I have a quick question regarding the use of reputation on this site.
First of all, the official reputation article is a bit out of date, and needs updating. If you look here: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/faq.php?faq=rep it says that users have a limit of 5 reps per day (10 reps for subscribers), yet those limits have now been removed. As such, can the FAQ article please be updated?
Secondly, and this is the important bit: it says in the FAQ that if you are not logged on for 100 days, your reputation points start to decrease. If you was to end up getting a black card somehow (i.e. a permanent ban from the forums), are you able to keep your reputation level if you log in every 100 days (even if it is just to see the banned message that vBulletin gives), or do banned members automatically lose their rep gems, even if they log in?
I'm confused as to how what happens to your internet points in the event of being permanently banned from the site could in any way be considered "important".
You can take away their user functions but you can't take away their pride at reaching 10 gems?
However, I'm sure I have seen somewhere that rep points start to decline after 100 days of inactivity - meaning that if you have 10 rep gems, and you get permanently banned, it won't be long before you lose your rep gems?
In that case, would logging in just to see a "You have been banned for the following reason...." message be enough to considered active, or do you have to be an active, posting (i.e. non-banned) member in order to keep your rep points?
However, I'm sure I have seen somewhere that rep points start to decline after 100 days of inactivity - meaning that if you have 10 rep gems, and you get permanently banned, it won't be long before you lose your rep gems?
In that case, would logging in just to see a "You have been banned for the following reason...." message be enough to considered active, or do you have to be an active, posting (i.e. non-banned) member in order to keep your rep points?
Thanks if anyone can clarify this for me.
Informed guess based on what I can remember of stuff mods can see, back when I was on the team, and when the mod team could actually do moderator things, I think logging onto the site at all even on a banned account like that is enough for it to consider you "active". Still no idea why this could matter though.
However, I'm sure I have seen somewhere that rep points start to decline after 100 days of inactivity - meaning that if you have 10 rep gems, and you get permanently banned, it won't be long before you lose your rep gems?
The rate at which you lose rep is incredibly small though. Your reputation points multiply by 0.98 for every day of inactivity beyond the first hundred. So if you had exactly 10 rep gems -- that is to say, 12 800 reputation points -- it would take around 468 days for your friend's reputation points to be reduced to 1.
The rate at which you lose rep is incredibly small though. Your reputation points multiply by 0.98 for every day of inactivity beyond the first hundred. So if you had exactly 10 rep gems -- that is to say, 12 800 reputation points -- it would take around 468 days for your friend's reputation points to be reduced to 1.
Spoiler
Thanks for clarifying - I thought that you did lose rep points after the first 100 days but didn't know it would take that long to decay. So that's about a year and a half from 12,800 rep points down to just 1 rep point.
@Potally_Tissed Thank you for the information - that definitely helps. For your information, as to why this is important is because I was asked by an ex-member of TSR (who is now banned) if, by being banned, he would lose his rep points that he had earnt. I agree that it isn't the most important thing in the world (you're never going to increase your rep points after being permabanned) but I suppose that he doesn't want to lose the rep that he had accumulated.
Thanks for clarifying - I thought that you did lose rep points after the first 100 days but didn't know it would take that long to decay. So that's about a year and a half from 12,800 rep points down to just 1 rep point.
@Potally_Tissed Thank you for the information - that definitely helps. For your information, as to why this is important is because I was asked by an ex-member of TSR (who is now banned) if, by being banned, he would lose his rep points that he had earnt. I agree that it isn't the most important thing in the world (you're never going to increase your rep points after being permabanned) but I suppose that he doesn't want to lose the rep that he had accumulated.
Thanks for clarifying - I thought that you did lose rep points after the first 100 days but didn't know it would take that long to decay. So that's about a year and a half from 12,800 rep points down to just 1 rep point.
Yeah, my bad. xD That 468 days figure is on top of the initial 100 days so the total is 568 days from the last login, which is just over a year and a half.