Heads Up: Karma System Revamp!

I haven't analyzed points per catagory, but just IMO, adding beer, places and breweries new to the site should get a heck of a lot more points/level ups quicker than just posting a pic on WBAYDN or New beer Weekend in 10 seconds and getting 30+ likes. Coming up with a good idea and starting a new forum topic that people may be interested in reading or contributing their thoughts and opinions to also should get a big bump up (assuming its not a recent repeat topic).

 

I haven't gone back over the thread, but has anyone mentioned tenure as a bump to points?

Not that I'm saying near-on 20 years might mean anything... but maybe?

 

I have no more points on the home page.

Cheers!

 

You've got 1,514 points.

 

Yes, but it is not on the homepage, like it use to be. The only way I can see it, is if I post.

Cheers!

 

Ditto, as someone that lost 3,000 points. My guess is that’s a result of the number of beers I’ve reviewed vs those I’ve rated (which came from a beer spreadsheet I kept going back 15 years).

And trades, of which I have none here, which is comical given the fact that I’ve taken part in and ardently supported a dozen or so NBS BIF events over the last 7 years.

If that’s the case, I think the “logic” is a bit misguided - unless the goal of the “Karma System Revamp!” was to push more BA users to Untappd.

I hope that’s not the case.

 

The great Next Glass conspiracy— fuck up the Beer Advocate point system to such a degree that users leave the site in favor of more popular and much more profitable Untappd. They love it when a plan comes together.

 

Exactly.

 

Welcome to Schlubblandia!

 

I'm just an old dumb ass, never knew how the point/karma system worked, never really cared. It's all about the beer!

 

Thanks for taking user feedback and adjusting on the fly, @Todd. I'm sure it's a giant pain but your commitment to your users is noticed and appreciated.

 

There's no way I'm ever going back to UT.

 

I was never there to begin with. One beer website is enough.

 

Same for me. I have poked around UT occasionally. It is a totally different experience and I think serves a different purpose, for the customer AND the industry. It’s simply not appealing to me, but c’est la vie.

As for the updates here, I liked the mystery, however it doesn’t really make a difference. Logic and experience support the premise that the update will increase user activity because human nature seeks reward and status. More activity should be better for all of us too, especially if only by helping B/a financially.

Todd demonstrates that our opinions and experiences matter. There will always be a need to balance pleasing others, ensuring the site remains relevant, and ensuring the site remains financially viable.

 

Since we're talking Points and not Karma, I guess it's karmically-safe to discuss.

Using inconsistent increments of reward between different categories of Points is a judgement call, but mice need regular reinforcement to keep pursuing the goal. For example:

International Beers Rated gets rewarded at 5, 10, 25, and 50 countries - there will be dry-spells of possibly years in rewarding this category. Another option, to keep the mice interested, would be to award smaller bits of cheese at 5, 10, 15, 20, etc.

But then, not my mice and not my cheese. I'm staying here either way!

 

In statistics (oh geez*), using this logarithmic scale, as opposed to a linear scale, will likely over-emphasize the contributing-effect of Years-On-the-Site, when the goal is to incentivize categories of site activity, i.e., go review some beers from other countries. This leads to Points being largely a reflection of how long you've been here.

*Principal component analysis with a Procrustes rotation. Well, you asked.

 

What if we had karma tiers for lagers and some of the more eccentric styles, but none for the ipas?

 

Go start Lager Advocate then.