I think the downreppers are still furiously hitting that button like this little monkey banging on the door.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-_OIDRL91c

yep , they are foaming right now :D

The only way to hide a post was to click the minus button, this was the core of my argument with BreOl72.

Well apparently it still works?

So GOG accidentally turned on their server-side downvote bots again? ;D

Orkhepaj's post here which is low-rated somehow is from 5 hours ago but a different post by him from 3 hours ago isn't?

Not at all, nothing to do with the content of my post, but all to do with the number of downvotes in a small amount of time.

And remember, we are talking about a thread where everyone in it was downvoted. So nothing to do with multiple people disliking what was said in the post. If what you claim is true, then it can only have been done by a bot in that space of time.

Anyway, as I said in my last post here, it is all conjecture now, unless you can bring some of those facts you talk about to the table.

You might actually be surprised at how many actually bother to visit, let alone post in the forums from GOG's customer base ... very few at any one time in actual fact from my understanding.

So none of what I have said, is any kind of denial of numbers, just my memory of how things were. And no I did not bother checking for downvotes all the time, just a few times to be clear, get my facts straight.

P.S. I am someone who is very interested in patterns and behavior, so I do pay attention to things, that many don't. :)

EDIT
If you are intent on discussing this further, then really we need to start engaging with logic. To which end, you could explain to me why some threads got targeted relentlessly with downvotes, especially when nothing obvious in them warranted it. Sure you can blame the OP of each thread, but I recall contradictions for that notion. I can accept that one or two people working in concert might do the downvoting, but why would lots of folk bother to downvote every post? And it happened so quickly ... that bit really needs explaining too. The bigger picture tells the story, when you look at all aspects.

Plenty of other folk here can confirm what I said.

But cast your mind back.

We had a minus option and a plus option.
When you clicked the minus, a downvote occurred ... there was no other option to downvote, just an option to report.
Once you finished (report or not) you were left with a hidden post.
EDIT - There are plenty of posts at the forum complaining about downvote and hide not being separate options, report either.

Maybe.

But I guess we will never know, because if it did happen, the downvote has been removed now.

If you see it again, at least do a screenshot for proof, so we won't have to wonder about your senility etc. LOL

Anyway, maybe it did happen while they were testing something, and who better to test on. ha ha ha ha

I doubt it. More likely is that GOG didn't do a very thorough job and someone has found a way to press the invisible button, so to speak. Looks like your post is back to "neutral" for now, perhaps someone upvoted to counter it?

Troll brigades need their holy grails too.

I'd rather they get a life.

Whoever downvoted it must have been a joker or other posts would have been downvoted as well. Maybe they didn't realize it worked at first and then removed it when they noticed?

Will happily do.
To which extend you will accept that logic (or if you accept it at all) is on another page, of course.

Says you. ;)

Easily explained.

What happens when you post a new comment?
It gets put in the most prominent spot on the GD.
Right under the stickies.

And it gets put in that same spot, over and over again, whenever a new comment gets added to that thread - be it from you, or from anybody else commenting in that thread.

So, your comment(s) - like the comment(s) of everybody else in that thread - get "rubbed under the noses" of everybody enclined to click on that thread.

And if they feel, your comment(s) need to be down voted - MOST OF THEM will do so, pretty quickly after you made your comment.

It's simply because that's when most users who are active at that time, will notice it immediately.

Btw: you may also have noticed, that some "low rated" comments received that treatment only after several hours.

That's because (1) the first batch of users had already passed by, but without enough of them voting (-), and it took time for the users of another time zone to get active on the forum and add to that votes.

And (2) the thread itself probably had already sunken lower in the GD, to a point where less and less people were looking for it - delaying the "low rated" status even further.

For the most part, the threads that were low rated as a whole, were controversial threads.

Controversial meaning everything, from threads about LGBTQ+ topics, the infamous "Boycott" thread, basically every thread in regard to the release of "Eroge" games, throw in some threads about the situation in Ukraine, etc.
You got it.

Two things come into play here.
Naturally (and despite the claims of everone here pretending to "never having used the (-) button), most people will down vote a comment, if it goes against their own opinion.
That's simply human nature.
You can't plant your fist in your opponent's face due to the online nature of a comment section? - You punch them virtually, by clicking the (-). Period.
Human nature. Can't deny it.

The other thing was:
people were fed up with the general negativity (and repetition) that these threads transported, and expressed their anger/despair/whatever with a single mouse click.
Simply because that was the easiest way to react, without painting themselves as targets for all the hate that you can find in these threads.
Note: everyone has an opinion on everything - but not everyone is willing to fight over them.

Care to share these threads?
As I said above: MOST of the threads that got "low rated" as a whole were controversial threads.
If there were others, I'd need to be pointed to them, to try and make an educated assumption as to the "why".

Apart from that:
I cannot speak for the reasons why some folk may have clicked the (-) button - as I already said in my previous post (quote):
"there are at any given time enough users online here, to be able to tag any comment(s) that they may disagree with, with the "low rated" label.
And that for any given comprehensible reason (and some probably not so comprehensible ones).
How am I supposed to know what reasons others may have?

Why can you accept two people to do the same thing at a time, but not five+ people? (and why do these two need to "work in concert"?)
What's the difference between "two people" and "lots of folk"?
I mean: if we apply logic to it?
See above: the "...but all to do with the number of downvotes in a small amount of time." - part.
Yes, it sure does. If you bother to look at it with both your eyes open.

EDit: fixed some embarrassing typos

Right back at you mate, you have conveniently ignored the full logic, and your long post is populated with guess after guess.

I mentioned those threads, because many were not controversial at all, to anyone normal ... not talking different opinions here, it is quite normal to have different opinions.

If you are so convinced of your view, be my guest to find and list all those threads, but I am not going to waste my time helping you, no need, I am fine with how I use logic.

If you want me to continue with this discussion, then you need to show you know how to use logic, or I am simply not interested. I stand by all I have said, and are happy to leave it there.

Just remember, that if what you guess to be was true, there would be a lot more such topics impacted. There aren't, and that my friend is incontrovertible logic.

I haven't seen your "full" logic by now. Only guess after guess coming from you.

And once again, you reveal the same flaw in your "logic": you are not willing to accept (or just unable to understand), that OTHER people might downvote OPINIONS WITH WHICH THEY DON'T AGREE, even if you don't do that.

The latter is very clear to see.
However - you brought those threads up, and I said I would be willing to look into them, if you would provide the links to them, and then try to assume for which reasons these threads may have been mass low repped.

I wasn't the one who brought those threads up in the first place, and I don't deem them important enough to look for them by myself.
And since the above is apparently also your stance on this issue (even if YOU were the one bringing these threads up), I'm also fine with ignoring them as your "evidence" (simply because evidence that doesn't get presented, is no evidence, period).

Ok, as I've already guessed, nothing I could write here will be accepted by you.
You, on the other hand, are not willing (or able) to give examples which would refute my logic.

So I'll end this here with this nice thread which coincidentally and conveniently popped up today:
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/where_is_the_forums_user_list

As you can see, that user is asking for a place where he can find a particular user.
And even if that's not really possible (to my knowledge), one other user responding in that thread, gave me all the ammunition that I need to "show you that I know how to use logic".

The post in particular is this one:
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/where_is_the_forums_user_list/post2

And from there on further to this:
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/win_a_rare_geforce_rtx_2080_ti_cyberpunk_2077_edition_graphics_card_eb5cc

If you follow that link, you will see that there are a fuck ton of users on this forum, which you will never see and/or know about, for as long as they don't deem it necessary to make their presence known (roughly 24.000 in that thread alone).

These are the (according to your "logic," non-existent) users that are able to - and will - downvote comments and whole threads, if they feel annoyed/angered/offended/bored or whatever by them.
Will ALL of them do it? No, of course not.
But enough of them will. And that's my point.

Have a nice one.

PS: one more thing in particular...
And why - if your guesses (all/most of the "low ratings" being done by users using bots) are true - aren't ALL the threads low repped as a whole?

I mean, there are a lot of threads where "the usual suspects" partake, but these threads aren't "punished" in the same way as the controversial ones (and ALL the usual suspects can always be found in ALL the controversial threads).

THAT's also part of "incontrovertible logic".
But it's the part, that you choose to ignore.

And now have a nice one.

From my perspective...

... removing the downvote is one of the most positive things to happen on this board in a long while. Although the GOG community has been fractured over the last few years (especially over the last year), this change will encourage forum engagement by those who still frequent this space.

At the same time...

... I would probably look at bringing back reputation. While this can still be manipulated ("serial up-voting" of particular people using friends or bots or alts), there is no way with an up-vote system to "censor" or stop conversation by discouraging individuals... or to "shame" them and thus drive people from the site. And in most cases, high reputation would still result from being helpful and not via manipulation.

As an aside...

... I have always (and still do) try to up-vote most responses to threads I start. I figure if a person takes the time to respond -- unless it's mean-spirited or patently unhelpful -- they deserve some thanks or acknowledgement that their time and effort was / is appreciated.