New titles

[orcdom]

nice to see it reflecting total post count byt the names sound like they should represent trade ratings.
Steve

[br00n0]

A 108 rating Trade Novice here,

As orcdom said, the titles seem to reflect a trading status, when in fact it's posting.

As for myself, I do not spam the BTown forums by repeating the same ad over and over again as soon it drops to page 2. Does that make me a "worse" trader?

And as a trader, I think I'm more... uh... efficient as when I post, I trade. While we're at it, why not calculate the ratio of posted messages vs. actual trades? That'd be interesting.

On the other hand, many BTowners are buyers-only. They would have near to no post at all but still have a great ITL rating.

Anyway, that's my opinion. In Canadian dollars. Eh.

[insidius]

This illustrates rather well why titles are more trouble than they're worth.

[NidMaster40000]

I guess it is from the total posts.

[NoiseMarine77]

Bruno, I'm in the same boat as well. I just noticed today that I am a "Trade Novice" even though I have been with Bartertown since 1999.

My only hope is that Btown veterans, aka the people I want to trade with, will ignore the title and look at my feedback rating. I think it's pretty lame to have a lot of posts and little feedback. It only shows that you just like to post and there are plenty of other board to do that on.

[orcdom]

thats why i think the titls ought to reflect your ITL rating and not post count, or at least with these names there is for them.

because a 160 ITL rating does mean more than the 500 post count, the only thing the post cound does do either shows your a blabbermouth or been on here for a long time.

titles are nice, but the names there are now do need to reflect the trade rating rather than post count.

or is it possible to do a combination of the 2? like 2 words for title, one for the trade rating, the other for post count?

i have no idea really, the idea behind the titles are great but, just like anything else, the implimentation needs perfected. and you rarely ever ever get something right the first time out.

Steve

[MagickalMemories]

Well, let me officially thank the person responsible!

Tanks, Lin!

For those complaining about how the titles are set up, I offer this...

Yes, perhaps the titles could, possibly, lead a newbie to incorrectly presume one meaning when, in fact, another is intended.

Keep in mind, though, that these titles are not meant to reflect your rating. Instead, they are meant to reflect the amount of time you have invested with Bartertown as a community.

Yes. There are those out there who have done more trades than, say, ME for example. If you look at our post count, however, it indicates clearly that I do more than many of those in contributing my time and energies to the development of the Bartertown community.

Sure, trading here a lot does wonders for you, and the people you are trading with... and it sure does get you a high rating. But, what are you contributing to the BARTERTOWN community if your rating is 100, and it is higher than your post count?

Just my opinion.

Eric

Eric

[arch_8ngel]

It might just mean they delete their old posts.

[iemagic]

Why not do something different and lead the pack: instead of basing the titles on post count or ITL, why not multiply them together to get a number that reflects both values. Sure, then some levels will be in 10's of thousands, but hey, would be an interesting way to combine all levels of involvement in Bartertown. So, we could have:

New Trader (50)
Trade Novice (100) -- 5*20
Apprentice Trader (250)
BTown Regular (500) --10*50
Journeyman Trader (2500) --25*100
Resident Trader (15000) --50*300
Expert Trader (37500) --75*500
Millenium Trader (100000) --100*1000

These are pretty arbitrary and based on the old list, but hopefully give you an idea of how the system could work. The title levels are followed by the trades multiplied by the post count that yield a given number just to show how I arrived at the values. You could certainly play with the various levels. Now, for some examples:

Linrandir, with 32 ITL and 602 posting at time of this post would have a rating of 19264. Br00n0 with 108 ITL and 31 posts would have 3348 rating. Sorry Br00n0, but at least it's better than the novice level! NidMaster40000 with a 4 ITL and 2083 posts would have a 8332 rating.

At this rate, even some of the most active posters/traders would not quite have achieved the highest level. Darksoul, as my example of a very active trader, has a 278 ITL and 350 posts, which would give him a rating of 97,300.

Just a thought. It seems that while titles, as stated elsewhere in this thread, are more trouble than they're worth, by at least combining the ratings you'd give everyone a fair shake. Well, more fair anyway.

Alternatively, you could just divide your ITL by your post count to achieve some number to base titles on, but it's too late to do division. Suffice to say, while the multiplication favors post count, division favors ITL and low post count.

[OmniJackal]

I werfed

[MEDEVL]

OK, not to pee in anybody's Wheaties but I really don't understand how number of posts equates to any sort of trade rating. I'm probably just not understanding it, but if these trading titles are based on number of posts and independant of the ITL then a guy with a horrible rating could be an "expert trader" correct?? Also asumingly the number of posts total counts the discussion area too (I'm only guessing since I'm doubting that I've posted over 100 times in the ad section). If that's the case then somebody whose NEVER done a trade but likes to discuss will get ranked. I'm also afraid we'll see more garbage posts like "PM'ed you" popping up all over the place. I'ts probably just me being reactionary so ignore me if I'm wrong.

[br00n0]

I'm right with you, MEDEVL.

The title names should be changed and take out the concept of trading, as any regular phpBB forum.

If you want to check the user's ITL rating, well just read the number between parenthesis beside his/her ID! Duh.

Otherwise, it's just more confusing that anything else...

My 2 cents.

Bruno.

[orcdom]

i persoanally thing the "i pm'd you" posts are bullsh!t anyways. the posting rules/filter ought to consist of 5 words or more to aleviate that crap.

and i can see where the post count should both and not contribute to the trade title. i can see where it represents time on this forum as a helping and contributing member, but i also see the otehr side as well. the multiplier thing is a good idea, but what about the mods that were added i am guessing witht he 40K forum that i asked about in another thread where they allready have 10,000 posts or whatever and been a member of b town for a couple months?

if they are just mods than thats something entirely different since its a different title.

but back to the point the 2 could be combined somehow to reflect all sides of the discussion. i am still not sure what ought to represent more tho.

Steve

[NoiseMarine77]

I have been a part of bartertown for a long time. Personally I liked it way better, back when it was NOT a message board, but a place to post an ad, and do all correspondance by email.

There have been WAY too many posts with people ripping on other's ads or replying with useless comments that in no way contributes to an actual transaction.

I still use Btown because it's the best site out there for great deals/trades on GW stuff. But there is a reason why I DO NOT use the Discussion boards on btown. I don't want to talk about stuff! I want to do trades, and buy/sell.

If any titles are to be used, it should be solely based on your btown feedback. Let the people who post and "contribute" (that term is very subjective here) get other titles for use on the Discussion boards.

The TRADING sections is for trading. Not jibber jabber. When I think of "contributing to the bartertown community" I think of me having perfect trade references dating back to 1999.

Scroll Down

My two posts in this topic is already too much. I need to go back to the '40k for sale' section and contribute to the community now.

Jon

[MagickalMemories]

Wow. Jon... You come across as nearing militant about your opinion...
I hope I come across as conversational and questioning... but not confrontational.

But there is a reason why I DO NOT use the Discussion boards on btown. I don't want to talk about stuff! I want to do trades, and buy/sell.

Hey. Cool. Go for it. That is why there are multiple areas on the site. Some, like yourself, are here for trades only. Great for you, man. Seriously. No sarcasm intended.

Others, like myself, enjoy the cameraderie of the discussion areas.

Let the people who post and "contribute" (that term is very subjective here) get other titles for use on the Discussion boards.

Actually, it is not subjective at all. In fact, it is quite cut and dried.

You have a HUGE trade rating. Obviously, you have a lot of experience in trades. You are, undoubtedly, a great trader who is good to deal with. I don't doubt that fact in the slightest.

Answer me this, though; As someone who only trades and does not share their experience, knowledge, and opinions with the community at large, what do you contribute to Bartertown as a whole?

Obviously, you contribute to the collections of those you trade with, and to your own collection. What, though, have you done to, say, educate new users here on the typical ettiquette involved in a trade? How many scammers have you helped catch? Have you ever participated in a thread or poll (besides this one) discussing what functionalities could be added to this site to make it an easier and/or more enjoyably experience for everyone?

See, THOSE are the types of topics that add value to a community such as this. It creates more great traders like yourself, catches the scammers like Ticknor & Ivan the Raider, and gives us functionalities for easier trade agreements -like the chat room. That is how an online community like this one grows and flourishes.

The TRADING sections is for trading. Not jibber jabber.

You are correct... but this is the Messages & Miscellany section, not the 40K for sale section you mentioned. It *is* the section for jibber jabber.

When I think of "contributing to the bartertown community" I think of me having perfect trade references dating back to 1999.
<snip>
My two posts in this topic is already too much. I need to go back to the '40k for sale' section and contribute to the community now.

Please. I would really appreciate it if you could explain to me how THAT is contributing to the community. Keeping in mind the distinction I made earlier, I just don't see it.

All that being said, I do NOT disagree that titles based on post count should probably not reference your trading, but contributing... I do agree that titles referencing your trading should be based on ratings.

Eric