Is the Fall From Grace fatal to the Good Guy Certs?

I think some people are confused about what the "reputation system" really is here. When you click on the icon to the left of anyone's post, you will see the following popup screen:



Please read what it says and take it literally.

The reputation system, as per the designers of vBulletin, is used to rate how and what people POST on the message board. It is a way for other members to rate the QUALITY of the words you write. It has NOTHING at all to do with business whatsoever. It has nothing at all to do with something completely unrelated to THAT post that has been made by that person. It is a completely different and independent system from anything else on this site.

Of course, there is no way to really control how people will use it, except perhaps after the fact with warnings and other sanctions, but the INTENT of the system is not how some people are apparently interpretting it. Perhaps the designers of vBulletin could have named it differently, but bear in mind that this message board software is a generic canned package with thousands of different uses all over the net. So I believe they chose the wording as best they could with that widespread usage in mind for a GENERIC message board system.

But on THIS system, the reputation system is hoped to be used in relation to WHAT a person posts THEN and THERE and HOW they post it. You are voting, literally, on whether or not THAT particular post that someone made is

• An especially GOOD post, or
• A particularly BAD post

That is it, and nothing more.

Using it in a manner outside of these guidelines can quite likely get you warning points for abuse of that system, and extreme uses will get you suspended and fined.

I hope this clarifies it a bit.

Originally Posted by sirenofthestorm

So even though I've had a business transaction with NERD, I cannot vote. Ok.

Well since you voted that the Good Guy Certification program really doesn't mean anything, no big loss to you now is there?

Originally Posted by WebSlave

Well since you voted that the Good Guy Certification program really doesn't mean anything, no big loss to you now is there?

Bang, zam, zap.

BTW, Rich, was there a hidden meaning in the screenshot that you used about rep points above?

Well, I just read all of this arguing and I can only say why I have voted good guy for the ones I have, Id have to look them up to give an exact reason for each person but most are people I bought from or sold to. I have not voted for anyone based merely on my view of them on this board without some type of personal contact with them so if I have not had a business deal with them they are people who I have had contact with, emails, PM's, phone call's etc and not just once or twice but over a period of time that I felt I could place a vote for them. There are people I think are "good guys" that I have not voted for because I have had no contact with them other than seeing them on the forums and reading and possibly replying to thread post.

Thats just how I handle my voting, not that its the right way but my way.

Originally Posted by Jim O

BTW, Rich, was there a hidden meaning in the screenshot that you used about rep points above?

Nope, none at all. I simply picked someone from the right hand column in the posts that had last posted in a thread to use as an example. If I had wanted to leave a message, I would have filled out the comments prompt.

Originally Posted by WebSlave

Nope, none at all. I simply picked someone from the right hand column in the posts that had last posted in a thread to use as an example. If I had wanted to leave a message, I would have filled out the comments prompt.

You could have pressed that "Add to Reputation" button too. LOL.

One way or the other with a rep power set at 500 I'd have gotten the message.

Isn't the Trader Rating set up for those that have actually done transactions? If someone is looking for a flat good/bad on transactions, I think that would be the place they'd go. I've no idea if that is open to non-paying members as well as paid memberships.

When it comes down to it, can anyone name any rating system, in any business, that is flawless in its distribution? When it comes down to it, it's a matter of opinion. It's a tool for potential buyers to evaluate, just as the BOI is, the Trader Rating, the Reptileauction feedback, the eBay feedback, the personal references.... I mean, people are going to evaluate whatever they want in order to make a decision about a business transaction.

So, I guess my point is....is all this brouhaha really worth it?

I think the questions are worth asking. Can't say that everyone will like or agree with the answers, but they can be asked, regardless.

I had this Good Guy Certification on the back burner for about 2 years. There really wasn't any realistic way to implement it until some other things fell into place first. It had (and has) the potential to become a colossal headache for me trying to administrate it. So I needed some protections in place and some incentive as well, in order to undertake it. Still, even thinking that now the time was ripe for it, I could very well still be wrong. All we can do is wait and see how it works out in the long haul.

Originally Posted by Karen Hulvey

You conveniently forgot to mentino that you also said: I still wanted to know the context and it appeared that you were posting this thread as a result of a bad transaction with NERD. Which if true, would be cowardly thing."You forget that, of course

No I did not.
That is not what you have accused me of in this thread.

Originally Posted by Dennis Hultman

That is all I posted in regards to David making a post on NERDS good guy certificate.

To be clear, that is all I posted about the certificate after I knew David had not complete a transaction with them.

After all, that is what you are accusing me of.


I never demanded David remove his vote.
I did not ask him to remove his vote.
I did nothing of the sort.

Originally Posted by Karen Huffy Pants

On another thread two people who voted - for Bill demanded another person (David) to retract his - vote for NERD because he had no business dealings with them.

Originally Posted by Karen Huffy Pants

(CoughJim&DennisCough)

Originally Posted by Dennis Hultman

Cough Cough Karen. I never stated anything of the kind. I said usually and I apologized to David. I never demanded him to remove anything.

I am going to assume that you keep making honest mistakes about what I have said.

I no longer will assume that.

Why don’t you just apologize for calling me a hypocrite on this issue? Your wrong everyone can see it. Now make a retraction. Go back and read post 69

Originally Posted by Miss Karen Huffy Pants

Sorry folks but I did not twist a single thing. I only posted what others have already posted and I posted those posts in their entirety

I think the questions are worth asking. Can't say that everyone will like or agree with the answers, but they can be asked, regardless.

Of course the questions can be asked, and the opinions will vary. That's my point. The value of the GGC is whatever value individual people give it, and that can't be legislated by this thread. As long as everyone who references the certifications understands what the criteria are for votes, they possess enough criteria to determine how much credence those votes will be given by them.

I understand completely people giving their opinion on how much weight the GGC holds for them individually, I'm just puzzled by the assertion that there is a definitive RIGHT or WRONG to its credibility.