Trusted Reviewers

[timg]

I finally setup that new feature I've mentioned in a couple of posts here before. If your reviews get a cumulative 25 total helpful votes, you will be shown as a "Trusted Reviewer" with a small icon indicating that status on your profile page as well as on all your reviews next to your name.

The vote tally is updated every night and right now there is only one reviewer on the site that has the icon with a couple of people that are pretty close.

So if you guys find a review to be helpful (or not helpful), give it a quick vote and let us know. Votes are anonymous, so no need to worry :)

UPDATE 3/23/2009:
Here are the TR qualifications as of today.

Bronze: 10 Reviews, 50 Helpful Votes, 10 Unique Voters
Silver: 20 Reviews, 150 Helpful Votes, 30 Unique Voters
Gold: 30 Reviews, 300 Helpful Votes, 60 Unique Voters
Diamond: 50 Reviews, 1000 Helpful Votes, 200 Unique Voters

[Olorin]

So who is this trusted person? Please give us their name so that we can see what the icon looks like and be more motivated to attain it!

Lowe

[timg]

Looks like I did the calculations wrong.. nobody has an icon just yet. Currently there is a tie with 2 people both having 8 votes and the icon shows up at 25. So tell more people to come to the site and sign up :)

Also, I didn't mention in the original post but the icon will also show up on the homepage for recent reviews.

On an unrelated note, I renamed "Browse Courses" to "Course Directory". I found that a few people haven't even noticed the course browser map, etc. and thought renaming it to something slightly more obvious would prompt more people to check it out.

[timg]

Congrats go out to jaymon1 (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/profile.php?id=174)! He is DGCR's first trusted reviewer!

Thanks for all the awesome reviews jaymon! :)

[Olorin]

I got my medal recently too. w00t! :D

[ERicJ]

Tim,

Just a thought: how about one medal icon for each 50 helpful votes? I think you've got the screen space in all the places to support that. Maybe change the color on each new medal... blue, white, red, silver, gold...

ERic

[timg]

I was going to create different levels.. maybe I'll do bronze, silver, gold and then for people that attain some absurdly large number I'll do something special.

[MattK]

Is the cutoff still 25? I though I had more than that...then again, I know I'm not trustworthy :p

[timg]

Just added three different levels for trusted reviewers, Bronze, Silver and Gold.

Bronze starts at 50 helpful votes. Currently there are only 2 people that have the Silver level and nobody has Gold.

[ERicJ]

Just added three different levels for trusted reviewers, Bronze, Silver and Gold.
Cool... four more votes and I think I join the ranks of silver! :)

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/mem_browse.php?country=1&city=&state=&zip_distance=&zipcode=&pdganum=&rating_min=&rating_max=&reviews_min=&reviews_max=&played_min=&played_max=&mname=&age_min=&age_max=&yearsplaying_min=&yearsplaying_max=&trusted=1&gender=&sort=reviews&order=DESC

[Three Putt]

It must be 50. I'm stalled out at 42. With gas prices I have not gone to a course I have not reviewed in awhile, and I don't like to write reviews from distant memory. Without a new review I figure I won't get there for a while.

AND...I got a negative, darn it! I thought it was funny, I got a negative on my review of the course I used to run. When I dream of disc golf , it's always at White Birch Park in Hazelwood, MO...I've played it at least 500 times and the course is seared into my subconscious. But I guess somebody didn't like my review. :rolleyes: I love democracy! Besides, I've written a few that could probably stand a negative so it will all even out.

I've noticed that the good reviews are getting longer and more detailed as time goes on, so some of mine from a year ago that I thought were pretty good seem pretty general and light on details today. I'm probably going to have to edit some of mine or I'll get even more negatives.

[timg]

Silver starts a little higher at 150, Gold at 300. Negatives don't count against you but they obviously don't count for you either.

[Three Putt]

MAN! I hit enter and my computer thought about it for a while...when it finally posted a bunch of people already answered the question. It's been happening all day. Slow computer day...

[ERicJ]

Silver starts a little higher at 150
Doh! Okay, I've got a ways to go to get to silver then... :o

[Donovan]

Oh man I thought silver was going to be 100. Wow, 150! :p Man, I wish I could travel further out and play some more new courses to get a boost.

BTW, this is fun!

[Olorin]

Just added three different levels for trusted reviewers, Bronze, Silver and Gold.

Bronze starts at 50 helpful votes. Currently there are only 2 people that have the Silver level and nobody has Gold.

Great idea! :D

[ERicJ]

Michael Phelps I'm not, but WooHoo! I just turned sliver :D Now who's gonna show me the Silver Club secret handshake?

15 Bronze and 5 silver members as of today:
http://www.dgcoursereview.com/mem_browse.php?&trusted=1

P.S. Tim, why does the member search default to Country=US instead of Country=Any?

[timg]

Um.. because nobody complained about it? :D I changed it so it defaults to "Any". Also, congrats on joining the silver club!

[Olorin]

Congratulations Eric! Your reviews are quite well done so I've contributed some "thumbers" to your total.

Not to steal your thunder... but I also want to point out that Donovan achieved the Bronze level with a mere 12 reviews! I think people like his style (unless he's paying people to vote for him ;)).

But poor Donovan has only played 12 courses in 21.4 years, so that's not quite 2 a year :D. And now that he's gotten so OLD he may not even be able to keep up that blistering pace. :p

[ERicJ]

Not to steal your thunder...
'Salright. I'll take consolation in "shortest time playing to get to Silver".

I need to get moving on my reviews of the nine courses I played in Denver... must... get... little... gold... icon... :D

[DGtourist]

Congratulations EricJ! I'm going for silver myself, but I pace out my reviews, it seems like they get buried pretty easy. As far as going for gold goes, all Olorin has to do is sit down and write and he has us beat, or imagine if Donavan played 50 courses.

[Olorin]

'Salright. I'll take consolation in "shortest time playing to get to Silver".

Excellent point! Double congrats!

[Olorin]

As far as going for gold goes, all Olorin has to do is sit down and write and he has us beat, or imagine if Donavan played 50 courses.

Thanks for the kind words, but I'm not in a race. (I have to admit that I'm gratified to be in the Silver club, though.) Valkyrie Kid has the most reviews, by far, so he must be well on his way to Gold. I've still got a backlog of new reviews to get caught up on and they take about 3 hours each to finish, so I don't get them done too fast. (Does anybody actually ever read the files with additional notes that I post for courses that aren't in NC?) I also review fine dark chocolate so that consumes some of my time too.

[TenaciousMV]

Ouch... I was wondering why I wasn't marked as a trusted reviewer and now see it's been changed to 50 votes. D'oh!

[ERicJ]

Congrats to The Valkyrie Kid (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=418) on being DGCR's first Gold Reviewer!

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/mem_browse.php?trusted=1&country=0&sort=reviews&order=DESC

Nice reviews and thanks for helping make this site great!


@ Tim, the gold medal icon looks kinda close to the bronze. Perhaps you could do something to make it stand out a little more like maybe adding some lines emanating from it, like sun rays? (E.g. (http://www.best-of-web.com/_images/080812-162602-030007.jpg))

ERic

[timg]

Wow.. congrats! :)

ERic, I changed the ribbon to red from blue for the gold icon. I tried the little sun burst thing but it wasn't showing up too well.

[Greg Layton]

I seem to be stuck at 45 thumbs and I probably won't be playing any new courses until Spring. I guess I should invest a little more time into reviewing courses here in my stomping grounds, but it's harder for me to review courses I play all the time for some reason. Go figure.

Congrats Valkyrie! Maybe there needs to be a platinum level now just to give him something to shoot for.

[timg]

Greg,

Your reviews can still get thumbs as new members read them. Although you're right, voting does seem to noticeably drop off once a review leaves the homepage so newer reviews do tend to get more props.

[sidewinding]

Wow.. congrats! :)

ERic, I changed the ribbon to red from blue for the gold icon. I tried the little sun burst thing but it wasn't showing up too well.

The red ribbon looks great. It really sets the gold medal apart from the bronze.

[Texconsinite]

Earlier, you said you might do something special for people with a ridiculous number of votes, something above gold level. Any ideas what that might be? Another medal? Maybe Ken Climo's face?

[Texconsinite]

Maybe you could change the font of the review to a different color if someone hits 500 thumbs. Just a thought

[Greg Layton]

Maybe Ken Climo's face?

Maybe it's just the kind of crappy day I'm having, but something about that made me crack up enough to where my coworkers asked if I was OK. Well done, sir.

[timg]

Earlier, you said you might do something special for people with a ridiculous number of votes, something above gold level. Any ideas what that might be? Another medal? Maybe Ken Climo's face?
No clue yet.. Nobody has really gotten to that point so I haven't given it too much thought.

I am thinking about special minis for silver and up trusted reviewers though as a "thank you". They'd be similar to the current minis available in the store but I would have a special gold one with a red stamp for gold level, a silver one with a blue stamp for silver. Maybe I could add "Trusted Reviewer" on their somewhere.

I might also reverse the colors depending on how that looks.. so blue mini with silver stamp and red mini with gold stamp. I kind of like that better actually.

Although I'm kind of wary of doing that so people don't cheat and have random people vote them up just to get a "prize".

[Greg Layton]

Although I'm kind of wary of doing that so people don't cheat and have random people vote them up just to get a "prize".

That's what I was thinking... too easy to get taken advantage of. Otherwise, it's a cool idea.

[timg]

Well, I do know exactly who is voting for each review.. I could do a little due diligence and determine if a majority of someone's votes came from just a few other people in which case that person wouldn't qualify for the mini. That might dissuade someone from asking their buddies to vote "helpful" on every one of their reviews.

[sidewinding]

Well, I do know exactly who is voting for each review.. I could do a little due diligence and determine if a majority of someone's votes came from just a few other people in which case that person wouldn't qualify for the mini. That might dissuade someone from asking their buddies to vote "helpful" on every one of their reviews.

Maybe you could require something like 50 helpful votes from a minimum of 25 different users before giving someone trusted reviewer status. Silver could be 150 and 50. It sure does seem like some people get almost an automatic 8 to 10 yes votes as soon as their reviews post.

[timg]

That's not a bad idea.

[RustyP]

Those minis are a cool idea...yet another reason for me to go play new courses and spend time at work typing out the reviews ;)

...almost at bronze :D

[Donovan]

Very cool VK on Gold Status...we should flood his Social section posting area with congrats! LOL :D

[MattK]

Wow.. congrats! :)

ERic, I changed the ribbon to red from blue for the gold icon. I tried the little sun burst thing but it wasn't showing up too well.

Traditional ribbon colors = Blue with Gold, Red with Silver, White with Bronze.

Beyond gold=platinum...then double platinum :D

[timg]

Ah.. I didn't know that. I changed them to match the traditional colors. The bronze looked funny with white though so it got a green ribbon :)

[timg]

Maybe you could require something like 50 helpful votes from a minimum of 25 different users before giving someone trusted reviewer status. Silver could be 150 and 50. It sure does seem like some people get almost an automatic 8 to 10 yes votes as soon as their reviews post.
Based on this idea, I reworked the trusted system a bit. Luckily, this change doesn't effect anybody but it will prevent abuse. As you know, I have a set # of votes for each status level (50, 150 and 300 respectively). For each level, the number of voters must be greater than or equal to 20% of the total votes required for that level. So for 50 it would be 10, 150 would be 30 and 300 would be 60. I think it's a pretty fair system with reasonable requirements.

[ERicJ]

Ah.. I didn't know that. I changed them to match the traditional colors. The bronze looked funny with white though so it got a green ribbon :)
I like it!

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/mem_browse.php?trusted=1&country=0&sort=reviews&order=DESC

ERic

[ERicJ]

I am thinking about special minis for silver and up trusted reviewers though as a "thank you". They'd be similar to the current minis available in the store but I would have a special gold one with a red stamp for gold level, a silver one with a blue stamp for silver. Maybe I could add "Trusted Reviewer" on their somewhere.

I might also reverse the colors depending on how that looks.. so blue mini with silver stamp and red mini with gold stamp. I kind of like that better actually.
I like the Mini idea. But I gotta admit that I do like my UV mini. It does double duty, in addition to marking my lie, it lets me know when I should have sunscreen on.

I originally had one of the Innova UV minis (a 2004 Ice Bowl one (http://www.discgolfworld.com/product_detail.asp?product%5Fid=2195)), but I was pretty disappointed in how fast the UV effect wore off that one.

I've since been using a Discraft Photon UV Mini (http://disczillasports.com/store/agora.cgi?product=Mini_Golf) that has held up much better/longer.

ERic

[valkyriefb11]

Based on this idea, I reworked the trusted system a bit. Luckily, this change doesn't effect anybody but it will prevent abuse. As you know, I have a set # of votes for each status level (50, 150 and 300 respectively). For each level, the number of voters must be greater than or equal to 20% of the total votes required for that level. So for 50 it would be 10, 150 would be 30 and 300 would be 60. I think it's a pretty fair system with reasonable requirements.

I think is a fair way to keep things kosher ... and 20% is a pretty small number, so that shouldnt be to hard for anyone. Also I really like the mini idea. I know I really look forward to the day I can be a trusted reviewer on DGCR and having the mini would be pretty cool.

[ERicJ]

Your reviews can still get thumbs as new members read them. [...] voting does seem to noticeably drop off once a review leaves the homepage so newer reviews do tend to get more props.
You can increase your chances of your review staying on the homepage longer by not submitting it on a Monday when everyone else is submitting reviews from the new courses they played over the weekend.

I don't have hard data to back it up, but Mondays seem to get the most new reviews submitted.

ERic

[The Valkyrie Kid]

I see that Michigan's Ben Calhoun (Innovadude & 1000 course player) now has the most reviews at 116 and as he finds time, will eventually blow everyone out of the water for reviews (both positive and negative) and courses played.

[ERicJ]

Tim, props for coming up with this system.

After reading a lot of reviews from various people recently it's my opinion that I am really trusting the "Trusted Reviewers" even more now. Many of the newer members are handing out 4, 4.5, and even 5 star ratings like they're Halloween candy... and that's on courses where reviewers that have been around a while (and I trust) have given 2.5, 3, or 3.5 star ratings.

When reading reviews of a new (to me) course and a noob has given a 4.5 star rating I find myself hoping that when I scroll down they'll be a rating/review from the likes of Innovadude (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=1125), The Valkyrie Kid (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=418), Olorin (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=74), DGtourist (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=473), JR Stengele (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=356), timg (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=1), Donovan (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=816), Texconsinite (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=706), or gwillim (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=481). Those are the type of reviewers that I know I can... for lack of a better word: trust.

ERic

[gottafixit]

For lack of a better place to ask for this and it kinda goes qith the trusted review type icon, but i think it would be cool to have little courses played icons. one for like 50, then 100, 200, 500. I'll be hopefully breaking 100 by the end of the year, i think it would be neat to see something that denotes this feat. Not everyone i'm sure feels compelled to write reviews for every course they play, but give that they have a large number under their belt would hopefully make them more objective and fair in the reviews they do post. Me personally i'm trying to review as i play now but as for course i've played before i found this site i only went for the ones that didn't have reviews or didn't reflect what i felt they should be rated(those reviews were not that great either, went for the more overall rating effect). just some thoughts and ideas.

[JR Stengele]

.

When reading reviews of a new (to me) course and a noob has given a 4.5 star rating I find myself hoping that when I scroll down they'll be a rating/review from the likes of Innovadude (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=1125), The Valkyrie Kid (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=418), Olorin (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=74), DGtourist (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=473), JR Stengele (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=356), timg (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=1), Donovan (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=816), Texconsinite (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=706), or gwillim (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=481). Those are the type of reviewers that I know I can... for lack of a better word: trust.

ERic

Thanks EricJ, I feel the same way. I always look for the trusted reviewer casue I know I am going to truely get a good idea of what the course is about before I even play it. It is all about the trusted reviewer.

[timg]

You can see how many courses a person is played right under their name in the review header. There isn't a snazzy icon but the info is there.

[Three Putt]

Probably the loophole with the trusted reviewer icon is that negatives don't count. So you can have 50 positives and 100 negatives and be "trusted." Really all you have to do is write a lot of reviews, and no matter how bad they are and how many negatives you get eventually you will get 50 votes and be "trusted."

I think that the equation should be positives-negatives=more than 50. That way you know the reviewer has that many more positives than negatives. I'm not sure if this would effect anybody who currently has the icon or not, but it seems reasonable to me. There are weaknesses to that idea, as it then gives somebody who doesn't like you a reason to pull up all your reviews and give you a bunch of negatives. I'm not sure how you protect against something like that.

[timg]

That's a big reason why I don't have negatives count against you. Regarding the quantity of reviews, if someone writes a ton of reviews and they're all pretty crappy, they aren't going to get the helpful votes regardless.

Also, with the new system, you might have 100 helpful votes but if they aren't from a somewhat diverse group of members, you won't be considered "trusted".

[magictenor1]

Tim, props for coming up with this system.

After reading a lot of reviews from various people recently it's my opinion that I am really trusting the "Trusted Reviewers" even more now. Many of the newer members are handing out 4, 4.5, and even 5 star ratings like they're Halloween candy... and that's on courses where reviewers that have been around a while (and I trust) have given 2.5, 3, or 3.5 star ratings.

When reading reviews of a new (to me) course and a noob has given a 4.5 star rating I find myself hoping that when I scroll down they'll be a rating/review from the likes of Innovadude (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=1125), The Valkyrie Kid (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=418), Olorin (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=74), DGtourist (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=473), JR Stengele (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=356), timg (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=1), Donovan (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=816), Texconsinite (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=706), or gwillim (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=481). Those are the type of reviewers that I know I can... for lack of a better word: trust.

ERic I don't feel loved (or trusted) now. I do agree when you have been on the site awhile you get to know the people (sort of) and you get a feel for who is going to give you the best and most accurate assessment of a course.

[ERicJ]

Probably the loophole with the trusted reviewer icon is that negatives don't count. So you can have 50 positives and 100 negatives and be "trusted." Really all you have to do is write a lot of reviews, and no matter how bad they are and how many negatives you get eventually you will get 50 votes and be "trusted."

I think that the equation should be positives-negatives=more than 50. That way you know the reviewer has that many more positives than negatives. I'm not sure if this would effect anybody who currently has the icon or not, but it seems reasonable to me. There are weaknesses to that idea, as it then gives somebody who doesn't like you a reason to pull up all your reviews and give you a bunch of negatives. I'm not sure how you protect against something like that.
That's a big reason why I don't have negatives count against you. Regarding the quantity of reviews, if someone writes a ton of reviews and they're all pretty crappy, they aren't going to get the helpful votes regardless.

Also, with the new system, you might have 100 helpful votes but if they aren't from a somewhat diverse group of members, you won't be considered "trusted".
Tim,

Not exactly true. As of this writing there's only one reviewer with more than 40 reviews who isn't "trusted" and he's only a few votes away from getting that status. Thumbs Up-to-Down ratio is 47/246.

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/mem_browse.php?reviews_min=40&country=0&state=&city=&page=1&sort=reviews&order=DESC

I think a good check and balance to the system would be that in order to be trusted: (thumbs_up > thumbs_down).

ERic

[timg]

Sounds like a plan to me.

[sidewinding]

Out of curiosity I picked two random silver level reviewers and looked at their HTN ratio (Helpful to Not Helpful). One had an 88.5:1 HTN ratio and the other had a 2.5:1 HTN ratio. IMO, the one with the 88.5:1 ratio should be recognized as being more of a trusted reviewer than the one with the 2.5:1 ratio.

Maybe something like:

Bronze = > 25:1 HTN ratio
Silver = > 50:1 HTN ratio
Gold = > 75:1 HTN ratio

...or maybe just be able to see the HTN ratio when you hover over someones medal.

[JR Stengele]

I vote for positive - negative = total. That way the trusted reviewers are truely trusted. I know I am up to like 64 (guessing) to 2 and that seems about right even though the 2 negative are totally bogus. Oh well. I do think that equation is the most fair at this point though.

[Greg Layton]

...or maybe just be able to see the HTN ratio when you hover over someones medal.

Why restrict it to folks with medals? An HTN ratio (nice name, btw) would be helpful for all reviewers.

[sidewinding]

I vote for positive - negative = total. That way the trusted reviewers are truely trusted. I know I am up to like 64 (guessing) to 2 and that seems about right even though the 2 negative are totally bogus. Oh well. I do think that equation is the most fair at this point though.

With the HTN ratio system you would still be a bronze. I have 68 helpfuls to 15 not helpfuls which is 4.5:1 so I would'nt even be a trusted reviewer anymore if we changed. Most of my non helpfuls came from really short reviews I wrote when just starting out. For this very reason we should be allowed to delete a review all together along with the votes. If you just edit the review and make it better the thums downs remain there forever and they probably influence future votes for that review.

[sidewinding]

Why restrict it to folks with medals? An HTN ratio (nice name, btw) would be helpful for all reviewers.

I agree.

Now I have something to put on my tombstone: Helped Revolutionized Disc Golf Course Reviewing by coming up with the acronyms FTF and HTN Ratio.

[timg]

With the HTN ratio system you would still be a bronze. I have 68 helpfuls to 15 not helpfuls which is 4.5:1 so I would'nt even be a trusted reviewer anymore if we changed. Most of my non helpfuls came from really short reviews I wrote when just starting out. For this very reason we should be allowed to delete a review all together along with the votes. If you just edit the review and make it better the thums downs remain there forever and they probably influence future votes for that review.
I see your point but I don't really want to open up review deletion just for the sake of votes. People can re-vote on an updated review and if they're tracking the course they would see that you did and they could come back and re-vote on it.

[timg]

I like the HTN system :D I'm going to see if I can put it together now.

[ERicJ]

Out of curiosity I picked two random silver level reviewers and looked at their HTN ratio (Helpful to Not Helpful). One had an 88.5:1 HTN ratio and the other had a 2.5:1 HTN ratio. IMO, the one with the 88.5:1 ratio should be recognized as being more of a trusted reviewer than the one with the 2.5:1 ratio.

Maybe something like:

Bronze = > 25:1 HTN ratio
Silver = > 50:1 HTN ratio
Gold = > 75:1 HTN ratio

...or maybe just be able to see the HTN ratio when you hover over someones medal.
This is interesting from an informational and statistical point of view. But IMO this places entirely too much emphasis on a few negative votes. If a reviewer has 100 positive and one negative they're 100:1. But pick up just three more negative votes and they drop to 25:1. That's just not reflective of their status or body of work.

A reviewer brave enough to submit a realistic review of De Laveaga would almost certainly cut their HTN ratio by at least half....

Anyway. Here's the breakdown for the currently Trusted Reviewers sorted in order of medal type, then number of reviews.:

Gold
----
Valkyrie Kid H=333 N= 8 HTN= 41.6:1

Silver
------
Innovadude H=170 N=69 HTN= 2.5:1
FoleyT H=184 N=25 HTN= 7.4:1
jaymon1 H=245 N= 1 HTN=245.0:1
timg H=219 N= 5 HTN= 43.8:1
Olorin H=231 N=14 HTN= 16.5:1
ERicJ H=197 N= 4 HTN= 49.2:1
DGTourist H=188 N= 2 HTN= 94.0:1
JRStengele H=185 N= 2 HTN= 92.5:1
Donovan H=171 N= 4 HTN= 42.8:1

Bronze
------
byron H=104 N=64 HTN= 1.6:1
ZMan44 H= 95 N=17 HTN= 5.6:1
gravedigger H= 56 N=68 HTN= < 1
sidewinding H= 68 N=15 HTN= 4.5:1
denny ritner H=103 N=46 HTN= 2.2:1
MattK H= 62 N= 3 HTN= 20.7:1
adlacro H= 53 N=62 HTN= < 1
martinb H= 77 N= 9 HTN= 8.6:1
Texconsinite H= 83 N= 0 HTN=Perfect
gwillim H=131 N= 4 HTN= 32.8:1
Doktor John H= 59 N= 5 HTN= 11.8:1
cc0049 H=129 N= 5 HTN= 25.8:1
heelboycraig H= 86 N= 2 HTN= 43.0:1
jdawg24 H= 82 N= 6 HTN= 13.7:1
johnt1969 H= 64 N=11 HTN= 5.8:1
Three Putt H= 74 N= 3 HTN= 24.7:1
LancdIn Tacoma H= 57 N= 0 HTN=Perfect
Aragorn H= 61 N= 1 HTN= 61.0:1
chris deitzel H= 52 N=11 HTN= 4.7:1
gcrussell4 H= 57 N= 1 HTN= 57.0:1
blang H= 51 N= 3 HTN= 17.0:1ERic

[ERicJ]

Also, if you based medals on HTN you'd have medals appearing and disappearing on a daily basis as the HTN jumps up and down... but mostly down. It's significantly easier to pull the HTN down than it is to push it up.

ERic

[timg]

Hmm.. well how about this instead of HTN.

Unhelpful < 50% Helpful

So.. if I have 50 helpful votes, my no votes must be less than 50% of that number.

[ERicJ]

Hmm.. well how about this instead of HTN.

Unhelpful < 50% Helpful

So.. if I have 50 helpful votes, my no votes must be less than 50% of that number.
Tim,

It depends on how much you want to weigh the negative votes. Previously, you'd expressed a desire to not factor them in at all. That's why I suggested the rather lax limit of (thumbs_down < thumbs_up). That keeps the obviously suspect reviewers away from the medals.

A 50% limit is even better in my opinion. And if you truely want to increase the prestiege of the medals then pick a tighter limit like 33% or 25%.

You'll need to use your Solomon-like wisdom to temper this such that it prevents retaliatory strikes by people to drag down ratings.

ERic

[timg]

It's a tough call. We could factor in the amount of unique people voting "unhelpful" so that one person with a vendetta can't cause much damage.

[sidewinding]

Also, if you based medals on HTN you'd have medals appearing and disappearing on a daily basis as the HTN jumps up and down... but mostly down. It's significantly easier to pull the HTN down than it is to push it up.

ERic

Just lower the requirements and the negatives won't have as much of an affect.

Bronze 15:1
Silver 30:1
Gold 45:1

or

Bronze 20:1
Silver 40:1
Gold 60:1

[The Valkyrie Kid]

Holy S*** ERicJ! When did you find the time to complile those positives and negatives. I bet you did it at work!!!!

Now we need Olorin to come up some kind of a formula of what the professional course reviewer rater should have as to negatives to positives. Get on it Olorin

[JR Stengele]

True, but if you continue to make great reviews it will change in your favor. Who knows.

[DGtourist]

Nice stats Eric J!

Update me someone, what does HTN mean?

[JR Stengele]

I agree EricJ you are a spreadsheet MASTER! You knew more about my stats than me. Good on ya mate!

[JR Stengele]

Hey DGTourist, how was Mossy ROc? Was it worth it? It is not my home course so be honest. = )

[ERicJ]

Holy S*** ERicJ!
Simple matter of programming. Computers can do amazing things these days. ;)

[ERicJ]

Update me someone, what does HTN mean?
See post #57 (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showpost.php?p=15007&postcount=57).

[adam423]

Why not just list the % of helpful vs total by their name on the review. Like if you had 4 helpful and 1 not helpful thats 4 helpful/5 total = 80% helpful. That way it doesn't mess with the trusted reviewer status, just tells how helpful this user was as voted on by a jury of his peers. weeeeeee.

[DGtourist]

See post #57 (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showpost.php?p=15007&postcount=57).

thanks that's what I thought. I wouldn't go by HTN much because some of us could have stalker exgirlfriends and it could discourage us from reviewing places like Flip and DeLa.

[DirtyMittenDG]

I dont have a medal but you can still trust my reviews!!
:D

[DGtourist]

Hey DGTourist, how was Mossy ROc? Was it worth it? It is not my home course so be honest. = )

I would be honest and honestly, the sun goes down too fast this time of year, so I didn't make it.

The new ones I bagged were.

Lake Stevens 2 it would be 2&1/2 if they baskets wern't so lame.

NSRA I'm relly unsure, something I liked some things I really hated. I need more reflection.

White River 3-3&1/2 Quality maybe 4.

I also played Lakewood for good measure, I still like that course.

[timg]

I think the best method might just be ERic's original suggestion of Unhelpfuls > Helpful = No medal or Unhelpfuls > (Helpfuls - 10% of total helpful votes). Maybe I'll think of some brilliant way to solve this overnight but I wouldn't count on it :)

[ERicJ]

Just lower the requirements and the negatives won't have as much of an affect.

Bronze 15:1
Silver 30:1
Gold 45:1

or

Bronze 20:1
Silver 40:1
Gold 60:1
I still don't agree. Take Glen for example, he's lived a good, clean life and has accumulated a nice 57:1 HTN:gcrussell4 H= 57 N= 1 HTN =57.0:1
So by your loosest requirements: Bronze 15:1
Silver 30:1
Gold 45:1
he's a Gold reviewer today. Tomorrow he picks up one more negative vote... he drops all the way past Silver and straight to Bronze... on one vote.

H=57 N=2 HTN=28.5:1

If he picks up just two more negative votes he loses his Bronze medal altogether.

H=57 N=4 HTN=14.25:1

He went from Gold to nothing based just three votes! Now with four negatives he has to get an additional 123 positives to get his Gold medal back.

H=180 N=4 HTN=45:1

That just doesn't seem right to me.


One thing I don't think you've clarified is if you're proposing this as the sole criteria for gaining a medal... or if this is in addition to Tim's existing 50/150/300 positive vote threshold.

If it's "in addition" then even by your loosest requirements a Gold reviewer at 300 positives would be allowed no more than 7 negatives. That seems unrealistically strict considering any member can cast a negative vote at any time for no good reason whatsoever.

ERic

[DGtourist]

I still don't agree. Take Glen for example, he's lived a good, clean life and has accumulated a nice 57:1 HTN:gcrussell4 H= 57 N= 1 HTN =57.0:1
So by your loosest requirements: Bronze 15:1
Silver 30:1
Gold 45:1
he's a Gold reviewer today. Tomorrow he picks up one more negative vote... he drops all the way past Silver and straight to Bronze... on one vote.

H=57 N=2 HTN=28.5:1

If he picks up just two more negative votes he loses his Bronze medal altogether.

H=57 N=4 HTN=14.25:1

He went from Gold to nothing based just three votes! Now with four negatives he has to get an additional 123 positives to get his Gold medal back.

H=180 N=4 HTN=45:1

That just doesn't seem right to me.


One thing I don't think you've clarified is if you're proposing this as the sole criteria for gaining a medal... or if this is in addition to Tim's existing 50/150/300 positive vote threshold.

If it's "in addition" then even by your loosest requirements a Gold reviewer at 300 positives would be allowed no more than 7 negatives. That seems unrealistically strict considering any member can cast a negative vote at any time for no good reason whatsoever.

ERic

yeah I like the simple > /< idea. It keeps people from becoming trusted who don't wrtie a quality review.

[ERicJ]

Why not just list the % of helpful vs total by their name on the review. Like if you had 4 helpful and 1 not helpful thats 4 helpful/5 total = 80% helpful. That way it doesn't mess with the trusted reviewer status, just tells how helpful this user was as voted on by a jury of his peers. weeeeeee.

This was also proposed over in the anti-trusted reviewers thread (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=941):


Maybe, without applying an "untrusted" label, you could just objectively total up someone's total helpful vs. unhelpful numbers and put 'em right there on the page. So it'd say, for example:

Review By: doofus (3/11)

...and the good reviewers would have (24/25) or whatever.

Or display it as percentage. Ebay does this

I like that idea a lot too. Although it doesn't directly relate to the ratings that reviewer has assigned it does give readers a decent idea of the site's general impression of that person as a reviewer. So independed of what Tim decides to do about the overall rating I think this is a good idea.

Review By: doofus (3/11 -- 27% Trusted)

-or-

Review By: Olorin http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../images/icon_trusted_silver.gif (26,789/27,020 -- 99% Trusted)

ERic


I still support the idea.

(Of course now I know that Olorin is only 94% trusted, and doesn't have quite that many votes..)

ERic

[Three Putt]

HTN is cool since...well, since we invented it here today. But it is misleading as it has no ceiling. jaymon1 has a HTN of 245.0:1 because he only has 1 negative. If he stays at one negative that can keep going higher and higher. ERicJ's score is similar by percentage; jaymon1 is at 99.6% and ERicJ is at 98%. But ERicJ has 4 negatives so his HTN is 49.2:1. Go to Olorin who has a very respectable percentage (94.3%) and his HTN is 16.5:1. That is a 228.5 difference, and that seems huge. But is it really? Actually it is 13 or 14 votes, which is a lot smaller number than 228.5. From the dramatic swings in HTN based off of what is really the difference between an A and an A+, it makes it hard for me to look at it as a useful tool.

Really if somebody is 75% trusted, there should be no problem with considering them a trusted reviewer. The HTN for 75% is 3.0:1. The "Unhelpful < 50% Helpful" line we discussed would be 66.7% trusted, and the HTN for that is 2.0:1. Both of those HTN's are dramatically lower than anything that was discussed for consideration. Heck, if you are 90% trusted your HTN is 9.0:1, and that is still lower than what we were considering.

So if we are going to use HTN for anything, we have to learn to ignore the gaudy 245.0:1 scores. As cool as that score is, the reality is that anybody above a 2.0:1 should certainly qualify as a trusted reviewer.

Personally, I think using percentages is a lot easier. They are not as misleading on the top end, and anybody who has sweat out a C- in Chemistry understands how percentages work.

[ZMan44]

If we were to do a system, my vote would go for percentagen system. That way a helpful vote and a non-helpful vote have equivalent weighting power. If we use a ratio, as ERic has pointed out, a negative vote has an immense statistical effect. For example. If you have a 240:1 ratio (and lets say for simplicity that you have reviewed 241 courses) and you get a helpful vote you go up to 241:1. That is not a huge difference. Now say that instead you get a non-helpful vote. you immediately drop to 120:1 and if you get 2 non helpful votes you are down to 80:1. The drop-off for a not-helpful is severe but the gain for helpfuls is slight. That would be my logic for why a percentage system works best.

Maybe instead of displaying a percentage for each reviewer, the system could be set up on a scale such as this. (Percentage of helpful votes in relation to overall votes)

< 50% No Medal - The reason being is that to be under 50% they would have more NHs than Hs. To me, that's not a trusted reviewer.

50%-75% Medal - Display the medal as normal, depending on how many helpful votes as the system scale is currently set up.

75%-95% Medal and either a plus sign or a star - This would indicate that a reviewer has better than a 3:1 HTN ratio. It could be a way to distinguish the better reviewers.

95%+ Medal with 2 plus signs or stars - A feather in the cap for the most elite reviewers.

[ZMan44]

My fear of NHs playing to strongly into our system is that I like my little medal. I am proud of it. I am going to Flip City this next year. If I honestly feel that it is even a 4.5, then the problem becomes: do I really want to review the course. Sure it's a great course. Sure I want to share my opinions. But if I don't bestow it with a 5, I will immediately have about 15 NHs. That's just how it works. I don't want to lose my "bling" because of something like that.

PS...I am really hoping Flip is amazing so that I can feel comfortable reviewing it.

[sidewinding]

I still don't agree. Take Glen for example, he's lived a good, clean life and has accumulated a nice 57:1 HTN:gcrussell4 H= 57 N= 1 HTN =57.0:1
So by your loosest requirements: Bronze 15:1
Silver 30:1
Gold 45:1
he's a Gold reviewer today. Tomorrow he picks up one more negative vote... he drops all the way past Silver and straight to Bronze... on one vote.

H=57 N=2 HTN=28.5:1

If he picks up just two more negative votes he loses his Bronze medal altogether.

H=57 N=4 HTN=14.25:1

He went from Gold to nothing based just three votes! Now with four negatives he has to get an additional 123 positives to get his Gold medal back.

H=180 N=4 HTN=45:1

That just doesn't seem right to me.


ERic

So You think my, not too well thought out, minimum is too high? I agree 100%.

I think your minimum (1:1) is too low because all it does is weed out the most extreme cases.

How about we keep the system we have now and make the minimum 3:1 or 4:1?

[timg]

I've already implemented a modification and so far it seems to be working as intended. Actually, I got a little help from ERicJ on this one and I do believe HTN is worked into it in some ways. It would be pretty tough to lose a medal based on one or two reviews unless you've already accumulated a bunch of unhelpful votes already.

[DGtourist]

I've already implemented a modification and so far it seems to be working as intended. Actually, I got a little help from ERicJ on this one and I do believe HTN is worked into it in some ways. It would be pretty tough to lose a medal based on one or two reviews unless you've already accumulated a bunch of unhelpful votes already.

cool!...... How does it work?

[timg]

I'm still tweaking it so I don't want to say anything just yet. I do think the system definitely had to be updated though after looking at the member stats. There's one member with over 250 unhelpful votes and almost enough votes to make it to bronze. If he was a bronze reviewer the system would be a joke so something had to be done.

[DGtourist]

I'm still tweaking it so I don't want to say anything just yet. I do think the system definitely had to be updated though after looking at the member stats. There's one member with over 250 unhelpful votes and almost enough votes to make it to bronze. If he was a bronze reviewer the system would be a joke so something had to be done.

wow, 250+ unhelpful, you would really have to put in some time to acheive that.

[timg]

Yea, he tops the unhelpful list by a WIDE margin.

[valkyriefb11]

Personally, I think using percentages is a lot easier. They are not as misleading on the top end, and anybody who has sweat out a C- in Chemistry understands how percentages work.
As I'm reading this thread Im sitting in chemistry class sweating it out :eek:... please dont relate chem with dsic golf in any way :p

[valkyriefb11]

I've already implemented a modification and so far it seems to be working as intended. Actually, I got a little help from ERicJ on this one and I do believe HTN is worked into it in some ways. It would be pretty tough to lose a medal based on one or two reviews unless you've already accumulated a bunch of unhelpful votes already.

Hey Tim,
Is getting a medal based solely on the number of helpful/unhelpful votes you get, or is there a minimum number of reviews one has to write before they can become a trusted reviewer?

[timg]

Minimum reviews to be trusted has been bumped up to 10 from 0.

[Greg Layton]

Minimum reviews to be trusted has been bumped up to 10 from 0.

Huh? I thought the minimum was 50? :confused:

Do you mean you went to 100 from 50?

EDIT:

Ohhh... you mean you have to have reviewed at least 10 courses... I get it now.

[Olorin]

Conrats to the Valkyrie Kid! Great job! You've really added a lot to this site. I always enjoy your excellent reviews!

[Olorin]

No clue yet.. Nobody has really gotten to that point so I haven't given it too much thought.

I am thinking about special minis for silver and up trusted reviewers though as a "thank you".

Although I'm kind of wary of doing that so people don't cheat and have random people vote them up just to get a "prize".

If someone is going to try to cheat the system like that I say just let 'em. If they want to sell their integrity and honor for a little piece of plastic and a small TR icon then go ahead. Every time they use it or see it or someone comments on it they know they didn't really earn it anyway, so it really means nothing. They'll pay a much higher personal price than any watchdog could ever enforce. I think that a recognition earned by cheating loses all meaning. If someone has such a lame life that seek some kind of unearned recognition from something like this then I really feel sorry for them.

[Olorin]

Based on this idea, I reworked the trusted system a bit. So for 50 it would be 10, 150 would be 30 and 300 would be 60.
Sounds fair enough. I'm not sure if 60 different people would vote on my reviews, but we'll see. I play mostly in NC so I think I'll have the same crowd voting. I think that having 30 people should still be sufficient for Gold, but it may be too hard to program different requirements anyway. Just my thoughts.

[DiscChainBasket18]

Is the cutoff still 25? I though I had more than that...then again, I know I'm not trustworthy :p

LOL!!!

[bazkitcase5]

Sounds fair enough. I'm not sure if 60 different people would vote on my reviews, but we'll see. I play mostly in NC so I think I'll have the same crowd voting. I think that having 30 people should still be sufficient for Gold, but it may be too hard to program different requirements anyway. Just my thoughts.

If your reviews are good (which I know yours are), then you will have no problem getting 60 different people in due time, especially if you have 300 thumbs up votes. If I randomly read a good review, then I will sometimes give it a thumbs up, even if I have not played the course, because it was still helpful for me to know what kind of course I can expect if I were to ever play there.

As the site grows, these numbers will get easier to obtain, but as long as users continue to actually give a thumbs up whenever they read a good review.

[ERicJ]

If I randomly read a good review, then I will sometimes give it a thumbs up, even if I have not played the course, because it was still helpful for me to know what kind of course I can expect if I were to ever play there.
I do this all the time. If I haven't played the course but the review is well written and contains useful/helpful information for me to decided whether or not I should play this course or might like or dislike it then I vote a thumbs up. A review of a course that says nothing but: "THIS COURSE IS AWESOME. WAR JIM ROME!" is gonna get a thumbs down whether I've played the course or not. I vote on just about every review that I read on here.

ERic

[DGtourist]

I do this all the time. If I haven't played the course but the review is well written and contains useful/helpful information for me to decided whether or not I should play this course or might like or dislike it then I vote a thumbs up. A review of a course that says nothing but: "THIS COURSE IS AWESOME. WAR JIM ROME!" is gonna get a thumbs down whether I've played the course or not. I vote on just about every review that I read on here.

ERic

LOL now we have "Patty in Modesto" reviewing courses! Awesome.

[JR Stengele]

I agree fellas. I think that if we only review the reviews of courses we have played then many people won't vote. It is all about researching new courses for future trips or even just wishful thinking. If the reviewers are spending time writing a great review then they deserve credit regardless if you are going to play it in the near future or not at all. How else can we make it to gold eh? = )

[The Valkyrie Kid]

Conrats to the Valkyrie Kid! Great job! You've really added a lot to this site. I always enjoy your excellent reviews!

Thanks very much Olorin for the nice compliment. To return the compliment, I too, am an admirer of what you have and continue to bring to this site.

I'm on this site nearly everyday and often vote on course reviews for courses I haven't been too and probably never will. I figure if someone has taken the time to write a decent review, I'll give em a thumbs up, or the occasionally thumbs down.

[Olorin]

VK, thanks back at ya. I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Could we get Tim and all the TRs together for a big group hug?

[Olorin]

When reading reviews of a new (to me) course and a noob has given a 4.5 star rating I find myself hoping that when I scroll down they'll be a rating/review from the likes of Innovadude (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=1125), The Valkyrie Kid (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=418), Olorin (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=74), DGtourist (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=473), JR Stengele (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=356), timg (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=1), Donovan (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=816), Texconsinite (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=706), or gwillim (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=481). Those are the type of reviewers that I know I can... for lack of a better word: trust.

ERic

I'm honored to be in such august company. Of course, you're also in my list too, along with others like Jaymon and others among the TRs. (I'm sure I'm leaving others out.)

[Olorin]

Now we need Olorin to come up some kind of a formula of what the professional course reviewer rater should have as to negatives to positives. Get on it Olorin

Oh, I've already got a great formula but to share it here I have to be able to enter Greek symbols plus differentiation and integration symbols. You also need a working knowledge of partial differential equations and complex variables in order to understand it.

Don't worry, though, after all of the calculations the VK still comes out as Golden!

[Olorin]

Tim,


Apart from mousing over a medal it's still hard for me to see the difference btwn Bronze and Gold, and new people won't know the significance of the ribbon colors. Could you make the Bronze brown color? Or could you make the Gold larger or a different shape?
When you filter members by TR would it be possible for you to list the results grouped by Gold- Silver- Bronze? I weigh Gold and Silver heavier than Bronze level, so I'd like to have them all grouped together.

Just more additions to the never ending To Do list. You don't waste time sleeping, do you?

[timg]

I think gold and bronze look quite different. Gold is brighter with a blue ribbon, bronze is darker with a green ribbon.

I'm not sure about grouping the members by medal.. probably can't do it too easily. A lot of the time if you sort by # of reviews the silver/gold people will be towards the top of that list.

[DirtyMittenDG]

you guys should rate my reviews so I can get a medal!!! lol :)

[Olorin]

I think gold and bronze look quite different. Gold is brighter with a blue ribbon, bronze is darker with a green ribbon.

It's probably just the graphics on my notebook computer. I can't see much difference btwn green and blue and the colors of the medals look very much the same, but that's just my situation I guess.

[DGtourist]

you guys should rate my reviews so I can get a medal!!! lol :)

cool, drop off some links

[ERicJ]

I think gold and bronze look quite different. Gold is brighter with a blue ribbon, bronze is darker with a green ribbon.It's probably just the graphics on my notebook computer. I can't see much difference btwn green and blue and the colors of the medals look very much the same, but that's just my situation I guess.
They look pretty different to me. I'd post a screenshot, but I guess it'd look the same as what you see normally... ;)

ERic

[Donovan]

It's probably just the graphics on my notebook computer. I can't see much difference btwn green and blue and the colors of the medals look very much the same, but that's just my situation I guess.

Well brother, when the sky and the grass start swapping places on your avatar, then you will be color blind for sure and may need psychiatric help to boot! :p

Actually on one of my older laptops They look quite similar also. I messed with the display options (hue/brightness) some and it got better, but not like the newer ones. So try that out maybe. :cool:

[timg]

Well minis are already on order so I can't change the colors anyway :D

[Texconsinite]

Wait, are the minis just for silver and Gold, or Bronze as well?

[timg]

I ordered some for bronze too but if the site gets really popular I might have to limit it to silver/gold so I don't go poor :)

Bronze = Green mini w/ bronze foil
Silver = Red mini w/ silver foil
Gold = Blue mini w/ gold foil

[ERicJ]

So The Valkyrie Kid (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/member.php?u=490) starts out with the whole limited edition collectible set right off the bat! Cool.

[timg]

Well, I was planning on just sending them out based on your current level but I guess that wouldn't be too fair. They'll be handed out by request anyway (via PM or email) so people can just tell me what they want there along with shipping info.

[JR Stengele]

I am confused, how would we get the mini if were a trusted viewer? Do we give you our addresses? Timg I am pumped. I seem to lose those little suckers left and right. However, maybe I could put it up with my collector discs. = ) You rock!

[Olorin]

Well, I was planning on just sending them out based on your current level but I guess that wouldn't be too fair. They'll be handed out by request anyway (via PM or email) so people can just tell me what they want there along with shipping info.

Tim,

This is awfully kind and generous of you. I hope that your sponsors are providing these minis.

I hate to think of you spending your valuable time going to the post office. Have you ever thought of asking for a volunteer to delegate that to? (I wish I could do it.) You've got so many more important things to do-- like getting people to make 2.0 = Average! :D

[timg]

I am confused, how would we get the mini if were a trusted viewer? Do we give you our addresses? Timg I am pumped. I seem to lose those little suckers left and right. However, maybe I could put it up with my collector discs. = ) You rock!

That's pretty much it. You would send me your shipping info along with what you want (ie. if you are silver or higher, do you want the previous level minis?). Just hold off on the emails as I'll make an announcement when they come in.

Tim,

This is awfully kind and generous of you. I hope that your sponsors are providing these minis.

I hate to think of you spending your valuable time going to the post office. Have you ever thought of asking for a volunteer to delegate that to? (I wish I could do it.) You've got so many more important things to do-- like getting people to make 2.0 = Average! :D

It's out of pocket but the ads definitely did help a little. I use most of the ad money to help pay for the server and what's left over for other expenses (forum license, promotional stuff like the decals, etc.).

[ERicJ]

Sweet. If you have the stats history, I think it'd be cool if you numbered 'em in the order the ranks were achieved. I.e. jaymon1 (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/../profile.php?id=174) gets Green/Bronze mini #1, The Valkyrie Kid (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/member.php?u=490) gets Blue/Gold #1, etc..

It's kinda funny to look back (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=136&page=1) and see that the original Trusted Reviewer qualification was 25 thumbs up. My how your site has grown Tim!

ERic

[timg]

Well, I have to choose a single stamp so I can't really customize them to that extent.

[ERicJ]

I was just thinking Sharpie.

[timg]

I'll autograph each one ;)

I have no idea when anyone actually achieved their bronze/silver/gold status. It's not something I track.

[JR Stengele]

That is truely generaous of you Timg, I will continue to promote this site and do what I can for it. Thanks again.

[Texconsinite]

Timg you are truly a legend!

[DGtourist]

That's cool! It makes me want to sit down and write a lot more.

[timg]

and one lucky reviewer will win one million dollars!







ok.. not really.. :)

[sidewinding]

You could also have some mini's made and have an annual vote for forum participants for things like Most Helpful, Most knowledgable, funniest, biggest jerk, biggest crybaby, best administrator, most anal retentive, etc.

[JR Stengele]

As long as the same people don't keep winning. Timg! = ) I want best administrator....wait..nevermind.

[valkyriefb11]

I'll autograph each one ;)

That has to be the coolest part. You da man!

[timg]

Hah! Well I was kidding about the autograph but if you seriously want me to sign it I will.

[DGtourist]

Hah! Well I was kidding about the autograph but if you seriously want me to sign it I will.

If you happen to be sending something my way, sign it. :D

[ERicJ]

I'd like a timg John Hancock on my minis please. :)

[JR Stengele]

I third that!

[sidewinding]

I want a witty personal message above the autograph! Something like "Sidewindey guy you're above average".

[timg]

"That tree is far away"

timg

[Donovan]

You could also have some mini's made and have an annual vote for forum participants for things like Most Helpful, Most knowledgable, funniest, biggest jerk, biggest crybaby, best administrator, most anal retentive, etc.

biggest jerk....man bro, it so cool of you to make sure I would be included in there somewhere. LOL ;)

[RustyP]

Only 3 more votes and I'll be at bronze :D

I've already reviewed pretty much every course I've played...well...at least the ones that I played enough to give a fair review to.

Time to play some new courses ;)

[Olorin]

Only 3 more votes and I'll be at bronze :D


I just gave you 4 thumbers for your very vivid and thorough reviews! Keep them coming because you're doing a great job.

I don't know when the change takes effect, but at the very least you should wake up tomorrow with a nice medal!

[RustyP]

I just gave you 4 thumbers for your very vivid and thorough reviews! Keep them coming because you're doing a great job.

I don't know when the change takes effect, but at the very least you should wake up tomorrow with a nice medal!

WOOO...thanks man! Now I can finally get those "DGCR Trusted Reviewer" business cards I've been thinking about.

"No sir, officer, I'm positive that I wasn't speeding...I'm a Trusted Review for cryin out loud! Here's my business card..."

[bazkitcase5]

well in that case, I am also almost to bronze and could use more thumbers as well haha

I spend a lot of time with my reviews and its fun helping people, especially when disc golf in my area is still fairly new

[ERicJ]

WOOO...thanks man! Now I can finally get those "DGCR Trusted Reviewer" business cards I've been thinking about.

"No sir, officer, I'm positive that I wasn't speeding...I'm a Trusted Review for cryin out loud! Here's my business card..."
Dude, get one of those DGCR window cling stickers for your car and they never even pull you over in the first place! ;)

[RustyP]

Dude, get one of those DGCR window cling stickers for your car and they never even pull you over in the first place! ;)

I think that depends more on the police officer....some might automatically assume certain negative/untrue things about me because I'm a disc golfer ;)

I got pulled over earlier this year in a small East Texas town - I admit that I was speeding about 10mph over the limit. When the office walked up to my window he noticed the Glow Aviar I had in the read window and the other discs strewn about my car and asked me, "You some kinda frisbee guy or sumthin'?"

"Yes sir, I'm a competitive disc golfer on my way to Dallas for a tournament."

"A what-golfer?"

"Disc golfe.....I mean, frisbee golfer. It's fun, you should try it out."

"Hmm........well here's your ticket."

[Olorin]

well in that case, I am also almost to bronze and could use more thumbers as well haha

I spend a lot of time with my reviews and its fun helping people, especially when disc golf in my area is still fairly new

I gave a few more thumbers so you're almost there. You obviously put a lot of thought and time into writing very thorough and informative reviews. A bonus is that you use the course level color terminology. It's fun to help you out, and I hope you make TR soon.

[Olorin]

I'll put in a shameless plug for people to check out my review of Kessler (Cliff Drive) (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/reviews.php?id=286&mode=rev) in KC. The review is lonely since no one ever voted on it. Please DO NOT vote Yes only to be nice or to return a favor. ONLY give it a Yes vote if you think it's a good review. It's important to me to know that I really deserve any Yes votes that I get. (If you want to vote No you really don't have to, though. :p)

I probably shouldn't even post this, but it's all typed out...

[timg]

I think it might be a good time to say "please don't make posts soliciting votes for your reviews".

[Olorin]

Tim, please delete my post then... quick.

[Olorin]

If I had a longer time to edit or delete my posts, like 24 hours, (hint, hint) then I'd delete that post myself.

(Feel free to delete this one too.)

[timg]

I'll leave it.. the post was grandfathered in before the rule went into effect :)

Also, don't hold your breath on the 24 hour thing :D

[sidewinding]

You could also have some mini's made and have an annual vote for forum participants for things like Most Helpful, Most knowledgable, funniest, biggest jerk, biggest crybaby, best administrator, most anal retentive, etc.

I thought of a few more:

Highest PDGA rating, Least likely to ever join the PDGA, most naive noob, Most likely to play devil's advocate, most likely to post inapropriate humor, most ignorant, Biggest Pothead, Most likely to be a closet homosexual, most arrogant, best and worst at coming up with analogies, most likely to drift from the thread topic(I could be up for that one after this post...sorry!).

[RustyP]

I think it might be a good time to say "please don't make posts soliciting votes for your reviews".

Sorry man, didn't mean it like that...just happy to see that I was almost to the 50 vote mark :D

[Olorin]

There's a fun little piece of history about the genesis of TRs. Read it here (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showpost.php?p=170&postcount=9).

[timg]

The site has definitely come a long way since then :)

[gwillim]

Lol, I just checked for the first time and I have 149 thumbs up! That's pretty funny. Hmmm.

[The Valkyrie Kid]

Lol, I just checked for the first time and I have 149 thumbs up! That's pretty funny. Hmmm.

I'm not sure why that's so funny. I gave you quite a few of those thumbs up.

[gwillim]

I'm not sure why that's so funny. I gave you quite a few of those thumbs up.
Sorry, funny can mean so many things, I should have said ironic, maybe. The cut for silver level reviewer is 150, and I just thought it was odd that I just counted to see how far off I was, and I had 149.

So hard to communicate correctly on the web sometimes. Oh, and thanks for the thumbers! Knowing people appreciate my reviews is the only reason I keep writing them.

[sidewinding]

The cut for silver level reviewer is 150, and I just thought it was odd that I just counted to see how far off I was, and I had 149.

Nice non-solicitation gwillum. ;) ;) You'll be silver level in the morning my friend. ;) ;) ;)

[Olorin]

Lol, I just checked for the first time and I have 149 thumbs up! That's pretty funny. Hmmm.

gwillim,
I think that tomorrow (or maybe just after midnight) you should check the color of your medal. ;)

[gwillim]

muhahahehehe

[Donovan]

I love the creativity! Heck with James Bond and Octopussy....

Thumbers Galore

[Olorin]

Gwillim,

Let me be the first to say that your shiny new silver medal and red ribbon look really sharp! Keep writing those good reviews.

[cydisc]

Where is the breakdown of the criteria for reviewer trustiness? Do have to sort through this entire thread?

[DGtourist]

Where is the breakdown of the criteria for reviewer trustiness? Do have to sort through this entire thread?

I not sure of the secret formula anymore, but with the quality reviews you keep putting out you will be there very soon.

[ERicJ]

Where is the breakdown of the criteria for reviewer trustiness? Do have to sort through this entire thread?
The general guideline is 50 "Helpful" votes for Bronze, 150 "Helpful" votes for Silver, and 300 "Helpful" votes for Gold.

As long as you have mostly "Helpful" votes in relation to the number of "Not Helpful" votes you should get the medal.

There are a couple other criteria that have been implemented to filter out members with vast numbers of reviews, but also so many "Not Helpful" votes as to make their status of "Trusted Reviewer" in doubt.

In other words, you don't get "Trusted" just by flooding the site with a ton of short reviews; you need to submit quality stuff.

ERic

[gwillim]

Gwillim,

Let me be the first to say that your shiny new silver medal and red ribbon look really sharp! Keep writing those good reviews.

Thank you, sir! ;)

By golly, I think I'll write out a new review tonight!

[JR Stengele]

Congrats Gwillim

[Olorin]

I love the creativity! Heck with James Bond and Octopussy....

Thumbers Galore

Donovan,

I don't get your James Bond and Octopussy reference... and what creativity? Would you please explain a little for we who are obtuse?

[magictenor1]

The new Bond flick is out so I'm sure it's on his mind. Thumbers galore is a take off on the famous Bond character Pussy Galore. All of Bond's women have names like that.

[Olorin]

The new Bond flick is out so I'm sure it's on his mind. Thumbers galore is a take off on the famous Bond character Pussy Galore. All of Bond's women have names like that.

That makes sense now.

[hycard]

I thought of a few more:

Highest PDGA rating, Least likely to ever join the PDGA, most naive noob, Most likely to play devil's advocate, most likely to post inapropriate humor, most ignorant, Biggest Pothead, Most likely to be a closet homosexual, most arrogant, best and worst at coming up with analogies, most likely to drift from the thread topic(I could be up for that one after this post...sorry!).

"most naive noob" - thats it! My new title. Thanks Obama-man smoking. LOL.

[hycard]

Okay, in all seriousness, hats off to the whole lot of you.
Thank you all for your great reviews.
Excellent resource - best site going.

[Donovan]

The new Bond flick is out so I'm sure it's on his mind. Thumbers galore is a take off on the famous Bond character Pussy Galore. All of Bond's women have names like that.

Correct. And the creative part was how he got a bunch of us to go in and check out his reviews. ;) Put them together and you get Tumbers Galore. :cool:

[timg]

I should be receiving the TR Minis in the next few days. For the TRs that would like one, send me a PM or email with your shipping info and I'll get them out as soon as I can.

[magictenor1]

Donovan,

I don't get your James Bond and Octopussy reference... and what creativity? Would you please explain a little for we who are obtuse?
Getting off topic but I saw the new Bond flick the other day and I was dissapointed. It seems like they have gotten away from the essence of Bond. It is too serious now. Bond should be played a little tongue-in-cheek. Where wre the gadgets? Wher was the super-villian?

[Olorin]

Jaymon,

Congratulations for attaining Gold TR status! You sure deserve it. You're one of my favorite reviewers, so keep the great write ups coming.

Merry Christmas!

[Donovan]

Jaymon,

Congratulations for attaining Gold TR status! You sure deserve it. You're one of my favorite reviewers, so keep the great write ups coming.

Merry Christmas!

Way to go Jaymon!!!!

[DGtourist]

yes, totally deserved! quality stuff.

[Donovan]

We recently went from 35 to 44 Trusted Reviewers. That's very cool!

[YonderScott]

...and I'm about 3 thumbs up shy of joining the club!

[Donovan]

...and I'm about 3 thumbs up shy of joining the club!

I did go read some of your reviews...nice job. You should be IN soon. ;)

[Hamilton]

I did go read some of your reviews...nice job. You should be IN soon. ;)

yeah, def over the threshold, probably will show up tomorrow...now if i can just get two more reviews written and about 7 more votes i'll be in as well...

[Donovan]

yeah, def over the threshold, probably will show up tomorrow...now if i can just get two more reviews written and about 7 more votes i'll be in as well...

The nice thing is if people are close and let us know, we can take some extra time to look and read about some courses we might not otherwise read about.

I loved the graphic on the extinct course (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=892)....nice job TIMG!!!

[valkyriefb11]

...and I'm about 3 thumbs up shy of joining the club!

You should be good now :)

Im getting close too only a few more votes ... Im playing a few new courses this weekend so Ill have a few more reviews to add

[timg]

The nice thing is if people are close and let us know, we can take some extra time to look and read about some courses we might not otherwise read about.

I loved the graphic on the extinct course (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=892)....nice job TIMG!!!
I'd actually prefer people not solicit for votes in the forum. I think I've mentioned that once or twice in this thread. So please, no more of the "I only need x more, *cough cough* *nudge nudge*" stuff.

Also, thanks :)

[Donovan]

I'd actually prefer people not solicit for votes in the forum. I think I've mentioned that once or twice in this thread. So please, no more of the "I only need x more, *cough cough* *nudge nudge*" stuff.

Also, thanks :)

DOH! My bad!

[timg]

No problem.. it was in a post a few pages back. It's not really a well known "rule". I just don't want the forum to turn into a "vote for me" thing where someone posts a message and then everyone runs out and votes up their reviews. It would make the whole TR thing less meaningful.

[Hamilton]

my bad tim...i was just excited about being so close to the bronze status...

[DirtyMittenDG]

im not trying to solicit votes but I was wondering if anyone knew how many votes away I am??

I have 89 helpfulls & 50 non (alot of the 50 nons were before I changed my reviewing system)

[Geoffro]

im not trying to solicit votes but I was wondering if anyone knew how many votes away I am??

I have 89 helpfulls & 50 non (alot of the 50 nons were before I changed my reviewing system)

I looked at a couple of your recent reviews, and I like the new system (I voted yes). You'll get there - keep on reviewin'!

[REDARMY]

im not trying to solicit votes but I was wondering if anyone knew how many votes away I am??

I have 89 helpfulls & 50 non (alot of the 50 nons were before I changed my reviewing system)

i can't locate tim's thread, but i thought it was 50 helpfuls for bronze.

i'm assuming that's gone up since you've got 89 positives?

i've got a long way to go! :eek::(

[solomon.trenton]

i can't locate tim's thread, but i thought it was 50 helpfuls for bronze.

i'm assuming that's gone up since you've got 89 positives?

i've got a long way to go! :eek::(

it is 50 helpfuls for a bronze but having 50 unhelpfuls to 89 helpfuls isnt going to get you there. you might if you had say 19 unhelpfuls you would have probably obtained it by now.

heres a PM from Tim.

Re: trusted reviewer

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote:
Originally Posted by solomon.trenton
Quote:
Originally Posted by timg
Quote:
Originally Posted by solomon.trenton
i was wondering how many reviews you had to have to be considered a trusted reviewer

For bronze, I believe it's 10 reviews and 50+ helpful votes.

do your negative votes take away from your helpful ones?

Only if you have a significant amount of them.. like more than 50% of your votes.
__________________

[REDARMY]

*grumble* 5 minute edit limit *grumble*

my post above should say 'can't locate tim's post' not 'tim's thread' since the answer to the question above is posted in this very thread...

(and in solomon's post above)

[Hamilton]

yeah the 10 review min is what is holding me back...i've only played 9 different courses so far...doh...

[Olorin]

*grumble* 5 minute edit limit *grumble*

Agreed.

[ERicJ]

There's a couple motivating reasons to limit the edit time. There are multiple places to where posts get copied. If the post is later edited then there are different versions of it floating around and that can get confusing.

The first place is if anyone quotes the pre-edit post it shows up in the reply in its original form. If the original poster then goes back and makes edits it looks weird and inconsistent to any subsequent readers.

The second place is that anyone who subscribes to a thread with instant notification gets an e-mail with the pre-edit version of the post. If the original poster then goes back and makes edits it's confusing to the subscriber who got the e-mail to go to the form and see something different posted than what was e-mailed. Note that this is still a problem with the five-minute limit today, but the five-minute limit will reduce the overall number of edits made.

Not saying that I like the five-minute limit, just that there are valid reasons for it to exist.

ERic

[DirtyMittenDG]

There's a couple motivating reasons to limit the edit time. There are multiple places to where posts get copied. If the post is later edited then there are different versions of it floating around and that can get confusing.

The first place is if anyone quotes the pre-edit post it shows up in the reply in its original form. If the original poster then goes back and makes edits it looks weird and inconsistent to any subsequent readers.

The second place is that anyone who subscribes to a thread with instant notification gets an e-mail with the pre-edit version of the post. If the original poster then goes back and makes edits it's confusing to the subscriber who got the e-mail to go to the form and see something different posted than what was e-mailed. Note that this is still a problem with the five-minute limit today, but the five-minute limit will reduce the overall number of edits made.

Not saying that I like the five-minute limit, just that there are valid reasons for it to exist.

ERic

I not too much of a fan about the 5 min. limit either but you made a good point here^^^

[Donovan]

Based on this idea, I reworked the trusted system a bit. Luckily, this change doesn't effect anybody but it will prevent abuse. As you know, I have a set # of votes for each status level (50, 150 and 300 respectively). For each level, the number of voters must be greater than or equal to 20% of the total votes required for that level. So for 50 it would be 10, 150 would be 30 and 300 would be 60. I think it's a pretty fair system with reasonable requirements.

If this is still in effect from 11-11-08...does this mean that even if you are over 300 thumbers, until you have 60 different reviewers within all your thumbers, you can't get the gold medal?

Do the Downers (thumbs down) count as different voters also?

If all this is true, how will we know how close we are to getting the next medal if we have made the required number of thumbers?

[timg]

Yes, that is all still valid. Unhelpful voters do not count towards that 60 number and the short answer is you won't know. People that accumulate that many votes tend to get their votes from a variety of people so it's not really an issue. It will prevent people from emailing 10 of their buddies and having them vote helpful on every review though as there's really no point in doing that anymore.

[Donovan]

Yes, that is all still valid. Unhelpful voters do not count towards that 60 number and the short answer is you won't know. People that accumulate that many votes tend to get their votes from a variety of people so it's not really an issue. It will prevent people from emailing 10 of their buddies and having them vote helpful on every review though as there's really no point in doing that anymore.

Gotcha!

[Olorin]

It will prevent people from emailing 10 of their buddies and having them vote helpful on every review...

I don't know why people would want to do do this anyway. Why would they want to have a title bestowed on them that they didn't really earn? Surely the small amount of status that it brings in the DGCR world wouldn't really be worth it. They would know that they didn't really earn it. To me that would just cheapen it, and make it not worth having.

[bazkitcase5]

that would be nice Olorin, but sadly it is not

from my experience with lots of things other than disc golf, some people will do anything for status/attention, etc.

[DGtourist]

that would be nice Olorin, but sadly it is not

from my experience with lots of things other than disc golf, some people will do anything for status/attention, etc.

Colorful plastic beaded necklaces sale for a reason. ;)

I've done some vote driving, I don't think it works though. I always tell my brother to go vote for my stuff, but he never does, I ask him "did you read what I wrote about bla bla?" and if he does he doesn't have much to say about it.
No "wow dude, I wish I could have gone down to Texas with you." or, "Damn, those pictures of CSUMB look way creepy." nothing.

[DGtourist]

Olorin,

Congratulations for attaining Gold TR status! You sure deserve it. You're one of my favorite reviewers, now all you need is to write those other 100+ reviews and we'll all be happy!

Happy New Year!

[Olorin]

DGTourist,

Thanks so much! It's truly an honor, and I feel privileged to be in such good company. I appreciate your kind words, and it does feel good to know that my contribution is appreciated.

BTW, you're also one of my favorite reviewers. I'm confident that you'll be attaining Gold before long too.

[Donovan]

WooHoo! Way to go Olorin!!!!!

You so deserve this brother! I just love reading your stuff bro!!!!!

You are not only a Gold Medal Trusted Reviewer now, but so very soon to be an Ace Member also. We are so proud and lucky to have you here bro! Thanks for everything you do to enhance and make this site and our disc golf knowledge grow. You rock brother! :cool::cool::cool:

[valkyriefb11]

speaking of such, congrats Donovan on getting *ace membership*

[Olorin]

Donovan,

Thanks so much for the blast of encouragement! That means a lot to me, and I appreciate all that you do for me and for everyone else on here.

Cheers!

[Donovan]

Thanks guys...boy we are just kissing each others @$$es on this thread aren't we? :D Friendliest sport! :D

[Texconsinite]

Wow, do you think when I grow up, I could be a gold reviewer just like Olorin?! :p

Seriously though, you deserve it. Good work on the reviews, looking forward to reading your next one.

[Olorin]

Timg,

I was checking the stats on some of my favorite reviewers and found that each one I checked have over the 300 votes for Gold TR status. In alphabetical order, they are:

DGTourist- 321
Donovan- 379 (on only 42 reviews! Amazing!)
ERicJ- 305

Now they only need the 20% of 300 = 60 different voters to get to Gold. That 60 seems like a very high number. That got me wondering if you might want to lower the Silver and Gold threshold for different people voting just a little. Silver seems to be working OK, but it might be even able to be a little lower too.

How about:
Bronze 20% = 10
Silver 17% = 25
Gold 15% = 45

As always, it's your call as the Grand Poobah, but I just thought I'd throw this out to you.

[timg]

Hey, if it were easy then everyone would be silver/gold :D

[solomon.trenton]

how do you check the status on reviewers? is there a way to see how many people gave you a thumbs up (not who but how many different members.)?

[ERicJ]

is there a way to see how many people gave you a thumbs up (not who but how many different members.)?
Nope.

[solomon.trenton]

that sucks

[DGtourist]

Hey, if it were easy then everyone would be silver/gold :D

I'll get there soon. I don't mind the way the current system is set up at all, in fact I like it. What I care about most is courses played. I want to get that number in my profile up way high.

I'm thinking NC in March, maybe AL, a few day trips inbetween. I'm done with school in July. After that I plan on bagging courses like a mad man.

[Donovan]

I look at it this way. If you haven't played enough different courses, then you should probably not move up in medals. I mean realistically, how can you be considered a gold medal reviewer, if you haven't been to enough different courses to know what is truly a good course or not.

I have no problem waiting my time for this. The 60 different reviewers makes sense. I mean if you got all your thumbers from your local courses and never went anywhere else, how would you know what to compare anything to. You can see alot from pictures, but until you play a course you really don't experience the course and that is the point of all of this. I have only really played Texas and Nebraska. I need to do some more traveling to boost the 60different reviewers. So, that is something I will have to do in time.

So, with all that said. I think we have a good standard in place.

[tomschillin]

without reading the entire 23 page thread, i'm just curious what the levels were and what the percentages were for the levels...i'm sitting at 42 thumbs up, 0 thumbs down...i think the bronze level is 50? is that right? and with 0 thumbs down i'm guessing the percentage thing doesn't matter? can someone let me know what the 3 level requirements are?

[Olorin]

I'm thinking NC in March...

Come on down! You could play from Fontana Dam in the west over to Wilmington in the east and play a ton of good courses. Just swing by Gastonia -- CHARLOTTE -- Albemarle -- Burlington -- the Triangle on your way.

[The Valkyrie Kid]

Olorin,

Congratulations for attaining Gold TR status! You sure deserve it. You're one of my favorite reviewers, now all you need is to write those other 100+ reviews and we'll all be happy!

Happy New Year!

Yes Olorin. Congratulations on acheiving the Gold status. To agree with DGtourist, you are one of my favorite reviewers.

Note to DGtourist...Do not fly into Seattle again with out contacting me for some rounds!

[Olorin]

Valk Kid,

Thanks so much! That's high praise coming from you, and I'd say "Back at ya!" I'm honored to be in your company!

[solomon.trenton]

without reading the entire 23 page thread, i'm just curious what the levels were and what the percentages were for the levels...i'm sitting at 42 thumbs up, 0 thumbs down...i think the bronze level is 50? is that right? and with 0 thumbs down i'm guessing the percentage thing doesn't matter? can someone let me know what the 3 level requirements are?

this is straight from Tim

Re: trusted reviewer

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote:
Originally Posted by solomon.trenton
Quote:
Originally Posted by timg
Quote:
Originally Posted by solomon.trenton
i was wondering how many reviews you had to have to be considered a trusted reviewer

For bronze, I believe it's 10 reviews and 50+ helpful votes.

do your negative votes take away from your helpful ones?

Only if you have a significant amount of them.. like more than 50% of your votes.

[Donovan]

CONGRATS INNOVADUDE!

You made Gold! With all the reviews you have done and rewritten bro, you are a workhorse incarnate. Great job bro!!!! :cool:

[Hamilton]

without reading the entire 23 page thread, i'm just curious what the levels were and what the percentages were for the levels...i'm sitting at 42 thumbs up, 0 thumbs down...i think the bronze level is 50? is that right? and with 0 thumbs down i'm guessing the percentage thing doesn't matter? can someone let me know what the 3 level requirements are?

i counted 53 just now...and with 14 reviews you should be there VERY soon...

[Texconsinite]

So, I'm sitting on 40 courses reviewed, and 113 helpful votes. Isnt that enough for silver?

[ERicJ]

Silver threshold is 150.

[Three Putt]

So, I'm sitting on 40 courses reviewed, and 113 helpful votes. Isnt that enough for silver?

Silver threshold is 150.Yeah, it can be kinda confusing since you assume when you get to Bronze you are halfway to Silver, but you are not. You need twice as many votes as you already have to get to Silver. You might also assume that once you get to Silver you are 2/3 of the way to Gold, but you are really only halfway there.

You can't force it. You can write good reviews of obscure courses that don't get read and never get votes. You can write a so-so review of a really popular course that a lot of folks would be looking at as a destination and pile up a lot of votes. So it's pretty subjective.

My suggestion to anybody who really wants to be a TR is to set up a road trip and hit as many courses that are already on this site with an average rating of a 4 or higher. Make sure the course already has several reviews to make sure the score is legit. Then write reviews of those courses. You will have the double benefit of (hopefully) playing some kick-ass courses and writing reviews that will get noticed. Otherwise...don't sweat it. The votes will come when they come.

This time of year can drive you crazy, as we end up inside in the cold NOT playing disc golf looking at our computer wondering why nobody is voting on our reviews. In a couple months we will be back on the course...think happy thoughts!

[ERicJ]

You can't force it. You can write good reviews of obscure courses that don't get read and never get votes. You can write a so-so review of a really popular course that a lot of folks would be looking at as a destination and pile up a lot of votes. So it's pretty subjective.
Or you can write a phenomenal review of a really good course, including new useful info that no one else has posted yet... but rate the course 4 or 4.5 stars and the zealots will still give you a thumbs down vote. Definitely subjective.

[gwillim]

Or you can write a phenomenal review of a really good course, including new useful info that no one else has posted yet... but rate the course 4 or 4.5 stars and the zealots will still give you a thumbs down vote. Definitely subjective.

That doesn't really happen, does it? *


*please note sarcasm.

[Texconsinite]

Thanks for the help, guys. Guess I'll just have to wait. I know some of my reviews of more popular course will probably get more votes in the next few months, especially the courses in states like TX and AZ where winter is the best time for DG.

[Olorin]

Or you can write a phenomenal review of a really good course, including new useful info that no one else has posted yet... but rate the course 4 or 4.5 stars and the zealots will still give you a thumbs down vote. Definitely subjective.

But they also gave you 18 Yes votes in the bargain!

[Texconsinite]

Speaking of HBB, I think one of my few thumbs-down votes was from the Course Designer himself, for only giving his course 3.5 stars. My review got the thumbs down right about the same time he posted his own review, so thats why I suspect it to be the case.

Ohwell

[Three Putt]

Speaking of HBB, I think one of my few thumbs-down votes was from the Course Designer himself, for only giving his course 3.5 stars. My review got the thumbs down right about the same time he posted his own review, so thats why I suspect it to be the case.

OhwellThere is a course a gave a pretty good review of. On the same day I got a thumbs down and a very critical review of the course posted. I guess he didn't like my advice. :p

No big thing. I get to have my opinion, he gets to have his.

BTW, I gave his review a thumbs down as well. :D I actually would have considered giving it a thumbs up if it had been well written, but it wasn't so that made my decision easy.

[blang]

I must confess that my wife and friends have given me many of my thumbs up. I really did not think about this as abuse at the time.

[DirtyMittenDG]

Yes! Im in the club!! lol

[Texconsinite]

Congrats man

[valkyriefb11]

Yes! Im in the club!! lol

Congrats man! Im really happy for you :)

[ERicJ]

Not saying that I like the five-minute limit, just that there are valid reasons for it to exist.
Actually the "one search every 30 seconds limit" annoys me far more often than the five-minute edit limit. :|

[JR Stengele]

Do we know how many till your a gold member? Is it that you need over 100 voters or also an overall total?

[ERicJ]

Do we know how many till your a gold member? Is it that you need over 100 voters or also an overall total?
As I most recently understood it: Gold qualifications are a minimum of ten reviews, 300+ positive votes from at least 60 different voters, and your negative votes must be less than a certain percentage of your total votes.

ERic

[tomschillin]

Yes! Im in the club!! lol

well done....the revised reviewing method seems to be working..

[valkyriefb11]

Actually the "one search every 30 seconds limit" annoys me far more often than the five-minute edit limit. :|

Here here!

Nothing more annoying than a typo in a search ... then waiting 30 sec to research with the proper spelling

[ERicJ]

Nothing more annoying than a typo in a search ... then waiting 30 sec to research with the proper spelling
Or forgetting to search with view "Posts" instead of view "Threads", then hitting the back button correcting that, wait 30 seconds, search again... only to find that the previous back action lost the "Posts by User" name you'd put in... back again, wait 30 seconds... search... grrrr... :mad:

[timg]

Or forgetting to search with view "Posts" instead of view "Threads", then hitting the back button correcting that, wait 30 seconds, search again... only to find that the previous back action lost the "Posts by User" name you'd put in... back again, wait 30 seconds... search... grrrr... :mad:
This post had me laughing out loud :D

[valkyriefb11]

Or forgetting to search with view "Posts" instead of view "Threads", then hitting the back button correcting that, wait 30 seconds, search again... only to find that the previous back action lost the "Posts by User" name you'd put in... back again, wait 30 seconds... search... grrrr... :mad:

Ha! I do that one all the time ... :|

[ERicJ]

You know that 30 second number is configurable, right Tim...?