Tommy Points and Celticsblog

[Prof. Clutch]

Man I hope none of this is about me 

Take it from a guy who has more TPs than posts, I dole them out and receive them as a slap on the butt to those who make this place better, but I'm no richer and have no more clout here now than I did when I started this account.

This is some feeble stuff folks, hope we can all keep things in perspective...

GO CELTICS!!!!

Just seeing this thread in the same "Latest Forum Topics" box as the Haiti tragedy is plenty of perspective.  Then again that could be said for any thread up there I suppose.

co-sign. 

And of course this is all your fault RG!

[Chris]

Well, just to throw in my two cents (and please note that I am taking off my mod hat here), I think the idea of Karma points is nice in theory, but it is clear to me that things have gotten out of hand here.  As far as I am concerned, the second there is any discussion of Tommy Points beyond "nice post, TP", there is a problem.  The fact that there are so many posts and threads on this site that have to do with discussing Tommy Points, Winning Tommy Points, etc. tells me that there is way too much thought given to them.

In my humble opinion, the whole idea of Karma on forums is to promote quality posting by rewarding individual posts that go above and beyond (or for those forums who have negative Karma, to show displeasure with a post that does not really add to the conversation).  The second you go beyond that, it becomes more about vanity, and the overall quality suffers.  And that is not even getting into the unnecessary drama it causes.

I know there are many people who disagree with this, and I certainly respect that, but I personally do not feel that TPs are doing much good for this site at the moment.

[cool breeze]

I don't log in as much as I used to, or as much as I'd like, but I simply had to deliver Mr. Hobbs his 4000th Tommy Point. And I'm not asking for one in return 

I used to enjoy the negative Tommy Points, but I fully understand why they went away, and I'm curious to see how this all plays out.

[ManUp]

I don't really care about TP's, but I am aware of mines. When I get my TP's I just wonder what I'm getting them for. I think you should change the system into giving TPs to a specific post instead of the actual member. I think that way it'll be more about post quality then anything else and you'll actually know what your getting your TP's for.

[dark_lord]

what is going on here with the tp's??  i got a pretty big spike and it looks like others have as well.  only mods can give them in bulk like this.......so what gives?

im confused why this thread was created a talking about tp drama, then mods have given out a ton. 

clarification?  is the an attempt to justify the end of the tp system? 

not causing drama, just confused, and since we were asked to provide our thoughts on the issue, i felt it is ok for me to ask.

[Roy Hobbs]

what is going on here with the tp's??  i got a pretty big spike and it looks like others have as well.  only mods can give them in bulk like this.......so what gives?

im confused why this thread was created a talking about tp drama, then mods have given out a ton. 

clarification?  is the an attempt to justify the end of the tp system? 

not causing drama, just confused, and since we were asked to provide our thoughts on the issue, i felt it is ok for me to ask.

Here's what I said to another poster who asked a similar question via PM:

I wouldn't [read too much into what happened].  Rather, I think it was somebody's (or multiple somebodies') way of having fun with the TP system, to point out how irrelevant it is.  Believe it or not, I don't have a problem with what happened.

As I see it, the TP system is basically a way to give folks an "attaboy" or a pat on the back.  They shouldn't be seen as a competition.  By skewing the numbers, whoever bumped the TPs basically took the competitive aspect away from them, I think.  What good is it competing for TPs if they're completely arbitrary and can jump wildly for little or no reason?

As [was] pointed out in the thread, very few people were being open and candid in that thread; it's obvious from some of the communications I've seen on the issue that people care about TPs a lot.  I think one of the things yesterday's activities does is hopefully de-emphasize their importance a bit.  Some people are either consumed with competitiveness, or tie their self-worth to their TP count.  Hopefully, the TP influx sheds light on how shallow that thinking is.

Here's my perspective:  after a few days, things will return to normal.  The only thing that will have changed is the TP leaderboard, which only serves to foster competition.  In the interim, people will still hand out TPs for good posts, and people will still appreciate receiving them.  The only thing that will change, in my opinion, is that some of the hyper-competitiveness (the type that leads to hurt feelings) will go away.  That's my overly optimistic prediction, anyway.

[GreenFaith1819]

Yeah, Dark_Lord I noticed a small spike in my TPs as well.

Thanks to whoever the giver was.

Hopefully this thread can shed some light on the whole issue. I know it has helped me. I am a little smarter about the origin of Tommy Points and what they mean.

It's all good.

[dark_lord]

what is going on here with the tp's??  i got a pretty big spike and it looks like others have as well.  only mods can give them in bulk like this.......so what gives?

im confused why this thread was created a talking about tp drama, then mods have given out a ton. 

clarification?  is the an attempt to justify the end of the tp system? 

not causing drama, just confused, and since we were asked to provide our thoughts on the issue, i felt it is ok for me to ask.

Here's what I said to another poster who asked a similar question via PM:

I wouldn't [read too much into what happened].  Rather, I think it was somebody's (or multiple somebodies') way of having fun with the TP system, to point out how irrelevant it is.  Believe it or not, I don't have a problem with what happened.

As I see it, the TP system is basically a way to give folks an "attaboy" or a pat on the back.  They shouldn't be seen as a competition.  By skewing the numbers, whoever bumped the TPs basically took the competitive aspect away from them, I think.  What good is it competing for TPs if they're completely arbitrary and can jump wildly for little or no reason?

As [was] pointed out in the thread, very few people were being open and candid in that thread; it's obvious from some of the communications I've seen on the issue that people care about TPs a lot.  I think one of the things yesterday's activities does is hopefully de-emphasize their importance a bit.  Some people are either consumed with competitiveness, or tie their self-worth to their TP count.  Hopefully, the TP influx sheds light on how shallow that thinking is.

Here's my perspective:  after a few days, things will return to normal.  The only thing that will have changed is the TP leaderboard, which only serves to foster competition.  In the interim, people will still hand out TPs for good posts, and people will still appreciate receiving them.  The only thing that will change, in my opinion, is that some of the hyper-competitiveness (the type that leads to hurt feelings) will go away.  That's my overly optimistic prediction, anyway.

gotchya hobbsy, its all good.  i was just curious/confused.  whatever happens to tps, happens.  no worries

[MattG12]

Why would we suspend people trying to boost their TP totals? Every fantasy sports game we have on here such as the Pick Two Draft and the PAPOUG is for fun, bragging rights, and I think more than anything... TPs. Whats wrong with a little bit of competitiveness on CB? The TP system awards people for giving insightful posts, or funny posts. What's wrong with that? I really don't see the cause for concern. Some people on here, especially rookie posters may feel shy or out of place. How often do you go to a topic and you see for example... MattG12, Redz, and 4 guests are viewing this topic? Perhaps those guests don't become members because they are worried about fitting in. When they finally do join and make the first post, it's nice to be able to give them a TP so they know they have earned some respect and we want to hear from them. It's nice to give FL TPs for taking a lot of time to post amazing Game Threads that are visited by almost everyone on CB. It's also nice to have the fantasy games. I don't play regular fantasy basketball, I used to when I was in high school but I just don't have the time for it anymore. It's nice to play the PAPOUG because it takes like 1 minute each day and if you win you get a prize, and bragging rights.

I remember when I first started visiting this site about four years ago I didn't want to start posting on here because I had never really been a part of a blog before, I had posted as a guest but never really felt like I contributed a great deal. When I made my first post soon after we traded for Ray I believe... I received a TP. Without that TP, CB would have likely been another one of those forums that I posted something on, didn't feel like I contributed, and didn't post again. However the TP made me feel wanted and respected.

I'm against negative TPs, obviously that could lead to terrible situations. I used to be against the karma thing but I understand it now. Bahku and Kiorrik are probably my favorite posters and without the karma factored in I could be biased and give them 5 TPs for a post that I give somebody else 1 TP for. I get that. Karma is a good idea too. With that said, I don't see any problem with positive reinforcement, there is nothing wrong with the TP system at all. Some people take it seriously and play games to get more TPs, some people don't take it seriously at all and think the system is pointless. Does this mean we can't coexist on here? If you don't like fantasy games where you can earn TPs or TP contests... then don't visit those threads. There's no reason to complain and ruin it for everyone else.

[indeedproceed]

Why would we suspend people trying to boost their TP totals? Every fantasy sports game we have on here such as the Pick Two Draft and the PAPOUG is for fun, bragging rights, and I think more than anything... TPs. Whats wrong with a little bit of competitiveness on CB?

I think you misunderstood what the crime was. Boosting TP's in this sense means creating other accounts just for the sole reason of bumping up the TP total of your account.

[Chris]

Why would we suspend people trying to boost their TP totals? Every fantasy sports game we have on here such as the Pick Two Draft and the PAPOUG is for fun, bragging rights, and I think more than anything... TPs. Whats wrong with a little bit of competitiveness on CB?

I think you misunderstood what the crime was. Boosting TP's in this sense means creating other accounts just for the sole reason of bumping up the TP total of your account.

Right, and the "crime" really has nothing to do with the TP's, it is because we do not allow posters with multiple accounts. 

[MattG12]

Why would we suspend people trying to boost their TP totals? Every fantasy sports game we have on here such as the Pick Two Draft and the PAPOUG is for fun, bragging rights, and I think more than anything... TPs. Whats wrong with a little bit of competitiveness on CB?

I think you misunderstood what the crime was. Boosting TP's in this sense means creating other accounts just for the sole reason of bumping up the TP total of your account.

Yeah, that's stupid. Correct you are IP, I didn't even know that was going on.

[youcanthandlethetruth113]

Haha.  It's blind polling, guys.  *Somebody* has to care, because we receive a lot of PMs about this type of stuff.

It certainly isn't me Roy!

I don't care about TP's or TP related issues, but I do try to be as informative and humorous as possible in an attempt to earn them.

[Roy Hobbs]

Problem solved. 

http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=38738

And with that, I lock this thread.  We've returned to the true spirit of TPs, and that warms my heart.