Points Feature - Will Affect Your Ability To Download

[Oscar]

Due to the lack of ratings, we will be adding in phase 2 a points feature where you are started off with a set number of points. Downloading a track will cost you a point, rating a track will award you a point or 2. If the rating gets deleted then the points awarded are taken off. If the ratings are determined to be nothing but spam just to get back into the ability to downloaded, we will add point penalties.

If you run out of points, then you wont be able to download anything but the tracks that you have already downloaded.

Premium members will of course be excluded from this and never have downloads limited.

We may work something out to credit you for ratings you have done as well as count the tracks you've downloaded. We'll determine that once we are into that phase of the project.

This is a necessary evil. If you don't believe, than take a look at the home page, the 5 most recently uploaded tracks.

[mkingy]

It's sad its coming to this as CC was always the place that gave people the freedom to download without being forced to rate - but it seems that people just aren't giving back to the community anymore through leaving a few comments and a rate every now and again :/

[Turbo]

It is unfortunate, I myself have slipped as well with leaving comments and rates, but I plan to change that soon haha

I agree with this system, but I think everyone should start fresh. i would have rated more tracks if this system was in place, i admit there are times when i don't rate just because there was no incentive. if this was in place the entire time i probably would have rated most of them.

Step 1: Institute overly complex rating system
Step 2: Watch number of rates dwindle
Step 3: Scratch head, completely fail to make the connection, take drastic measures.

The rating system is not*** too complex imo, and its not too drastic of a change than the one used previously. Ratings have never been very high especially in the last year or so. Some people, myself included are just too lazy to rate. I say in my head I'm going to rate it, but then something else comes along

[Oscar]

TylerE wrote:

Step 1: Institute overly complex rating system
Step 2: Watch number of rates dwindle
Step 3: Scratch head, completely fail to make the connection, take drastic measures.

That happens when you give people what they want. Give them something simple and then the complaining about it doesn't end. Never ending circle.

[Mikey]

This was not suppose to be announced yet, but since it's out there I think it requires further explanation.

We are not imposing limits on how many tracks you can download, we are creating a system that supports a growing and thriving community of roller coaster and theme park enthusiast. As most of you know we had a points system in the old forum. This system allowed you to buy useless things such as custom titles, name colors, etc.. This feature was implemented to insure that community continued to grow, and that users who contributed the most got something small in return.

In phase two we are working to bring this system back and expand upon it. In order to encourage participation each user will have a points pool. Points will be awarded for every forum post, track posting, track rating, as well as other objectives that will be announced at a later date. Aside from bringing back the old points store with all of the traditional cosmetic and mischievous purchase options, points will be spent on each track that is downloaded and not rated within 24 hours. Points will be awarded for each thumbs up rating and lost for each rating that is down voted into oblivion. There is also a points multiplier that gives a points bonus based on over all track ratings.

The biggest change however, is that the points store will include physical merchandise that can be purchased with the points. This includes keychains, tshirts, hoodies, pens, and other Coaster Crazy branded gear. This means our most valuable users will be rewarded for supporting the site and promoting the community through participation. This site lives or dies based on user participation, this is the best way to make a system that is fair and not over burden. I think this model supports the common types of users we see here on the site.

Since the sites re-design traffic to this site has doubled, we even hit an all time record on the 12 of this month. Yet since users are not forced to rate or get points to download tracks, participation has dropped. Forum posts are down, ratings are down, but track downloads are up. This is a delicate balance of freedom and participation. The serious builders want users to review their tracks and get praise and recognition for their tireless efforts, while the masses just want to download and consume with out providing anything to the community in return.

I can't keep everyone happy, neither can Oscar. But know this, we are firmly committed to the continued and healthy growth of the coaster crazy community.

[mkingy]

I definitely think the points system will be a good incentive for people to start rating!

Few things I'd like to raise/question further:

1) 24 hours seems a little harsh as often I'll download a ride the day before then rate it the next day or whatever. 48-72 hours I think would give people actual time to drop a rating after they've ridden.

2) I'd be interested how you intend on moderating spammy posts and downvoting on tracks just because the designer thinks they should have a better score?

[TTD03]

About the 24 hour thing, I asked Oscar and got an answer.
Basically, downloading a track will cost X amount of points to download.
If you rate a downloaded track, you will be awarded X1 amount of points.
If you rate a downloaded track within 24 hours, the track download will be free and you will still get X1 points for the rate. If you rate a downloaded track after the 24 hour mark, you will be deducted points for the download, and then get awarded points for your rate. To make it clearer, here's an example.
If you download a track and rate after the 24 hours, you get -1 point for downloading and +1 for rating. So then you become balanced again and you don't gain or lose any points.
But, if you rate before the 24 hours are up, you will not lose points for downloading and you will get points for rating, so -0+1=1 point. So basically, by rating before the 24 hours, you are actually end up gaining 1 point more than you had before you downloaded the track.
I know it's kind of confusing so hopefully this helped.

[mkingy]

Ah that sounds good - rewarding prompt rating whilst still giving credit for rating

[Mikey]

Points allocation for track rates will be governed by the users. So on the exchange next to each rating is a set of icons:

These icons are for agree or disagree with ratings. If multiple users disagree with a rating, then the rating gets down voted into oblivion and the user who posts it looses points. This is kinda like a karma system. There is no need to report it because the user who posted the bad rate will get down voted and points will be taken away. Conversely, if a well through out rate has been provided and users agree, then points will be awarded for that rating as users give props. It's a self governing system.

[TTD03]

Let's hope it stays that way and doesn't get chaotic.
But I can see how someone can write a great rate, and then someone who thinks the score is too high, will down rate.