Points System

We were told, through our sources, that Dell will be explaining the point system to us in the near future.

Rick

So does anyone at Dell know what we can do with these points that we receive for every post we make?

I don't think so, an explanation has been requested several times, so far without success.    :emotion-6:

Bev.

The points are like a huge puzzle. Several people have asked in various forums what they are for and how they are assigned.  So much of this new forum has come without instructions or explanations.  And it has taken some time to figure out how to use various parts of the forum.

POST # 2

Hello All, The Points count and also the Post count matters not at all to me.

I don't come to the DCF for Point or Post counts, but to try and help others that have questions and issues with their Dell systems that I may be able to provide answers or suggestions to resolve their issues.

While I don't know all the answers, as many here do seem to, I may be able to suggest something that may help someone that is frustrated with a system that just does not operate as it should.

We have all been there at some time or another, and I appreciated, and still do, all the help I receive from others.

Just my thoughts.

WHAT the points will be good/used for is still a complete mystery.

HOW the points are awarded/received, while still vague, appears to have the following characteristics (based on my own experience here)  :   VOLUME, and INTERACTION:

a) "Volume" (for want of a better term):   It appears that you initially receive 5 points for every post you make.    So the more you post (including spamming), the higher your total will grow.

b1) Interaction:   Each time someone --- other than the most recent poster in the thread --- replies (= interacts), the previous poster gets an additional 15 points, increasing his/her total for that post (from the initial 5) to 20.

However, the same person making consecutive posts, without another poster interacting/intervening between them, only receives his/her initial 5 points for each.

b2) Interaction:  Additional points are awarded to posts for receiving "star" ratings.   I have not experimented with this at all to try to "fine tune" the explanation.   [I would also presume that additional points are awarded for "accepted/verified solutions".

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But (aside from "star" points), there are no points assigned for quality of post!    Granted, this would be a subjective determination, and therefore, difficult to implement.    But it just seems "wrong" to me that a person who submits a long, detailed, comprehensive presentation gets the same initial 5 points as someone who simply says "hello", "please help me", or "here's a link to an interesting news article I just came across today".

Malware removal posts (HiJackThis logs) sometimes require a very long fix... and of necessity, there will be "forced" interaction between the victim and the helper.   The victim (as well as the helper) will receive 20 points per each post to which the helper directly responds (and vice versa).   In other words, that forum is probably significantly more "rigged" for awarding of pure volume/interaction points than other forums.    BugBatter also noted somewhere, in questioning the awarding of points, what it means to see that one "rookit" infection received 50 points, whereas some other malware only got 5:   does the first person get awarded "bonus" points for having caught a particularly nasty infection :emotion-5: ? 

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As already pointed out, mere VOLUME posting can give points for spamming.   Not good.

Also, concerning interaction (or the lack thereof):   if I were to (make 10 separate posts to) call attention to 10 programs that released security updates on a particular day, without intervening interaction from other users, I would receive 50 (= 10 x 5) points for the collective thread.   But if I arranged for a friend (or my wife) to intentionally intervene between each post, long enough to simply say "thanks" or "nice find" or "cute pugs" (or even "I love you" :emotion-2: ), I would then receive 200 (= 10 x 20) points --- for the same identical information!   Does anyone else see problems here?

I don't come to the DCF for Point or Post counts, but to try and help others that have questions and issues with their Dell systems that I may be able to provide answers or suggestions to resolve their issues.

Many of us visit the forums for exactly the same reason :emotion-5:

Nonetheless, I completely understand why folks are asking the question/want to know, because it's not at all obvious.

And when it's something which can't be avoided, it's darned annoying not knowing what it (the points system) means :emotion-43: