Where do you draw the line for what deserves giving people rep? Do you give them everything you can, or do you tone it down to one rep per comment/post?

Also to the authors. Do you give everybody rep? Personally, commenting is enough to get full marks from me, and I give 5 rep at every chance I get. Might just be me tho.

I give everybody 5 rep too, reaching my give-limit every day. Because it's honestly absolutely worthless as a metric and it's a relic of the early 2000's e-peen forum culture that has all but died out now. Thank the stars. So I might as well. I don't get much joy out of it, but if others do then I am glad to spread it around
 

I give everyone who comments on my fiction rep because they've taken the time to comment. I generally use rep on the forums as a way to say "I agree with this" or that I found something amusing. As to why I pick the different numbers I can give... I don't actually know.

[Account Deleted]

If someone comments on my story, I'll give them rep. Haven't gotten one yet, but it'll happen.

Mostly I give rep on the forums if I think the comment was thought provoking, 

Yep, as an author, I give everybody full rep for commenting. I find most comments helpful in some way, whether it's feedback that helps me write the next chapter, or just words of appreciation/encouragement.

I always give 5, mostly because it's the default. If I were to give someone 1 or 2, it's like saying, "I went out of my way to give you less." :P 

I give rep for funny stuff. Would give some to people that comment on my fiction as well, but I have neither a fiction nor readers. 

I take the philosophical point that if the admins took the trouble of implementing and balancing the system, then it has meaning to them; therefore, I shall assign meaning to the system. 

I can currently offer up to 3 rep on the forum. Therefore, my rough values are:
- 1: I appreciate the contribution. 
- 2: You improved the thread. 
- 3: You offered a notable point or made my life more enjoyable.

When I hit 26, I'll rebalance that list. 

I plan on eventually writing something, so I'm also planning on a scale there as well, ranging from a simple thank you to words that wowed me. 

I don't scale, not because I think scaling is inherently wrong, but because I have only so many I can give out.
My daily reps *are* my scale.  I guess this started as a habit when I only had 1 to give. 
I prioritize useful comments, then interactive comments on my fiction (because those are the more important things for me, they let me know people enjoyed, read, noticed an error, or even just liked it enough to say "hi"), then introduction people's first post (if I have some left, because time of day means I may have run out other places), and then people who are/have made the forums more entertaining, interesting, lively, or otherwise caught my eye.  This means sometimes it's not even necessarily on a post that was meaningful, but one where I say "Hey, UserX, you've been interacting with me, and it's made my day better, here's a minor acknowledgment, hopefully you like it."
 
Ultimately, I only have so many, and since I'm constitutionally incapable of keeping my "mouth" quiet, there are generally enough interactions for me every day that I use up my total. 

I like rep, and I like giving rep when I read something useful or funny.

NovelNinja Wrote: I plan on eventually writing something, so I'm also planning on a scale there as well, ranging from a simple thank you to words that wowed me.

I think this is fair, and have started to adjust how I rep in this way too, where I'm now leaning towards giving more rep to those comments which offer... some dialogue about what they've read, shall we say. 

I do feel torn about it though, as when I see how much people seem to value rep, I feel bad about it my decision. But I think if it had some sort of actual value (like you buy some with real money), or you get something of value out of it at the end, I'd probably understand more.
And then I get the argument that it is free and why not give it away.. Sure. Why not? I'd hate to think that someone would be put out over receiving a smaller dose of rep, for what it actually is. However I also think giving 5 rep for a comment that might help me or is about what they've read is not really comparable with another thank you.

THEN... I question why I'm even giving it so much thought in the first place and I'm back to square one. 

I really appreciate a) people even reading and b) then commenting something/anything after - this is not in question here. But am I trying to create dialogue about what I'm writing? Is there any harm in trying to appreciate more of an engagement? Do people really care? Am I over thinking it? Am I worrying unnecessarily about what people might think of me? What does the ending of Wandavision really mean for the MCU? All the questions....! 

I generally give rep in the Forums for interesting comments, something particularly helpful, and for something I find funny. Also give rep welcoming people to Royal Road or for notable achievements people are celebrating. Always give the max amount of rep because why not? As an author, I always rep comments to show my appreciation.

DrBuller Wrote: Also to the authors. Do you give everybody rep? Personally, commenting is enough to get full marks from me, and I give 5 rep at every chance I get. Might just be me tho.

I give 5 to every comment I can cuz they all offer valuable insight or interesting output. That, and I've always had a hard time getting readers, so I like to thank them for reading.


I never give less than full because it feels like giving less is almost malicious. You're intentionally typing in a bit less? It seems like a lot of effort just to thank someone LESS.

That said, I tend to have weird hang ups handing out rep sometimes. I forget I'm supposed to rep posts I like. I laugh like a moron and move on.

I'm almost level 30 in rep, which is apparently very high. It hasn't helped me in any special way, other than getting a few readers here and there. It's not as valuable as some people would have you believe.

Mostly I give rep the same way most people here do.  Interesting, helpful, or agreement.  Or hilarious.  Laughter is good for the soul, so good laughs get good reps.  *grin*

I give rep on the forums when I really like a post

I give rep to every comment on my fiction as long as I remember/don't hit the 2 a day limit.

Whenever I do give rep? I give all the points I can give. Because I don't really see the point in not doing that, it doesn't cost me anything. Infact, it takes even more time to reduce it from the max rep to something lower.

I give rep when I want to encourage a behavior. I don't see much use beyond that.

I do it if I remember it and feel like it. It's not a matter of having rules or being worthy.

It's been itching away at me, and I must say I think the idea that 'giving less is malicious or unkind or less of a gesture' is a bit unhelpful. Like, what is it really? Just clicks on a computer and progress on a bar. It's not putting food on my table. If giving and having rep wasn't a feature at all on here, would we still read and comment on a story? Would we still say something helpful or nice to someone?

If I always thank someone for a comment and give them some rep *which I do* and decide to base it on the type of interaction it started, then surely that's enough? Ultimately, interaction is important to me and what I'm here to do. 
We shouldn't be doing things to expect rep in return, and I don't think people should be guilted for deciding that they vary the amount they give. It's not personal against anyone for any reason- surely if it was then you'd just be ignoring it? 

I had to get that off my chest! 🤣 I feel uneasy at the suggestion that the amount of rep people give makes them look ungrateful or something, and just had to have an extra two pence worth. I just want to be a good guy.


In building on this, I'm curious if there's a difference in views on this matter between Brits and Americans- Americans who have more of a tipping culture than in Britain where a thank you is enough. 
Is giving rep seen by American users on here as a given and for Brits does it reflect on our culture of 'tipping'? Are they even equivocal things?
I can't speak for the rest of the world on this I'm afraid, but just a thought. 

I get dopamine from even the littlest comments like getting thanks for chapter comments and give them dopamine from the full reps I give them. I no longer get thanks for chapter comments, so I no longer get dopamine.

EnhancedBeing Wrote: It's been itching away at me, and I must say I think the idea that 'giving less is malicious or unkind or less of a gesture' is a bit unhelpful. Like, what is it really? Just clicks on a computer and progress on a bar. It's not putting food on my table. If giving and having rep wasn't a feature at all on here, would we still read and comment on a story? Would we still say something helpful or nice to someone?

If I always thank someone for a comment and give them some rep *which I do* and decide to base it on the type of interaction it started, then surely that's enough? Ultimately, interaction is important to me and what I'm here to do. 
We shouldn't be doing things to expect rep in return, and I don't think people should be guilted for deciding that they vary the amount they give. It's not personal against anyone for any reason- surely if it was then you'd just be ignoring it? 

I had to get that off my chest! 🤣 I feel uneasy at the suggestion that the amount of rep people give makes them look ungrateful or something, and just had to have an extra two pence worth. I just want to be a good guy.


In building on this, I'm curious if there's a difference in views on this matter between Brits and Americans- Americans who have more of a tipping culture than in Britain where a thank you is enough. 
Is giving rep seen by American users on here as a given and for Brits does it reflect on our culture of 'tipping'? Are they even equivocal things?
I can't speak for the rest of the world on this I'm afraid, but just a thought.

Everyone's used to getting max-rep, so when a authors gives you a 1 on a comment, it makes you think "Oh I got 1/5. Why? That sucks.". Even if subconsciously, some readers will find that unpleasant, or be discouraged from commenting. 

Maybe it's related to tipping. Yeah, it's like you tipped, but a really below-average amount. Everybody hates people stingy with tips. I'm from a non-tipping country, but still ocassionally people will say "keep the change" at caffees or stores. But if it's a really tiny amount of money, you're better off not tipping at all. Nobody wants you to give them 17 cents, it's insulting. Better zero than weird amounts.

However I wouldn't worry about it much, only the forum-goers even look at Rep. That's around a hundred (or few hundred) people at most.