Punish negatively repped users?

they shouldnt even be able to click other peoples +rep button.

Originally Posted by Just_Spectating

they shouldnt even be able to click other peoples +rep button.

That would be optimal. Of course, the duration should depend on the type of action that the person did to receive the minus rep.

Donut3.5 basically said it all.

If neg rep doesn't get the point across (It's onlt a warning system), an infraction just might.

Originally Posted by Rising_Dusk

Or how about you just ban users who earn -X rep instead of inventing a convoluted "infraction" system that makes it one more step removed?

Well, then we couldn't ban users like TDB, which would be a major flaw in the system.
--donut3.5--

Neg rep is supposed to be a means of correcting a users poor behavior, right? Well it seems that too often people take this the wrong way and just get pissed off which then leads to the continuation of their bad behavior.

Why not make it so that first a person gets a verbal warning and then if the person persists then they are prevented from posting further in that thread or forum or from posting at all. The person would be notified via a pm. It would be private so the person wouldn't feel humiliated and so would be less likely to get pissed off. Then that person would be given the chance to redeem themselves. They would reply to the pm, stating which rule they broke (this would force them to go over the rules and see where they made a mistake) and how they should act in the future.

And if the person continues to behave poorly in the same manner it is at that point in which they recieve the infraction because it is obious that they have not learned their lesson. If that person recieves a certain number of infractions then they face more serious punishments such as being banned.

Why not make it so that first a person gets a verbal warning

We oftentimes do :P

They would reply to the pm, stating which rule they broke (this would force them to go over the rules and see where they made a mistake) and how they should act in the future.

That we don't do, but an interesting concept.
--donut3.5--

Originally Posted by donut3.5

Well, then we couldn't ban users like TDB, which would be a major flaw in the system.

Of course you can. You ban him under the he's-a-prick-and-doesn't-contribute-positively-to-the-website-I'm-an-admin-and-screw-you clause. It works wonders, and the reality is that in some cases, just doing it on probable cause is very much the best option. If you limit yourself by rules as opposed to judgment, all you've achieved is limiting the staff's effectiveness.

Originally Posted by Rising_Dusk

Of course you can. You ban him under the he's-a-prick-and-doesn't-contribute-positively-to-the-website-I'm-an-admin-and-screw-you clause. It works wonders, and the reality is that in some cases, just doing it on probable cause is very much the best option. If you limit yourself by rules as opposed to judgment, all you've achieved is limiting the staff's effectiveness.

And thus we get the 10-point infraction! yay!
--donut3.5--

What Donut3.5 said oh so long ago was correct, negative reputation is basically a warning. It tells the user that if they keep this up then they will get an infraction which leads to a ban.

If a change is made I think that change should be that users with less than -9 rep will not be able to use user titles and signatures, which can contain Hive-hate messages.

how about like,
<-4 then no avatar,
<-9 no avatar + user title
<-14 no avatar + user title + signature.
if they even get more neg rep then infraction?

some users crave neg rep however..

Originally Posted by donut3.5

And thus we get the 10-point infraction! yay!
--donut3.5--

Maybe the staff here really can't make up their own mind and really does need some infraction system to hold their hand through dealing with trolls and their kin.

The whole "-4 no avatar, -9, etc." thing won't work. Why? Because people will just cancel out the neg rep with the reason "Oh here's some rep to negate your neg rep."

My suggestion to keep it from happening? Make it so that if you have ANY neg rep. Only staff can rep you until you're back in positive.

Originally Posted by The Last Istari

The whole "-4 no avatar, -9, etc." thing won't work. Why? Because people will just cancel out the neg rep with the reason "Oh here's some rep to negate your neg rep."

My suggestion to keep it from happening? Make it so that if you have ANY neg rep. Only staff can rep you until you're back in positive.

lol each time i check a neg rep profile i find one or two saying :"here some +rep to help you get rid of your -rep"
you found the solution

That's exactly why only staff should be able +rep negatively repped users.

Originally Posted by Rising_Dusk

Maybe the staff here really can't make up their own mind and really does need some infraction system to hold their hand through dealing with trolls and their kin.

Nah, the basic breakdown is as follows:
1st Offense = Verbal Warning
2nd Offense = -rep
Continued Offenses = More and more infractions based on severity.
AFAIK, that's how most moderation systems (not only in forums, but say, in schools) work (verbal warning, slight punishment, additional punishments).
Depends case by case, but I find in this case this works quite well.
--donut3.5--