Chat Points Change
Latest Deals
Morning all
Following member feedback weโre trialing a new way of awarding points in the chat section.
- You can now earn twice as many points for sharing chat topics as before
- However, youโll only earn points for "popular" chat topics. These are topics that end up with engagement (both from yourself and others)
The idea behind this is to encourage genuine contributions and conversation.
Iโve purposefully kept the criteria for a popular topic vague as weโre probably going to tweak this over time to make sure itโs the right balance between achievable and fair vs not being easily gamed!
Some other points changes are coming soon - hopefully this week - thatโll see new ways to earn points together with some tweaks to the existing system to try and encourage quality over quantity
Any feedback or questions please shout!
Hi Ann1984
The aim of this change is to try and reward genuine conversation and discourage people creating low-effort chat topics and not engaging in their own discussion.
We're always open to member feedback but my personal view is that topics about the news are fine and welcome, so long as the OP provides their own input/opinion on the article (rather than just copy/pasting) and it leads to an interesting discussion
Kelsey There has been a marked increase in these "low effort " chat topics recently . Its a daily occurrence from quite a few members to post 2 news items a day , every day !
While news topics can provide a valid discussion point when used in moderation , Two topics every day from the same members is pushing credibility a bit ?
Golfforall and more points for them I wonder if they take note of my thread for daily news feeds . I donโt wonโt the points for it just am losing track of topics am involved in. There should have been a tweak so we could save a chat or see our own ones.
Ann1984 I think other areas need to be addressed before doubling points for "Chat" . The majority of us use Chat infrequently when we have a bee in our bonnet or are asking members for advice (without even considering earning points ).
I'm afraid doubling the points will just lead to more members adding "Chat" to their daily points earning ritual . Who is going to monitor "chat" ? Hopefully not the increasingly useless "bots" that are obviously all the rage on LD these days
Golfforall Ann1984 Hey guys Just to clarify - if a post isn't engaged with it won't earn any points at all (which wasn't the case previously - people could just create a chat topic, claim their points and then never look at it again). Whilst there are more points available for good chat topics now, there is a much higher bar to earning them (exactly how high is something we plan to tweak until we get it right)
Kelsey Perhaps the points would be better "spent" on encouraging members to add constructive and helpful comments to Deals . I don't mean "Aw my Mum /Sister/ Cat /Aunt wold sooo love this " . Perhaps a price comparison or personal observation in the comment could earn extra points ?
This would markedly increase the usefulness of the site to all but is something members are very reluctant to do . It is a rare day when I see more than 2 or 3 helpful , constructive comments on a days worth of deals .
Golfforall Hey
I very much like the idea of rewarding points for genuinely useful comments. It's always been our aim - it's just quite a tricky one to actually implement. We've tried to introduce a system that's scalable as, unfortunately, human review of every comment and a subjective assessment of helpfulness isn't realistically something we can do at the moment. That's where our automated system comes from - with a different number of points awarded for how "good" the system thinks a comment is. There's definitely scope to improve this however!
Outside of this, we introduced bonus points if comments received 3+ likes as a way for members to recognise (and reward) helpful comments between themselves.
It sounds like our goals are aligned - just some difficulty in creating an effective system to get there! The good news is we're currently looking for a new tech person to join the team which should significantly increase the quantity/quality of improvements, new features, changes etc (as to date it's just been me )
Kelsey Unfortunately the whole rewards model leads to the majority of members using the site solely for earning points , rather than sharing deals they honestly believe to be great deals .
I'm sure you could set a few parameters , push a button on your (very large ) computer and print out a (very long ) list of those members who post exactly 3non deals/ vouchers and 5 likes each and every day (usually from the same site) .
Perhaps this could be published as a weekly "Hall of infamy" with the prize of a 3000 point deduction for making the list ?
Ann1984 Hey This isn't actually how it works but I would say that it may be best not to publicly share what you think the system is or how it works - just because it'll make it easier for anyone who wants to game the system (which I think we're all on the same page about - we don't want people posting low quality chat topics just for points). It isn't impossible to work it out (in it's current form) but it's just that extra step of effort for someone
Golfforall Furthermore it might be a good idea to limit news items to things that have happened "Recently" I saw one that was reporting something happening three years ago. I experienced deja vu very severely. :-)
Hey Thanks for the heads up - I'll have a look at this now as that sounds like a bug!
Whilst I personally believe that points shouldn't be rewarded for Chat at all, I do think this is a great move and will hopefully cut down on the obvious point gathering topics. I have been noticing that there haven't been any "this vs that" or "this or that" topics as of late which is a great thing too. Many of us genuinely love the chat section, and it's nice that it hasn't been bombarded with as much inane topics as there used to. So thanks.
Will this also weed out the โIโll comment on your chat if you comment on mineโ type conversation?
Grannyclock I don't get that comment so could you or Ann1984 explain that one please? It's definitely happened in the deals but in the chat it is usually to mark acknowledgement. Am I missing something?
sunny101 have you not come across the comments like โhow are you today, not heard from you for a while?โ etc? Perhaps itโs the chats I look at.
Grannyclock Then I've clearly missed something. I suppose there are many members that have learned some history about others on the site. I would definitely ask if someone that I regularly chat to was having a bad time or had bad health. If that's what you are alluding to them I am totally guilty but then I would already be well past the points allowance for talking.
sunny101 and Grannyclock .... I just came across to see what popular chats I've missed out on so am 4 days late here but .... I'm the same as sunny101...I hadn't realised about the *** for tat commenting thing. I know I stopped joining in some of the threads which I thought initially were folk being kind, but then realised they were just going back and forth, but hadn't really grasped the 'game'. I think I'll just carry on in my own sweet way and take what comes or goes.
Grannyclock Ann1984 BORDERJOE Apologies to G and A. I've only just discovered what you probably meant. It's a sure-fire way of gaining easy, hassle-free points on comments. I don't usually go there because the constant pics mess with my eyes. Take a look and see how many points had to be awarded in one day through one thread.
sunny101 I was the same as you and used to chat quite often taking the 'How are you" queries at face value .... then I realised that every day it was the same and that some were just asking for the sake of earning points so it spoiled the threads for me and I don't go there now. Also I hated the rows and rows of gifs that meant I was scrolling forever to see the next chat. ...ah well!
I wonder just how desperate chat posters will become when their topic falls down the list - no connection no points. That will surely encourage bumping with first comments?
sunny101 I made that mistake last week and the comment was deleted. I didnโt think!
I think it is good news as those 'posters' who don't respond won't get anything now and there are plenty of them.
tumblespots I agree that it will make a huge difference to that aspect. It's been an annoyance for a long. time.
sunny101 It really makes you wonder why you comment on certain people's 'chats' when you are 99.99% sure that they won't say anything back.
tumblespots Yes, I've never understood that either. I tend to make a mental note and scroll on.
Can't see that it has worked. I felt like a fraud yesterday with just two people commenting on my chat plus my replies......... 40 points, which I don't want as I am trying not to collect and would prefer to have the option of opting out!
And it certainly hasn't stopped the news item king who must be rubbing his hands in glee!
Lynibis ... you shouldn't feel a fraud ...but I sort of know what you mean .... I do want to earn points ... I enjoy the rewards and the interaction and help ...... I was surprised to earn 40 points when not many folk were interacting and felt bad too even with it being a legitimate call for help .... but I definitely agree that there should be a good conversation going if 40 points are to be awarded. ..... also, it's the quality of the responses ... but that's difficult to gauge, I know.
Ann1984 I don't know how they come up with some of the questions! I posted 2 yesterday ...which was really really unusual for me ... and I had to jot them down to remind me what I wanted to ask about -that's my butterfly mind for you. Often I just wait till I can ask my friends but with all the help on my seagull problem, I thought 'why not'.... and yes, I'd appreciate any legit earned points.
I asked for help a while ago and no-one responded and I'd have liked more responses to yesterday's two queries but at the mo, only you Ann1984 has helped me on the engraving query, but no other responses. If my queries are knocked too far down and so not seen how can I legitimately get more folk to see and maybe answer, I wonder? Even if I then don't earn any points.... that's fine, it's the replies that are the main thing.
BORDERJOE and Ann1984 thanks for your replies guys. I think an explanation is justified:
I found that when my points began creeping up I was spending too much time on here because it became a bit of a compulsion to try and do my daily allowance. I was neglecting other things, getting fed up with whoops msgs and was always worried I may be posting dud deals, which I know many folk get hot under the collar about.
I have had a fair return with the 350k points I accumulated and decided to stop actively earning them, but already have 1100 since returning (less than before) to chat.
That is why I would like an opt out option because I know I will fall back into old ways as it mounts up.
I would still join in chats and keep up with you all but don't feel I should build points when I am not contributing.
Even pausing them would be good but I really don't want to see them lol.
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