[SATIRE] How to get huge ATS Points: Secrets Revealed!

reply to post by MarrsAttax




[edit on 14/3/2009 by Sauron]

Actually, I'm becoming a bit frustrated with ATS over this very issue. I joined as a way to educate myself on topics that I find interesting and educate others when I find something that I think will be interesting to others. I find that what the OP says seems to be the majority of the posters here.

Two of my recent important (at least to me) threads that I've taken the time to write, have gotten exactly ZERO comments and the reason is that I refuse to post the way the OP details. I'm convinced of this. I'm beginning to feel that it just isn't worth my time.

Edit to add: I seriously don't care about points but just would like acknowledgment that those threads have at least been written. Sometimes I wonder if they are even showing up on the site.

[edit on 14/3/2009 by Iamonlyhuman]

reply to post by Iamonlyhuman


Hang in there. Sometimes good threads get lost in the mix. Often, it's just a function of timing and has little to do with the quality.

For example:

NWO, China, USA Economics and International Policy - March 13, 2009

Just posting this for a few more points

Line 2.



lmao, j/k.
The OP was great, I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought that it was completely spot on!

reply to post by Iamonlyhuman

Originally posted by Sauron
reply to post by MarrsAttax

 

what you have described is one way for a member to be banned, or at lest ignored by the how should I say this, the more illuminated members of ATS

[edit on 14/3/2009 by Sauron]

If it could be shown they did it intentionally then technically they could be banned but how could you ever know the intent? Actually I don't seriously believe that anyone is that interested in getting points that they would follow my 'advice' (they'd be pretty sad) - in hindsight I think highlighting the points was a mistake, it may have been better to call the thread 'Make your post popular: Secrets Revealed!' - i think i was really trying to express my frustration at how the more sensationalist threads are that ones that get all the interest. I absolutely empathise with iamonlyhuman's position on this.

Then again I guess it's human nature to be attracted to the sensational

Hi All,
Please forgive my ignorance, but what are the points for? what purpose do they serve? How many do I need to get an upgrade to first class and will I get to sit next to Britney?
PEACE,
RK


[edit on 14-3-2009 by Rigel Kent]

reply to post by Rigel Kent


Points can be used to purchase items in the ATS store

you can get there through your Member Center located at the top of the page. you will see all the tabs on the left when you get there.

This is what can be purchased from the ATS Store
Custom Title, first line
Add 100 to U2U quota
Secret forum 1 month fee
Custom mini-profile background color
Custom mini-profile text color
Custom mini-profile background image

Turn on low-bandwidth mode

Please U2U me if you have any questions, so we can keep this thread from derailing. thanks



[edit on 14/3/2009 by Sauron]

OK, here we go - William One Sac i figure this is the best time to tell every one about TinWiki.Org, so sorry when every one starts posting and the Wiki Mod lot need to go double speed

Come to Tinwiki.Org, it is AboveTopSecret's own Wiki, it is based on all the content which you see here on ATS; there are articles on there about UFO cases, secret groups, past events, people and everything else you can think, there are THOUSANDS of articles on there, and get this....

YOU CAN EARN 10,000 ATS POINTS FOR ONE ARTICLE !!!!!!

Yer thats right, you do one article to a great high standard and our own William One Sac, who is our resident Wiki Master may award you a large amount of ATS points. If you don't want to make your own article why don't you add to one already ? You will still get good points from it, i have posted LESS than 1,000 times and i have over 100,000 ATS points and ALOT of BTS points, if you add in all the points ive spent on Titles and pictures i would have easily 250,000 ATS points. So why don't you do go on and make 5 articles, look at existing articles - match your standard to the best of the best on TinWiki and 5 articles may get you 50,000 points ! If you ever have any questions about TinWiki feel free to PM ANY
TinWiki editor/master and we will help you.

So go to TinWiki now !

TINWIKI.ORG

(If you dont belive me that you can earn 10,000 points PER article, check out this LINK...)
[Sorry Mod's I am aware that we are not meant to use caps in such a way, but TinWiki needs more contributions ! - If you wish to change it, go a head and i apologize for any problems that I've caused...]

reply to post by MarrsAttax


I got a kick out of this thread.

What brought this on? I'm new and I signed on to this site because of interest in topics, and not points.

You seem to be very bitter for some reason, about not getting points for your own topics, so here ya go!

What do you get from my reply, like 2 points or something?

You must have your eye on something very special at the ATS store!

This condescending approach you have decided to take on the topic is in no way contributing to ATS. Points mean nothing after you have "bought" everything you like at the ATS store Some members have post counts above 4000 with only 20k or so points, but read some of their posts, brilliant to say the least you think they care about points? Fact is do some research, author an original thread or a good follow up with plenty of material and you'll see the points, as well as garner some respect for yourself.

Wow!

I didn' think I would ever see a "How To Thread" for trolling. How wonderful that you would instigate more instances of ignorance and petty conversation on this already somewhat hard to manage website.

And really if you want points on ATS there is another easier way to do this.

Create intelligently written, fact laden threads that will ENTICE people to have meaningfull long dicussions.

That would be the preffered way to gain points, and anything else seems a little trivial.

~Keeper

Shouldn't we all be concerned about sensational stories pushing posts with real merit off the front page?

Yes, people prefer entertainment to in-depth research. Yes, people are easily goaded in to flame wars. And, yes, conspiracy theorists are especially prone to sensational story telling. Since we all succumb to these human failings why not add a third filtering mechanism? Currently ATS filters on two concepts.

1. "Flags" which translates to "top stories"
   
   and,
   
   
2. "post volume" which equals "hot topics."

I propose another filter "best rated."

If ATS added a concept like respect points or, perhaps, based respect points off the number of people that have declared the thread-author as a friend, these respect points could be added to (flags + Floor[Log(replies+1)]) to create a composite score for the thread. This composite score would then translate to the "best rated" filter. Meaning a threads "best rated" value could depreciate if a person removed respect points. I feel comments should be somewhat insignificant in the tabulation because usually in popular threads they boil down to "me too," "disagree," "you're stupid," "where's the pictures," etc.

So, for example, let's say a person comes to the site, creates a new account (respect=0), and authors a thread titled, "PHYSICAL PROOF gods of the Pantheon exist! BEHOLD ZEUS'S LIGHTNING ROD!" It accumulates 50 flags and 40 replies. An older member (respect = 55), who's hugely endeared by the community, posts a topic titled "University of Arizona study concludes quantum manifestations provably explain all UAPs", it gets 10 flags and 10 posts.

The new user would have a total composite score of 54 (0+50+Log[40+1]) and the old user would rate 67 (55+10+Log[10+1]).

I'm not suggesting that all of the older-users threads get a base 55 advantage. I'd say the base 55 should activate after about 5-10 user flags. At that point there's evidence people have a genuine interest in the thread; or scale the base points in at a rate of (CEILING[.10*respect points]) per flag up to a max of 10 flags.

One of the reasons I like the concept of "respect points" is it encourages people to behave. If someone removes a respect point it affects all of the persons posts. Somewhat similar to real life. For instance, say you hood-wink 50 billion dollars in an epic ponzi scheme and get caught with your hand in the cookie jar. No matter how respectable your past deeds it casts doubt on everything you've ever done.

I'd also argue that people should have the option to unflag or vote down a post for finer granularity (rather than penalizing all posts the person's ever submitted), but enough people here have already voiced that complaint

That's my two pence anyways!

[edit on 14-3-2009 by Xtraeme]

Originally posted by alyosha1981
This condescending approach you have decided to take on the topic is in no way contributing to ATS. Points mean nothing after you have "bought" everything you like at the ATS store Some members have post counts above 4000 with only 20k or so points, but read some of their posts, brilliant to say the least you think they care about points? Fact is do some research, author an original thread or a good follow up with plenty of material and you'll see the points, as well as garner some respect for yourself.

I agree with you, after "buying" your avatar, or your background, what else do you need to spend points on? It's not like we get a leather jacket, or a carton of cigarettes with them. You might flame me for this, but IMO, some of the people with a zillion points remind me of those old ladies that sit on the online bingo sites just to rack up POINTS.

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
Wow!

I didn' think I would ever see a "How To Thread" for trolling. How wonderful that you would instigate more instances of ignorance and petty conversation on this already somewhat hard to manage website.

And really if you want points on ATS there is another easier way to do this.

Create intelligently written, fact laden threads that will ENTICE people to have meaningfull long dicussions.

That would be the preffered way to gain points, and anything else seems a little trivial.

~Keeper

The OP was not intended as an instruction manual but as a satire on what I have witnessed on many, many threads since I joined ATS.

Just to reiterate I don't want people to behave like this. The fact is, the way you describe is definitely preferable but it is certainly not the easier way.

I've not authored many threads but the ones I have I believe have been intelligently written and encouraged intelligent debate. It's something I'd like to see encouraged. There are loads of intelligent threads here but they get swamped by the 'hot topics' which generally pander to a lower common denominator.

The fact that this thread out of all them is the one to garner me the most points only underlines the problem I am highlighting.

reply to post by MarrsAttax


Use Obama in ANY Title



"Obama s the love child of Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulture"


or


Have a (MUST READ) at end of title

Ok while most people 'got it' it's clear not everyone shares my sense of humour, which is fair enough

I've asked Sauron to add the word 'Satire' to the thread title and he's suggested it be moved to the BTS Jokes forum as well which seems more appropriate (I didn't know this existed as I don't use BTS).

I also asked for the points the thread has generated me to be taken back just to make it clear that this wasn't what the thread was about but was told this wasn't possible

Thanks to everyone who enjoyed the thread and my apologies to those who didn't.

Originally posted by MarrsAttax
Ok while most people 'got it' it's clear not everyone shares my sense of humour, which is fair enough

Please dear god never let such people watch Monty Python . Nothing good would come of it!

I've asked Sauron to add the word 'Satire' to the thread title and he's suggested it be moved to the BTS Jokes forum as well which seems more appropriate (I didn't know this existed as I don't use BTS).

NO! While your post may have been flippant and satirical, it made a legitimate point. It's all too often that I click on [[TOP]] and find threads labeled [HOAX] some inane story [/HOAX]. By putting this in Jokes, Puns, & Pranks TPTB might as well label the malfeasance we put up with on ATS as good-natured fun.

I also asked for the points the thread has generated me to be taken back just to make it clear that this wasn't what the thread was about but was told this wasn't possible

You made a legitimate point. An apology is laudable in view of certain peoples reactions, but give me a break, you've brought something to the forefront that frankly needs to be discussed and fixed.

Thanks to everyone who enjoyed the thread and my apologies to those who didn't.

No thank you for saying what needed to be said.

[edit on 14-3-2009 by Xtraeme]

Continuing in the joking manner of the OP I would like to add this little tidbit.

Don't forget to sprinkle your thread with links to similar threads. That way you will end up looking like your thread has more validity and support and best of all you don't have to do any more real work!

(chuckle)

Loam wins in this thread.

I've said the same thing before. That all the unsubstantiated, waste of time threads dominate the front page. But each and every poster on ATS can do something about it.

It is a mindset thing. If every poster that looked at the front page wanting more took action, then there would never be a problem.

You want better written, more educational content? Contribute to it.

Do some research, make a thread that really makes a difference and opens minds. Search ATS for issues or events that have not been discussed much, if at all, and present a well researched thread about them.

Trust me, it is far more rewarding (especially for people like me who like to be acknowledged for their work) to see the stars and flags roll in even if the posts in the thread are minimal.

It is even more rewarding than that if only one member says they learned something from the thread. One less mind in ignorance is worth infinitely more to the world than a few thousand ATS points.

Look at the 3 in my signature. It spent me days doing each one of them, and although they have barely any posts, I think I've brought some interesting topics to the board previously unexplored and helped educate a few members about some of the stranger creatures on our planet.

In this case the mods and FSME's are right. If every member of this topic helped raise the bar by contributing what they want to see, the troll topics and panic-based end-of-the-world rants that dominate would slowly be overtaken by pure food for the mind.


[edit on 15-3-2009 by fooffstarr]