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Cheating the Newschoolers Rating System

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00000000
Posts: 11075 - Karma: 82,508

Simply put, don’t do it. For those of you who've been doing it the past, we know who you are, and we've contacted a lot of you already. For those we haven’t -- please consider this your one and only warning. Questions, concerns? Drop them in here and I’ll try my best to answer them ASAP.


What we consider cheating:

- As a person, if you’re up/down voting a select piece of content (photo, video, news article, thread, post, etc) more than once. For example, if you give something a downvote, don’t log onto your alias/company account and give it a second downvote.

- Unfair downvoting. For example, downvoting content just to get yours ahead.

- Voting rings. For example, don't create a private cult which goal is to simply upvote each others content.

- Using voting services or software.

- And last but not least, anything we decide is cheating is cheating.


The process we use to find you consist of:

- Multiple automated checks of all uploaded content.

- Manual checks of the day’s top content (photo, video, and news).

- If something is flagged, we do a thorough investigation and gather infallible proof before making a final decision.


Why you shouldn't cheat:

- It’s wrong. We’re not going to go into too much detail about this point, because we feel like most of you are intelligent enough to understand that defrauding the system is wrong -- whether you're doing it for internet fame, monetary purposes, or just to screw over someone you don’t like.

- Everyone benefits from an honest system. Whether you're uploading or consuming content, everyone will benefit from a better Newschoolers.

- You’ll get caught. And we consider this the worst possible offense on Newschoolers.


What happens when you’re caught:

- We’ll nuke your ratings, permaban your aliases, and hit you with a 30+ day IP ban

- Harsher (including legal) consequences will be dished out if the situation warrants it.


How to get your content on the homepage, without cheating:

- Upload quality content & fill in descriptions.

- Share your content. Share it with your friends and family. Share it on all your social media profiles. This is absolutely the best way to help get your content upvotes.

- If you see a piece of content you enjoy, give it an upvote. The more people embracing the rating system, the better.

Jul 2 2013 10:17AM
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nagger
Posts: 1576 - Karma: 883
are you gonna call our parents
Jul 3 2013 8:10AM
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Mr.Bishop
Posts: 22708 - Karma: 76,635
Yep this is it -

Legal would only be involved if there is financial gain on the line, and you have a contract. If you're just upvoting for the karmaz it would simply be a banning.

Jul 3 2013 8:12AM
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00000000
Posts: 11075 - Karma: 82,508
if the situation warrants it
Jul 3 2013 8:13AM
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rememberscott
Posts: 1291 - Karma: 5,201
?
Jul 3 2013 10:11AM
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00000000
Posts: 11075 - Karma: 82,508
As a general rule of thumb, only downvote something you really dislike -- such as a shitty post in a thread.

We'll be rolling out some forum changes in the future and we'll address the topic in more depth when the time is right.

Great question though! Sorry about the delayed response.
Jul 3 2013 10:21AM
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Huck_Norris
Posts: 11487 - Karma: 18,627
This should be a sticky in the photography forum once it makes the rounds here.
Jul 3 2013 10:24AM
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00000000
Posts: 11075 - Karma: 82,508
I'll throw this up in Site Discussion at the end of the week.
Jul 3 2013 10:31AM
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nicetwins
Posts: 189 - Karma: -7
I find it ridiculous that people actually take time out of their day to do so...
Jul 3 2013 10:54AM
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JWeinstock
Posts: 3439 - Karma: 1,352
i mean now that i think about it, not really.

Until i realized money was on the line i thought banning sklar was pretty stupid. Money changes everything
Jul 3 2013 10:59AM
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scarsimd
Posts: 668 - Karma: 773
money corrupts everything!! shame to see skiing going that way too
Jul 3 2013 11:02AM
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terraclot
Posts: 438 - Karma: 665
Sad that this section has to be emphasized
Jul 3 2013 12:06PM
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Mr.Huck
Posts: 6096 - Karma: 14,896
I completely concur with this.
Jul 3 2013 2:57PM
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Calb3rt
Posts: 6005 - Karma: 2,203
I stopped participating in the contests for this reason. thank you for finally drawing a line. what happens when people go "why am i not getting any attention from ns"/ shamelessly self promote their videos in ski gabber? That shit has always been a gear grinder for me. 
Jul 3 2013 7:27PM
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niels043
Posts: 814 - Karma: 184
You are a kid... A fat kid.
Jul 3 2013 7:45PM
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Petey.
Posts: 5736 - Karma: 4,885
I don't even rate homepage content! #yolo
Jul 3 2013 7:58PM
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Petey.
Posts: 5736 - Karma: 4,885
He's not a kid. He's actually the guy who has put out a large portion of the content on this site that little shitbirds like yourself rustle your jimmies to.

And the fat thing? That's not funny, nor does he probably even take offense to that. Go fuck yourself. Learn to respect those that put time and effort into making our sport more enjoyable.
Jul 3 2013 8:01PM
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skiierman
Posts: 28699 - Karma: -5,563
he really doesn't.
Jul 5 2013 12:31PM
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gpitcher
Posts: 2626 - Karma: 1,691
Question - So if I dont like what someone's thread is about....can I down vote every post in the thread? Or would that be against the rules? I wouldnt be trying to benefit myself or my posts in any way, just dont like theirs....
Jul 5 2013 3:31PM
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snowpocalypse
Posts: 1036 - Karma: 3,525
I was not calling you a dick. I was saying, we get that one guy was abusing the system and that he has been taken care of. I did not mean to come off as harsh. I just don't understand the treats. 99.99% of us NSers will never, have never and never even thought of scamming this site. What a business does, is take care of the issue by addressing the party that was causing the issue not the general public. My only point was that, you might want to highlight the terms of use and that is all. Don't go around saying, if you do this we are going to do that. Again I did not mean to come off as hostile yet i did feel you were throwing out the baby with the bath water so to speak. Deal with the issue directly not with us.
Jul 9 2013 1:19PM
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Nadia.
Posts: 1124 - Karma: 1,104
I would love to know just what about my select few photos I post offends people so much than they feel the need to down vote them, or continually downvote my karma.

I don't post photos or reply to threads very often here anymore because of those shenanigans.

Like just what exactly about photos like this is so offensive that multiple people downvoted it?
Click for larger image

I've had multiple people go through all my photos and down vote each and every one in the past (as per their "threats" to do so). Even photos that weren't voted on (really, really old) received negative votes. Yeah the people were "caught" but my ratings never changed back.

This whole system is rather frustrating. Even the photo of Elyse I posted the other day that somehow made POTD was downvoted multiple times and honestly, what was there offensive about that image?


Jul 9 2013 1:32PM
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N.L.
Posts: 2420 - Karma: 2,744
asking this question about my media got me flamed and banned^
Jul 9 2013 1:42PM
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Paul.Marik
Posts: 1120 - Karma: 1,869
Nothing at all, it seems people downvote quality content because they are jealous and possibly want their photos to have a higher rating. Like said before, I think getting rid of downvotes all together would be beneficial. At least for videos and photos
Jul 9 2013 1:43PM
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Kretzschmar
Posts: 6707 - Karma: 98,278
so basically, people will only upvote what they like and leave videos unrated that dont appeal to them. i like this video/photos. youre so smart paul
Jul 9 2013 1:47PM
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Wolfgang.
Posts: 807 - Karma: 866
That is a really solid idea.
Jul 9 2013 1:52PM
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gpitcher
Posts: 2626 - Karma: 1,691
I agree its bullshit, but its just hard to regulate freedom (just like in the USA). There will always be loser who downrates stuff for no reason. So its either you keep the system in place and deal with it, or we have no system at all. I think most people would rather just keep it. Unless of course, there is some expensive sophisticated way to regulate it. (which right now, seems to take a while due to the fact that it has to be done manually).

Jul 9 2013 2:49PM
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KapitolPhoto
Posts: 1399 - Karma: 3,250
Was this before or after you received that PM requesting nude photos? Either it was really sophomoric or really creepy.
Jul 10 2013 10:14AM
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N.L.
Posts: 2420 - Karma: 2,744
i have taken the time to put thought into this on many occasions, the current system is better than the 10 stars... but anyone can figure out the system and exploit ratings.

i have volunteered my opinions in the past, and am about to express some ideas that i have had, whether they are potentially good or bad, this is just an idea.

when someone new signs up to the site they have 0 karma, but have the same weight as a decade long member. if you sign up 2 names with 0, they are twice as powerful as said veteran... why would a newb vote weigh the same as a veterans? this site allows everyone to have a voice and thats why its successful, but in my opinion there needs to be separation from veterans and the future population.
green, orange, and red names are recognized as established members, but i think there should be a separate "arena" for media and discussions. "pro gabber" would be a forum that anyone can read, but only elite members can post, comment and access. furthermore, pro vids and photos would go in to the open pool, but the voting weight of a veteran to a newb would not be equal. monitoring the system would be alot easier, so mods can mod, instead of being moms.
Jul 10 2013 10:17AM
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t_rob
Posts: 6433 - Karma: 11,458
I think you're taking that whole rating thing way too personal. So you're complaining because you think your photos warrant higher scores?

The first thing people see in the photo section is tiny thumbnail, (sometimes partial) photo name, and uploader name. Those three things are absolutely crucial to getting a top rated photo because your photo ratings represent who your reputation are as a member, the reputation of the skier in your photo, and your photo itself. You need to realize that not all ratings are generated by the actual photo itself.

I clicked on your photo because I knew it was going to be a girl hitting a cliff. After I saw it was elyse it was game over have an upvote. I bet a lot of your other ratings came from a similar line of thought that very little of your rating actually came from "how good your photo was." Please realize this.


Jul 10 2013 11:24AM
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N.L.
Posts: 2420 - Karma: 2,744
its easier to dismiss the feeling of "taking it personally" than to deal with it.^
its personal when you have a photo with 25 ups, and then wham! its in the grave. i had a top rated all time photo get taken down in this fashion...after a year! (175 up votes!) its definitely personal at that point. and when i took it personally and voiced my opinion i was ignored and then banned for fighting with members that were TRYING to put me down.(these members, the ones that were obviously down rating)

Jul 10 2013 1:13PM
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t_rob
Posts: 6433 - Karma: 11,458
If you bitch about ratings, people are going to downrate your stuff based on that. That falls under member reputation and is a reason people will downvote photos. The opposite also holds true and people will upvote photos for having a reputation of being a great member or having a history of putting up good photos. People need a reason to click on a photo when it's off the hot page and needs starter votes.


We went over downrating in the two photogate related threads last week. If you're watching your votes like a hawk and all of the sudden a few down votes pop up out of nowhere, it can be a little fishy but saying FRAUD FRAUD IT MUST BE FRAUD is a terrible assumption. If you think it's fraud, pm someone who can do something about it and have them look into it. Fraud is actually very uncommon although it can be a killer. You're going to get downvoted a few times if your photo has 175 upvotes. That's what happens and you know what, nobody really likes anything unless there are people hating it. Most of the time people aren't trying to ruin your day because they're giving you a downvote.

Jul 10 2013 1:46PM
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N.L.
Posts: 2420 - Karma: 2,744
no doubt^, the vibe is heading in a positive direction.
Jul 10 2013 2:04PM
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Ribss.
Posts: 3442 - Karma: 3,344
This is actually a really good idea. For photos and videos ignoring them would count as a downvote. It would make it harder to do harm to another's content.
Jul 10 2013 3:30PM
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00000000
Posts: 11075 - Karma: 82,508
https://www.newschoolers.com/photo/661783.0/Gypsy-Jibbin?c=3&o=10
Oct 11 2013 9:00AM
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00000000
Posts: 11075 - Karma: 82,508
Yes he did.

Question -- why didn't you like his photo?
Oct 11 2013 9:05AM
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corona
Posts: 12795 - Karma: 32,747
if you had an expandable window available to everyone with a list of who liked and who didn't like each photo/video then it would definitely cut down the people who downvote media for no reason.
Oct 11 2013 9:20AM
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00000000
Posts: 11075 - Karma: 82,508
So, you're just going to downvote all his content from now on? That's a slippery slope... And I don't see why this is coming up now and not before when it was relevant?

-twilightsprkle- created a permanent headache for the entire mod team. He/she was given multiple chances -- and unlike Sklar, he/she continued to break the rules.
Oct 11 2013 9:31AM
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00000000
Posts: 11075 - Karma: 82,508
I've actually been thinking about this for the past couple of weeks -- but maybe not having it as a public comment, but a private note that only the uploader can read.

Thoughts?
Oct 11 2013 9:37AM
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00000000
Posts: 11075 - Karma: 82,508
This will most likely happen regardless...

With that being said, I went from catching about two people per day, to catching two people per month trying to cheat the system. We're just about to implement a whole other slew of automated checks as well, so we're doing everything we can to ensure clean results.
Oct 11 2013 9:48AM
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Twinjibber77
Posts: 6239 - Karma: 2,354
Fucking no life nerds, cannot believe this actually happened. There is a special place in hell for them right next to boosters when I used to play COD.
Oct 19 2013 11:12AM
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