Poll: How likely are you to answer not-for-points KudoZ questions, compared to for-points questions?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Aug 10, 2005

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How likely are you to answer not-for-points KudoZ questions, compared to for-points questions?".

View the poll here

A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more information, see: http://proz.com/topic/33629


 
Henry Dotterer
Henry Dotterer
Local time: 21:30
SITE FOUNDER
A bit of background on today's poll... Aug 10, 2005

We will soon release an option for askers to specify that their questions are "not for points". For more info, see the thread from yesterday's poll - http://www.proz.com/topic/35480

 
Claudia Iglesias
Claudia Iglesias  Identity Verified
Chile
Local time: 22:30
Member (2002)
Spanish to French
+ ...
Hi Aug 10, 2005

I voted "equally likely" but I think that it will depend on the asker.

Claudia


 
Siegfried Armbruster
Siegfried Armbruster  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 02:30
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam
WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE .... Aug 10, 2005

Where have all the flowers gone? Girls have picked them every one ... Where have
all the graveyards gone? Covered with flowers every one ....

This reminds me of the old Pete Seeger song.

I had the impression that there was a heated debate about the abuse of the Kudoz system by point grabbers, freeloaders and various other abusers and that a huge group of Kudoz answerers would turn their backs on point awarded Kudos as fast as possible.

Where have th
... See more
Where have all the flowers gone? Girls have picked them every one ... Where have
all the graveyards gone? Covered with flowers every one ....

This reminds me of the old Pete Seeger song.

I had the impression that there was a heated debate about the abuse of the Kudoz system by point grabbers, freeloaders and various other abusers and that a huge group of Kudoz answerers would turn their backs on point awarded Kudos as fast as possible.

Where have the supporters gone? Are we experiencing the same effect that could be seen with regards to the limitation in the number of possible Kudoz questions. It seemed to be an absolute must. Without such a limitation the system could not survive any longer, after the limitation there was an immediate shift into the other direction and we have even seen comments that the number of not for point Kudoz questions should be unlimited.

I do not understand these things.

IMO we keep Henry and his team busy to implement improvements that are IMO not really necessary.

Should we not better concentrate on some other issues, e.g. cleaning the glossaries, or building a real joint glossary with definitions and explanations. Or how we handle the thousands of profiles without any entries or why hardly anybody puts anything into his portfolio etc.

My comments might get over quite sharp, sorry about this. I hope this might start a serious discussion not only about the Kudoz system, but about all the features of Proz.com.

Regards

Siegfried


[Edited at 2005-08-10 18:27]
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Henry Dotterer
Henry Dotterer
Local time: 21:30
SITE FOUNDER
In time! Aug 10, 2005

sarmb wrote:

Should we not better concentrate on some other issues, e.g. cleaning the glossaries, or building a real joint glossary with definitions and explanations. Or how we handle the thousands of profiles without any entries or why hardly anybody puts anything into his portfolio etc.

My comments might get over quite sharp, sorry about this. I hope this might start a serious discussion not only about the Kudoz system, but about all the features of Proz.com.


Not sharp at all - excellent post. If the working we are doing on KudoZ turns out to not have been necessary, that is fine... at least we will have put the debates to rest! But bear in mind that part of the reason you are hearing so much about KudoZ is that we are on a development rotation and the current topic is KudoZ. We'll be moving on to the other important topics you raise in turn... and they are important...


 
Chinoise
Chinoise  Identity Verified
Local time: 22:30
English to Chinese
+ ...
Correct! Aug 10, 2005

Claudia Iglesias wrote:

I voted "equally likely" but I think that it will depend on the asker.

Claudia


 
Parrot
Parrot  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 02:30
Spanish to English
+ ...
I'd answer equally Aug 10, 2005

although if I gave the KOG as a reference, I might (not to "use somebody else's tail draft", as someone facetiously told me in a note referring to myself, one time I was cited on KOG) prefer an option to make my answer choosable, but not for points.

Actually, I don't mind people using my tail draft


 
Anjo Sterringa
Anjo Sterringa  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 02:30
English to Dutch
+ ...
If anything, I'd favour not for points Aug 10, 2005

Surprised, baffled - why would you be more inclined to answer for-point questions? It's a fun feature, but should not be taken too seriously. If I know the right word for a term it does not mean I can translate (yet), just that I may be knowledgeable in a certain field. Would you (about 46% in the poll)really not help a colleague out when it is 'not for points'?? I cannot believe that. Oh well, I must be getting old then...

 
Chinoise
Chinoise  Identity Verified
Local time: 22:30
English to Chinese
+ ...
Yes, we would. Aug 10, 2005

However, IMHO, serious answerers spend time and stamina answering KudoZ questions. Even if they are willing to answer questions "not for points", they deserve their KudoZ points.

Anjo Sterringa wrote:

Would you (about 46% in the poll)really not help a colleague out when it is 'not for points'?? I cannot believe that. Oh well, I must be getting old then...


 
Siegfried Armbruster
Siegfried Armbruster  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 02:30
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam
Why would you not help people if Kudoz are awarded in return for your efforts Aug 11, 2005


Anjo Sterringa wrote:
If anything, I'd favour not for points ....

Would you (about 46% in the poll)really not help a colleague out when it is 'not for points'?? I cannot believe that. Oh well, I must be getting old then...



"So I finally managed to use the quote feature, perhaps somebody could delete my previous two master pieces."


What do you mean with „helping“ and what do you mean with „colleague“.

We have had this discussion before, why should I help somebody who undercuts my price by a factor of 3-5, or who has clearly no knowledge at all in the area he/she is translating, or who is not able to do an easy glossary search, or cannot handle a dictionary or, or, or.....

For me Kudoz is not just a fun feature. It helps me to improve my knowledge. I sometimes depend on the help of my colleagues and it takes time to find a good answer. I am happy to award 4 points for the help I get and would award more if this would be possible. I would even award Kudoz points to another answerer who came up with a better answer. The number of Kudoz points somebody got tells me about his/her knowledge in this area and helps me to judge his/her answer just a little bit better.

And Kudoz points are IMO a kind of indicator if somebody takes Proz and his/her profession serious. If you want to help people, why would you not do it if Kudoz are awarded in return for your efforts.

I'll make another statement now that might fuel this discussion further.

"One reason why people do not like the Kudoz point system, is IMO that Kudoz points are used to produce a ranking. And it is hard work to make progress in this ranking. And not everybody is prepared to put in the required work."



[Edited at 2005-08-11 05:05]

[Edited at 2005-08-11 05:07]

[Edited at 2005-08-11 05:31]


 
Chinoise
Chinoise  Identity Verified
Local time: 22:30
English to Chinese
+ ...
Great minds think alike ... Aug 11, 2005

What a penetrating analysis you have made! Evidently, many of our friends are now dependent on those serious KudoZ answerers when they cannot even get help from their dictionaries!Remember: No dictionary can cover all, but great minds, when gathered together, can takckle all kinds of knotty problems!

PS. IMO, "KudoZ" is the greatest invention on this site.

sarmb wrote:
For me Kudoz is not just a fun feature. It helps me to improve my knowledge. I sometimes depend on the help of my colleagues and it takes time to find a good answer. I am happy to award 4 points for the help I get and would award more if this would be possible. I would even award Kudoz points to another answerer who came up with a better answer. The number of Kudoz points somebody got tells me about his/her knowledge in this area and helps me to judge his/her answer just a little bit better.


 


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Poll: How likely are you to answer not-for-points KudoZ questions, compared to for-points questions?






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