The Sphinx's Lair

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11:06 PM

Maybe someone whose good at graphic design can design an ad to say the following:

I believe the mechanism for letting users know that new and creative is better received is by showing them, through downvotes, that rehashing a fad is NOT a good way to get rep.

Of course, as long as people keep upvoting this stuff, it'll keep happening.

North

"Tired of downvotes? Wish you were like Deusovi? Sick of being flagged? Click on this link to find ways to improve!"

Rubio

I'm used to the fads coming and going, so it's a little less irritating. What is grating is the naming of the fads.

North

Aah

Rubio

Riley at least happened organically

The tyo and crozier ones, though? really, people?

North

11:08 PM

Hello @Alconja!

I think some users feel bad if they downvote

I used to be that way, I'd just flag it if it was that bad

Alconja

downvoting is a duty (and hi)

North

I've grown out of it

And then the HNQ

Why do they even have that?

So stuff that's already at 10k views can reach 100k views?

Alconja

HNQ cross-pollinates SE sites. Brings in new users. It's a good feature, but the problem is the algorithm that selects what questions to include is tuned to "normal" Q&A, which is good for most SE sites, but doesn't suit the kind of content we would rather highlight here.

Erik the Outgolfer

part of the problem is also us :P

because, well, most posts are puzzles and not actual questions

but, then again, there are a few posts which are really questions about puzzles in general

North

11:25 PM

Heh heh true

You can just research most of it'

All the old ciphers nowadays can easily be cracked with a few well-programmed algorithms that I have no clue I to create

Because I don't even know scratch

ffao

@Rubio Yeah, Crozier looked like they posted a mass-producible template intending to be copied

which is why I said making fads was a fad

North

Hmmm

I guess Crozier was intending to get more rep and views

Leave a legacy

Or she was trying to patent it. hard to tell

Rubio

@North Flagging when non-moderator actions suffice is Bad Form™ - and in fact there's a flag decline reason that basically says "don't flag unless you actually need a moderator to do something" because non-moderator actions by the community, when sufficient, are preferable

Erik the Outgolfer

basically, when voting, you should forget who the post's author is, how much rep they have, if they have bad reputation otherwise, etc. you're voting for the post, not the poster, although this is easy only in theory

Sphinx

-1

Q: An Anti-Tyos Riddle

With two I am up and close With three I am nine or eleven With seven I help people in need With all eight I am an honest person What am I?

riddle

Q: Words with the same consonants

Each line is a clue for two words that share the same consonants, in the same order. As an example, the answer to A snake that builds would be . An article about being smooth. A function that makes you wet. The challenge of making something more general. Spending too muc...

riddle wordplay

North

11:37 PM

@Rubio Eh, the ones I flagged needed mod intervention (mostly too broad, or off-topic). I figured that was enough, and downvoting wasn't necessary. Now I know better

Rubio

"too broad, or off-topic" are definitively able to be handled by the community. If you can, VTC. If you can't, comment and/or mention it in here so people who can, will.

Erik the Outgolfer

actually, in this case there's the flag to close, that's how posts get into the close votes review queue

Rubio

The flag to close route is just a more circuitous route to the same action you get by clicking the "close" link. It's not actually a flag, it's a VTC.

"[...] Hover over your downvote button; it says it's to be used when "This question does not show any research effort; it is [...] not useful"—if this puzzle urges you to vote against it, maybe that's the right vote to cast. Note too that if you feel a post's failings are egregious, you can flag it as "Very Low Quality", but only if its vote score is low enough… Step 1 in bad post cleanup is downvoting! (Step 2: if you see a VLQ post in the review queue, vote to delete!)"

Erik the Outgolfer

@Rubio higher-rep users can't use such flags, only lower-rep ones which can't VTC normally, but yes they exist

Rubio

Between downvotes, VTC, and VTD in review, just about everything that doesn't belong here can be identified as such and actioned by non-moderators, given enough rep. Those who don't, can and are encouraged to use comments and chat to bring attention to problematic posts so they can be dealt with.

Erik the Outgolfer

11:48 PM

on where I am mainly active, PPCG, that would be very impractical O_O

every other question is off-topic there