I really miss it. Positive rep is nearly pointless without minus rep. I wish I was able to do both +rep and -rep to either credit that poster or to warn other users, because there's always the occasional spammer, LQ poster, or "shadier" member. However, these kinds of people roam the forums reaping threads of quality with barely a consequence. You can't hide bad members by hiding the bad feedback. If it were to happen, I'd recommend having 100% public rep.
Will -rep ever be reintroduced to Support Forums?
I doubt it.
(09-21-2010, 11:02 AM)Omniscient Wrote: [ -> ]This decision was based on member complaints along with a desire for SF to remain a place of positive vibes. It's not in the best interest of the community to allow negative reputations.
http://www.supportforums.net/showthread.php?tid=12124
Yeah, that thread really disappointed me when it was made. I don't think the intended outcome really came about though. I see nothing but people acting like children especially in the Off-topic section, because there's hardly/never a consequence of doing so. I think -rep was a reasonable way of deterring people from acting like idiots, because for some reason it mattered to them. Even then it's not always about immaturity. SF has had it's share of scammers and shady members in the past. If we were to have more, people would have a harder time recognizing these members due to the lack of -rep.
It's not useful at all.
You either think positively of someone, or keep your negativity to yourself. Arguments regarding reputation are very annoying.
I don't think this it is a good idea to bring -rep back. Omni summed it up I think.. Support Forum needs to be a place of positive vibes. Adding -rep would cause arguments, like it did in the past.
Why would you even want -rep? Its awful.
No it will not return. The site has improved with it's removal and from my experience negative rep has enough negatives that I am fairly positive it will not return.
This is like saying: Will fights in school ever come back?
I agree with the others, just brings negative vibes & arguments. If you see someone out of place, just politely send them a PM telling them what they are doing wrong, so they can fix it.
Removal of negative rep is actually kind of a good idea. If this place is supposed to be a place for support, how would you be giving support by insulting someone? Even if their rep was legit and they were LQ or otherwise troublesome, it disrupts the vibe. Also, a lot of people abuse -rep on other sites and I tend to be more cautious when dealing with someone who can -rep just for saying you like something they don't. On a support forum like this, you shouldn't have to worry about stepping on anyone's toes out of fear of them giving you a nice red reputation with a nasty comment :/