[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Alexander Turcic

Can we all try to relax and unwind for a moment? Thank you. First of all, I understand and care about this issue. So I promise I will try my best to work on a solution that everyone could agree on.

On the one hand, we have hard-core members who spend a lot of time and energy actively contributing to our community. For example, our e-book section is only a little over a year old; yet it's been immensely successful and steadily growing thanks to those members who have been so meticulously converting, formatting and sharing with us some of the most outstanding literary works. These members have earned our utmost respect, and it's only natural that we'd like to portray this respect in form of giving them Karma.

On the other hand, we have a growing community where members with an exceptionally diverse set of skills and interest love to hang out and have fun. This is wonderful, and I am very proud of this! I personally find many of the so-called off-topic posts relaxing and refreshing, and certainly I don't want to miss a single one of them. If giving each other Karma turned into some kind of sport, then, at least for me, this is one way of judging how positive and successful our community has become.

So the dilemma is that our Karma system currently serves different purposes.

I propose: We add another award system to specifically honor members with special achievements in our community. This system would go along with Karma points and neither would affect the other.

Before I continue contemplating this solution, I would like to hear your constructive comments. But please, before anything else, let's stop with the accusations and be nice to each other again.

Thanks again!

Alex

aw alex, we'd be nothing without you. thanks for being so indefatigably friendly and level-headed, and most of all for making this wonderful site where we all can be helpful / informative / curious / novices without fear of scorn / silly / absurd / squirrelly. you deserve more completely un-ironic karma than anyone, willy-nilly or otherwise.

Originally Posted by TadW

Badges... how do special-purpose achievement badges sound?

i like that idea ! they could be little icons with different meanings (explained using title tags), like the ICQ icons. we could have a whole set of them, or different levels, like badges plus stars for marking milestones. take a look at some of the member profiles on the site iconbuffet.com if you want a concrete example.

Originally Posted by pshrynk

I'm already first in line for a Top Secret Captain Midnight Decoder Badge for a project they're working on.

yeah, but don't forget i'm first in line to play with it, when you get it ! (and what about my Top Secret Decoder Ring ??)