Well it seems like I'm never gonna get a star or a shuriken because every time I reach 24 I get down repped for some reason.

That's not nice. :(

+1 to your post, but it's necessary that several people uprep it, to get any effect...

Just sayin', guys! ;)

EDIT: You already got an extra point! :)

+1 for u.I hope you will get your shirukens soon.

Thanks a lot for the +1 :), ironically some uncharitable folks might think I'm fishing for +rep even though I was just mentioning what really happened. I tried to ignore it and not let it bother me but it has occurred many times now which is irksome.

I've heard about this rep issue other times. My only advice is to forget about the rep, it's really only a number without any meaning per se. The important thing is to try and be a nice member in this nice Community of ours. ;)

Agreed, stg83. You seem like a nice peep - contributing to conversations and generally being pleasant and friendly. Thanks for that and welcome to the GOG forum ;-)

Thanks a lot guys for enabling me to get a shuriken, that was awfully nice of y'all. +1 for you guys as well. :)

Yay! Let me be the first one on congratulate you for your first shuriken, stg83. ;)

Thanks a lot for championing the cause Thespian. ;)

Well, I can't really see myself as a champion :D, but you're quite welcome, mate. ;)

EDIT: Oh, my, I see the downrepping brigade is working right now, you reached 26 points and now you're at 25 again. I suppose "trolls will be trolls" anywhere. As I said before, don't worry about rep, it's irrelevant (it doesn't matter trolls think otherwise). :D

Yes indeed, its alright now that I have got a shuriken atleast I have crossed that bridge. All you can do with trolls is just ignore them. :)

EDIT: They're probably venting their frustration because the thread keeps getting updated and they keep expecting a game drop instead they find posts about shurikens. :P

It serves them well, then. :P

Only if you let it matter to you. The rep score is almost completely useless and meaningless overall. The only thing that I know of that it is actually used for, and then only occasionally - is for some game giveaways in the forums the person hosting the giveaway might specify a minimum rep is needed in order to enter. That's usually for reasonably good reasons but the requirements are normally pretty low. You get one rep point per day for posting at least one comment or new post in the forums so your rep score gradually grows naturally. You'll get additional (or lose additional) points from people reacting to your posts in the forums. Generally speaking, if all posts are positive focused they tend to remain neutrual to up-repped, and negative focused messages will be neutral to downrepped. That's just a general rule of course and there are certainly exceptions. It seems sensible though that keeping a positive attitude and communication will always improve one's reputation in general, whether online or in real life. Just put out good energy and don't look back or be concerned about reputation whether it is personal or some number on a website and you'll probably find the rep score just grows over time no matter what.

The only things I've seen on the forums that seem to consistently result in someone being down-repped - whether legitmately or by people abusing the rep system either way - are 1) Excessively negative comments/opinions which include one or more of: blame, criticism, judgment, insults, or demands. or 2) Asking or begging people individually or as a group to get a free game - even in the forums where it is supposed to be acceptable.

So basically if one avoids #1 and #2 above, the rep score will vary up and down over time but mostly up. Once someone has a rep of 20 or so, the anti-spam system seems to relax a bit and not eat posts as much, and most giveaways that specify rep are covered by 20+ with very few requiring 50+ or 100+ so it really is not a big deal. It might also affect whether or not an individual person will trade with someone in the classifieds or similar threads. And if someone doesn't even care about giveaways or trading at all then rep is totally meaningless more or less. ;)

There is one more thing where the rep points matter, namely "Those who earn maximum reputation can expect some kind of nice bonus (surprise, surprise! :)." - see point 5 here .

By the way. What is "maximum reputation"? Is it 5 stars? How many rep points? (maybe a Blue can answer these questions)

Several 5 star owners have been asked to reveal the bonus for other forum members and they replied they got no bonus whatsoever. ;)

But maybe they were sworn to secrecy by boys in blue. :D