"The Post Count causes ELITISM and should be done away with! " Do you agree?

[Drops a Sweet Katana]

I don't think I've ever seen an example of elitism against one's post count on this forum ever. If anything, I've found more of a welcoming attitude towards posters with under 100 posts. Someone who's new to the forum obvious won't understand the in-jokes, the personalities and whatnot right off the bat. It's all part of the learning curve.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I'm what, nearing 9000 posts? I certainly don't see myself as an elitist because of it. In fact, I don't tend to draw much attention to myself. I just comment on threads that interest me, or if I have something stupid to say.

 

[GenericAmerican]

I don't even know how many posts I have.

EDIT: Now I do.

It's not really something I pay attention too.

 

[Daverson]

I've said this, like, 20 times already, but I did once have someone tell me I was wrong about something simply because they had a higher post-count than me...

Remember kids, in the immortal words of Mr. T, a wise man talks because he's got something to say, a fool talks because he's got to say something.

 

[DugMachine]

I assume you mean Boudica (I also assume we can mention the name, given her banning).

Yeah, when she wasn't getting into MASSIVE arguments, she was derailing threads left right and center, even worse than Daystar,
[small]( @ToastiestZombie: take note)[/small]

For instance, in this thread . . .
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.385962-Our-favorite-badges

Boudica didn't make a single on-topic post in that entire thread. It was all just derailment nonsense.

Yar she the one. I don't enjoy name dropping but I strongly hint to the point that someone will get who I'm referring to haha.

 

[ToastiestZombie]

I will say though that some new members seem to come to this site with the intention of posting as MUCH as possible to up the count and get known. A certain user who is now banned comes to mind. Came in only a few months ago and already had a 2k+ post count for... being controversial and posting a billion times in one topic? *shrug*

I assume you mean Boudica (I also assume we can mention the name, given her banning).

Yeah, when she wasn't getting into MASSIVE arguments, she was derailing threads left right and center, even worse than Daystar,
[small]( @ToastiestZombie: take note)[/small]

For instance, in this thread . . .
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.385962-Our-favorite-badges

Boudica didn't make a single on-topic post in that entire thread. It was all just derailment nonsense.

Oh god that's some of the worst thread-derailing I've ever seen. Also, I love that I'm known as the one who hates Daystar. I really don't, what I do HATE is seeing off-topic conversations between some of the more popular people. It's just bloody annoying to me, and if I had my way it would get mod wrath, so they learn to use PM's and user groups instead of clogging up the forums with off-topic conversations.

 

[Calibanbutcher]

Put simply, it's a load of bollocks. So what if Daystar or Fappy post a lot? If you think it's a really an issue with a select few posting most of the things how about YOU post MORE instead of whining? Exercise a stiff upper lip you smelly, possibly French, peasants. I haven't created a single topic during my time here, it's not because I'm scared our Grand Lord Daystar will feed me to his younglings if he disapproves. It's because I haven't thought of anything I personally deem thread worthy. I don't post much because 8 times out of 10 I just brain vomit all over the comment box or have no strong opinion on the topic at hand.

At the end of the day it's just a sodding number.

Mr Grand Lord Daystar, if you please.

Can't let the riffraff get too familiar now, can we?

What, you are neither a sir nor a doctor nor a professor?
Why should I even listen to someone of such a low standing.
Tsa, Grand Lord my a$$, come talk to me when you are Supreme Emperor.
Professor Supreme God-Emperor of th Universe.
Like me.
Until then, I shall treat you as the low-life you truly are.
Boy.

Sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of a Japanese Shinto Goddesses in the form of a rainbow wolf being more awesome than a manatee.

Well, I would ask you to stop lying to yourself, but clearly your delusions of grandeur have finally managed to damage your brain.

How could a character from a bombed legend of zelda rip-off, loosely based on an ancient japanese deity born from a higher deity's dirty eye, even hold a candle to a Glowing Rainbow Manatee. With a pun attached?

You're not even using the best manatee related meme.

You should feel all the shame a sea cow can feel.

Because making fun of one of the most famous aerial disasters of all time is much better than simply making an innocent joke using the depicted sea-life for a pun whilst also featuring pretty colours?

If I have to tell you why you're wrong, then you have truly learned nothing from me.

You were my most promising student too...

Apparently you are unclear on who is the student and who is the master young one.
But clearly your understanding of memes is lacking at best, especially when it comes to manatees.
There isn't even a rainbow in there.

There is. You just can't see it because the photo is black and white....

So an artist decided to get a wonderful rainbow in a picture with a huge manatee and then decided the best option would be to use black and white?
For a rainbow manatee?
Do I even need to spell out why that immediately renders this image incredibly stupid?

 

[Superbeast]

I've seen a bit of post-count elitism...when I lurked/freshly joined a good few years ago now. Aside from the (incredibly rare) odd post seen here and there, it is simply not something that I have seen happen on here since. Mind you, I do tend to spend my time lurking in R&P, so maybe it occurs in other sub-sections, but not that I've noticed.

Thus I don't think post-counts should be gotten rid of. They are a nice reminder to have about, I enjoy being faintly surprised every time I see mine (for some reason I always think it is a good two-thirds lower than it is) given the amount of time I spend (and have spent) here.

 

[Altorin]

That doesn't really make any sense. I haven't been super active on the forums for a while, but I don't think people gather together and discuss their postcount. There's a Neo group, but it's pretty quiet and is more just a place with a list of the Neos, but that's not elitism. Neo's don't sit around going "muahaha, we're awesome", it's more just like "grats on not being a douchebag." There's also the IRC channel, and that can be pretty inclusive, but that's not based on Postcount - anyone can go on the IRC channel, make friends there, and be included in the inclusiveness.

Can a high post count make a single person feel like they're better? Sure, but more often then not, those people are eventually banned. There's no real safety in seniority on the Escapist forums, they're pretty well moderated. And I've never seen a person turned away because they're new. That's just silly, how does one even do that? Bottom line, in other, smaller forums, you might get jerkwads flaunting their seniority over others, but not here. I think people who complain about it aren't really thinking it through all that much.

 

[Altorin]

Sorry for double post, was sure I saw someone post under me, oops.

I will say though that some new members seem to come to this site with the intention of posting as MUCH as possible to up the count and get known. A certain user who is now banned comes to mind. Came in only a few months ago and already had a 2k+ post count for... being controversial and posting a billion times in one topic? *shrug*

I assume you mean Boudica (I also assume we can mention the name, given her banning).

Yeah, when she wasn't getting into MASSIVE arguments, she was derailing threads left right and center, even worse than Daystar,
[small]( @ToastiestZombie: take note)[/small]

For instance, in this thread . . .
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.385962-Our-favorite-badges

Boudica didn't make a single on-topic post in that entire thread. It was all just derailment nonsense.

Oh god that's some of the worst thread-derailing I've ever seen. Also, I love that I'm known as the one who hates Daystar. I really don't, what I do HATE is seeing off-topic conversations between some of the more popular people. It's just bloody annoying to me, and if I had my way it would get mod wrath, so they learn to use PM's and user groups instead of clogging up the forums with off-topic conversations.

your post count for this post (or at least when I saw it) was 5555. Now, if we didn't have post counts, how could we know of these funny little moments when our post count is strange? lol

 

[Jfswift]

I'm indifferent toward the post count really. It's there. I look at others post count sometimes to kind of gauge how long they've been here, but again it's idle curiosity and doesn't affect my perspective of them. Ironically if we're talking about game kill count systems though, then yes, I say do away with them because I do run into elitists out there (sorry off-topic /rant)

 

[Therumancer]

Post count doesn't have much to do with Post Quality, but in general when people start talking about core issues involving the site or it's community it's a good indication as to whether someone deserves to have an opinion, or is likely to know what they are talking about.

On a lot of cases, some guy with a few hundred posts trying to tell someone with thousands "how it is" is well out of line, and pointing out the post count/contribution is a good way of doing this.

Yes, it DOES lead to a sort of elitism, but at the same time elitism isn't nessicarly bad. As infuriating as it can be for a new guy to hit a sort of glass ceilling, inevitably once they stick around long enough to become one of the elitists themselves (which will happen) they understand, and respect the position, and will probably treat people the way they were treated for good reason.

One could always re-tread the entire "what's worse, elitists or newbs" discussion, but the bottom line is that elitists are the ones that hold together communities and provide a backbone, so the newbs have something to come into. Crack downs against elitism online, oftentimes due to a lack of new blood, generally have the opposite effect intended and destroy the community. When you cease seeing new people coming in, it's rarely actually because of elitists at the top, more than something simply reaching the time for it to pass on, at that point it's probably the eltisits that were keeping it alive whether anyone wants to realize it or not.

I've been on both sides of the equasion and seen the dance play out numerous times. Including people complaining about elitists... and really this isn't the first time where post count has been associated with elitism and been complained about.

 

[Overusedname]

Anyone with a lower post-count than me is just a newbie. Nobody should listen to them, freakin' new guys.

Also, anyone with a higher post-count than me is a no-life snob. Nobody should listen to them, freakin' know-it-alls. That includes all the forum mods, and Daystar Clarion. ESPECIALLY Daystar Clarion.

End of line.

MY FEELINGS.

YOU RUINED THEM.

THEY'RE ALL OVER THE FLOOR.

CLEAN IT UP YOUNG MAN.


OT: People get recognition or they don't, and I don't think it has much to do with post count.

 

[Kellogs Fried Chickn]

What is R&P and why does it ponder about social dynamics, or would the removal be for pragmatic reasons?

The R&P is mistaken, post count does not prevent the formation of cliques and an 'elite' group of users. Post counts can be a measure of influence in the community due to participation and their removal just makes identifying the influential users more difficult.

Their 'basic argument' is pointless and invalid unless the moderators allow this sort of behavior. What logical connection is there between a post counter and a jackass? Should I make a derogatory remark against a user about the lack of a gif avatar, would R&D be discussing whether to ban animated avatars? An insult can be called for and - for the lack of a better word - justified, but using post count or account age is pretty darn pathetic.

I never support forcibly displaying public statistics, I don't like them being gathered but they will bother me when they can be seen. So I don't mind losing post counts, then again I only have 28 holy moly... 31!

 

[Moderated]

I have a low post count, thus showing post count is BAD and it supports DISCRIMINATION and HATE.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

This is really unfortunate, honestly. Most people here are just fine, upstanding, friendly types who only care about chatting with like-minded people. If there's a clique of absolute no-lifers who obsesses over the post counts of others and who create cliques based on who's broken the ten-thousands and who hasn't - I haven't noticed.

I'd say the post count starts to matter if the posts or interventions behind that number are actually worth reading. People like Daystar or Fappy aren't known on the board because they have a large number of posts, but because of what they contribute to the average discussion. I've seen newbies with post counts in the single digits land colossal discussion threads, either out of controversy or genuinely interesting discussion being encouraged. There's also some people who have a few thousand posts who don't do more than drop a line or two.

Just get on with your life, OP. If anyone is idiotic enough to belittle you because you don't have an impressive post count, they're in the wrong and they're wasting your time and their own.

 

[Psychedelic Spartan]

Damn. I see I was ninja'd on what I was going to say, but might as well say it anyway.
Really, I don't care about the post count. I don't feel that members of the site with higher post counts, such as daystar clarion and fappy are elitists. I have talked with them through user groups and I think the only reason that they are so well known is the type of content they post. So no, post count doesn't cause elitism and it should be kept.

 

[triggrhappy94]

Isn't the Escapist already known for elitism?
I like it, but then again I'm at about 2200

 

[Basement Cat]

Damn. I see I was ninja'd on what I was going to say, but might as well say it anyway.
Really, I don't care about the post count. I don't feel that members of the site with higher post counts, such as daystar clarion and fappy are elitists. I have talked with them through user groups and I think the only reason that they are so well known is the type of content they post. So no, post count doesn't cause elitism and it should be kept.

Don't worry about being ninja'd. I saw the post you're referring to but it was only by seeing your gif that I got a clue what it referred to.

Thanx.

 

[Sticky Squid]

People with a small post count only have deep and profound things to say.

Magnificent, this person has the right to be an elitist.
I say we make him our King.