Drop postcount in favor of something better

[//Nathan]

I know a lot of admins are not too fond of 'forum games' people play to jack up their postcount. I don't mind them... I move them all to a forum which has postcount incrementation disabled, and either nobody notices or nobody cares.

I've never really liked the postcount feature. I know how to disable it... it's not too hard... but I was thinking a smarter system could be implemented. "Wordcount x1000" is the best way to describe it (think tachometers, RPM x1000, a guage that goes from 1 to 6-10 depending on the vehicle), but it could be called something a little more clever... like "Contribution Points".

We can already count the number of characters in a post with the "Check Post Length" button. What if it could count words? Then, for every 1,000 words a member posts, they get one point. If you make four 250-word posts, that's only one point. If you play forum games and only use 1-5 words per post, it will take a LOT longer to get one point.

And, of course, the "1000" would be configurable... maybe on smaller forums, to make people feel a little more worthwhile, lower it to 100. Or if the forum is super busy, you could raise it.

Just another idea I have to encourage quality over quantity. ;)

[Why Two Kay]

Yes! A feature like this would be excellent. :thumbsup:

Also, possibly this could co-exist with Post Count at the same time. The Admin CP would allow the admin to choose which one(s) are enabled, and how many words for adding to their count. This could also work into "Promote member to X group when he reaches Y word-count X1000." along with Post Count promotion.