On gaming: No matter what we do, the system will be gameable, but if the rewards for doing so aren't too high (which in this case I don't think they are) and we monitor the system, we can likely stay ahead of the gamers. In the end, giving people the ability to quickly and easily see what other contributions an author has made gives the reader the chance to decide how credible the author is.
On deletions: The idea that deleting is also a valuable contribution is a very good point. But that does open a gaming hole in that one can add with one account and delete with the other. I suggest we leave that alone for now.
On getting this going: I completely agree that we should define a narrow and do-able set of requirements for "Phase I". To that end, I would greatly appreciate any help in separating Phase I, II and III features as well as any other thoughts and help in developing specs.
Thanks for the thoughts! - Ray.
On 3/18/06, Geoffrey Burling llywrch@agora.rdrop.com wrote:
On Sat, 18 Mar 2006, Steve Bennett wrote:
Hi, Well it's certainly very interesting. I wonder how it can be gamed, and what the consequences that would be for Wikipedia? I also note that deletions don't seem to be covered anywhere. An author who deletes text could be making a valuable contribution...
Steve
On 3/17/06, Geoff Burling llywrch@rdrop.com wrote:
Have a look at Ray King's essay:
http://www.pint2.org/index.php/Contributor_Ranking_System
Although this solution is aimed more generally at sites using Wikimedia software, this is something I believe Ray has been talking with Jimbo about. I happened to be present when Ray presented this the other
night,
& a known expert suggested an excellent way to grab some of the data needed without causing a strain on the servers.
And Ray is *very* interested in feedback. I hope he concentrates on a simplified version of this proposal, rather than trying to write the finished, with all of the bells-&-whistles version.
I know that the possibility of "gaming" this tool has been raised -- but if we make the assumption that what Ray's Toolbar measures is based on the version currently viewed, then the fact someone contributed "fnord" 100 times (which was quickly deleted) is factored out.
As for negative deletions -- I think that should be handled in version 2.0 (where I expect the cross-Wiki feature will be implimented). What do you think, Ray?
Geoff
-- Raymond King ray@aboutus.com 503.888.8808 (cell)