Postcount+++

[shazza]

If you hadn't noticed, the 'ummm...' thread has been slightly diverted to the attention of post counts and posts per day averages. Perhaps I'm trying to procrastinate from actual university work, but it got me thinking. What is (the past tense of 'was' would probably suffice more so on TPM) it with post counts that are so important? Why did so many of us back in the day take something so meaningless such as a figure on a message board to great importance?

Many perceived it as a measure of user hierarchy and how active you contribute; those with a higher post count were generally more respected and considered to be of more value by new members and it subsequently boosted ones online ego. Those of whom (including yours truly back in the day) got so caught up in the idea of a higher post count and subsequently better status in the TPM hierarchy (and the possibility of becoming a mod based on their post count) that they took little care in their quality of posts, which is obviously a more sensible way of measuring somebody’s self-worth.

I’d be lying if I said I did not care one bit about my post count today. I still enjoy the numbers I’ve produced over the years, and I guess my competitive nature gives me a feeling of online pride and reminds me of how much I’ve posted here over the 8.5 years.

Why do you think post count was so relevant to so many people? Did you put any significance to it during your early years? Do you still do so today? Don’t lie, I’m sure you all still put some importance to it from time to time. :)

Discuss.

[Rossymore]

Ahem *points at post count*
I've been here for a month, a freaking month. In my first forum, it took me a year to get 500 posts.

That's why I'm talking about my post count. It's f**king ridiculous.

I don't think myself better then members who have less posts, I'm just proud to have such a large number.

[PancaKe]

I think what did it for early members of TPM was the fact that the more pokeballs you had under your name, the better you were. And the fact that you got to be a Cool Trainer, and a Master Trainer, and cool names like that.

When there is a reward for hitting a certain amount of posts, I think anyone is going to aim. It's no so important anymore because I don't get pokeballs as a reward. :(

Although - I do get excited to see my numbers go up, and there are times I'll view where I'm at in terms of the highest posters on the board and how many more posts I need to overtake certain people etc.

And yeah. It's fun. It's like, collecting rewards. Or something.

[shazza]

You alone reminded me of how so many of us used to put importance to post count, I actually find it somewhat refreshing to see you have so many in such a little time and still contribute quite quality posts. :)

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

I like postcount++, to be honest. I'm almost as greedy as way before. It carries on, I am already in page 3 (http://www.pokemasters.net/forums/memberlist.php?&pp=50&order=desc&sort=posts&page=3) in the members list. But I'd also like to earn the number by having meaningful replies. And by 'meaningful replies' I don't mean the obvious answers I 'sometimes' post in PCG.

[Rossymore]

It's surprising that I have so much quality when my keyboard's crap and the most frequently used key is backspace.

How the hell can I ref?

[shazza]

Although - I do get excited to see my numbers go up, and there are times I'll view where I'm at in terms of the highest posters on the board and how many more posts I need to overtake certain people etc.

And yeah. It's fun. It's like, collecting rewards. Or something.

Yeah, pretty good point. I too like to arrange members by post count and see where I rank! In fact, I'll do it now.

I anticipate Lady Vulpix's reply, she is like the anti-postcount++ Queen.

[PancaKe]

I think that everybody at one point has looked at the members list sorted by postcount just to see where they are at. It's one of those little things everyone does but nobody talks about. :D

Bloody Ash 300 has been at the top spot for like nine years.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

To me, perhaps as important as postcount, has become the importance to be among the first repliers for a topic. I saw this thread and rushed in, it didn't have replies at the moment, but still Rossymore, PancaKe and shazza again made it and posted before me.

[Rossymore]

I think that everybody at one point has looked at the members list sorted by postcount just to see where they are at. It's one of those little things everyone does but nobody talks about. :D

Just checked...*shot*

Near the bottom of Page 15!

EDIT:
but still Rossymore, PancaKe and shazza again made it and posted before me.


Niiiiiinnnnja!!!!

[Dark-San]

More posts leading up to a better status in TPM. That was old school of thinking or TPM used to head that way. Until Ash300 came up and rack 35 000 posts, this way of thinking has been abolished since then. Besides, I believed that it should be the quality of the posts you put up here that determine your worth in TPM.


Why do you think post count was so relevant to so many people?

So no would be my answer to this question of how relevant is the post counts. I respected people for their contribution or for that matter as long as they don't make a fool of themselves. ^.^; Also, I am simple to make friends with.


Did you put any significance to it during your early years?

Of my 7000 plus posts here, three quarters of which used to be me posting PTCG or DM decks and recommending clinical fix-up to other people's decks in the TCG forum in the days when I was still dealing. One quarter of which belongs to the OA section, although I have to say wouldn't matter. Also another small minute percentile of my posts goes to MISC, PCG, RPG etc.


Do you still do so today? Don’t lie, I’m sure you all still put some importance to it from time to time. :)

No, I don't look at post count. And no, I have not put in much significance in my posts these days. My attention is not with Pokemasters but somewhere else as of lately. ^.^; But no worries as long as I am still here, I will be keep tabs and working more behind the scenes.

[Crazy Elf Boy]

Why do you think post count was so relevant to so many people?
I just think people take its a sign of how active a person is on a forum and therefore how good they are. But also as a sign of how good they are and how much respect that they should command.

Did you put any significance to it during your early years?
When I was younger I would have thought that postcount was the main factor in determining how good a person was on a forum.

Do you still do so today?
Today I am the complete opposite, I find if people are just randomly posting in topics with lame two or three word answers just for post count++ then I view them as a try hard or someone who does think they need to be recognised. But the other reason for me thinking this way is that most of the important people on this forum dont have a high post count, yet they still play a big part in the operations.

[Telume]

Ah, the days of the yore on the internet, on my first forum I had several thousand posts and I used to remember how respected people with my number of posts used to be, I used to put so much weight on that.

But now that the internet's evolved, I realized that... it's just a number. You might have 8000 posts but, if you made them all stupid then I don't think you deserve my respect.

I think AGE was also a factor in determining how we viewed post count. People who are 11 and 12 hold post counts in much higher regard than someone who is say 21 or 22. At least, that's the way I see it. I myself can say that I became a forum addict at around at 11 or so and I usually had some respect for the people who had 3k+ posts, because, well, they posted a lot and logic says, they had to know what the hell they were talking about.

Also it tended to be that the people who had a very high post count were, of course, mod. Which only compounded that fact.

[Heald]

I think when I was younger I did care about post count but I never actually made any attempt to actively increase mine (I'm not a fan of superfluous posting, every post I do has at least some meaning) but over time I just stopped caring, especially with the decline of the board. I think once I hit 5000 I really did stop caring.

[Drago]

Back when I was a wee sprat, it was indeed for me all about the rankings. The more I posted, the better a 'trainer' I became, and thus, the more impressive a member I would surely be considered.
It's no different from the random achievements allocated in video games nowadays. Why should I care how many critters I emoted /love to in WoW? Why should I be trying my hardest to gain recognition from random tasks such as running into walls in Smash Bros Melee? Because the system wants me to.

Somehow people's opinions seemed to carry more weight with me back then based on their postcount. If they carried a massive sum, then they effectively held more sway over the forum - someone with fewer posts obviously didn't care enough for our humble abode! Of course, back then I also had a bit of a registration date obsession too; people had to be registered for like a year before I stopped considering them noobs.

Do I care about post count these days? Oh yes. Absolutely. Because for the last eight years I've been trying to establish myself as a prominent member of this crazy little Poke-society of ours (the Poke-mafia as Jess calls it), so if it's recognised by being the 197th most prolific poster, then so be it. (oh yeah, and I is mod too. yaysocks) Though the rankings are long gone, don't think that I'm not eagerly watching my postcount edge closer to me becoming an almighty Elite Trainer. Thirty to go!

[firepokemon]

Post count was important especially in the early days. Things were crowded. There were numerous people and you had to somehow make an impact. Some could do that via their personalities but most were merely idiots and thus post count was the only way. Being that at one time I had the highest post count I can't deny that it isn't important. But my posts then were almost always quality and thus I never felt I cheated my way to having so many posts. Of course my first account was deleted and then I had other accounts that were deleted. I presume I'm somewhere in the region of 12, 000 or so plus if not more.

Of course there is that notorious thread where I berate Ash_300 for him celebrating his 10, 000 posts. But I actually had a point. Because he like numerous others simply spammed their way to high post counts. This board had a huge weakness at posting crappy threads and spammy replies. There really was no excuse back then since most topics actually had a point. But sadly, people would spam anyway.

I don't consider post count important anymore. Its not important when there is so few of us. I am somewhat sadden that my post count on this account is so lowly.I just wish I didn't end up getting my accounts deleted.

[DarkestLight]

Hrm. I like this thread.

Ir reminds me of how things change over time. Everyone at one point or another cared about that number going up.. As Heald said-Age was the critical factor for me. I came here and I was well into my teens. I already knew how the system worked, but I was just dipping my head in and out of the forums, posting small replies here and there. I knew I didn't have the time to raise that number high, so I didn't attempt to.

I didn't have a very high post count when I started participating and being more active here-and I don't really have a high one now. I'm always gong to look over and see that number-but I never had the urge to fill it to some godawful number then, and I definitely don't need to fill it now. The way I post, it'll get there through sheer will, lol.


Though Elite Trainer would be nice.....>> Pfft scrap that..I already passed it. Ha. xD

[MToolen]

Post count was important to me, honest. I saw those with more and wished I had that kind of devotion. However, I'm really a lazy man at heart, and so I haven't hit my first thousand in three-ish active years of almost nine that my account's been here (just saw that I made it to page 10 though! *dancey dance*). I do like to think that a good deal of my posts have been fairly high quality, though. And the other aspect's been agreed to to death, but yes, post count used to be important as a mark of status the same way that answering an entire forum in one go (e.g., Hanada Tattsu in the Pokémon Anime forum) was. Nowadays, we're just happy people come around at all.

[Little_Pikachu]

Back in the day when we got new ranks for post counts I suppose it made you feel like, with each rank up, you were a more established member of the community. I suppose it felt like a bit of an achievement.

Ash_300 was the prime example of how a high post count actually didn't gain you any respect at all though, he would always get flamed and called a spammer for it, even though most his posts were decent. I remember when Kevin gave himself like an extra 10,000 on his post count and he still didn't overtake Ash_300!

[Lady Vulpix]

I've never understood why people believed that post count amounted to anything. Back in the time when people would produce massive SPAM in order to increase their postcount, I wished the annoying number below people's usernames wouldn't exist.

Some people heard me and called me a hypocrite because I had a high postcount, which was even more irritating because I felt they were comparing me to a spammer and didn't even take the time to read my posts. Luckily, those times are over and, hopefully, gone for good.

Now that no one seems to care about it, I occasionally look at it and check whether it's a palyndrome, a multiple of 100 or some other 'remarkable' number (often when I see people talking about postcounts). But other than that I still don't care about it. I continue participating in TPM's activities and that number under my name goes ignored most of the time. It doesn't even count the posts I have made since I joined, as many were lost in the hacks or transitions from one board to another. It does not, in fact, mean anything.

[Green Lanturn]

I too can remember the days of looking at the number of pokeballs under my name and seeing only 1 or 2, and then looking at others and seeing at least 4 or 5, and it did in some way make me want to have that many and be more established.

With that said, that was back in the day when I went by Hoeruko, or Seaking...both of those accounts are inactive (well, they were the same account), and i since lost that post count. So, while it was nice to see the new label say "cool trainer" under my name when I finally hit it, and i wont lie and say im not looking forward to hitting "advanced trainer" status......it really doesnt matter to me otherwise.

^.^ it makes me think of some of the older people that were here like EeveeTrainerBrad and Meowth_Kitten.......where did that remembrance topic go? :P

~GL

[Jeff]

My postcount's almost at 2,000!

Ahem. Anyway, I never felt the need to drive up that number. OK maybe a little when we had the rankings, but that's it.

Oh yeah, my posts per day is at 1.18 and currently rising.

[homeofmew]

it's the pokeballs that did it.
how do i get the 2nd pokeball was like 250 or so posts.
then you wanted the 3rd one ect.
With the titles too, who wanted to be a beginning trainer for 249 posts?
really?

[Asilynne]

I was 18 when I joined TPM, and so I never cared about it at all, it was something I didnt think about. And it used to piss me off when people would make such a big deal about it because it seemed really stupid to me for them to care so much XD
No offense to anyone here *is about to sound like a bitch, please forgive!* but I would be embarrassed to have a high postcount cause that would mean I wasted even more time than I already do on the internet XD IMO, quality is far better than quantity when it comes to posts, most of the time I dont even reply to something unless I have something to say (although I will admit Ive posted random things out of boredom sometimes, everyone does that XD).

[Fett One]

When I first came here (I was 18) I was impressed with the high post counts because I couldn't believe people actually had so many things to talk about. Since I never reallly had anything to say, I always assumed my post count would stay relatively low. As such I never gave my own post count much thought. In fact, my post count is currently much, much, much higher than I ever thought it would get (thank you PCG).

[Magmar]

I think that everybody at one point has looked at the members list sorted by postcount just to see where they are at. It's one of those little things everyone does but nobody talks about. :D



I've been there, done that, lol. I used to have the highest post count right back when the board started. I was also 13, lol, so it was sort-of what 13-year-olds do.

Dancing lemons!:lemoncool::lemoncool::lemoncool:postcount+ +:lemoncool: I think I've lost posts over the years but w/e.

[Fett One]

I think that everybody at one point has looked at the members list sorted by postcount just to see where they are at. It's one of those little things everyone does but nobody talks about. :D



Until today, I have never done that. The only reason I did it today was because this topic made me curios.

[Blademaster]

Same here.

...And I'm the 39th-highest posting member on the forum!!!! SUCK ON THAT, MASTER POKEMONH!

Hmmm? What? He's not here these days, dammit.

OK, then... YOU suck on that, PNT510!!! :cawg:

[firepokemon]

Back in the UBB days in the members list there was a dedicated Top 25 posters.