Does your forum use reputation points? Karma? How does it work? Do you find it is helpful or just sparks unhealthy competition among members?

No. I had once brought up this idea in my forum and my users were unanimously against the suggestion (most of them). I also believe that "reputation" is not something that is judged in terms of an arbitrary numerical rating but is a quality earned by a member's participation in a community and needs to be judged individually by the other members on a post-by-post basis. It could lead to prejudices against members who initially earn lower ratings and it would be unfair to judge their future posts in the light of their "reputation" in the interests of all.

Finally I decided not to implement it. It isn't needed on my forum and so I decided that it would be best not to burden the system with needless features.

I had a reputation system for a while, but it was removed after complaints.

Hi,

I too would like it removed from here. I think it is a distraction from the mission of the forum.

Christian

I have the reputation system implimented on my board, but most if not all of my members came from an old ubb board, and have no clue what those green dots are for

Eric

I think a little distraction is a good thing. It's the bells and whistles that enrich the community building aspect of the site. It would be rather boring as just a strict Q&A.

I turn rep off. Its too likely to cause fights and hurt feelings.

I agree, rep points aren't so good at all. And some people would just go crazy with the power, and then if you allowed only certain people that power, they would be able to put down anyone who argues with them (I've experienced it myself)

I have it built in with vB but it is turned off.

I kind of made my own thing... not technical, more social... I made Houses, and to get into them you have to answer a questionnaire... If someone is good, a high-level moderator or admin will award them points, which won't go to them but to their House... It kills two birds with one stone:[LIST][*]people that think similarly will be sorted into a House and given a password to their House's special password-protected forum, so that they can all talk together, instead of people that are opposed to them or have conflicting personalities (like the difference between an animal rights activist and a person with a phobia about certain animals) having to talk to each other, in every place you can't escape from someone totally unlike you, for instance[*]Say Joe got 10 points to his House because he reported someone flaming someone else in a post (one of the greatest things about IPB is the little button that says 'Report'). The like-minded people in his House will all like him just that much better because he might have helped them to win the House Cup...