Reputation count

[Toast]

I know I am not very active on the site anymore, so I'm not sure where to look for answers anymore. So if this question is answered somewhere else I apologize.

 

Why has my reputation count on my profile page dropped 1200 points overnight?

[drpaladin]

19 minutes ago, Foster said:

I know I am not very active on the site anymore, so I'm not sure where to look for answers anymore. So if this question is answered somewhere else I apologize.

 

Why has my reputation count on my profile page dropped 1200 points overnight?

 

Staff has been in discussion over this change. You aren't the only one who has been affected. We will post back when we have a definitive answer.

Edited October 4, 2017 by drpaladin

[Puppilull]

Ok, I can report having the same experience. Not that it matters, but I was slightly excited to break the 8000 point mark. Now I'm not close. 

[A.J.]

I know many of you are confused by your reputation counts dropping.  I'm going to give a short explanation and then a longer one for those that like to watch me prattle on about technical things.

 

Short answer:

 

An author left our site yesterday.  They wanted to leave for personal reasons not related to this site.  Multiple admins made an attempt to convince this author to stay and/or leave the account as-is.  We tried to reason with them that they could simply stop logging into the site, which would give them the option of coming back, but in the end they decided to leave the site and reduce their internet usage to a bare minimum.  When they left we were forced to delete content which triggered automatic reputation rebuilds on all the members they interacted with.

 

Long answer:

 

In the past, when content was deleted there were no cascading effects to reputation levels.  Let me explain why.  The old Invision forum software would simply orphan the reputation gained from deleted items in the reputation database.  Therefore, you still had reputation from any post, blog entry, story or comment on the site even if it was deleted.  The new software is different in so many ways.  Invision's new forum software is really smart about cleaning up after itself.  So, over the years we've removed forum posts, blogs, and stories for a bunch of different reasons.  This creates an issue as the system has removed the orphaned reputation data from the database.  Now, with the newest 4.2.x forum software, when content is deleted it adjusts the reputation of those connected with it.  So, deleting a forum post will remove the reputation you gained in that forum post.  Deleting a story where the author liked one of your comments will remove that reputation from your account as well.  Except how the system does it isn't by simply removing one point for each reputation instance, but by rebuilding the totals for affected members from scratch.  This is why many of you saw such huge drops in reputation.  We didn't intend for anyone to lose reputation they had gained, but the system now has built-in control over that unless we find a way around it.  We are considering rebuilding all member reputation from scratch so that all members are on an even playing field, but we've not done so yet.

[Timothy M.]

6 hours ago, Puppilull said:

Ok, I can report having the same experience. Not that it matters, but I was slightly excited to break the 8000 point mark. Now I'm not close. 

 

But then you get to do it twice.   That's sort of cool, right ? Even if 7777 is cooler than 8000 in my opinion  

[FormerMember4]

2 hours ago, A.J. said:

I know many of you are confused by your reputation counts dropping.  I'm going to give a short explanation and then a longer one for those that like to watch me prattle on about technical things.

 

Short answer:

 

An author left our site yesterday.  They wanted to leave for personal reasons not related to this site.  Multiple admins made an attempt to convince this author to stay and/or leave the account as-is.  We tried to reason with them that they could simply stop logging into the site, which would give them the option of coming back, but in the end they decided to leave the site and reduce their internet usage to a bare minimum.  When they left we were forced to delete content which triggered automatic reputation rebuilds on all the members they interacted with.

 

Long answer:

 

In the past, when content was deleted there were no cascading effects to reputation levels.  Let me explain why.  The old Invision forum software would simply orphan the reputation gained from deleted items in the reputation database.  Therefore, you still had reputation from any post, blog entry, story or comment on the site even if it was deleted.  The new software is different in so many ways.  Invision's new forum software is really smart about cleaning up after itself.  So, over the years we've removed forum posts, blogs, and stories for a bunch of different reasons.  This creates an issue as the system has removed the orphaned reputation data from the database.  Now, with the newest 4.2.x forum software, when content is deleted it adjusts the reputation of those connected with it.  So, deleting a forum post will remove the reputation you gained in that forum post.  Deleting a story where the author liked one of your comments will remove that reputation from your account as well.  Except how the system does it isn't by simply removing one point for each reputation instance, but by rebuilding the totals for affected members from scratch.  This is why many of you saw such huge drops in reputation.  We didn't intend for anyone to lose reputation they had gained, but the system now has built-in control over that unless we find a way around it.  We are considering rebuilding all member reputation from scratch so that all members are on an even playing field, but we've not done so yet.

Your technical babble is sexy. I seem to be missing followed content, Could this be why? I'm not missing followers, so can't tell author. Not asking who.

[A.J.]

4 hours ago, BlindAmbition said:

Your technical babble is sexy. I seem to be missing followed content, Could this be why? I'm not missing followers, so can't tell author. Not asking who.

 

Given it was an author, if you were following their stories then just like reputation that story follow would be removed by the system.

[spike382]

Sometimes it can surprise you when an author leaves the site and you don’t even realize it.  I was going back through some of my older comments a couple weeks ago and I’ve left comments on stories that have since been removed from the site,  but the comment will still show up under the list of everything I’ve ever posted on the site. 

[Lisa]

On 10/4/2017 at 9:28 AM, A.J. said:

   We are considering rebuilding all member reputation from scratch so that all members are on an even playing field, but we've not done so yet.

Oh, man, AJ. Do you know how LONG it took me to get to my measly 3,000 points? It'll take me forever to get them back.

 

I think my rep points went down, but not by much, so obviously I didn't read much from the author. I'm sorry he felt the need to leave, though.

[JackBinimbul]

Well, damn.  TIL.

[Curti]

On 10/4/2017 at 9:28 AM, A.J. said:

We are considering rebuilding all member reputation from scratch so that all members are on an even playing field, but we've not done so yet.

 

In that process... I don't think anything in the lite chats should count towards reputation points... Mostly because it allows for massive increases by just chatting... Basically if posts don't count reputation shouldn't either...

[FormerMember4]

36 minutes ago, Curti said:

 

In that process... I don't think anything in the lite chats should count towards reputation points... Mostly because it allows for massive increases by just chatting... Basically if posts don't count reputation shouldn't either...

I have to disagree with your suggestion. Sure I have gained reputation from chat. Something which is offered to everyone. You want to penalize me for being active on the site. Then what's my incentive for being active. I'm still engaging. While also reading, commenting, and raising others reputation. 

[mogwhy]

19 minutes ago, BlindAmbition said:

I have to disagree with your suggestion. Sure I have gained reputation from chat. Something which is offered to everyone. You want to penalize me for being active on the site. Then what's my incentive for being active. I'm still engaging. While also reading, commenting, and raising others reputation. 

well said, jp. i'd have very little rep if it were not for chats and things

[A.J.]

The system has a built-in feature to turn off post counts in specific forums, but there isn't a similar function for reputation.

 

I can appreciate both sides of this discussion, but I think it's important to remind everyone that your reputation on this site isn't a true reflection of you as a person.  Whether it is high or low, what I think matters is how you've treated other people you've met along your life's journey.  Were you there for someone you knew was struggling with depression?  Did you try to make the world a better place for someone other than yourself?  Would you be the one to stay with a loved one until the very end holding their hand?

 

I don't mean to be preachy, but I just hope you all keep reputation scores in perspective. Don't let them ever become a barrier to building a new friendship. 

[Sweetlion]

On 10/6/2017 at 10:04 PM, Curti said:

 

In that process... I don't think anything in the lite chats should count towards reputation points... Mostly because it allows for massive increases by just chatting... Basically if posts don't count reputation shouldn't either...

 

On 10/6/2017 at 10:41 PM, BlindAmbition said:

I have to disagree with your suggestion. Sure I have gained reputation from chat. Something which is offered to everyone. You want to penalize me for being active on the site. Then what's my incentive for being active. I'm still engaging. While also reading, commenting, and raising others reputation. 

I agree with you, If the rules were exactly the same, it would make the post count and the reputation redundant. Having two different metrics "rewards" diferent things, one more comment based other from engaging the site and keeping the community alive.