I'd like to hear people's thoughts on the user comment and star system. I'm working on a makeover of the insides of the main Stripcreator site and am wondering if it's worth moving that over.

The original point of the system was to get an idea of who the problem users are, but I think it's added a lot of unnecessary drama.

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www.bradsucks.net

Oh and one solution may be just to make the votes public so people will be accountable for what they say. (I'd delete all the votes and start over if I were going to switch to a public system, don't worry.)

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www.bradsucks.net

I don't really want to lose comments I've already done.

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Batman created by Bob Kane

I like the user comments, but you could identify the commenter and avoid some of the drama. Most regular users identify themselves in their comments, anyway.

The voting system has outlived any usefulness to me, personally, but it might be helpful to new users who want to find "good" strippers.

And what dcom said.

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Chicken Feather Bed Bugs Bunny Hop Sing Out Side Street Walker Texas Ranger Cookie Dough Boy Wonder Years

I say ditch it. It isn't stopping the trolls, and it has a cheaply elitist quality to it that I never liked. Sort of like high school, or the feeling you get when you go into an IRC channel and see a ratio of one moderator for every two users.

It just isn't conducive to the kind of friendly comic banter that a friendly guy like me thrives on. Anyone who disagrees is a major cocksucker.

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I was gonna send a robot back in time, but I got high.

I DISAGREE!

I like the ratings system. I always did, even though I only had three stars for the longest time. But now I have four and it makes me feel like I somehow earned it.

It could just mean that I'm not as funny as I was and I'm just friendly with more people here, but I like it. I think holding people accountable for their comments is fine, but it might discourage people from voicing how they really feel about a user. It could polarize opinions towards liked or hated.

Although I can't come up with the best solution, I do NOT want to see the ratings system go.

P.S. - Zaster, you've had four stars for a long time now. Stop whining!

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The giant three-phallused phallus of Uzbekistan will one day squirt the cosmic jizz of revenge all over Canada.

I do? Oh yeah... I never bothered to look.

No, really.
Why are you rolling your eyes like that?

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I was gonna send a robot back in time, but I got high.

Funny, after my 2nd post here, I had Zaster's rating. I don't mean I had 4 stars, I mean I actually HAD HIS RATING. The mouse-over was a link to Zaster's profile instead of mine... lol Evidently, that particular bug has been zapped...

I like it the way it is now.

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Legend, oh legend, the third wheel legend...always in the way.

I say get rid of the user comments and the star system. People have multiple accounts and vote for themselves over and over and vote against people they dislike and then think their excrement is odorless because they have more stars. It would eliminate a lot of the logrolling, the backscratching, and the unprovoked attacks. Anything that one wants to communicate one can do on the pm's or this forum. But why would anybody read comics that he knows he's not going to like? How stupid is that?

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"We're fighting for this woman's honor, which is probably more than she ever did." Groucho Marx

Uh, right. Brad did away with donors voting with more than one account looooong time ago (back when we got rid of IRC for a spell). So, therefore, if you get any bad votes, its just because of the alarming amount of people you don't appeal to. As well, users good ratings are due to the people that they've touched (either appropriately or innappropriately).

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Okay, Lindsay, are you forgetting that I was a professional twice over - an analyst and a therapist. The world's first analrapist.

If he knows about them. But that does not solve the problem of the logrolling, the backscratching, the unprovoked attacks, and the violations of the rules. What kind of dumbass reads comics he knows he's not going to like? If people want feedback, they can ask for it and they shouldn't complain if it's constructive. Otherwise, people should be allowed to do what they want to do free from harassment.

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"We're fighting for this woman's honor, which is probably more than she ever did." Groucho Marx

Uh, how is having random people comment on you harassment? I mean, I have some pretty rank comments on my page, and yes I bitched about them when they first came out, but now it lets all n00bs see that people dislike me and like me all the same.
Its kind of the same as real life if you think about it. People IRL have different opinions of you, the only difference is if they voice them or not.

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Okay, Lindsay, are you forgetting that I was a professional twice over - an analyst and a therapist. The world's first analrapist.

Another thing that argues against the rating system is that, really, noone here is even fit to sit in judgement of my towering comic genius.

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I was gonna send a robot back in time, but I got high.

Which he does, thanks to the mysterious magic of the "IP address".

Do you mean that boinky33 should be able to ask for help without getting harassed?

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AFROMANS MOVE

Towering, I tell you!

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I was gonna send a robot back in time, but I got high.

I personnaly like the rating system, even though I dropped a star on my other account which coincided with a comment i'm still trying to figure out.

I think it helps new users know where they stand, whether it's their quality or behavior on the site. I tend to only vote users bad on behavior (although sometimes I'll rate someone bad who asks for it on RMDC, but usually, bad comics alone isn't enough to get me to vote bad). It's also helped me check out new users when I see that other donors have rated them good.

As far as stripcreator user politics go, I really don't see much of that going on, and I've never seen "logrolling" or "backscratching." I.E., nobody has ever lobbied me for my vote. Yes, there has been drama, and I was disappointed to drop down to four stars on one account, but I didn't go screaming in the forums or IRC about it. Um...until now.

Oh, and i want my double-voting back :-P

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Batman created by Bob Kane

I don't have a lot of strong feelings on the user comments and star system. I do still enjoy the opportunity to rate individual comic strips, though. Granted, I don't do it often at the moment, but I like the opportunity.

One thing I've noticed is that in the forums, people who have not yet been rated take on the rating of the person above them. Here's an example:
http://img91.exs.cx/img91/557/star8.jpg
Battleganz2 hasn't been rated yet, but NooniePuuBunny has. Notice how they both have 4/5 stars. Now, if you click on the "Member Rated" link for Battleganz2 it will take you to Noonie's user info.

Listen, IP address-logging is this newfangled thing them braniacs have now. If you're so driven to be able to have two donor accounts that you send brad MORE MONEY under a different name, and have another location you go to JUST to log on as your other persona and rate people, maybe you deserve that second donor account.

Brad took care of that a while ago, and you shouldn't get defensive. I noticed you have a hard time acknowledging when you are wrong, CHUBBY. Like when boinky33 asked, innocently I might add (as well as logically, because writer's block is not a fucking leperous disorder), you jumped down his throat based on some other shit in some other area. And what kind of dumbass reads comics he knows he is not going to like? The one that thinks everyone deserves another chance. The one that thinks maybe there is some talent buried beneath all the bluster and shit-talking. It's what allows me to still read your comics despite your fat-headed forum behavior.

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The giant three-phallused phallus of Uzbekistan will one day squirt the cosmic jizz of revenge all over Canada.

Am I the only one that likes looking at my comments? =*(

I like the comment and star system, although maybe I wouldn't so much if my rating were poor. If it disappeared, I would miss it a little, but I wouldn't complain.

I generally don't sign my comments, be they good or bad. I would prefer anonymous comments and votes to remain possible, for reasons partially discussed below, but again, wouldn't object if signing became mandatory.

I actually see the star system as a way to let people know they're jerks without being obnoxious about it. Instead of taking the time and going out of your way to tell them so in the forum or via PM (and very possibly starting a flame war), you can just make a few clicks and type a short message that they can heed or ignore at their leisure. If there is serious harassment going on via this system -- not that I've seen or heard of it, but if there is -- it's not worth having to put up with that.

I'm also completely oblivious to any "logrolling" or "backscratching" that may go on over votes, and think that's pretty sad (as in pathetic) if it does happen. One of the advantages of being able to vote anonymously, and one of the reasons why I do so, is that you can avoid that sort of thing.

I will say that if just anyone who walked in off the street could vote, I would regard the system as totally worthless, and would support its removal. One vote per donor seems sensible to me.

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The what mentioned above is total fiction. Please don't take it seriously!

Indeed, I was under the impression that the comments were originally anonymous to avoid this very kind of drama, but then there was this big to-do about people being "cowards" and making anonymous insults. Jeez.

I too never sign my comments, regardless of whether they're good or bad. Half my star ratings don't even have comments attached, if I remember correctly.