Downvoting is terrible and you should get rid of it.

Wild Geese·Mar 14, 2018·4 votes·2,503 views

It's seriously the worst system. The forums on which people can actually discuss League, Reddit and here both have downvoting. People are getting their posts hidden because others simply don't like their opinions.

I've seen stuff get -27 because somebody likes a skin. That's insane!! What's this accomplish? People are completely misusing downvotes all over the place. Just because I have some opinions that aren't in line with whatever the meta is, I get downvoted. Great.

As a moderation tool it has completely failed. Downvoting is not flagging - If the mods can't moderate properly, get more mods. The users of the board are not moderators or junior moderators and should never be. I've moderated several boards and high-end clients and the ones with downvotes are always the worst, it's like Lord of the Flies. It takes power away from the actual guidelines the moderators follow and places it on the whims of the community.

So moderate these boards properly, get rid of your democratized opinion system since it's failed terribly. I know you never will though... because this post will be downvoted so nobody sees it. [slayer-jinx-unamused] Thanks. I'm out of here.

16 Comments

ModThe DjinnMar 15, 20185 votes

I know you never will though... because this post will be downvoted so nobody sees it.

We see every post on this board, downvotes or no. One of the good things about the lower post volume on Discuss the Boards.

We've also discussed the idea of removing downvotes, and even experimented with it on some boards before. The bulk of the community seems to strongly dislike their removal, although I'm personally not a fan of them in most cases. So while I'm not sure they're going anywhere, I do think it's something that can perhaps be improved upon -- we've done a bit of work by making most boards require someone to visit the thread in question before voting, and we're always open to suggestions.

Wild GeeseMar 15, 20182 votes

[{quoted}](name=The Djinn,realm=NA,application-id=6heBIhQc,discussion-id=WxzG06lf,comment-id=0003,timestamp=2018-03-15T14:01:46.996+0000)

We see every post on this board, downvotes or no. One of the good things about the lower post volume on Discuss the Boards.

We've also discussed the idea of removing downvotes, and even experimented with it on some boards before. The bulk of the community seems to strongly dislike their removal, although I'm personally not a fan of them in most cases. So while I'm not sure they're going anywhere, I do think it's something that can perhaps be improved upon -- we've done a bit of work by making most boards require someone to visit the thread in question before voting, and we're always open to suggestions.

Thanks for the reply. I'm glad to hear downvoting doesn't go into hiding, I guess that was an assumption on my part due to the way things usually work. Do downvoted comments go into pending or awaiting moderation or not though?

Anyway, really happy to hear it's been considered and is talked about. Personally I think having your comments downvoted feels bad, and just makes me feel I'm not welcome if I'm not going to tow the line of popular opinion.

But anyway, tanks again for the reply. Good to know the moderation around here is thoughtful. [slayer-jinx-catface]

ModThe DjinnMar 15, 20182 votes

[{quoted}](name=Wild Geese,realm=NA,application-id=6heBIhQc,discussion-id=WxzG06lf,comment-id=00030000,timestamp=2018-03-15T22:29:16.319+0000)

Thanks for the reply. I'm glad to hear downvoting doesn't go into hiding, I guess that was an assumption on my part due to the way things usually work. Do downvoted comments go into pending or awaiting moderation or not though?

Nope. They just sit there. All downvotes do is keep them off the HOT and BEST views. They'll stay on RECENT and NEW as appropriate.

Anyway, really happy to hear it's been considered and is talked about. Personally I think having your comments downvoted feels bad, and just makes me feel I'm not welcome if I'm not going to tow the line of popular opinion.

Yeah, I get that. But one of the things we found in our experiments is that if you know downvotes don't exist, a thread that gets only 2 upvotes becomes the new -10 in terms of how you think your idea was received.

Ideally, the solution I'd most like would involve changing the habits of the community to use downvotes for bad discussions and upvotes for good discussion, regardless of personal opinions on the views being shared, but that's a bit unrealistic to expect to be able to change how people view the button.

But anyway, thanks again for the reply. Good to know the moderation around here is thoughtful.

Any time!

Vapor Wave VibesMar 14, 20184 votes

Are you trying to get me from disliking your opinion. Plus if a person doesn't like it then they should be able to down vote if the other person is able to up vote. It wouldn't reflect others opinions then if they could only up vote.

Wild GeeseMar 15, 20181 votes

[{quoted}](name=Vapor Wave Vibes,realm=NA,application-id=6heBIhQc,discussion-id=WxzG06lf,comment-id=0002,timestamp=2018-03-14T23:55:32.994+0000)

Are you trying to get me from disliking your opinion. Plus if a person doesn't like it then they should be able to down vote if the other person is able to up vote. It wouldn't reflect others opinions then if they could only up vote.

No, only upvoting has value. As long as downvotes hide comments it merely becomes a tool to silence unpopular opinions, or worse; fall victim to cliques or used as a form of harassment. As I've said, I've moderated boards with downvoting systems and am well aware of the consequences. A system with just upvotes and no downvotes works perfectly well. The opinions people don't care for are left alone and forgotten, the ones people like gather steam. It is more fair to everybody.

SukishooApr 24, 20183 votes

Overall votes have no value. A Karma system as it is has always been a terrible thing for most comminutes. Glad others I'm a part of chose to never use them and never will.

rework trundleMar 15, 20184 votes

It's such an easy way to say "fuck you" without providing a logical explanation.

RythmaticMar 14, 20183 votes

Noone asked for your opinion! Noone cares!

GalaciusMar 15, 20182 votes

{quoted}

Noone asked for your opinion! Noone cares!

Please do not harass other users who ask for help on the boards. This is your only warning. I strongly recommend that you read the Universal Rules before posting again. Thanks!

SangreDeNocheMar 15, 20182 votes

{quoted}

Please do not harass other users who ask for help on the boards. This is your only warning. I strongly recommend that you read the Universal Rules before posting again. Thanks!

Read the context, they're making a joke. This isn't reddit so they probably don't know or simply decided not to use a '/s' to convey that. I reported you for harassment in return [slayer-jinx-wink]

RythmaticApr 22, 20182 votes

{quoted}

Please do not harass other users who ask for help on the boards. This is your only warning. I strongly recommend that you read the Universal Rules before posting again. Thanks!

Not afraid of your childish threats kiddo. And I mean that in the most offensive way you could take it.

A Swarm of KoalaApr 23, 20181 votes

{quoted}

Not afraid of your childish threats kiddo. And I mean that in the most offensive way you could take it.

You're so manly and tough, calling out someone a month later. Truly, we are all in awe of your bravery.

RythmaticApr 23, 20182 votes

{quoted}

Please do not harass other users who ask for help on the boards. This is your only warning. I strongly recommend that you read the Universal Rules before posting again. Thanks!

Im still waiting for a response as you seem to have chickened out from your empty threat. Will check in tomorrow and everyday for the weeks to come.

GalaciusMay 19, 20181 votes

{quoted}

Im still waiting for a response as you seem to have chickened out from your empty threat. Will check in tomorrow and everyday for the weeks to come.

I'm not a mod anymore. I suggest you drop the issue.

Ahri BakaMar 14, 20181 votes

Agreed , if they want a stupid thread to be ignored , they ca just keep it at 1 upvote , if they want it to rise , it might come to a good number of upvotes

jocomotionApr 23, 20181 votes

Oh the irony. You’ve got a point, stuff that boils down to unpopular opinions tend to get blindly down voted by people who disagree, But then there are posts like “Riot get rid of my permaban even though I’m really toxic” or “if You choose to put money in a free game I should get better treatment” posts that people should express they want to disagree with because a lot of times they are dumb. It’s kinda like an extension of free speech, people can say/react however they want.