I was ..... but I think you may be slipping in to character too much here - if not I may have to make you take a twelve step programme "learning to like elves" :p ..

Oh or do you just want a neg rep .....

Ok good, now I have 37 reputations points! Tnx for the ones who gave me the points ;)

*Crabs a potato*

*Throws, and HITS*

HA! Take that old man!

Being a wet blanket..
 

While I am intrigued by the levels titles, and wonder what will happen now that Fordim has five shiny jewels alongside the five plain ones, I have to say I really don't think this is the place for members to broadcast their own rep in terms of actual points. As far as I know that is information that is only available to the member and, to my mind should stay that way. Similarly I would not like to see the thresholds for the various levels made explicit.

I guess it may because I had a certain type of British upbringing but I feel it is as vulgar as bragging about how rich you are..... and by quantifying it in such precise terms it does make it seem very competitive.

The rep system acts as a guide and encouragement. Most people use it positively. Generally it seems to me good posts get rewarded and a lean spell means that a bit more effort is required. I think it is quite clever the way the system is weighted. If I get repped by one of the high-rollers, I am pleased because it is an honour to be recognised by someone who has earned the respect of the community, not because it will get me more points. To turn it in to a points grubbing exercise devalues the whole thing. The thoughtful comment of someone whose rep carries no points is not valueless.

Now I will stop sermonising.....

Saphy has a question.

Saphy was wondering if the rep points one gets on a post get nullified or removed if the thread your post is in gets deleted. Saphy has actually been wondering about that for a while.

[Saphy evidently is turning into a Gollum, and thus must refer to herself in third person.]

Saphy must now leave to chase after Takua with a rusty spork.

~ Saphy ~

I do know that if you delete a post you keep the rep whether good or bad. I once posted something, received a pm that seem to "blast" it and was shattered enough to delete it almost immediately. However someone else seized that brief window of opportunity to positively rep it... and so I felt a fraud for having got points on something I hadn't been brave enough to keep on the forum. Perhaps we should have an "honesty box" to return points we feel we have got in such circumstances....... On the other hand, I once got neg rep for a post which on second looks was a complete non-sequitur - I think I had replied to the wrong forum in error - and in my shame I deleted it (obviously it didn't spoil the flow of the thread). And the neg rep stayed too.

So I guess once you have got it, you keep it ... but I may be quite wrong....

Abercrombie has another question, what does it mean if you get a gray reputation?
(It's ok Saphy you're not alone.)

It means that the person who repped you had under 50 posts or not enough rep points of their own to give. Basically, they meant well, but it didn't really count. :rolleyes: See the Wight's post on specifications on reps for more info if you want. EDIT: See this one also, BW had a mistake in his first one which he corrected here.

Sorry AbercrombieOfRohan that might have been me. The other day after I responded to your haiku riddle my finger slipped and I might have accidently clicked something (new laptop, I'm still not used to it). If it was me I'm sorry for confusing you (maybe as compensation I'll give you a real rep point as soon as I can :D)

Ok thanks. Yah I think it was you Shelob but don't worry it's ok. You weren't the only one... :rolleyes: newbies... ;)

Limbo
 

In regards to deleted posts... If you ever change your mind, Mithalwen, you could always contact the moderator of the forum and ask for the post to be reinstatted. With the new software, a deleted post is still visible to a moderate, who can restore it.

Interesting. . .what, then, does a radical see? The post as it might have appeared to someone from a different forum? Does an extremist see it as he or she believes it should appear? Perhaps reactionaries see only the first post of the thread? Do anarchists see only a mess of randomy generated words taken from the post?

Conservatives see what the post would have looked like a hundred years ago.

tsk, tsk. Fordim, I would have thought that a member of your repute as well as reputation would not go so off-topic. Surely my typo belongs on Merendis's thread of Misplaced Homonymns. :)

More seriously, my posts have been messy of late, and few and far between. I am having monitor and other computer problems, and in fact cannot read BD at all against the black background unless I go to "printable version" or highlight posts. And even then my screen is reflecting so much from elsewhere in the room, no matter what lighting I use that it is akin to watching myself in a mirror as I write. there has to be some weird literary metaphor in that which you can play with!

And it is almost impossible to read what I am writing as I post. I suppose my lesson is that I should remember to go back and highlight each post, to check so that Professor Hedgethistle won't dock marks for me. ;)

Thanks BB - I did eventually post a rehash, which while it was less 'stream of consciousness than the original' (whose critic had chastised me for not upholding the hight standard of punctuation of the downs), was also less powerful. So I partially expiated my guilt.

Well, I think everybody deserves a rep. Cause it's very cool to have a lot of Tolkien/LOTR fans around on a forum like this. So I'd love to give everybody a point, but there are too many members

Hmm - I just got an anonymous negative rep from someone who "agreed with my point".

Which leads me to wonder whether it's a common occurrence for people to accidentally click on "disapprove" instead of "approve" (or viece versa). Have others ever experienced this, or perhaps realized that they've accidentally given the wrong kind of rep?

I've got positive comments on negative rep twice (if I remember correctly) in my experience. I suppose I know why too - the dot keeps marked the option one used last time. So, if anyone rated anyone negative, and than haven't paid heed to where the dot is, several following ratings may come out negative as well, whatever intentions

Six green shinies
 

So Prof Hedgethistle has scaled new heights and no doubt SpM is not far behind ... can the summit be far away for the Hillary and Tensing of our ranks? Or will they merely cahnge colour....

Ah, congrats, Fordim! Looks like it's off to the Blessed Realm for you!

*sniff* We'll miss you here on the hither shore of mortal lands...

Oooh I never even looked....... *sings (stephen oliver setting)*"To long, has he dwellt upon this hither shore, and in a faaaaaaaaading crown has twined the golden Elanor......."

Maybe should substitute James cook and Charles Clerke for Hillary and Tensing.... :D

Well I am a hyper-competitive person by nature, and I see nothing wrong with taking pride in your accomplishments, whether it is a fortune you have earned or the rep points for your good posting. I think competition can be a good thing, it encourages better posts. However, I see your point. You don't come here to compete with your fellow downers and don't want it to turn into that kind of environment (completely understandable).
I havn't had that happen to me but I always double check when I give posts so that I don't do it to someone else. Also I always sign my posts so that if I do do it then the person can contact me.

Yes well done Fordim.

I presume you don't mean our beloved *cough* Home Secretary? ;) I'm not sure that would be a compliment...

Well, I was thinking more in terms of Max and Paddy off on their road trip to Valinor in a camper van. And that is a compliment! ;)

Where to after this though...?

I am not saying it is wrong to acheive - you just don't have to ram things down people's throats .... like the Harry Enfield character who spends his life saying "I can't help noticing that I am considerably richer than you...". He may be rich but he is a LOMBARD and everyone hates him........

I think a congrats are in order for Fordhim, but beware Mr. Hedgethistle, any wrong immoral slip up could get you knocked off the straight road. ;)

And then he would end up back in North America.... :rolleyes:

Don't forget to ask for directions, Fordim! No chance risking you being lost!

No because that would be Charles Clarke who is definitely not a hero of mine whereas Charles Clerke is... despite the fact that I find most sailors to be the most boring people in the universe ( a little unfortunate given my location :D)

Thank goodness for that! All is right with the world again... But I shall resist making any comments about sailors, this being family friendly and all that. ;)

They have a certain reputation.....
 

I mean the yottie type rather than members of the senior service ...... although I did spend 3 years in Portsmouth..... in Freshers week we were officially warned off .... apparently for their safety .... :rolleyes: but this is very off topic....

In the interests of full disclosure, not to mention common courtesy, I should point out that it was the Saucepan Man himself who set me off on the Straight Road by repping a relatively fluffy post that he found amusing. :smokin:

Poetically perfect and entirely suitable to the Downs: I made Saucie laugh, and he sent me to the Blessed Realm! :D

Has it been determined that 11 shinies is the end-point? Have I nothing left to strive for? :eek:

Maybe this is a tactical and machiavellian move on the part of the Pan-man.... sending someone out to blaze a trail into uncharted territory...

<-- Feet still firmly on the (rounded) ground
 

Darn. If only I'd kno ... er ... you are of course most welcome, Professor, and best wishes for your forthcoming intrepid voyage. I hear that Captain Cirkdan and his motley crew are the best in the business for boldly taking you where no Wight has gone before ... ;)


As if such a devious thought would enter my mind. I am but a Saucepan Man of little brain. Mind you, being detained at Elrond's Council (and deservedly so), I am fully expecting davem to overtake me any minute. If Fordim don't find the pitfalls on the Straight road, he's sure to. :eek: ;)

By the way, I'm glad that misunderstanding over Charles Clarke/Clerke was cleared up. I would be most upset to be associated with any current politician of any description.

But Saucepan man you have admitted to being a lawyer....

To be compared with Clerke is an honour - I was rereading some of my research on him this morning - he was a man of great wit and humour combined with "an open and generous disposition", who nevertheless endeavoured to do his duty even at the eventual expense of his own life. So more or less the opposite of just about any politician I can think of....

*puts on official head* But this also describes Clarke, don't you know? ;)



Yes, I do have an 'official head', much in the manner of Worzel Gummidge...

*chokes* I think not ... I would quote cummings but it might not pass the censor...

I've only gotten one negative rep. I don't know who it's from though. I have four positive ones though.
L8er

I've discovered the awesomeness of someone repping an "old" post. See, usually I can guess accurately which posts of mine will receive reppings, and so if I feel like an ego boost, I'll go post an incredibly smart or funny sounding (haha) something, and check back in awhile. But I got repped for a post I'd written a few months ago. I was just like :eek: because it was such a welcome surprise to know that I'm not the only one who likes old threads. It feels some days that if a thread leaves page one it's officially dead.

Fea

I have recently returned to the Barrow Downs after a prolonged absence and I find I have a question about Reputations.
I think that I understand the system (after reading this thread) but I would like to know if it is deemed 'correct etiquette' to thank those who have kindly awarded me points? I should hate to be seen as ungrateful, yet a thread entirely devoted to 'Thank-you' speeches seems inappropriate.

I've had the same problem, Eruanna! I've always felt like I should... I don't know... PM anyone who is nice enough to positively comment on my stuff and say thanks. But then I noticed that nobody else does it (at least not to me), so I figured I'd appreciate each comment and hope that was good enough.

I think that the best way to acknowledge a rep is to make a mental note to return the favor at some point later, assuming that it's merited, of course.