Different places around the site you get to see how many "messages", "likes" and "points" people have. I understand the first two: how many times you've posted something, and how many times someone has clicked "like" on those posts. However, I don't know what the points mean. How do you get them, and what are they used for? In addition I've noticed some posters have a varying number of light and dark green vertical bars underneath their avatar. What are those?
The bars mean @Wreybies and I are the coolest people on the forum. Kidding, you should ignore the bars, they are a work in progress that got stalled. Likes on the other hand are a nice way to say you liked what someone had to say.
"Points" are warning points. If you post something offensive or inappropriate (against the rules, in other words), a moderator (myself or @Wreybies, or maybe even our administrator Daniel) will warn you that you're misbehaving. These warnings have points attached to them. Zero points means it doesn't count against you. Non-zero points usually expire after a period of time (90 days, or whatever the moderator chooses). They're like points on a driver's license - if you get ten points, you're banned from the forum for a period of time (a month or so). If the moderator assigns enough points to the warning, you can be banned permanently. Follow the rules and you won't accumulate any points. That's good! The bars, as @GingerCoffee just mentioned, are more or less meaningless right now, because they're still a work in progress. Daniel hasn't settled on what they mean or how they're acquired quite yet. No big deal. Just think of them as holiday decorations or something.
I think the OP is referring to Trophy Points, @minstrel. Only you and I can see the warning points of others.
Maybe Wreybies is right. I have 14 points, and I don't think I've ever been banned ... Anyway, thanks for all the nice info.
Apologies. I forgot that there's such a thing as "Trophy points." I still don't know what they are, though. Do I have any? If we get enough of them, what happens? Is there a ceremony somewhere, maybe televised? Do I have to rent a tux? Will some daytime talk show host interview me on a red carpet? Will I have to smile, and maybe shave? Do I have to kiss somebody's ass, like, maybe, Oprah Winfrey's? Because, ick. Will there be an after party? Will I get to meet Bono? Because, ick.
For some ungodly reason I have a hundred of them. So you must have some @minstrel. The only thing that explains mine is volunteering to run the short story contest.
i can see minstrel and wrey have 200 each and i have 300, but i've no clue what they mean, or how/why we got them...
If I remember correctly, you get these points every time you're upgraded from New Member to Member or from Member to Senior Member, etc. Member is 14 points, Senior Member is 100 points, and Contributor is 20o points. I have 314 points because Daniel changed the requirements after the upgrade. I got bumped down to Member for a while and was later manually upgraded to Senior Member, which is an automatic 114 points. I then became a Contributor to get an additional 200 points to bring my total up to 314. Anyway, these points are meaningless, but I'm pretty sure that's how they work.
Confirmed now. I found somewhere that says I have 14 trophy points and 0 warning points. I still wonder what trophy points are, though, and what the purpose was with the bars and why they're still there. EDIT: Read thirdwind's post, which told me a lot.
They're part of the old reputation system we had in the old platform. We switched from the VBulletin platform to the Xenforo platform in August of last year. Numerous attempts were made to get the old system to jive with the new, which only ever served to cause confusion on one front or another. The two systems were fundamentally incompatible. No amount of explanation ever made a difference, though I took the time to join the Xenforo group and learn all the ins and outs. Given my druthers, they would just go away, but some members had grown fond of their little green blocks, thus they stayed. I mean, just look at my own member badge. Ostentatious is the only word that applies.