Could the Omniscient Owl be hurting Tibia QA?

Question

Do you think that giving prizes to people that reach a certain number of points could be hurting TibiaQA in general?

I feel that after the prize was announced people seem to have started cheating, downvoting other users or creating questions/answers only to get points.

If you also think that this is happening, what are some possible solutions to prevent this?

I think that the upvoting system alone is weak and should not be the main measure of one user's contribution. I think that a possible solution would be to make badges the primary source of points. I personally think that badges rewards your overall contribution better than upvotes in answers, and are more difficult to cheat.

Answer 1

I think that rewarding people for their hard work with a fansite item is a good trade-off. It's a program that's been working for years on many fansites.

Answering the main question, I think it can hurt or not depending on how this potential is channeled. It's true that some people post questions and answers to gain votes; that should be completely fine as long as a good quality is attained. For that, rules are being managed and adjusted.

I think there might be more adjustments to make (maybe with ideas like the one you proposed or some others). If done right, and a good balance is achieved, everyone could benefit from this rewards' program.

Answer 2

Trust me , its a good idea , on this year I have been active I saw that the site was much more active on contest days or when they implemented the fansite item. This website requires time for question an answer is an effort that people should do. And Tibia community have a "big" average age and many people have works and dont have much time so if people dont see something in exchange its hard to get content on the site , anyway before the owl implementation I got already 1900 points because I love the site.

Answer 3

Is the same, at the end 4000 Points is a X number of badges. You would only limit the way the prize is won, because for example some users only like to answer and not ask questions.

This is not the first fansite who implemented a system like this, check Guild Stats or Tibia Royal.

The idea of fansite at the end is make a huge data of QA, all questions are checked by the staff and removed if this broken a rule. Also now the opinion based question are not permitted.

Answer 4

Because of this prize I actually never seen so many question and answers on this site, some people are trying to cheat but the reward is making its use that is make the site more popular.... and I doubt some cheater would get 4000 points

Answer 5

Unfortunately, but I agree a little. There are many people who have been here for a long time and help honestly waiting patiently for their reward. However, there are also people who broke out very quickly. When I won the owl I stopped fighting for points and helping a bit, even though I liked to do it for a long time and I enjoyed it. That's why I see what's going on. I can't even guarantee that I'll get a second owl since I got one in the lottery. Yesterday I got a badge for 180 days of regular login, so I'm here everyday. And I see it.