Removing colored stars from the voting page

[Jymotion]

I'm not adamant about the suggestion.  I'm more looking to gather opinions and hope that this board will be better at doing this.

 

My reason for submitting this:

Some people (right or wrong) have the opinion that Blue Star users have an easier time getting their suggestions upvoted/passed.  I personally agree with the assertion for upvotes, but not the approvals.  Again, regardless of whether this is right or wrong I'd like to discuss the pros and cons of having the stars/belts.

 

 

Pros:

Rewards users who put in the work to contribute (in a costless way)

  Gives users something to work towards

 

Cons:

May cause (additional) voter bias.

   Why is this necessarily a problem?  If voters vote based on the star (i.e. whether or not they think the suggestion will pass) rather than the proof, the votes (as a whole) become meaningless.

 

 

 

Please don't talk about "tests" or anything, please keep it relevant to the pros and cons of displaying stars next to names and which you think outweighs the other.  disclaimer I have a yellow star, and so have much less of a stake in removing it than others do.  I don't mean to make this a personal attack on those who contribute.  My suggestion does not include removing rep as a whole or any of the badges on users' profile pages.

[Baloo]

"Economics is, at root, the study of incentives: how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing."

- Freakonomics

 

Without incentives such as rep and belt colors less people accurate users would suggest. Simple as that. It does matter that rep and belts are basically meaningless and worthless, they give an incentive as to why someone would take the time to search and accurately suggest on an item that otherwise wouldn't care about.

[Jymotion]

Without incentives such as rep and belt colors less people accurate users would suggest. Simple as that. It does matter that rep and belts are basically meaningless and worthless, they give an incentive as to why someone would take the time to search and accurately suggest on an item that otherwise wouldn't care about.

 

Which is why my proposal keeps the badges on profiles and leader boards.  Do you feel the removal of the stars alone would still be a large enough disincentive?

[The Killjoy]

I'm okay with this.

I know the names of the big suggesters anyway.

[Baloo]

Which is why my proposal keeps the badges on profiles and leader boards.  Do you feel the removal of the stars alone would still be a large enough disincentive?

 

Well if it truly is the stars, then we can give it a shot, but as Killjoy indirectly pointed out, the Top Contributors would still be recognizable.

[MC22]

No one would ever recognize me

[Jymotion]

 

I know the names of the big suggesters anyway.

 

 the Top Contributors would still be recognizable.

 

Yep, tough to eliminate that bias entirely, unless people are unopposed to making suggestions anonymous. I personally wouldn't have a problem with it, but I'm sure people would be opposed to the more drastic change.  Anonymous suggestions could come off as suspicious or strange.

[Baloo]

Yep, tough to eliminate that bias entirely, unless people are unopposed to making suggestions anonymous.  They could come off as suspicious or odd.  I personally wouldn't have a problem with it, but I'm sure people would be opposed to the more drastic change.

 

So then what's the point of having profiles? No one would be able to see who the suggester is from the suggestion. Also would this just be on the main page, or would this extend into the comments section?

[Jymotion]

So then what's the point of having profiles? No one would be able to see who the suggester is from the suggestion. Also would this just be on the main page, or would this extend into the comments section?

 

Just throwing out ideas at the moment.  So, hopefully things aren't dismissed immediately before these kinks can be worked out.

 

These are good points and ones that go against anonymity.  That suggestion doesn't seem entirely practical.  As for the removal of stars, I would have it extend to the comments as well, but I'm willing to listen to  counter-arguments.

[MC22]

Goddamn I finally get a blue star so people will actually think twice before insta downvoting

http://backpack.tf/vote/id/512aebafba2536f03b00001c

*cough 38 downvotes without a single counterproof shown*

And now people want to remove.

Well I can't say it would be a bad idea.

 Why not remove from the cover and include inside, so poeple actually have to click in to see what star is there? Or else there would be no point in having the contributor list at all.

[Ryoudji]

Goddamn I finally get a blue star so people will actually think twice before insta downvoting

http://backpack.tf/vote/id/512aebafba2536f03b00001c

*cough 38 downvotes without a single counterproof shown*

And now people want to remove.

Well I can't say it would be a bad idea.

 Why not remove from the cover and include inside, so poeple actually have to click in to see what star is there? Or else there would be no point in having the contributor list at all.

Does it really matter?

 

And downvotes are practically existent in every suggestion, why bother with them so much...

[Jymotion]

*cough 38 downvotes without a single counterproof shown*

 

Can't be solely attributed to your lack of a blue star.  Could easily be people who don't want the price to rise or feel that the change is unnecessary (without feeling the need to comment.

 

Why not remove from the cover and include inside, so poeple actually have to click in to see what star is there? Or else there would be no point in having the contributor list at all.

 

As jjjon mentioned here, just because people open the notes doesn't mean they read them.  Leaving the star in the comment page would give them another reason to open-vote-close without reading.

[Liddojunior]

But...but green belt. I want to keep that. 

[Jymotion]

But...but green belt. I want to keep that. 

 

What if it was next to your name on your profile?

[Liddojunior]

What if it was next to your name on your profile?

 

Or no stars and colored names on your profile (: 

And people wont insta see your contrib status on suggestions unless they go to your profile. And green name is better then green star 

[MC22]

Or no stars and colored names on your profile (: 

And people wont insta see your contrib status on suggestions unless they go to your profile. And green name is better then green star 

Inb4 ruin of donating

[Jymotion]

Or no stars and colored names on your profile (: 

And people wont insta see your contrib status on suggestions unless they go to your profile. And green name is better then green star 

 

That would conflict with the donator/premium perks, but it seems like you're warming up to the idea?

[Signify]

Agree Rep and stars and such belong on peoples profiles not on pricing suggestions.

[gimmechocolate]

The anonymous suggestion idea would be great, not just would it keep the blue star users from being instantly up-voted and non blue star users from being instantly down-voted (though to a lesser extent), but it would also prevent people who you piss off in a suggestion (which happens a lot, even if you stay respectful the whole time.) from stalking you on steam, or worse yet, finding you IRL. It would also be nice to be able to post anonymous comments for the same reason as above, but that is getting a little off topic.

 

Edit: Also, sorry for the necro, it was linked from here: http://forums.backpack.tf/index.php?/topic/3127-remove-voting-on-main-pagelist-view/ and I failed to notice that it said 2013, not 2014 (though I guess its kinda okay on suggestions).