Seemingly to sully some posters and not others for high OMNI post counts and perceived lack of participation elsewhere on FT. But perception isn't always reaility, luckily; szg does post beyond OMNI including this thread from the Community Forum hosting an FT Do in SZG.

It's important to get the TB members on the public record about as many issues as possible, particularly ones that are this controversial. This way, when the next election comes around, the members can make sure they vote for people who are representing their views.

How many FTers voted in the last TB election? How many of the FTers who even care to vote for TB members will even view threads about current TB motions? There are political games, and "putting others on the spot" is just another political game.

How much and what kind of an impact will such political games have? I know that votes for or against this specific motion won't influence me. Perhaps if the motion were more concrete -- something like a suggestion to "reconsider" is not a concrete motion IMO -- then it would impact my voting decisions.

The fact that few people view TB threads and even fewer probably have the time to review them during the election is exactly why it is so important to have the TB members go on the record about controversial issues. It's easy to view the list of motions that were voted on during the TB term, because that sub-forum doesn't get cluttered.

With TB members going on the record, it will be very easy to review those votes during the election process so that the members who are passionate about one or more issues can see if their views were represented by the TB this year.

OK, so there are three reasons I have been able to find why folks don't think OMNI posts should count:

1. High post counts by OMNI gamesters make other folks with "serious" high post counts feel jealous.

2. Newbies might be misled by high post counts by gamesters who really don't know much about frequent flyer stuff.

3. Removing OMNI post counts will maintain consistency.

The consistency argument logically leads us directly into a quagmire that is way too messy to cross. If we are going to be really consistent, no non-travel-related posts should count, and where would that take us?

You know, if FlyerTalk did away with everything except travel-related posts, I honestly believe it would start to fall apart within a year. Take a hard look at the folks who come here day after day. Sure some of us are heavy travelers who look for deals and tricks to maximize our dollars, miles, points and comfort on the road, but, seriously, how much is there for most of us to learn after 5 or 10 years of working out programs and checking into FT every single day.

FlyerTalk is what it is because of the unique and amazing relationships that we have built with one another, even the adversarial relationships make us a stronger community. FT thrives because, even folks who don't travel much anymore, think of it as home and come here every day to see what's happening with their friends whom they have known for years. FT is a cyber family/home to the road warrior who is stuck in a hotel room night after night while his/her kids are half way around the country, or even the world. FlyerTalk has become for many of us a place to connect with people all over the world and that is pretty special.

Something magical (that didn't have anything to do with points or miles) happened way back in the beginning that drew us closer than we could have dreamed and made us and FT a very unique, special community that, in the end, is every bit as important as our miles and points.

I would suspect that I probably have more miles and points than 99% of the folks who frequent FlyerTalk, but I would happily trade all of them in a heartbeat for the amazing, real-life, friends I have made along the way. I have, for instance, been blasted by a couple of folks in this thread whom I consider real-life friends and really and truly like. If I should learn that one of them died suddenly, I would use as many of my dollars, miles and/or points as it took to get myself to their funeral to pay my respects because that is the kind of community we have become.

IMHO, that is why all posts should count.

a fourth: it motivates more people in posting counting threads and that way clutter the front pages of OMNI and make it more difficult to find more interesting OMNI contributions.

As the creator of this thread and game, I am rather happy that whatever is posted to that thread does not count anymore towards one’s “post count”.

Traffic to that thread remains steady regardless. This proves that one’s “post count”, for the most part, basically does not matter to most of those FlyerTalk members who post to that thread.

Now maybe people will stop using that thread as a “scapegoat” once and for all and allow the FlyerTalk members who participate in it to freely enjoy it.

Earlier in this thread, I said that of the posters who have more than 1,000 posts in Delta Forum Lounge Thread, there is only one who I think would be upset if they were removed from the post count.

You are the creator of that thread, too. Do you agree with my estimate?

That, Rudi, is most certainly true and is exactly the reason that I had suggested in the private TalkBoard Forum that we split out OMNI games into a separate category, and then decide whether or not games posts should count.

The way I understand it, that was also Koko's motivation in making this motion--to get everything back to the way it was, to give us time to sit back, solicit input, and develop a broad-reaching solution.

I am still hopeful that we can find a way to accomplish that goal.

I have not had a chance to read this thread in its entirety, as I realized its existence only tonight.

However, if anything posted to that thread did not count towards one�s �post count�, that would be fine with me as well.

I am not certain about whom you are referring, but I can say for certain that in the case of both threads launched by me, it is not the �post count� that is the impetus that drives the participation in either thread.

I prefer not to mention any name but I am basing that on the particular poster's very vehement objection to not having Omni posts counted. I would imagine that this would extend to posts on the Lounge thread as well.

I believe we are in complete agreement that the post count plays no part at all as an impetus to participating in the Lounge thread. I am not familiar enough with the people in the "Who will be the next..." thread to comment on most of them, but the member with the highest count there certainly agrees with you.

(Bolding Mine)
First of all, I do feel FT is very special. ^ However, are we looking at the same motion?

According to post #1 (quoted below), the current motion TB is voting on has nothing to do with counting all posts. It's about a recommendation to Randy to reconsider his decision. Am I that wrong?
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Punki, I really want to thank you for trying to summarize what you had read. I just can't pinpoint what's not right. Your wording/summary doesn't seem to accurately capture what had been said.

For example, both Kiwi Flyer and tazi had gone on record and disagreed with your jealousy "assessment/conclusion" (Me 3), but you keep using it in your summarized 1st reason (at least twice). Maybe that's how you "perceive" it but that's not what's been said. As for your summarized 2nd reason, it's a byproduct from post padding (which is applicable to all fora, not just OMNI). Gamesters in OMNI happen to be the most extreme cases of post padding. I am not sure what consistency you are referring to in your summarized 3rd reason though.

I don't know. Maybe it's just me with language barriers. Maybe it's how you punctuate the points.

The jealousy comment was made by people who are for OMNI posts counting. Punki using it as a reason just goes to show how little she has really paid attention to those of us on the opposing side.

And yes, you are correct in regards to what the motion actually states. It is a reccommendation and nothing more.

Yes, we are looking at exactly the same motion. The motion is asking Randy to back up to where we were two weeks ago, reinstate OMNI post counts, and give the TalkBoard time to continue their discussions, and deliberations and come up with a well though out, comprehensive solution to the gaming issue.

As to the rest of your post, I am not entirely sure that I understand your point lin821.

Kiwi Flyer made a very clear case for why he does not think OMNI posts should count. I understand his position, have thanked him for his input, have considered his point of view, and very much appreciate it. His is IMHO the best and most clearly stated case against OMNI post counts. I don't necessarily agree with his conclusions, but can really see where he is coming from and respect his clarity as well as his point of view.

To the best of my knowledge, Tazi had not stated a clear reason why he/she is opposed to OMNI post counts--please correct me if I am wrong. I really do try to read every single post related to TalkBoard motions, but there are times, especially when I am traveling a lot that I may miss something.

What are you basing this on?