I've people accuse people on the forum of point farming and what not.

My following statement has nothing to do with Lauren at all so I just want to make that clear, this has something to do with the community as a whole not any member o members individually.

I have felt recently,there is a witch hunt of sorts over Eden points. Makes me wonder If I should stop getting them because I may be accused of point farming. How do we determine if someone is Point farming? I mean the point of the system was to encourage activity.

I understand follow, and unfollow. I understand the spam posts (even though someone may be LEGITIMATELY bringing up something). But If I get a lot of points, say I follow a lot (or my limit) and send articles to my friends, does this make me a point farmer?

Does maxing out on your points make you a point farmer? or a great addition to the community. There is reason there is a cap, they felt that the cap was enough for a day, so they must feel that is an acceptable amount.

Its tricky, and I sometimes think... should I stop? I tend to send alot of Sexis articles to friends. I tend to "like" things, and show my friends what I like. Am I a point farmer? less

Okay, that example would be RPF ("real person fiction"), which is a subgenre that many of us avoid like the plague. When I write or read fanfiction, it's about fictional characters, from my favorite television shows, comic books, and sci-fi movies, and generally is a sequel to, or alternate ending of, a particular episode or storyline. less

There was a review posted recently which people came down on pretty hard, someone even accused the reviewer of "point farming." What concerned me was that nobody really took into consideration that this was someone's first attempt at a review.

Perhaps, when you come across such a review, instead of attacking, you might stop and take the time to remember that your first review was probably not in perfect form and if you really want to do something about it, recommend the Mentor program.

Imagine what it must feel like, to be a writer or review of average to poor skill who takes the time to try out doing a review, only to immediately have half a dozen vicious comments posted at the bottom of it...

Would you ever want to do a review again? Would you ever want to try to join a community that greeted you this way? less

But, when people admit they "only did it for the free toys" it's an issue. If it's the review I'm thinking of, it was horribly written, (I, too, don't care if it's someone's first or 100th review, if I can't understand the review, and it looked rushed, I am going to vote according to how I HONESTLY feel about it) the person applied for Advanced Reviewer the day she posted her first review, there is no Forum participation going on, and the reviewer ADMITTED she only was here "to get what toys you want" or something like that.

IF this is the same reviewer,(and from what I saw the critiques of her review were all Constructive Criticism and she started getting upset, due to wanting free toys) the Mentor program was suggested and the person said she "didn't have time for that."

How could she then have time to write reviews as an Advanced Reviewer?

I don't know if we are talking about the same review. I sent a copy of it to Kristi, because it looked like it might result in trouble.

In the review I am referring to, the reviewer ADMITTED she was "only doing it for the free stuff." less

I've people accuse people on the forum of point farming and what not.

My following statement has nothing to do with Lauren at all so I just want to make that clear, this has something to do with the community as a whole not any member o members individually.

I have felt recently,there is a witch hunt of sorts over Eden points. Makes me wonder If I should stop getting them because I may be accused of point farming. How do we determine if someone is Point farming? I mean the point of the system was to encourage activity.

I understand follow, and unfollow. I understand the spam posts (even though someone may be LEGITIMATELY bringing up something). But If I get a lot of points, say I follow a lot (or my limit) and send articles to my friends, does this make me a point farmer?

Does maxing out on your points make you a point farmer? or a great addition to the community. There is reason there is a cap, they felt that the cap was enough for a day, so they must feel that is an acceptable amount.

Its tricky, and I sometimes think... should I stop? I tend to send alot of Sexis articles to friends. I tend to "like" things, and show my friends what I like. Am I a point farmer? less

Viktor— I understand why you would be concerned. And I think, in general, we could all relax a little on the "point farming" and other rules infractions watch. The should be concerned about "point farming" when it significantly interferes with the function and ability to enjoy the community services.

For example:

Posting one or two useless forum threads is not a reason to get upset.

Posting 20-30 forum threads in an hour is quite obviously something that needs to be brought to the attention of Eden Staff.

Another example:
Posting one really truly bad, completely useless, or obviously fake effort at making a review is, again, going to happen on occasion, so report if you need to, but otherwise, just let it slide and move on or offer encouragement in some way in the spirit of remaining positive and realizing that people can and do make mistakes.

Posting 3 or 4 really truly bad, completely useless, or obviously fake efforts at reviews is again, obviously an intentional abuse of the system and should be brought to the attention of Eden Staff—but commenting negatively on such obviously bogus reviews improves nothing, solves nothing, only breeds negativity within the community.

(Just to be clear, I am not saying you shouldn't offer critical comments on genuine reviews you feel are lacking, but that even commenting at ALL on an obvious bogus review is a waste of time and effort)

Bottom line: hyper-sensitivity to possible abuse of the system breeds fear of being accused, spreads negativity and discourages participation—is that the mood of the community you wish to encourage? less

But, when people admit they "only did it for the free toys" it's an issue. If it's the review I'm thinking of, it was horribly written, (I, too, don't care if it's someone's first or 100th review, if I can't understand the review, and it looked rushed, I am going to vote according to how I HONESTLY feel about it) the person applied for Advanced Reviewer the day she posted her first review, there is no Forum participation going on, and the reviewer ADMITTED she only was here "to get what toys you want" or something like that.

IF this is the same reviewer,(and from what I saw the critiques of her review were all Constructive Criticism and she started getting upset, due to wanting free toys) the Mentor program was suggested and the person said she "didn't have time for that."

How could she then have time to write reviews as an Advanced Reviewer?

I don't know if we are talking about the same review. I sent a copy of it to Kristi, because it looked like it might result in trouble.

In the review I am referring to, the reviewer ADMITTED she was "only doing it for the free stuff." less

I don't know of this specific example, but I think we have to be very careful here. Like it or not, one of the "perks" touted about being a reviewer are the free toys. It's unfair to hold it against someone for admitting that this is one of their legitimate reasons for reviewing. Again, if you think this is a problem I would message Krist or one of the others from EF, but it's not our place as other reviewers to judge someone in this context. And has been mentioned in other threads, these people tend to weed themselves out over time and if EF is fine with accepting that, then so should we. less

Oh come on, let's just flat out say it—who among us didn't start doing reviews and join the advanced program to get free toys? It's why we do reviews and to pretend otherwise is disingenuous.

You might have additional reasons for doing reviews, but to suggest it's a problem that someone admits they do reviews to get the free toys is...laughable.

No really, it made me laugh! less

But, when people admit they "only did it for the free toys" it's an issue. If it's the review I'm thinking of, it was horribly written, (I, too, don't care if it's someone's first or 100th review, if I can't understand the review, and it looked rushed, I am going to vote according to how I HONESTLY feel about it) the person applied for Advanced Reviewer the day she posted her first review, there is no Forum participation going on, and the reviewer ADMITTED she only was here "to get what toys you want" or something like that.

IF this is the same reviewer,(and from what I saw the critiques of her review were all Constructive Criticism and she started getting upset, due to wanting free toys) the Mentor program was suggested and the person said she "didn't have time for that."

How could she then have time to write reviews as an Advanced Reviewer?

I don't know if we are talking about the same review. I sent a copy of it to Kristi, because it looked like it might result in trouble.

In the review I am referring to, the reviewer ADMITTED she was "only doing it for the free stuff." less

Also, to backtrack to the beginning - just so it is clear, y'all DO realize that Not Assigned reviews AUTO-PUBLISH (for the most part - except a few things like Condoms and DVDs etc).

Nobody on staff saw that review and just clicked "publish"...nooo nooo. And we don't push some reviews out while some wait. We never have. They get done in order of submission; except for Description reviews, because those are tied to product pages and all kinds of back-end details.

Please don't make assumptions about review processing. Hell, when I started 2 years ago, reviews took 3 - 4 weeks to be published. Now the staff publishes about 30 a day - which is a good amount, but not so much that it floods through the review page.

Annnyway...just putting that out there nice and clear less

I don't know of this specific example, but I think we have to be very careful here. Like it or not, one of the "perks" touted about being a reviewer are the free toys. It's unfair to hold it against someone for admitting that this is one of their legitimate reasons for reviewing. Again, if you think this is a problem I would message Krist or one of the others from EF, but it's not our place as other reviewers to judge someone in this context. And has been mentioned in other threads, these people tend to weed themselves out over time and if EF is fine with accepting that, then so should we. less

Oh come on, let's just flat out say it—who among us didn't start doing reviews and join the advanced program to get free toys? It's why we do reviews and to pretend otherwise is disingenuous.

You might have additional reasons for doing reviews, but to suggest it's a problem that someone admits they do reviews to get the free toys is...laughable.

No really, it made me laugh! less

Agreed. I joined the review program for free toys.

I STILL write reviews because I like free toys. I also write reviews on toys I purchased. Know why? I do them offsite and I make affiliate sales.

I am not ever going to blow smoke up anyone's ass and say I do this to be some sort of elite educator. Is it nice to be able to write good reviews and teach people something they may not have known or help them buy something really cool? Hell yes. But I sure wouldn't be doing any of this, at least not at the level I do, if there were no perks in it for me.

Neither would most of you less

*cringe*

I hope nobody thinks I'm just blowing smoke with what I just said. I honestly did start this just to help people, and also because I enjoy writing and it's nice when that writing has some sort of purpose.

It takes hours to write a review, and there are definitely easier ways to make fifty bucks (which I think is the price limit at my level, I'm not even sure), so if all I wanted was more toys, I'd just drive somewhere and buy them. For the record, I've only ever received one free toy, and I've written more than twenty reviews.

And if I'm just being pointlessly defensive, then my apologies, I get paranoid sometimes. less

I don't think that anyone believes what you said is being disingenuous. Basically my original point is that regardless of the reason, we all do reviews for certain motivations, whether they are financial or personal. We should not judge anyone else for whatever their own motivations may be as long as it does not violate EF rules. less

*cringe*

I hope nobody thinks I'm just blowing smoke with what I just said. I honestly did start this just to help people, and also because I enjoy writing and it's nice when that writing has some sort of purpose.

It takes hours to write a review, and there are definitely easier ways to make fifty bucks (which I think is the price limit at my level, I'm not even sure), so if all I wanted was more toys, I'd just drive somewhere and buy them. For the record, I've only ever received one free toy, and I've written more than twenty reviews.

And if I'm just being pointlessly defensive, then my apologies, I get paranoid sometimes. less

*cringe*

I hope nobody thinks I'm just blowing smoke with what I just said. I honestly did start this just to help people, and also because I enjoy writing and it's nice when that writing has some sort of purpose.

It takes hours to write a review, and there are definitely easier ways to make fifty bucks (which I think is the price limit at my level, I'm not even sure), so if all I wanted was more toys, I'd just drive somewhere and buy them. For the record, I've only ever received one free toy, and I've written more than twenty reviews.

And if I'm just being pointlessly defensive, then my apologies, I get paranoid sometimes. less

I don't know of this specific example, but I think we have to be very careful here. Like it or not, one of the "perks" touted about being a reviewer are the free toys. It's unfair to hold it against someone for admitting that this is one of their legitimate reasons for reviewing. Again, if you think this is a problem I would message Krist or one of the others from EF, but it's not our place as other reviewers to judge someone in this context. And has been mentioned in other threads, these people tend to weed themselves out over time and if EF is fine with accepting that, then so should we. less

Oh come on, let's just flat out say it—who among us didn't start doing reviews and join the advanced program to get free toys? It's why we do reviews and to pretend otherwise is disingenuous.

You might have additional reasons for doing reviews, but to suggest it's a problem that someone admits they do reviews to get the free toys is...laughable.

No really, it made me laugh! less