If you can find me a forum where Karma/Reputation/etc is given primarily to those that contribute rather than those who are kindasortafunny ... ... ...I'll +karma you. Sure,
that was a bit of a twisted joke, but in all honesty, I think you will be quite hard pressed to do so. You may have noticed already but the [ + ] button alone is not the best way to reward someone for something they have done. The "Reply" button is, or at the very least you will need to use the two in conjunction. I'm certain you can already see why, and if you can't, you likely belong in the category of people that is being discussed in this thread. Run!
Certainly, there are those who deserve forum-wide recognition for things the have done - things that have been of great benefit to the community, things that often go above and beyond what is asked of anybody. If you feel that Karma is far too cheap a reward, don't fret; there's something called Cookies of Awesomeness (
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,7123.0.html) for that. What gives it the value that it has? The fact that it's so rare? The fact that SG is the one pinning the button to your uniform? The fact that it's not just some depressingly plain number like "1337", but a
cookie? Who knows? The fact remains that it does what you ask of Karma to do right now, and it works. The current system should stay as it is.
Also, consider this: a change in the system that creates room for exploitation is a change that should not be made. Even if Karma's value has slipped a few feet down the drain, that may not be such a bad thing. Give it more value, more of a "purpose" if you will, make it a valuable collector's item, elevate it to
Cookie status, then you will find people engaging in questionable and shady dealings. Because it's something that almost anyone can give, and something that almost anybody can receive, you will need to greatly reduce the number of users that can give it in order to fix the exploitation problem (which you will be worried about
only because it has value...!) and that's quite unfair. I am not saying that everybody's Karma will start shooting through the roof the moment this change is made since I know that this community is better than that, but the same could not be said of a less ethical userbase. But as long as there is room for exploitation, someone will eventually come along and take a few liberties with the system.
Karma is like a party favor right now - no, better yet, a shiny rock. Everybody loves shiny rocks. You love them. I love them. You and I might get a little jealous if you see someone walk by with a pile of shiny rocks that is bigger than ours combined. You and I may become a little disappointed when everyone is giving shiny rocks to a specific user while the shiny-rock-piles of the
Global Moderators remain unchanged day after day despite all the work they do behind the scenes [/suckup]. But you would be royally ticked off if those piles of shiny rocks were Diamonds. The difference between shiny rocks that bear little value yet are coveted so, and Diamonds that are rare overpriced symbols of the elite, is just that big. So it is better for Karma to keep its role of the shiny rock. Do not make them Diamonds. It's not worth it.
Ninja'd by plastique, who clearly knows how things should be.
