Rating

just so you know what you have done will not help.

Also to save your rating before it drops some more you might want to delete your post.

good grief......IBTL!!

Basically, don't pay too much attention to ratings. They are there to slow crap posts and otherwise harmful material. If the user is between around 800 and 1300, just consider thm a regular user. Anything lower, and they either complained about the ratings, are a general moron, or were on the wrong side of a political debate. Over 1300 generally will show that the user spends a little time outside of the lounge and will help others and is fairly knowledgable.

I don't accept bribes.


Honest, guv. [looksaround]

Meh, if people are helpful/friendly I'll tend to rate them up. I tend to avoid rating people down, and if I ever do it's because they've consistently been an arse (rating people down for their opinions is just plain silly).

I rate people up who seem to be particularly helpful. Usually this is either when I've noticed them be consistently helpful over a number of posts, or when they've obviously put a lot of effort in to one post to help someone out. I also give positive (but minor) ratings to everyone who posts anything constructive in my threads or helps me out with one of the sticky threads I'm working on. If someone has been particularly helpful I'll sometimes send them a quick PM as well if I've got a moment spare. I generally don't rate people up just for being friendly unless they've obviously put a lot of effort into it, as in the case of Boolean's creation of the comic and humour portal (although I would have rated him up for his numerous helpful sticky threads in any case).

I rate people down who are consistently (not just for a once-off) rude and/or particularly unhelpful and disruptive, or occasionally when someone is just incredibly irritating and won't accept any helpful advice (I'm thinking of those who post MMO threads without any skill or planning but insist they know better), although I prefer not to rate people down from just one or two posts; anyone could have a bad day.

The other thing I would definately rate someone down for is posting incorrect information and insisting it's correct when others provide a proper solution, but that one doesn't come up very often; most people around here are pretty good with admitting if they make a mistake.

Also, with regards to your own rating, keep in mind that you have no idea where that rating came from. You can be rated from any thread you've ever posted in, or even from your profile, so someone could find something you posted 6 months ago and rate you up or down based on that - a sudden drop in rating isn't neccesarily related to your most recent post. Also keep in mind that occasional shifting up and/or down a few points is normal, and you shouldn't worry about it unless your rating really starts to plummet (in which case you're probably doing something very annoying and/or unhelpful). Complaining about ratings will generally get you rated down.

I don't think I've ever rated someone down. I usually rate people up when they post something that helps me directly. It may be that I have a problem and they give me a solution, or it may be that they just happen to post a link to an article or program which I find useful. I don't tend to post my programming or technical problems on forums except as a complete last resort, so this doesn't happen all that often, hence I don't tend to rate a lot of people. I have rated a fair few people up however just because I see they provide a lot of help to other people, or after a fair length of time I generally feel they deserve it based on what I've seen of them on the forums.