I'm against it being karma-based, simply because someone with enough inferiority issues could spam someone's karma for hours, just to keep them outta' the boards. Then, if that person wanted to FIX this, they'd either have to start a ridiculous number of topics (look who's talking
) or else post in such a way that other people bring their karma up for them.
If you can't access a board to post, how do you do that?
Not everyone CARES about karma, but it can mean a lot to some people. *shrug*
On another note, I was talking to a friend-who-will-not-be-named last night, and she noted that lately the boards have been getting kinda' clique-ish, with the high-ranking members being especially snarky to the newbies.
If we WERE to have that hypothetical Gods-only board... it would only increase any existing snark and exclusivity....
It's kinda' like a blue-chip-stock company. The more shares you hold, the more influence you hold, and eventually you forget that the little guys have a say in the matter, too.
I love socializing with the newbies, but I'll admit that I get kinda' snarky, too, just because I forget not to push them as far as I might push Tyler or Duff, for instance. Things that veteran/god RAFians take in stride, things that we find FUNNY... well, sometimes it offends the Hell outta' the n00bs, and sometimes it scares 'em away a little bit.
I think I know what my next RAFblog article is gonna' be. Yep.
*end of rant~
EDIT: My vote remains 'yes' for the last reason I stated, but for another reason, now, too:
Before the newbies enter the Gen. and Life boards and REALLY get smacked in the face by full frontal snark and the emphatic opinions of the overwhelmingly-well-supported RAFpantheon, they can have some time to get acclimated to the environment on topics like
Animorphs, which they already know well enough that they can hold their own in a discussion. Instead of plunging headfirst into the busiest and craziest parts of RAF, they can... test the waters... so to speak. Then, if they feel like staying, they will have had time to realise that we ARE crazy, and the snark won't be such a shock.
After all, if you were utterly new to this forum, would you want to get into an awesomeness argument with Esplin or Tyler on your first day? Would you want to hold a lengthy and mind-warping discussion with me? Would you want to accidentally offend Anna, Blue, Goom, Ken, or Skye, while the other four are watching? Would you want to mistakenly think that Morfowt is joking, and then learn the hard way that he ISN'T? Conversely, would you want to mistakenly take Duff-humour seriously, then learn the hard way that he didn't mean a word of it, after you've already made an arse of yourself? Would you want to get on my/Phoenix's/Richard's "bad side" by doing all-of-the-above?
Think about how much that would have to SUCK!!!
We've all seen it happen at one point or another, sometimes all to the same person. It rarely ends well for the poor loons that cross us. Why don't we make it a bit easier for them to work their way into our society?
*end of rant # 2~