Feature Request: Post count and Leveling

Similar to other forums I'm sure we've all been on I think it would be great if we had a post count listed under our username...you would start at level 1 and after (using 5e as a baseline example only) say 300 posts, you level up to level 2...nothing functionally useful just a fun way to find out who the veterans of the site are.

On discord this was discussed briefly and the idea was also mentioned that a gm post could carry more weight to it then pc posts...so instead of post count it would just be XP...

fun reasons to gain xp

--1xp post as yourself or a pc
--2xp post as gm
--5xp join a game
--10xp create a new game
--5xp to the DM for every pc that joins

Just spitballing but I think this would be alot of fun for the Gamer plane community.

I like it but would it be slightly difficult to say when you post as DM vs. player? im sure theres tags hidden somewhere tthat denotes role.
but would you limit that to just games? or the gen chat?

I have some questions:

1) How would we separate quality versus quantity?

2) Would we also consider the average number of posts compared to how long a person has been here?

3) What about "slice of life" posts that aren't within a GP game, such as announcements, bug reports and site discussions, or general chat?

4) Do you suggest we remove points if someone deletes a post or withdraws from a game? What about creating a game and then ignoring it?

I know a similar suggestion was posted a long time ago, but we never came up with good specifications. In light of other necessities, it didn't feel like a worthwhile effort at the time. Maybe things are different now?

For having seen something similar implemented on another forum I used to frequent in the past I'm not sure I like the idea. It was tried and it devolved into constant spamming as members were trying to increase their level.

^This.

Yes I could definitely see that as a problem...I guess because I would not consider actually doing that I disregard it but that is a very valid point...people ruining my fun.

This could be managed by a minimum post size to count... nah, still too much temptation. We've all probably seen players that post every time someone else does already.

It doesn't really matter what sort of measure you put in place, people will find loopholes. and yet it's kind of stupid how people will insist on increasing an arbitrary number on the internet which in the end means absolutely nothing, but people are weird creatures like that...

high scores man, gotta be the best at something even if it is all for nothing in the end.

Heh, kinda glad to see this discussion come up, as it's something I originally had planned (and still intend to do something about):

https://gamersplane.com/forums/thread/753/

Glad to hear...hope it pops up sooner or later!

The previous conversation, as you can see, didn't go far. For anyone interested in this topic (good or bad), do check out the old thread, and then put comments here (no reason to necro that old a thread).

What are you looking for? To see if there is enough interest to make it worth while or ideas as far as how to implement it as a system?

Both? If people think it's something they'd like to see, and if so, does my original idea have merit, or are there other variants we should consider?

If it is implemented, I suggest you really work it out to minimize loopholes. XP by post will encourage post spamming. XP by games made will encourage game spamming. XP by games joined will encourage mass game entry. Etc.

Perhaps it should be based by interaction. Like XP by upvoted posts or by replied to posts or XP for having been in a game (either as PC or GM) for a year or more. Etc. Yes, some will probably make sock puppets to upvote and reply to their own posts, join their own games, but the increased work needed for these sort of loopholes will probably rule out a lot of lazy people from trying to exploit the system and hopefully keep abuse to a minimum...

I think your points are very valid about the spamming but I would truly like to think, and I realize I'm being an optimist, that people are here to RP and roll fake dice. The spamming part is a risk but I think Keleth addressed it mostly in the original thread that spamming is against site policy already and if people are found guilty of it, they should get reported and on a first offense have their XP and level reset to 0 or 1...a second offense they could be suspended or removed from the site.

I believe this would really just be something fun to add another layer of flavor to this already great site and community that I love being a part of in the short time (almost a year) that I have been involved.

To address Keleth...I think your ideas from the orginial thread sound great as far as reasons to award xp...

Earning XP
First, lets talk about gaining experience (remember, these are theoretical and up for discussion):
- Making a post earns you 1xp

- Creating a game earns you 10xp
-- When a game you're running hits 500 posts, and every 500 thereafter, you earn 50xp
- Being accepted to a game earns you 5xp
-- When a game you're playing in hits 500 posts from when you joined, and every 500 thereafter, you earn 25xp

- Resetting every 7 days, making a character earns 10xp, a second earns 5xp, and everyone thereafter earns 1xp
- For every 25 views a character you have in the library gets, you'll earn 5xp (for this, I'll probably set it up so people can't just refresh to get a view; maybe one view per hour per user? And no, your own views don't count.)

What else should earn xp? - I don't know if there would be a way for you to differentiate between general forum and game forums and have them award different XP - maybe 1 for general and 2 for game...thats minor and not really that crucial either way.

Leveling
As for when to level, I'm thinking you need 500 * level to earn the next level. So starting at 0, you'd need 500 for level 1, 1000 for level 2. But that means you'd need a total of 1500 to be at level 2.

- I think scaling the levels is fine in this matter...who cares really...at the end of the day those that are consistently posting on the site, whether pc'ing or dm'ing are going to keep going at whatever rate they were anyway.
- I don't think their should be leaderboards...it shouldnt be a competition I think more a badge of honor to show off those that have been on the site and are participating consistently. It makes it obvious who the elder statesmen are versus the newbies.


As far as rewards go I think it should be simple to none...under your screenname it can just say level x and your post total...or xp total...whatever. Maybe let people get some of the fun things that don't really mean anything in the long run like titles...maybe every 5 levels you get a new title that seperates the Tier of contributor you are...just thoughts.

Yah, things were different back when that post was made, heh; originally my thought was using the XP system as a means of making sure people who were here wouldn't abuse the site. I fully agree with no leaderboard. Points should be a fun thing if people want them, meaningless if they don't. If there are "rewards", it'll be things like banners, titles, etc.

One way to slow the gaming of the system is to add some limiting features, such as:
- don't count consecutive posts without someone else posting inbetween, and
- only include game creation where someone joins the game.

This doesn't fix all problems, of course, but tells people that you are against them abusing it at the expense of the other GPers.

Thats a good idea Qralloq...though I have no knowledge of web design so I don't know how difficult that could be to implement from a programming standpoint.

The second is easy enough to add... the first is doable, though would require some logic.

From this conversation, it seems like doing this would be worthwhile (at some point in the future*), and details will evolve.