Why do we use post count?

[Aeif 0]

Why is post-count the global experience of characters in this forum?

Can we change that? It's really bothering me that there's no incentive to post thoughtful replies or creative comments in this forum. It'd be great if we ran things the word-count way.

Also, why are posts outside of roleplay counted as experience? Can we get rid of leveling up via spamming by irrelevant threads? I would not be surprised if 50% of the highest leveled characters' posts are nothing but spam/OOC posts.

[Zeke 0]

Why is post-count the global experience of characters in this forum?

Can we change that? It's really bothering me that there's no incentive to post thoughtful replies or creative comments in this forum. It'd be great if we ran things the word-count way.

Also, why are posts outside of roleplay counted as experience? Can we get rid of leveling up via spamming by irrelevant threads? I would not be surprised if 50% of the highest leveled characters' posts are nothing but spam/OOC posts.

Agree'd with all of this.

[Nexscarecrow 0]

Why is post-count the global experience of characters in this forum?

Can we change that? It's really bothering me that there's no incentive to post thoughtful replies or creative comments in this forum. It'd be great if we ran things the word-count way.

Also, why are posts outside of roleplay counted as experience? Can we get rid of leveling up via spamming by irrelevant threads? I would not be surprised if 50% of the highest leveled characters' posts are nothing but spam/OOC posts.

As someone who has made a thread dedicated to strawberry syrup (Easy posts), Even I think this is a great idea. I dont feel any need to make my posts detailed because no matter how detailed they are, the detail of my posts wont change anything.

[Zauis 0]

I also agree with the irrelevant thread thing. Word-count way is fine with me. I never slack on my posts so yeah. Though I'm rarely seen in the OOC part so yeah. But i have had my share. Most of mine are rp tho. Unlike the rest of the high levels. lol

Any who. I also believe that the irrelevant threads shouldn't be counted as posts for your level. I see many people going there double posting and posting in each topic with simple comments and sometimes it never has anything to do with the thread. This will stop some of the higher levels who spam in that section and some of the lower levels itching to be higher.

Meh....I have no problem with your suggestion.

[Guest]

All in all, I agree with everything Aeif just said. There are many good points made and examples of why we should do this. I tip my hat to this idea.

[Nexscarecrow 0]

I also agree with the irrelevant thread thing. Word-count way is fine with me. I never slack on my posts so yeah. Though I'm rarely seen in the OOC part so yeah. But i have had my share. Most of mine are rp tho. Unlike the rest of the high levels. lol

Any who. I also believe that the irrelevant threads shouldn't be counted as posts for your level. I see many people going there double posting and posting in each topic with simple comments and sometimes it never has anything to do with the thread. This will stop some of the higher levels who spam in that section and some of the lower levels itching to be higher.

Meh....I have no problem with your suggestion.

As someone who has DONE what Kirito Is saying I can confirm its a very broken way to get a bunch of cheap levels.

[Erroneous 0]

If any one of you is willing to sit down each day go over the 100 players that post and play each day to ensure accuracy, integrity, and legitimacy of each RP post they make and cross reference their character sheet to ensure they don't cheat, and take on all the new users who join each day.... then be my guest.

The post count method was to ensure simplicity, easebility, participation, activity, commitment, and overall fairness.

[*:25574x5y]Anyone can join at anytime on the site.
[*:25574x5y]Anyone who devoted and active enough can attain a level of completion.
[*:25574x5y]Inactive staff wouldn't hinder players progress.
[*:25574x5y]Nobody could cheat as staff could delete spam posts and drop players level back down.
[*:25574x5y]Encouraged players to post outside the RP sections so they wouldn't get burned out from only RP'ing.
[*:25574x5y]And your levels always auto-updated no matter what, taking less time calculating and more time RP'ing.

Now of course if you still don't like it, then as always suggest a new model and staff will review if they want it or not. So far here all I see is complaints and not suggestions or recommendations on how to improve it as you guys are requesting.

[Inu 0]

Is there not some sort of mod you can make to the site that tallies exp earned by length of post. The more you post, the more exp you earn? I was on a site like that for years.... 0-250 would start you off with the lowest amount you could earn, 250-500 would get you a little more, 500-750 would be a little higher then that, then 750-100... so on, so forth. Because I definitely think that earning exp based on post, definitely encourages quality roleplaying. However, I can understand that if this isn't something easily done by a mod of sorts, how it could be difficult to manage.

[Erroneous 0]

Is there not some sort of mod you can make to the site that tallies exp earned by length of post. The more you post, the more exp you earn? I was on a site like that for years.... 0-250 would start you off with the lowest amount you could earn, 250-500 would get you a little more, 500-750 would be a little higher then that, then 750-100... so on, so forth. Because I definitely think that earning exp based on post, definitely encourages quality roleplaying. However, I can understand that if this isn't something easily done by a mod of sorts, how it could be difficult to manage.

You know what the problem with that? Players can use BBCode to cheat by filling the bottom of their posts with random bbcodes like:

[b][i][u]
[quote][code][list][list=][*][img=[url][flash=][/flash][/url]][/list][/list]

And believe it or not, the counter would still count each character. Soooo?

[Inu 0]

Couldn't people who do something like that be punished for it? With a warning, or something? Three strikes your out sorta thing. I mean... it's just as good to keep order...

Cause in reality... people could, and are, milking this system just as easily as they could that one. But at least with that one you could set up a rule against such.

Again... I'm not demanding anything, I just totally agree with this. As someone who is finding it hard to level, given that my posts can be so lengthy.

[Erroneous 0]

Couldn't people who do something like that be punished for it? With a warning, or something? Three strikes your out sorta thing. I mean... it's just as good to keep order...

Cause in reality... people could, and are, milking this system just as easily as they could that one. But at least with that one you could set up a rule against such.

It can simply be tucked at the bottom without any words between the brackets, players would definitely never notice, staff can however by clicking the edit button, but how many staff members would be needed to sit here daily and click the edit button of every RP post to ensure there are no cheaters? This goes back to why I aimed for simplicity, and a simple delete all posts can easily reset unfair spammers back to level 0.

As someone who is finding it hard to level, given that my posts can be so lengthy.

Hurr, so many people lapped me on the site and I had the unfair advantage of being the first one here.

[Aeif 0]

Subject to edits.

Now of course if you still don't like it, then as always suggest a new model and staff will review if they want it or not. So far here all I see is complaints and not suggestions or recommendations on how to improve it as you guys are requesting.

• Hold onto your horses. I'm getting there.
  
  

If any one of you is willing to sit down each day go over the 100 players that post and play each day to ensure accuracy, integrity, and legitimacy of each RP post they make and cross reference their character sheet to ensure they don't cheat, and take on all the new users who join each day.... then be my guest.

• First off, one doesn't necessarily have to validate each post every day. This could be done over a weekly or monthly basis.
  
  Example:
  
  • There are word count goals. The minimum word count to receive an exp point is 50. For every 200 words thereafter, another experience point is given. Words are counted through

http://www.wordcounttool.com/ after the post is made, so any code is not counted in addition to text. The number of words is then stated after an edit. Each 'roleplay' that a player participates in must be linked in their character sheet (adventures so far). Each entry in the journal details the total number of words in a roleplay. Every month, on a designated time and date, GMs look through character sheets to ensure that the validity of each character is sound. Players found with an unreasonable amount of disparity between their stated level and their actual amount of experience points are given a temporary ban of 1 week. Players with multiple offenses are given longer suspensions, with the possibility of a permanent ban or deletion of characters.

Problems/Arguments

• 1: Edits on a post can be made long after the post's total amount of words is accounted for, and players can add more experience points behind GMs' backs.
  
  • Resolution: Lock threads after they have been completed.
    2: The amount of time it takes to methodically go through these threads and count up words would make verifying posts unrealistic.
    
    • Resolution: Reward players for exposing cheaters. Reward players for following the rules over long amounts of time. Showcase virtuous players to the community, and show that good behavior does not go unrewarded. Alternatively, punish cheaters immediately and make examples of them to discourage other players from cheating.

  The post count method was to ensure simplicity, easebility, participation, activity, commitment, and overall fairness.

  The current post-count method is simple, easy, and encourages activity and commitment. However, the current post count method also does not discourage players from being off-topic. Posts that do not have anything to do with SAO roleplay are rewarded with experience points. This encourages activity for the sake of activity, and not for the sake of roleplay. The forums may be active, but this does not necessarily mean that the roleplay is active. Ensuring that players must put in effort in order to receive experience for their posts will foster a healthy and productive environment for entertaining and creative stories.

  As for fairness, there must not be exceptions; the adult section of the Floors 1-10 thread only counts non-lemon posts toward EXP credit. These are legitimate, if not garish, posts. Do these posts not have the same value as a post about strawberry syrup or breasts? Where do we draw the line?

  Mixed it with real strawberries and put it in a pie that's what we did

  OMF IM ADDICTED TO THAT STUFF

  dude man i 100% agree, except B's are totally fine

  1v1 IRL. Let's do this Aeif.

  vs.

  The kiss was slow and gentle at first, as Nikki took her time to experience every bit of what swift had to offer. Not to long after though she pulled the woman in tighter, deepening the kiss. Slowly Nikki ran her fingers down swifts body now stopping at her hips, before gently pushing her towards the bed. "Are we allowed to do this? She whispered in regards to Swifts current relationship. The last thing Nikki wanted to ever do was cause any sort of problem.

  Rage awaited an answer from the chick that was sitting next to him and hopefully enough she told him, Rage then continued to say Claire Swift huh.. Mind if I just call you Swift? Rage said to her as she began drinking again, when she had finished drinking she had said something unexpected You know... you're pretty hot. Rage began to blush and he began feeling erection from his groin, Rage then replied U-uh thanks.. you're.. pretty beautiful yourself.. Rage began to blush and say those words/sentences in a nervous-such tone trying not to sound like a complete douche

  For context, I've added additional pieces of information you might find interesting.

  - Erroneous' post count: memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=2, most active forum as of March 15, 2014 9:05PM PST: Support and Feedback, 143 posts, 31.78% of user's posts.

  - Number of posts in the Sword Art Online roleplay forum: 11451 as of March 15, 2014 9:05PM PST, Number of posts in the Out of Context forum: 3216 as of March 15, 2014, 9:05PM PST. Divide 3216 by 11451 and you will get 0.28085, or 28.1%; The Out of Context forum alone has roughly 30% or 3/10s of the Sword Art Online roleplay forum's posts. This does not mean that 3/10s of every roleplayer's posts are in the OoC forum, but it is an interesting thing to note.

  ---

  [*:13q33qs0]Anyone who devoted and active enough can attain a level of completion.

  [*:13q33qs0]Inactive staff wouldn't hinder players progress.

  [*:13q33qs0]Nobody could cheat as staff could delete spam posts and drop players level back down.

  [*:13q33qs0]Encouraged players to post outside the RP sections so they wouldn't get burned out from only RP'ing.

  [*:13q33qs0]And your levels always auto-updated no matter what, taking less time calculating and more time RP'ing.

  [*:13q33qs0]Anyone can join at anytime on the site.

  Again, healthy activity fosters healthy activity, which in turn encourages competition between players. However, unhealthy activity, such as spamming for post counts, only results in unhealthy competition between 'time'. Players who have the time to post comments with little thought or intellectual value should not be more rewarded than players who don't have the time to post such comments, but make the extra effort to write well-thought out ideas and sentences.

  To reduce the possibility of cheating, the staff could simply discount all non-roleplay related threads for experience credit.

  Players should be encouraged to post outside of RP sections, but should not be rewarded for doing so. The problem with rewarding players for commenting outside of roleplay is that threads can get off-topic if people are using non-roleplay related threads to further their characters in the roleplay.

  It is true, however, that this way is easier and would take less time. But as the adage goes, "Anything worth doing is worth doing right."

[Daeron 1]

The kiss was slow and gentle at first, as Nikki took her time to experience every bit of what swift had to offer. Not to long after though she pulled the woman in tighter, deepening the kiss. Slowly Nikki ran her fingers down swifts body now stopping at her hips, before gently pushing her towards the bed. "Are we allowed to do this? She whispered in regards to Swifts current relationship. The last thing Nikki wanted to ever do was cause any sort of problem.

Rage awaited an answer from the chick that was sitting next to him and hopefully enough she told him, Rage then continued to say Claire Swift huh.. Mind if I just call you Swift? Rage said to her as she began drinking again, when she had finished drinking she had said something unexpected You know... you're pretty hot. Rage began to blush and he began feeling erection from his groin, Rage then replied U-uh thanks.. you're.. pretty beautiful yourself.. Rage began to blush and say those words/sentences in a nervous-such tone trying not to sound like a complete douche

My names in each of those ^~^ sorry had to point that out

[Cinder 0]

Hahaha, I noticed this as well, and I agree that it is an unfair way to level, but at the same time, I'd like to bring a point across from a new player's stand point.

One thing I would like to say, is that, (not to bash the more veteran players on the site), having a leveling system in general makes new players heavily discouraged. I mean, I understand that everyone has to earn a place, and none of the guys that have been around forever want to have someone who literally just arrived at the same level, but at the same time, is after awhile the starter community is going to segregate themselves from the rest of the site, and then the younger guys are going to eventually segregate themselves from the even newer guys. Now, that probably doesn't seem that bad to a lot of you, but sometimes people want to play as one of the higher end characters, fighting the epic bosses for the first time with the rest of them. They don't want to just follow suit because they can't out experience them due to the amount of previous experience they've already gained.

I understand, all the veteran players earned it and it helps encourage posting, but it's really discouraging knowing that just because you didn't find the site sooner, now you're perpetually stuck at a lower level then everyone else, because by the time they reach the level cap, they'd have already cleared the game before you can catch up.

EDIT: And I know, the newer players could just post more then the veteren players to catch up, but isn't that asking for a bit much? Too play with the vets, you need to do what they did in a fifth of the time, or sixth, or seventh, or even tenth. Don't you think?

[Daeron 1]

I must say, all of these posts are great points. I remember when I first came here, being Level 1, Kirito for example was like Level 18, who is now at level 23 While im at 8. It isn't easy getting higher leveled. I want to be able to fight bosses, but I'm too weak and the higher of a floor we go on, bosses get harder, essentially meaning, I need to level EVEN more just to even survive on the floor.

[Alciel 0]

If that's the case, then why not have an experience system in place? Granted, like stated earlier, it's less convenient as it results in more calculation and reliance on administrators, but it's also more precise and fair. For instance, calculating experience based off the amount of words per RP post, perhaps? Each word = 1exp. So in turn, if you were to do a detailed roleplay post, it would benefit you in the long run by giving you a big boost in RP. This would eliminate the problem of lolposting for levels as well as encourage more RP compared to 2-4 sentence RP posts like I've seen a few times.

If you want to expand on it, then maybe even giving set exp for the available quests. Like "Secret Medicine in the Forest" would give you 350 exp, 'Calming Soul' gives you 230 exp, 'Blades of Dreams' gives you 600 exp, etc. These are just examples, but that way its a bit more consistent rather than "he who posts the most is the highest level! BEGIN THE POST WARS!"

[Daeron 1]

I can agree with this, but they would then hinder RP's as it had been said, because every post would need to be approved, turning a three day thread to a week long thread. Perhaps any post in the RP areas give normal EXP while non-RP related threads only give 25% or 50% of the typical experience. Therefore rp'ing gives standard exp and non rp still gets rewarded but substantially less, making spam much less valuable.

[Cinder 0]

I have no intention of coming here and changing anything, and I see what everyones trying to do, so in all honesty, to keep what you guys are trying to accomplish, and balance it out for new players is nearly impossible without giving the new players a major exp boost to rocket them to the top, but then it again, kind of defeats the purpose of having the leveling system in the first place if lowbies are just going to get dinged to the top anyway.

I'm new here, so don't think I expect to take charge or anything, these are just opinions of mine since the topic was raised, and another site failed because members were in the 50's, and weren't allowing new players teh ability to fairly catch up, so members stopped joining, and the site eventually fell apart.

I can agree with this, but they would then hinder RP's as it had been said, because every post would need to be approved, turning a three day thread to a week long thread. Perhaps any post in the RP areas give normal EXP while non-RP related threads only give 25% or 50% of the typical experience. Therefore rp'ing gives standard exp and non rp still gets rewarded but substantially less, making spam much less valuable.

I completely aggree with increasing the experience gains of roleplay posts over spam posts.

[Daeron 1]

Although leveling is fast up until level 7, it's still many posts. So I was thinking

RP Posts are worth .2 Exp or something while nonrp is .1 Exp meaning to earn a full point you need 10 posts as for rp posts it only takes 5.

[Haine 0]

I have a solution for the spam posting issues! Why don't we simply NOT count OOC posts towards our level! I've noticed when I posted in the Quick Replies section, my progress didn't change at all. Maybe we could move OOC posts to quick reply? Should that be considered? That way you wont have to worry about artificial levels, the progress will remain the same, while only the amount of posts is boosted up.