The Adept System (SB)

[Michael Keller]

Seriously, folks. If you want to be a candidate for Adeptship, clean up your posting, don't be an asshat, and put up results (this step not necessarily needed). Also, not pissing off adepts, admins, or mods helps too (as these are the folks who nominate and vote you in).

With all due respect to the other Adepts, I am more than certain I fulfilled my candidacy for an Adept status as it pertains to each and every one of the guidelines. I mean, there are some folks on here (no names) who are Adepts that use poor grammar and the occasional unnecessary tone and yet they seem to hold in high regard their status above the community.

After careful consideration, however, I thought to myself that I don't need a highlighted name and access to a particular forum to prove what kind of individual I am anymore. I paid my dues, improved well over 100% of my game and posting frequency and it still wasn't enough. So for those looking to become an Adept, it really isn't worth your time.

Everyone is your peer and everyone is your critic. That's the irony.

Politics.

[Nihil Credo]

I know that when I started lurking this site (sometime in 2006) the "colour guide" was quite helpful in letting me figure out which of two well-spoken people was more likely to be talking out of his ass. Not saying the then-Adept was always right, but I definitely noticed a correlation.

If I could implement one change on MTGTS, it would be experimenting with a Slashdot-like popular moderation guide (each single post can be voted +1 or -1 by each member). Starting out with Mish-Mash for testing purposes, then if it works try it in Community / Format Development, and if it really looks good extend it to the deck threads.

Downsides: can promote groupthink, probably unsupported by board software.
Upsides: massively reduces mods/admins workload, can promote good posting in a much smoother way than yearly elections.

[Sims]

0 idea. Explain?

Slashdot kind of rating system... Think along the lines of Youtube or Thottbot. You can rate the post +1 or -1 depending upon the content of the post. After a post hits a certain negative level, it either hides itself or gets deleted. It gives the userbase a way of self-modding the forums to lighten the workload of the admins and would provide another method of basing adepthood based on overall post ratings.

Doesn't stop some asshats who have too much free time and friends from mass -1'ing posts that are made just because people don't like the idea contained within said post.


Oh, and that when he first got here he noticed there was a correlation between people with Light Blue names, dark blue names, and the "speaking out of ass level. In general, the speaking out of ass level probably declined in the LB posts. Not always, I'm sure, but in general. But I'm prety sure you were asking more about the slashdot styled system.

[Jaiminho]

For me, I think the status of Adept in a deck discussion adds nothing, since there are some that are simply too arrogant to acknowledge errors and things alike without getting morally shaken and starting a flame war. Reading and ignoring is the best way to deal with bad posters, while the inverse of that is the best way to know when good content might be there. If it's good to keep the Adept Louge, then do as Bardo suggested and color everyone equally. It does much more for the forums than the actual system.


EDIT:

Doesn't stop some asshats who have too much free time and friends from mass -1'ing posts that are made just because people don't like the idea contained within said post.

I don't know if the forum could support this, but it might be worthwhile to set a range for the ratio of bad and good ratings given. That range is to be noted as good rating behavior. This forces rating good posts as good while also rating bad posts as bad, instead of doing only one.

[thefreakaccident]

This thread is simply going to go downhill from here, as it seems that two of the more chill adepts (wasted/Tartelli) are getting quite upset.

I understand why you guys are upset, but you should look at it from other's perspectives as well.

Posting things like:

The people whining could create a worthwhile deck or post in threads that are relevant, with some intelligence and understanding. Maybe then, just maybe, you too can be a cool kid and have you're name in Light Blue.

Makes it seem like you feel your posts are better than others, which feeds that feeling others are having, and that is that you look down on non-adept posters.


I am not trying to start a war, just point out the obvious, as usual.

[Michael Keller]

For me, I think the status of Adept in a deck discussion adds nothing, since there are some that are simply too arrogant to acknowledge errors and things alike without getting morally shaken and starting a flame war. Reading and ignoring is the best way to deal with bad posters, while the inverse of that is the best way to know when good content might be there. If it's good to keep the Adept Louge, then do as Bardo suggested and color everyone equally. It does much more for the forums than the actual system.

There seems to be no benefit from being an Adept on The Source than a "standard poster". Everyone shares their thoughts and creativity in the same forums, it's just that some have more difficulty posting logically and properly in the more developed forums. I've seen decks in the Developmental Forum just vanish into obscurity from the lack of support by those who should be willing to assist others that don't have the experience or posting quality they do.

I'm not saying Adepts should be "teachers", but I once heard that with great power comes great responsibility. And if you want to get your title crayoned in sky-blue, you should be willing to help others on a more educational level than useless rambling about how "cool" it is to chill on the 28th-floor penthouse.

[Peter_Rotten]

This is sorta going no place. I'll clean this up a bit while my guild is busy wiping in Hyjal.

[Rood]

The point system seemed to be the best way, to me. I think it should rely on 50% on how good your tournament results are you put up and the other half on how active and helpful you are on the forums.

[Di]

I'm not saying Adepts should be "teachers", but I once heard that with great power comes great responsibility. And if you want to get your title crayoned in sky-blue, you should be willing to help others on a more educational level than useless rambling about how "cool" it is to chill on the 28th-floor penthouse.

Please, dear God, stop quoting movies in attempt to get a point across. Especially those who are so cliche it's almost embarassing to read lol.

Slashdot kind of rating system... Think along the lines of Youtube or Thottbot. You can rate the post +1 or -1 depending upon the content of the post. After a post hits a certain negative level, it either hides itself or gets deleted. It gives the userbase a way of self-modding the forums to lighten the workload of the admins and would provide another method of basing adepthood based on overall post ratings.

Doesn't stop some asshats who have too much free time and friends from mass -1'ing posts that are made just because people don't like the idea contained within said post.

This is the exact reason why we won't implement this. You and I (and everyone else for that matter) know there are people here that would do this. A certain handful of posters have quite the tendency to act rather childish and bitch and piss and moan, and would go all FAP FAP FAP over than -1 button.

Personally, I'd love to get rid of the titles and change all user names to dark blue, even the mods/admins. I think it would be a worthwhile experiment: let the strength of every poster's idea be judged on its own merit and not subtely influenced by being teal, dark blue, red or whatever color the mod names are (purple/brown = burple?). I would totally be down for that.

Although I don't have anything against this, I am against changing staff member colors. Not only does that make me feel less badass without red, but for the sake of newer members and such, keeping staff colors at least lets them address authority if there is a problem or concern.



Anyway, I wish this kind of crap just stopped. As the mod staff and adepts know (or most adepts at least), I haven't, until very recently, taken interest in adept politics. Although it shows a level of prominence in the community, most people put that teal title on a pedestal to the point where people complain and whine about it, for all sorts of reasons. If it weren't for the fact that adepts [i]do[i] have a say, although not very large, in the maintenance of this site and future events, I'd say to hell with them, simply because it'd alleviate the bitching from members. That's another thing about it. Most members who complain about it want the title as a means of showing themselves off on the site, and don't entirely understand the position. To a lot of you who piss and moan about not being an adept, at least question yourself and think if you're even the kind of person that the mod staff is going to look at and say, "Hey, we place a high value on your opinion, and would be very interested to know your stance on X." If you aren't someone who is mature enough to handle site politics, then stop complaining. If you believe you are, and you still haven't been upgraded, then odds are, you really aren't.


/end rant.

[Sanguine Voyeur]

I like the idea of a feedback system, but it's too easy to exploit by ganging up on people. Nothing should support team on team conflict.

Tourney results shouldn't be that significant, but shouldn't be ignored. You can be a good player but a bad deck builder. This forum is primary about deck building. You can pick up Bletcher and ravage an unprepared meta with little effort.

[HammafistRoob]

What does it mean if some1's name is in pink?(I believe there is only 1(Slay))

[Sims]

What does it mean if some1's name is in pink?(I believe there is only 1(Slay))

It means that it's Slay. That's it.

[Ewokslayer]

Jack is there a reason you hate me?

There is no where for this thread to go but into a giant hole of flames, bitching and moaning.

I am going to be out of town and thus the thread will probably be locked and deleted before I get a chance to read the really juicy stuff that will show up around page 4 or 5.

On the actual topic,
Being an adept is awesome.
Every month we get free vouchers for the local hookers.
It also looks impressive on my resume.

[JesusFish]

I rarely look at these boards, primarily because I do not have much time to myself... but What is the point of all this ranking stuff, all it seems to be doing is making people bitter and angry at one another.


Even the adepts themselves, who are the ones that are supposed to be held to a higher standard, are getting caught in this seemingly unnecessary and senseless squabbling.

I keep seeing the adepts and the mods (please do not pimp slap me, I am just making an observation) saying that people should stop bitching because they do not have the right to do so, and it seems like the rest are just getting pissed at those comments themselves.

Eydunno.

I could care less about having some sort of awesome higher rank than everybody else, I just do not think it should make people feel superior to others here.


Hell, I may just stop going and would expect others to quit going if they do not like what they are seeing (which seems to be an ever-increasing number).

[dahcmai]

I never saw much point in it, but then again, I can't see these adept forums either. They may have some merit to them, but for the most part I can't picture too much that isn't posted few and far between in the normal sections anyway.

I wasn't real impressed with the adept Q&A though. I stopped reading it after a while. It didn't offer much of anything past what you could get from other sections. It's also annoying when you can't offer a suggestion. I'll stick to the main parts.

I guess it's an ok system for friends, but meh. It's not based on ideas or placings so I guess I don't see what purpose it's serving.

[Bardo]

I never saw much point in it, but then again, I can't see these adept forums either. They may have some merit to them, but for the most part I can't picture too much that isn't posted few and far between in the normal sections anyway.

We should probably change the name of the Legacy Adept forum to the "Mental Magic and Place to Bitch about the Site" forum, though the same could be said about the Mod Forum, minus the Mental Magic thing.

Personally, I don't see much value in the Adept system as it is. If you're around long enough, you realize the colors don't mean a damn thing--there are some Adepts whose posts I consistently gloss over; while I make an effort to read the posts of several regular users. Titles are kinda meaningless at best, and misleading at worst.

Though, I've done a pretty good job of nominating and promoting most of my favorite posters (that I think add value to the site, not friends), just for convenience. :)

[Sims]

If you're around long enough, you realize the colors don't mean a damn thing--there are some Adepts whose posts I consistently gloss over; while I make an effort to read the posts of several regular users.

/looks at name, sees it in teal.

Yeah, tell me about it. I've been in this colorcode for how long?

Seriously though, I think that the adept system SHOULD be something. That the adepts should be someone on a higher stnadard of whom people look up to and whose opinions actually matter to the userbase at large.

I don't think I fit that standard, but I also don't think that half the people that are adepts fit that standard.

[Whit3 Ghost]

What was wrong with the simple once-a-year vote idea again?

I don't really see an issue with it.

I agree that adeptship should have a greater weight to it in terms of responsibility and such.
Also, I'm surprised no one has mentioned nametags. Those were sweet.

[Xenocide]

I don't really care either way (as in changing the Adept system, or not), my only problem is that I couldn't post in the Adept Forum thread, "Favorite Casual Format." This is clearly not an adept only topic, so as long as there is a clear distinction about what does or does not belong in that forum, I have no qualms. That being said, I think a clear distinction needs to be made and maintained.

[Volt]

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