What do you guys think of the little feature on everybody's posts that says how many posts total they've made on the Escapist forum? Have any of you ever felt that you've been discriminated against (like in a debate or something) simply because you have a lower number of posts than your counterpart? Do you feel like there is any sort of elitism amongst those with higher post counts?

In many forums I've been on... the post counter has been treated as a dick hat of sorts.

I won't deny that the post count isn't something I notice but I'm just as likely to respond to someone on their 10th post as their 1000th. The only exception to this is when I already know someone, which is a result of chance, their avatar and their activity (which obviously means a higher post count). So I have no problem with post counts as they don't change how I deal with people, barring stupidity; a silly post from a newbie is much more likely to be a flame or troll than from a veteran. Besides, any feature that shows me just how much of a post whore Purps is gets my thumbs up.
Another thought: people might be mistaking friendliness between internet chums as exclusion. It's not. People just are more talkative once they know each other.

It is a good thing, mainly because we can see how well people have posted in the past. Look at GEMS. He was a troll. He had over 200 posts in his first two days. Most of which were inane and pointless. It allows people to see how long someone has been on this forum, and how seriously they can be taken or trusted... If someone jumps on, posts a thread and is locked within a day, we know what to expect from that person in the future, like GEMS, or if someone like myself, who jumps on, makes a lot of posts in a short time (I think I got my first 200 in 3 days) but doesn't say inflammatory or inappropriate things, it shows that they are interested in taking part in the discussions. Yeah, I post whore. But at least I am not a troll about it 99.90% percent of the time...

Quiet you BeatWriter. I am a Gone Gonzo meaning I am better than you. Nah, I'm joking about the rank thing but I do look at the join date to see if the person has been a long time member or just jumped on because of the Yahtzee fad. You can usually tell what the person will be like by the join date, usually.

I actually like it, it does help to see if someone is a routine poster or if they are just a creepy troll who has no life but to post online.

I can't believe it but I actually agree with Cheeze-pavilion, and boy is that scary :)JK.

I also enjoy the tongue in cheek titles we all get based on the total posts.

Being that I am a lowly paperboy and am in no hurry to jump the line it still entertains my small mind. Maybe when I have hit a large number of posts it won't mean as much but for right now it is not a harmful thing.

Number of posts and join date are good tools. High post count, low days on board, someone who just wants to randomly type. You know, the fun stuffs.....Plus, nothing wrong with a metaphorical dick hat. Wink.

The Lawn:
In many forums I've been on... the post counter has been treated as a dick hat of sorts.

So I hold the biggest dick hat of all.

I like it. It can tell you how long people have survived the sway of the banhammer.

*grumbles*

those who know know

so what are people with an early join date and low post count?

I think I know; Lurkers :) I do wonder how much time people spent on boards per day though. I mean, I only reply to threads when I have read most of the discussion. Which means that in a popular thread i read for an hour before posting something.

I've heard this argument before many times. There's a number of good things that can come from a post count; rather than e-peen; which have already been shown here.

It tells the Purple Rains from the "ohmygodfirstpost" crowd :)

I like knowing when it's someone's first post. That's about it though.

PurpleRain:
So I hold the biggest dick hat of all.

Hey, Purple, you seem to forget mr cheeze (I'm sorry if I got the username wrong)...

Oh, and I kinda like the post system. It makes me feel like I've been on the boards for a while... no-one notices me though...

Where's stompy? I can't see him...
I agree with all of the above, but I like to add humor into my posts as much as I add constructive comments... so I'm a bit of a quandary.

Oh and by the way I've been reading the website for quite sometime I only joined recently because I noticed the roleplay threads... something I have intention of getting into, when I have more than five minutes of free time a day.

It's a good feature. Gives people an easy way of who should be taken seriously and who should be listened to with a grain of salt. Post/time ratio and all that.

stompy:
no-one notices me though...

Awww...we all notice you stompy, we're just ignoring you ;)

As long as people don't use their post count to measure their e-penis it's fine.
But as a general rule to all forum goers: LURK MOAR. You can never lurk too much.
Also curse all you regulars with your tight knit gangs :(

What? Who has ever done that? We always pride ourselves on being open minded enough to know that a first time poster may have enough intelligence to not only be worth reading, but actually have valid enough points to make us reconsider our previous thoughts on an issue. I know I have thought long and hard about some issues we have debated on here, and some of the time the person was only in their first 25 posts...

Doesn't really do anything. i don't care for it, but i do like having a nice shiny badge below my name. It makes me feel special. Maybe Escapist should add the feature of being able to change your rank name thingamabob. I'd like to change my rank back to something latin, like Ignus Justorum.
I only use the post number to intimidate Purplerain. **

I remember a time when I was pretty much in the top ten for highest post-count, back when Yahtzee was just getting started here... I'm falling behind now, but I'm still high enough that I like it. I hold power, and that can never be a bad thing.

Girlysprite:
so what are people with an early join date and low post count?

Capable of thinking before they speak.

To be honest, I don't usually look at it, until you mentioned it.

Girlysprite:
so what are people with an early join date and low post count?

I think I know; Lurkers :) I do wonder how much time people spent on boards per day though. I mean, I only reply to threads when I have read most of the discussion. Which means that in a popular thread i read for an hour before posting something.

I do the same thing, and Moebius, I saw you on another thread, I think the Guys have questions... etc. thread, flaming someone because they only had 3 posts.

seeing as my computer screen is screwed up, i cant actually see the post count or join date, or hell, even peoples names (if you must konow i have to move the slide bar all the way to the right to see comments) so i have to judge people by their comments, not their post count. though i do like seeing people with a high post count for some reason. i have discovered that if you do something like, post a sub standard review people seem to attack people with less posts more. maybe thats just me

Scarpy:

Girlysprite:
so what are people with an early join date and low post count?

I think I know; Lurkers :) I do wonder how much time people spent on boards per day though. I mean, I only reply to threads when I have read most of the discussion. Which means that in a popular thread i read for an hour before posting something.

I do the same thing, and Mobius, I saw you on another thread, I think the Guys have questions... etc. thread, flaming someone because they only had 3 posts.

No, I was flaming her because my girlfriend and I had been talking to a guy about building his confidence, then she came in and said that everyone was wrong and that she was the only one with right answers. I got a little excessive, but my main point remains true to this day. We weren't wrong, we gave general advice based on personal experience (My 32 relationships, and my girlfriend being a girl) with the explicit written advisory warning that it wouldn't work in every case, but in 90% of the times... I wasn't flaming her because she had three posts, but because she assumed she knew more about asking a girl out than everyone else. And then she didn't say anything that was very different from what we had been saying anyway. She was being a troll. I responded in kind, and then let it go.

If you see someone with an eariler join date and higher post count your expecting that they are regular posters and know the community. Be a handy thing to know if your ever looking for advice....

I am used to anonymous messageboards, and therefore not used to nicknames or postcounts.

Seriously, if you can't tell if the person you're reading is being honest or not, you might want to read a bit more on the topic you're discussing yourself.

Darth Mobius:

Scarpy:

Girlysprite:
so what are people with an early join date and low post count?

I think I know; Lurkers :) I do wonder how much time people spent on boards per day though. I mean, I only reply to threads when I have read most of the discussion. Which means that in a popular thread i read for an hour before posting something.

I do the same thing, and Mobius, I saw you on another thread, I think the Guys have questions... etc. thread, flaming someone because they only had 3 posts.

No, I was flaming her because my girlfriend and I had been talking to a guy about building his confidence, then she came in and said that everyone was wrong and that she was the only one with right answers. I got a little excessive, but my main point remains true to this day. We weren't wrong, we gave general advice based on personal experience (My 32 relationships, and my girlfriend being a girl) with the explicit written advisory warning that it wouldn't work in every case, but in 90% of the times... I wasn't flaming her because she had three posts, but because she assumed she knew more about asking a girl out than everyone else. And then she didn't say anything that was very different from what we had been saying anyway. She was being a troll. I responded in kind, and then let it go.

Ah fair enough then, sorry man, I mis-understood you. =]

PurpleRain:

The Lawn:
In many forums I've been on... the post counter has been treated as a dick hat of sorts.

So I hold the biggest dick hat of all.

I like it. It can tell you how long people have survived the sway of the banhammer.

WHY?! This is getting ridicules. Dick hat is no longer a word. It, like many other words is getting far to close to my name.

To Scarpy:

It happens. As I said, I DID get a bit excessive with her. But it wasn't because she had three posts.

Cheeze_Pavilion:
Heh--the forums used to be a lot less active earlier on. Things seemed to heat up with the format change from webmagazine to website with feature content/the infamous _Fallout_ thread, and then especially since Zero Punctuation came around.

Seriously--three pages of comments used to be a long thread at one time...

The glory days indeed. I can't wait for Fallout 3 to actually come out, because then maybe we can do it again.

Per long threads? I'm just amazed they set up the recent posts home page widget to handle post counts over 1000. Whodathunkit?

On Topic: Post Ratio is an excellent thing in helping gauge the other person. The apparent race to see what is above "Gone Gonzo"? Not so much.