[Matt Bonfield]

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We have had several questions about the reputation system over the past couple of weeks since it has changed.
 
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Here is a rundown of what was converted from the old site...
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On the old forum, all reputation increases were worth +2 points. These were tracked as single "actions". Therefore, when the old reputation system was converted to the new forum, it only credited each account with the single "actions", which counted as +1 for everyone (even including me).

The difference now, and why everyone does not see exactly half the amount of points they used to have, is because there was a "drop column" on the old forum as well. This counted as -1 for each negative rep given, and for the sake of giving people as much positive credit on the new forum -- and because it's just a completely different system -- this column was dropped altogether during the conversion.

So for example, if your rep was previously +140 on the old forum, but you had 20 points worth of negative reps. Then the new forum actually took your +160 original accrual, dropped the -20 taken away before as a negative, and gave you 1 point for each "real" increase you had previously. So you would end up with +80 here now, which is MORE than half of your old +140 total.

Nobody will have less than half of their old point total. And in fact, most people ended up with significantly more than half due to their old negative marks being dropped.

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Here is a list of some of the added reputation features on the new site...
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- Each new post is worth 1 points.

- Each new topic is worth 2 points.

- Each member gains 10 bonus points on their birthday, limited to once per year.

- You must have a minimum of 200 posts to modify reputation.

- You may only modify reputation once per 24 hours.

- You must cycle through 10 users before you can repeat a person.

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There is also a new "Reputation Power" factor...
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This is the amount of reputation you are able to give with each increase or decrease of another member's reputation. So for example, if your Reputation Power is 3, then each time you apply a reputation modification, it will increase or decrease that member's reputation points by 3 instead of 1.

- The more reputation points you gain, the higher your "Giving Power" level becomes.

- You gain an additional Power point for every 50 reputation points you accrue.

- This new system will become exponential and very powerful in comparison to the previous system.

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Some other important notes...
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The new system also has a tracking feature. This means that each and every reputation action is logged and provides the giver the ability to leave a comment regarding the post he or she is modifying, as well as providing the ability for the receiver to see who modified their reputation. Also, all giver comments can then be reviewed by the individual receiving member inside his or her own profile.

These are found by clicking into Profile --> Summary --> Profile Info --> View Reputation.

Reviewer comments cannot be viewed by other members outside of the receiver.

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In conclusion, and final thoughts...
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We hope this new system will prove effective in encouraging greater participation on IM.com while at the same time protecting reputations by limiting the amount an individual reputation can be affected by a single individual (24 hour wait time + 10 repeats required). Please note that a staff member may affect reputation as often as desired under extraordinary circumstances.

If anyone has any questions regarding the new reputation system, please feel free to post them here and I or another staffer will gladly answer your question for you. Thank you!