kokonutz

I tend to agree.

What's the phrase everyone keeps using: This appears to be a solution in search of a problem.

I get it that a deal was cut to get OMNI posts counting and then take the games to a non-counting forum, and that's fine for those in on the deal.

To me, though, I would rather a problem manifest before it gets fixed. I'm not the sort to remove a body part just to prevent it from eventually developing cancer.

Ancien Maestro

Flyertalk sometimes pulls up pretty slow during the traffic.. so an argument can be made that extra traffic is hurting efficiency of pulling up the website and keeping it free flowing for everyone..

essxjay

The mental tableaux here is just too precious.

I remember a time when TS/S's traffic made OMNI's look like a funeral procession. Any well-trafficked forum can be the Pull Of The Day, not just OMNI.

matthandy

It's not my decision to be offended, your post was offensive. Next time someone says something to insult me I'm blame myself for being insulted shall I?

To suggest that trip reports are meaningless to some might be right. But here's the thing, counting games are meaningless to all but those who play them, and what's that about 10 people out of 300k members? So your argument does not stack up, I'm afraid.


But other people do need and do use the information, so it is not meaningless. There is no information in game threads, they are meaningless by definition, as, they have no meaning because there is no content!

Correct, and I don't read them, there is nothing to read.

But what they will/have do/done is inflate people's post count, giving them an unfair position over others who actually contribute their knowledge to FT and try to help others. How is that fair?

No doubt viewed by the people who posted. That doesn't mean anything.

So let's just make it worse then shall we?

matthandy

For a forum that is all about frequent flyer and hotel status I find it ironic that no-one in the TB community is able to see the problem with allowing certain members to cheat their way to flyertalk status. Arguements about whether or not this status means anything aside, the status is there, in the form of titles and post counts.

To those that say that 'games' build community, well, take a look at the latest counting game thread, it's here if you haven't seen it:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/omni/...00-a-1349.html

Flick back through the pages if you will. Most of them are filled with posts from one, or two people. For example, 98% of The_Banking_Scot's last 200 posts were on this thread. How can you anyone say that this builds the community if only one or two people (that clearly already know each other) participating? Can you build a community with one person? I think not.

Take away post counts and titles, it's the only logical solution to the entire situation. There will be no more arguements about 'corrupted post counts' or 'consistency' and people's contributions will solely be measured on their visibility and quality of their input in the forums that they participate in, which is exactly how it should be.

kipper

I cannot control if you are offended by something that is the truth--that trip reports or any other forum may be meaningless to some people on FT. Being offended about anything is a personal decision, and one you have decided to make.

I'm not saying simply counting games, but rather, some of the other OMNI games as well, hence why I say OMNI games, not "counting games." There are other games taking place in OMNI, and some have been cited to build community. Those do have information that is valuable to some, from discussing hotel options to train options, at a minimum.

Those who opt to contribute information in some of the game threads are contributing information to FT, much like that which can be found in many different forums.

Isolating a group of posters and doing away with consistency is not exactly a good solution, especially considering that they could have those same posts in a lounge forum and have it count.

kokonutz

I had hoped to have some time between when OMNI posts started counting and the deadline for this vote in order to gauge whether posters would 'abuse' games, or if there was a bit of chicken little going on with regard to counting game posts.

Alas, that period for observation is not forthcoming as OMNI posts are still not counting.

My feeling is that there is a lot of grey area in the definition of 'games' and that while some might just be a single poster counting, many do contribute significantly to the feeling of community on FlyerTalk (eg, Anyone Fancy a Game of Mornington Crescent, Who Will Be The Next FlyerTalk Member To Post? An OMNI Game, etc).

And ultimately I find it inconsistent to say that all posts should count...except that some shouldn't. There is no substantive difference between posting a random number in a game every day and posting 'hello, box' in a lounge thread every day.

So I voted no to this proposal, meaning I voted that yes posts in a hypothetical OMNI - Games forum SHOULD count (confusing, right!?).

SkiAdcock

I voted the same.

As I mentioned earlier in the thread I was up in the air on this one. I read the posts for/against, and some valid arguments were made on both sides.

Ultimately I decided that we couldn't vote to have posts count in all FT forums and then turn around & immediately say well except for this one. I think we need to be consistent.

I also have enough faith in FTers for them to decide for themselves whether the content someone posts in a forum is valid based on what they say, and not just a # under their handle. I say this as someone who does post what I think is good information in the forums & doesn't play the games.

Cheers.

matthandy

That's total nonsense, walk up to a lady in the street and call her 'fat'. Then tell her that it's her fault for being insulted. You aren't living in the real world if you honestly believe that, but it's clear we are never going to agree.

My point is about volumes and about content.

The number of people who may find trip reports meaningless is going to be significantly less than those that don't. Trip reports have content, therefore they have meaning. Counting games have no content!!

'Games' in general can build the community, I get that. Counting games however, add nothing. Or are you honestly trying to say that they do? It would be great to get an answer to that question from all of the supporters of games threads.

Why should some members be allowed to cheat their way to status? Or is the answer that we should all just do it to highlight the total nonsense the post counts have become?

On the consistency arguement: doing something for the sake of it, or to continue the status quo are rarely good enough reasons. I meet people in my job every day who just want the new product to be exactly the same as the old one. How does anyone or anything grow and develop if we just continue with the same old ideas and concepts? So, the consistency arguement doesn't wash with me.

RichMSN

To me this is no different than people who get MQMs from credit card spend. There will always be those on FT who consider those people to be "cheating" their way to status. Except "status" here at FT gets one no material benefits.

I consider all this animosity to be divisive. It's been a divisive issue since Randy flipped the switch in the middle of the night in 2008. I thought that this compromise would eliminate most of this animosity, but what I tend to forget is that there are a significant number of people who would eliminate OMNI entirely if it was up to them. Or marginalize it as much as possible. I dare say I probably don't represent those members on the TB.

For me, FT is about the community first. If forced to talk about nothing but points and miles, I'm convinced this community would've been nowhere near as successful as it's been.

RichMSN

BTW, I'm glad that in one week this conversation /debate will be over. Or sooner if missing votes come in, but I'm not counting on that.

Next time this topic is brought up, it will be by someone other than me. Promise.

DeaconFlyer

So is it a good bet that all votes will last the full 2 weeks from here on out?

RichMSN

I'll let you read between the lines.

matthandy

It's not different, and it's still not right. So the fact that it's no different doesn't mean that it should be allowed to continue. Two wrongs and all that....

I think it will, if it passes, although I am not sure it will pass, so the animosity will continue. I'm in favour of OMNI, and I don't think it should be eliminated, but let's actually give credit for posts that have some kind of meaning, rather than strings of numbers.

DeaconFlyer

It's pretty amazing that a grown adult will react to the result of an election in this way. I wonder if they will ever grace us with another post in the TB forum.