How are forum points calculated ?

vsrs_au · January 2023

I wasn't sure which category to post this topic in, because none of them really fit. Anyway, this thread from way back
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/279963/how-many-forum-stars-do-you-have
discusses the link between forum points and stars, but how are the points calculated ? I ask this as a matter of academic interest only. I tried to work out how my points total is derived, but there's not enough information to determine that.

VaranisArano · January 2023

Points come from reactions and badges.

You get 1 point per reaction.

These threads have more details about the points for badges:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/349256/unofficial-forum-faq
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/62438/forum-badges-stars-and-achievements-and-how-to-get-them/p1

vsrs_au · January 2023

VaranisArano wrote: »

Points come from reactions and badges.

You get 1 point per reaction.

These threads have more details about the points for badges:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/349256/unofficial-forum-faq
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/62438/forum-badges-stars-and-achievements-and-how-to-get-them/p1

Thanks!

So we don't get points for each post, then, only from reactions and badges ?

VaranisArano · January 2023

vsrs_au wrote: »

VaranisArano wrote: »

Points come from reactions and badges.

You get 1 point per reaction.

These threads have more details about the points for badges:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/349256/unofficial-forum-faq
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/62438/forum-badges-stars-and-achievements-and-how-to-get-them/p1

Thanks! So we don't get points for each post, then, only from reactions and badges ?

Good question!

I'll be back in a second with an answer.

Edit: I did not get a point for this comment. I don't believe we get points for making threads either, though I'm not going to make one to test that.

Troodon80 · January 2023

You don't get points for making topics or comments (otherwise it would promote spamming), only reactions to those comments, along with badges (you can read Vanilla's own documentation here and here).Standard reactions are +1, while "Developer" reactions are +5 (side note: I've never seen this reaction used in all my time on the forum). Since ZOS don't use the negative reactions there are no minus points to your reputation (points) score. There's also an option to earn points via answering questions, but that's disabled by default (which was mentioned in a Q&A here).

So far as how many points each badge is worth, there seems to be little if any documentation on that. You can also manually set the number of points for specific badges, so even if there was a default value listed somewhere it might be wrong if ZOS's community staff have changed them.

Danikat · January 2023

I think posts do contribute to it, but you don't get 1 point per post. It might even be scaled so your first post is worth more than later ones.

I've been on a few forums which use the Vanilla software (like this one does) and I've never been able to figure it out exactly. (Although it might be different between forums as well.) I mostly just ignore it, every so often a badge or a start or something turns up, but it doesn't really mean any more than a post count would.

Troodon80 · January 2023

Danikat wrote: »

I think posts do contribute to it, but you don't get 1 point per post. It might even be scaled so your first post is worth more than later ones.

There are badges such as First Comment, 10 Comments, 100 Comments, etc. which give points. Individual posts only contribute in the sense that people can react to them, which in turn gives points, and towards the badges I mentioned.