What happened to the contribution levels, "solid", bronze" etc?

Title says it all.
What's the ding dang deal?

How interesting.

Based upon your profile comments,

Comment from: OldDragger on: 10/10/10 @ 03:36 PM
I'm pretty much done with this site.
It's become fluff and cotton candy with little substance, so why bother?

I'm rather surprised you even care. For someone who's "pretty much done", you apparently have an illogical obsession with the ongoing functioning of the site. Or are these just a couple of nose thumbings on your way out?

reply to post by MrDesolate


Problem?
Thanks for taking the time to personally attack me! Very considerate.
And this has to do with my question....how?

So you're saying pointing out what you've said and asking a question is an attack? Curious, that.

reply to post by OldDragger


I really liked the whole Solid/Bronze/Silver/Gold deal. Gave people a goal to work toward, a reason to strive to improve the quality of their posts.

It'd be nice if people could have a little icon of a bronze or silver or gold medal in their mini-profile. Bling bling!

@OldDragger - I concur, I hope those titles (and the applause titles) are reintroduced. No word yet, but fingers crossed.



@MrDesolate - Got anything to contribute to the actual topic?

Isn't that what WATS now covers?

The higher your WATS the higher your contribution.

reply to post by Cosmic4life


That's what I was afraid of.

How disappointing.

reply to post by Cosmic4life


maybe.
To most of us it's a meaningless number.
I liked the old system, really don't see the need to change.

reply to post by Cosmic4life


Yeah, it does, but I agree with LadySkadi, the older contribution levels were just better.

They at least had a set target for people to aim for.

Yes, I agree

The older contribution level was way better..

This 'wats' level is meaningless..

I hope that Ats will put the old system back

Originally posted by Cosmic4life
Isn't that what WATS now covers?

The higher your WATS the higher your contribution.

Yeah but to even get "W1" takes a tremendous amount of time and effort. Like 200 flags and 1000 stars!

The Bronze/Silver medals were a lot more within reach and achievable for those of us who are more casual users and who don't post on ATS like 24/7

I have to agree! I like the old system better as well. I was sooooo close to obtaining the gold contribution level and then they changed things up. Now we have WATS, which is flawed in it's mathematical formula. I like the new layout, but wish we could go back to the old contribution level.

Also, I like the old way that friends and foes were denoted, with the green/red bar. This green tint covering my "friends" entire post is not easy on the eyes.

I too liked the old contribution level bar.
But as I have learned through trial and error here,
we are not owners and thusly are only
privileged posters.

Originally posted by css1981
This 'wats' level is meaningless..

Oh no, no it's not meaningless. It means exactly what the site owners want it to mean, and that's that. Flags x Stars divided by 200,000.

What it misses is ATS points in the equation. ATS points cover a whole lot of things, from posts, to replies, to applauses to podcasts to special points awards. It even takes into account warnings and deductions. How they could leave that out of WATS just makes no sense to me.

(Flags x 5) + Stars + ATS Points is my latest proposal for a simple but effective WATS formula. And it would put some long-time contributors back on the WATS list too, where they should be. Even the mods would be better represented from that. But of course they're getting paid, and are so humble they don't need any recognition.

reply to post by TrueAmerican


Okay try looking at it from the perspective of a fairly new user.

All the members that have thousands of posts, flags and stars, and WATS in the 100-400 range - that's going to be intimidating as hell for new people! Again, even achieving W1 takes a LOT of time and effort, let alone 100!

The Solid/Bronze/Silver system was great because it presented a goal that new people could achieve with a fair amount of effort and dedication - WITHOUT having to compete with the members who post 24/7 and have zillions of points, hundreds of applause, tens of thousands of stars, etc etc....

reply to post by cupocoffee


The color contribution levels were easily understood at a glance, and DID give posters something to strive for, and also ( for me at least), gave a context as to the posters credibility and experience.
The WATs Index is just a number, souless and uninteresting, not to mention, just plain DULL.
If it ain't broke...............

reply to post by OldDragger


I agree with you but to me, a medal is more personal and special than just a color bar or a number.

Loved the medals!

I don't care about WATs or Medals, or titles...

I used to be a silver-something or other...I didn't feel "silver", so I'm ok with it being removed from my online person.

Originally posted by LadySkadi
@OldDragger - I concur, I hope those titles (and the applause titles) are reintroduced. No word yet, but fingers crossed.



@MrDesolate - Got anything to contribute to the actual topic?

What are applause titles?
I still have an applause number in my profile, is that what you mean?