forums.rs

Forums

Likes and Dislikes to Forums

Quick find code: 278-279-961-66222452

of 7
A  Cole
Nov Member 2003

A  Cole

Posts: 14,679 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Kopaka said :
@A Cole

Sounds like you're not the biggest fan of democracy lol.

'It doesn't matter if everyone wants something. People don't know what's best for them. You can't just give them what they ask for. Give them what they truly NEED.'

There's certainly shards of truth in what you're saying but to disregard what 'most' people want based on some standard of what is 'more important' seems like shaky territory. We have Democracy in real life to put leaders in charge so they can make the decisions. If we had a vote for every little decision that is to be made, you can imagine how the unpopular but necessary decisions will pan out.

I'm not saying that all popular ideas are irrelevant or bad for the game. I'm just saying that there are many examples that will be.

It also risks making RuneScape a one-track game. Over recent years, PvM has been one of the biggest areas of focus because it's popular amongst streamers and their viewers. By having a vote system, we risk voting for more PvM, which then drives more PvM'ers to the game, which then drives more votes for PvM, until there comes a point where the only updates we see will be for PvM. I know this is an extreme example, but there's a real risk of something like this happening if everything came down to a vote.


If there were to be an upvote system introduced, it could be useful in that it can give an indication of what's popular. However, it should have no bearing on where threads sit on the forum, and nor should it be an indicator of something that Jagex will definitely implement.


~A~

18-Jul-2021 11:14:19

Imagineering

Imagineering

Posts: 59 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
A  Cole said :
If there were to be an upvote system introduced, it could be useful in that it can give an indication of what's popular. However, it should have no bearing on where threads sit on the forum, and nor should it be an indicator of something that Jagex will definitely implement.


I agree and that's why I'm suggesting it. I think this is just an easier indicator of what's popular and what isn't rather than sifting through the comments of each thread. Keep in mind what's popular on the forums (or becomes popular) does not necessarily make it to an in-game poll.

18-Jul-2021 18:10:02

2_Tron

2_Tron

Posts: 22,959 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
likes & dislikes only serves as an extreme form of a claim, a claim where there's a shortage of important '
main arguments/useful evidence/supporting arguments
'.

likes & dislikes only serves as 'distortive/disruptive elements' to push discussions / debates off track.

18-Jul-2021 18:17:12 - Last edited on 18-Jul-2021 18:17:45 by 2_Tron

Imagineering

Imagineering

Posts: 59 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Draco Burnz said :
Archaeox said :
Pointless, as someone with many alts will just keep upvoting their own posts.

This^.

Lets not turn the forums into reddit as thats proof enough how flawed this system is.

Its has 0 pros and loads of cons.
I've already addressed the point of alts upvoting their own posts in an earlier response by stating how they can already do that in a way. This is a more general OSRS forum concern rather than a problem with this proposal itself.

I 100% agree about not wanting to turn the forums into a toxic environment like reddit. However, once again, this is not a problem pertaining to the suggested change.

Consider sites like StackOverflow, Quora and IGNboards. All these sites have a system where you can upvote comments, but if you look at the posts there is nowhere near the amount of toxicity present in reddit.

The reason for this is simple - moderation. On reddit there are so many disgusting, derogatory, and off-topic comments that go unpunished by the mods. The mods on the OSRS forums are far more vigilant and enforcing of the rules.

Reddit also has a karma system where users themselves get ranked. I don't support such a system since more established users would end up calling all the shots. The proposed upvote system would be based solely on the individual ideas proposed.

Finally, the OSRS subreddit is not organized in any real way, so achievement, meme, suggestion and general inquiries are all lumped together. Here the popularity of one specific category can overshadow that of another and lead of a small handful of posts being seen.

18-Jul-2021 18:50:18

Imagineering

Imagineering

Posts: 59 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
2_Tron said :
likes & dislikes only serves as an extreme form of a claim, a claim where there's a shortage of important '
main arguments/useful evidence/supporting arguments
'.

likes & dislikes only serves as 'distortive/disruptive elements' to push discussions / debates off track.
Fair point. Perhaps we can include a stipulation that anyone who likes/dislikes a thread needs to provide some sort of comment/argument to go with it.

18-Jul-2021 18:55:33

Kopaka
Dec Member 2023

Kopaka

Posts: 3,578 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Amascutian said :
Dislikes and few likes have a negative effect on people's mood. They physically feel bad if they don't get enough upvotes.
It's the exact same phenomenon with comments. As someone who posts a lot of suggestions I can say with certainty that my mood improves when I see that one of my thread gained traction and people are posting ideas on it, but when a thread is either empty (i.e. no upvotes) or full of people saying 'no support' (i.e. downvotes) it is frustrating and more than once has made me feel like 'quitting' the RSOF.

There is absolutely zero way to avoid this. We are humans interacting. There are inevitably going to be some who get more positive interactions, some who get more negative interactions, and some who just get less interactions at all.

The primary BENEFITS of this suggestion is that it can allow it to actually be AGAINST THE RULES to spam post 'support' or 'no support', and relegate that behaviour entirely to 'likes' and 'dislikes' which is much cleaner and more straightforward, and helps prevent threads from having 40 pages of people just saying support.

18-Jul-2021 19:38:10

Imagineering

Imagineering

Posts: 59 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Amascutian said :

-Dislikes and few likes have a negative effect on people's mood. They physically feel bad if they don't get enough upvotes.

Kopaka already addressed this.

Amascutian said :

-"I am going to downvote your comment because you downvoted mine"

I forgot to note that the upvotes/downvotes will be anonymous so that it doesn't turn into a popularity contest.

Amascutian said :

-I have seen users getting downvoted just for asking a question and/or not understanding a meme
As Kopaka said, likes/dislikes are a brief summary of one's general opinion. On a platform with similar toxicity to reddit without a like/dislike system, the dislikes would instead manifest in the form of a personal attack.

Fortunately, the mods on the runescape forums do an excellent job of creating a non-toxic, professional, and inclusive environment by making sure all threads/comments abide by the rules.

18-Jul-2021 20:22:55 - Last edited on 18-Jul-2021 20:24:24 by Imagineering

A  Cole
Nov Member 2003

A  Cole

Posts: 14,679 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Kopaka said :
It's the exact same phenomenon with comments. As someone who posts a lot of suggestions I can say with certainty that my mood improves when I see that one of my thread gained traction and people are posting ideas on it, but when a thread is either empty (i.e. no upvotes) or full of people saying 'no support' (i.e. downvotes) it is frustrating and more than once has made me feel like 'quitting' the RSOF. With comments, it's possible to find out if someone truly understood your suggestion. If you get a mere "No support" response, it's worth asking the question why they do not support it, and try to fire up a dialogue on how that "no support" can be turned into a "support".

With a simple vote system, it's not possible to do this. You will get a number of up/down votes with no comments as to why they've voted in that way. There's no way in telling if they've actually understood the suggestion, if they only support part of it, or if there's only one doubt in their mind which can be easily changed with a tweak to the suggestion.


I think it's clear that most people who use these forums see the mistakes other forums have made regarding vote systems. I do not know if there's a fair resolution to this where voting can be a positive.


Perhaps in a similar vein to the RuneLabs in days gone by, Jagex could have pop-up voting polls advertised game-wide that allows players to vote on their favourite suggestion from a pre-selected list. I know this is very different to what OP is asking for, but it is a way of implementing voting that doesn't descend into the misery we see on other forums. Like RuneLabs, this would be an upvote only poll.


~A~

18-Jul-2021 20:27:57 - Last edited on 18-Jul-2021 20:30:35 by A  Cole

Quick find code: 278-279-961-66222452 Back to Top