a positive place. People like coming here and being with their friends. People like having a visual reminder each day that people like what they have to say, be it a theory or a joke or a well-written piece of prose. Threads turn green and vibrant, the upvotes like the laughs and smiles of friends making memories at a picnic. With a low quota, fields of verdant appreciation turn into fields of gray apathy. People try to show their appreciation for posts but find themselves unable to do so. Unless these people spam the boards with a bunch of "LOL" or "This" comments, the person who submitted a joke or theory is left to wonder whether their contribution was valued or just getting in the way. A place of positivity becomes a place of doubt. If the "value" of reputation points is important enough to risk this, by all means reset the system. I don't care. No one actually cares where they rank on the rep list. Reset it monthly if you wish, daily if you feel the need to. But please, please, don't turn a place of constant joy and support into a place where appreciation has to be carefully rationed throughout a day. Don't turn this green paradise into a somber gray. Thank you.

Anyway, getting back to randomness:

Ha! The upvotes are back! Time to catch up on all these fantabulous posts... Wait, what's this? "You have reached your quota of positive votes for the day"?

The upvote feature is going to be disabled for days? *Begins twitching uncontrollably.*

That's awesome. Are you hoping for a girl, a boy, or the prophesied chosen one who will lead us out of these dark times and into a new golden age?

Yes, but I imagine Scribbler would be more valuable where producing raw gasoline is concerned.

And so her reign of terror begins.

Something like that. I suspect bikes would start getting more popular.

I think Arsenal would be much more likely to give out buses to a handful of certified drivers who need a job than he would be to try keeping up with the car and gasoline demands of the entire city.

The City Guard finally catches up with her when she's found outside Autumn's house trying to eat corn out of the bird feeder.

What Impact thinks she's doing: What everyone else sees:

Not yet...

This gif accurately summarizes every Sam / Voidgaze interaction to date.

I have literally spent hours writing what I felt was the perfect RP post, only to get twice as many upvotes for the meme I made of it thirty seconds after posting. Upvotes are a mysterious, mysterious thing.

But... but... it's so upbeat and cheery... with an underlying message of faith... it's happy... why why

Happy birthday Lark! You'll be happy to know that I show off that piece of icon art you did for my alien species request all the time. Most people think your art is cooler than what I've come up with for the species, but that's to be expected.

That wasn't pushy at all. That was awesome. Thanks.

He simply started posting less and less until he was gone altogether. Which is a shame, since he was hilarious. Way funnier than me--I'd never have reached the top if he'd stayed active. Seriously. The dude was Charlie Chaplin and I'm a birthday party clown.

Instructions unclear. Farming on a high-speed train chase now. This is actually pretty cool, though the chickens keep flying out the open window.

I don't think Scribbler's really a frontline kind of Epic, but it'd make sense for her to stick around the clinic as a bodyguard. Arsenal would be ticked off about her interrupting his business to ask for an assignment right now, but he'd also be moderately ticked off if she heard about the clinic attack and assigned herself as Game's bodyguard. There's no winning against Arsenal's attitude, so feel free to write the situation however you see fit. (It doesn't have to be Arsenal who gives her the order, by the way. If she needs to be assigned there by a superior officer but doesn't want to deal with Arsenal, there are plenty of NPC officers with the authority to send her there.)