Posts & Polls

[Mr_Paper]

I've noticed that in many of the threads containing polls, many of which are polling for opinions and requesting explanations, that the number of votes on the poll is often several times that of the reply count for the thread in question. This means people are just voting without following through with the intent of the thread. So, I'd like to suggest that the poll system be changed. I'm not entirely sure if it can be done but this is my idea.

Have polls setup so that when one views a polled thread for the first time, only the poll results are displayed. In order to vote in a poll one must reply to the thread. Basically the portion of a poll where you actually vote is moved into the page for the reply dialogue and the vote only counts if the reply is posted. Furthermore, should someone vote on a poll under this system and only give "Poll Option 'A'!!" or the minimum number of characters needed to post, if their post is deleted their vote is also removed and the lose the ability to vote on that poll again.

Just my thoughts on the matter.

[Thany]

I don't think it would be a good idea...
A lot of people don't feel like posting and/or have something to say but it might have been said several times...
You can't oblige people to reply, this is absurd...

[Mr_Paper]

In situations such as that it is not that taxing of an excercise, in my opinion, to simply quote the person who's opinion is the same as your's and then re-iterate the main point of the quote or elaborate on it with your thoughts.

My point is that a poll asking for justifications and explanations for why people voted one way or the other should not have 50+ votes and less then 20 replies. The people voting without replying are defeating the purpose of the thread.

[7thMethuselah]

well I often join in in polls without posting for the simple reason i have nothing to add apart from the stuff that has allready been said. So while my post wouldn't add content, my vote actually does because it shows which option gets my preference. I like the poll system as it is, don't really see a need to change it.

The one problem polls often have is a lack of options, it forces you to choose between two bad options while in your mind you can easilly think up 3-4 more options. But those are off course things that can be overcome with a simple push on the edit button ...

[hobobaggins]

Originally Posted by Mr_Paper

I've noticed that in many of the threads containing polls, many of which are polling for opinions and requesting explanations, that the number of votes on the poll is often several times that of the reply count for the thread in question. This means people are just voting without following through with the intent of the thread. So, I'd like to suggest that the poll system be changed. I'm not entirely sure if it can be done but this is my idea.

Have polls setup so that when one views a polled thread for the first time, only the poll results are displayed. In order to vote in a poll one must reply to the thread. Basically the portion of a poll where you actually vote is moved into the page for the reply dialogue and the vote only counts if the reply is posted. Furthermore, should someone vote on a poll under this system and only give "Poll Option 'A'!!" or the minimum number of characters needed to post, if their post is deleted their vote is also removed and the lose the ability to vote on that poll again.

Just my thoughts on the matter.

that would just increase the spam-whoring back to normal... ...

i sometimes just vote in the poll to contribute to something ridiculous (havent seen one on animesuki... but it could happen)

[xris]

The idea behind the suggestion has some merit but to be honest it would require a major hack to the vBulletin software.

So, the question that needs to be asked, is it worth the effort required to implement such a suggestion. And is there really a problem with polls (as they are at the moment) that requires fixing (I'm not that convinced).

So, I don't think this will be high on the implementation list, sorry (not that it's me who decides, but it's just my opinion).

[Lexander]

Well here's the thing about that. Sometimes I get to a poll thread that's already on the third page. So I vote, but don't say anything because there are already some posts with exactly what I was going to say.

[Thany]

Originally Posted by Lexander

Well here's the thing about that. Sometimes I get to a poll thread that's already on the third page. So I vote, but don't say anything because there are already some posts with exactly what I was going to say.

That's exactly what I was thinking of
And I still find it a bit stupid to repeat or just say 'I agree' or something like that if you don't have something really interesting to say
And that might also make people post useless stuffs just to get their vote accepted...

[Mr_Paper]

Heh. It's okay.

It was just a random thought I decided to share. ^^

[_Sin_]

Originally Posted by Mr_Paper

In situations such as that it is not that taxing of an excercise, in my opinion, to simply quote the person who's opinion is the same as your's and then re-iterate the main point of the quote or elaborate on it with your thoughts.

You mean like that?

Originally Posted by Lexander

Well here's the thing about that. Sometimes I get to a poll thread that's already on the third page. So I vote, but don't say anything because there are already some posts with exactly what I was going to say.

It's not a good idea in my opinion because it enlarges the thread for no apparent reason and that makes it harder for the people who want to add something new because they have to read 10 pages with the content of 1 page - which is annoying.
(Normally I would not replied for this thread because Lexander and (10 more people) said what I wanted to say already. But it was just too tempting to not to )