Dislikes are risk-free pot shots discouraging people from posting, whether they had valid content or not.
Vizzed's loss.

There's some options aside from scrapping it entirely:
1. Removing post ratings from parts of the forum (e.g. Vizzed Ville North)
2. Removing dislikes
3. Changing to Smilies/icons instead (If it hasn't been suggested already)

Third option would be the funnest, used moderately.

While it's true that dislikes may not be used like they should, likes are what actually counts. You can get a dislike from someone who simply disagrees with your opinion, but you only get a like when another user, erm, likes your post. Also, likes can serve as a quick method to make sure you've seen a post if you don't feel like replying or don't have the time to.

Removing dislikes altogether wouldn't be a bad choice, but we've already discussed removing some "things of the past that are being abused in the last years" and so far we haven't come up with any solution, which only worsens by the fact that David is just too busy working on the big projects for the site.

Changing to smilies, in a similar fashion to Facebook, can be a possibility. Nowadays, most sites offer lots of actions to show your reaction, and Vizzed would do good if it updated to that format. It still has its flaws, and more importantly we'd have to discuss how many of them would we include and for what purpose, so it's not something that will happen soon. Still, I'd be open to discuss that and get a solid solution so David would be inclined to invest time in it.

Funny thing actually. Someone has been disliking all my posts regarding my personal life, specifically when I mention my relationship with my mom. When I sent them a PM, asking why they're specifically disliking any personal post I make regarding my family, the response I got back was basically this:

"I don't know what you're talking about and whoever told you about who's disliking your posts is abusing their powers as an elite!"

It's hilarious when someone dislikes another's posts concerning their personal problems, but when confronted by it by the very user, they deny it. I'm sorry, but if you dislike someone's posts concerning their personal problems and you're not only refusing to say why, but even go as far as to deny it when confront it, you're pretty much coming off as a jackass. 

With cases like the one I mention above, disliking really doesn't help. Because I'm not getting a clear answer to why the disliking on all my personal posts is happening, I can think of many possible reasons why, and none of them are positive in any way. Honestly, I rather see the third choice, changing the like/dislike to smilies/icons, like FB does haha

I think it's funny that people post personal life drama stuff on a gaming site thinking that everyone else just has to "like" it and kiss their behinds because of who they hang out with or whom they date.

I find it sad though that said person whom happens to have a couple of these drama filled posts disliked gets so whiney about said situation that they have their admin boyfriend look up who was disliking their posts so they can flame the person publicly on the Discord server...

and to put the icing on the cake, post about it a month later in a random thread in a passive aggressive manner thus causing EVEN MORE drama. Seems like this person likes to stir up drama that isn't there...

Jordanv78 :
Momo Aria :

You kiddos need to calm down my dudes

It's a help / question / suggestion forum and your posts aren't any of those

uwu

Funny. I don't really see why I need to calm down. I haven't done anything wrong. I just don't see why things need to be brought up in a random thread thinking that somehow that person isn't going to see it.

Jordanv78 : Listen.

If someone goes and brings up something in the wrong place, that doesn't mean you're right for continuing to bring it up in the wrong place.

Take it to private. No one needs to see this. In fact, if you had something against what someone said here, you should have just told a mod or something instead of continuing the passive aggression. It doesn't really do much for your appearance, now does it?

Let's go ahead and leave the discussion out of this thread.

Jordanv78 : I'd appreciate it if you didn't publicly make accusations against me with no proof to back it up.
For the record, I didn't tell Aria who disliked her posts.
So, an edit I think is in order at the very least.

Vanelan : I do admit that I don't specifically know that it was you whom told her, but it certainly was a mod that did so and helped her talk about it on the official vizzed server discord channel as well as on the site.

I also find it interesting that none of you happened to ask Aria to edit any part of her post.

Jordanv78 : Gotta say, I understand why you're upset, and I said as much publicly. Please back up and think calmly for just a moment though, man.
First off, any elite+ user could have told her. It didn't have to be a mod at all. In fact, that's been the source of much unnecessary drama - the revealing of CP logs to all but Trusted and below.

But more importantly, if you feel you're right on a matter, silence will prove it better than replying back. If you answer with reasons, even sound ones, it only makes you look bad. You have too good of a name here to get into public exchanges. Don't let your anger get the better of you. There are a lot of people here with an immense amount of respect for you as a member of Vizzed, myself included. Let that be enough.

And finally, only the mods who have power over this particular forum can say anything regarding any post, at least directly to the user that posted it. I worked under you for what...four years? You know that things are always different behind the scenes than they seem. You know that we have processes that we have to follow. Please bear with us while we just try our best to get whatever happens sorted out. We're operating understaffed and with some big issues and handicaps. Trust me: the day we become some corrupt body that works as biased and lopsided as we probably seem, that's the day I'll remove myself from the team. I think you know me and my record of conduct as a mod under you well enough to know that's the truth.


I have nothing at stake in this entire issue, and I'm not siding for or against anyone. Both sides have done things I didn't agree with, but I've told both of you as much.


If I came across rude, disrespectful, or brash, I apologize. Let me know and I'll do my best to clarify if I said something in a manner that appeared so on accident (And I assure you, if I came across as such, it was most certainly an accident).

Jordanv78 : Wrong again. It was not a mod. So stop throwing out accusations if you don't know what the hell you are talking about.
And let me write up the next response for you. Feel free to copy and paste:
I'm sorry Van and now I am sorry mod team for accusing you.
I jumped to a conclusion with no proof, only assumptions because Van is dating Aria and she is friends with some of the mods.
I have no idea who told her, but I won't assume in the future.
Please accept my apology.

This entire thread has devolved into bickering, all this person was asking was a possible change to the Like/Dislike system. What we got is just accusations and back and for passive aggression between people who are in a position to know better and frankly it's disappointing.

As for the original question of the thread, I personally think the dislike should be removed. This gives the one disliking the incentive to state why they do, sparking discussion. If a flame war breaks out then we can at least handle it swiftly and peacefully. The Smiles idea is also a nice idea.



Local Moderators : I feel this thread needs to close, it's getting a little out of hand. Though if it corrects itself then perhaps it can remain open.

TBH, the like/dislike system just seems to cause drama. 
So, if we want to avoid that, we should get rid of it completely.

If only 1 is removed, I am sure there is going to be drama about bot enough people liking someone's threads or someone getting a lot of likes from certain people.

This has been brought up several times, I remember bringing it up years ago and despite getting a lot of support nothing happened. Ultimately it's up to David to make a change like this and it doesn't seem like something he would be open to change.

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

In regards to this whole disagreement both parties are at fault.

Momo Aria : You should not know about Jordan disliking those posts and the fact that you went to find that out (regardless of who told you) means that you are equally at fault with the person who told you. You also should not proceed to bring it up in public. It comes down to that whether or not the dislike option should be removed it's there right now and you simply have to live with the fact that not everyone is going to like what you have to say or at least the kind of posts made. Venting about it will do nothing but make these people feel even more justified in their views and create drama. If you want people to leave you alone I suggest you ignore it.

Jordanv78 : On the other hand there's no need for you to make this into a public argument and though I can understand why you would, you shouldn't assume Van told her about that. Many people may not agree with him but I can say with great certainty that Vanelan is not one of the users going around leaking information to other users. That's coming from someone who just stepped down as a local moderator and have no stake in this argument.

Can we all be friends and well... don't know play FIFA 18 when it comes out? Honestly these tedious arguments are so outlandish and petty that makes me feel like I'm not a jerk to people. I have no reason to be in this but that's the point. I'm trying to butt in :B

Wow, drama.

As for the post ratings - I'd love to see the down vote go personally. I'm fine with having a system where people can agree with a post without having to say "I agree" or "That's great".

However, I find there is little to no value in "silently" disagreeing with a post for whatever the reason might be.

I'd rather force people who want to disagree to have to do it publicly rather than hiding behind partial anonymity or disagree without doing anything. That would hopefully result in less of what happened in this thread.

Since I don't use either the like or dislike function, I don't really care if they stay or go to be honest. Considering the theatrics in this thread, (and in several other instances I'm sure), it seems to be more trouble than it's worth. Along the lines of what Geeo said, it's more informative to state why you agree or disagree with a post in a post of your own. As long as it's done in a respectful manner and clearly reflects your stance, then we can hopefully avoid the whole he said/she said issue.

SacredShadow : to clarify what I said - I'm okay with keeping the like function around because it is an easy way to agree or react positively to a post without feeling the need to reply.

However, I feel like disagreeing with a dislike is unfair if no explanation is given and it usually causes more harm than a post with an explanation of why you disagree. I'd rather see an explanation or no post when you disagree rather than an unknown dislike.