When I started Second Life the rating system had positive and negative rates in 3 categoies: Building, Behaviour, and Appearance. Each rate cost 1L and the number of rates you received affected your weekly stipend (more rates = larger stipend). There was an in-game "Leader Board" that listed top people in various things including rates.

Then, as "they" always say, it was gamed ("See? This is why we can't have anything nice." -- it's been said over and over.) and "neg rates" disappeared (as a griefer could neg rate one in retaliation or for shjeer idiocy). Rates became 25L each and no longer affected the stipend. There was talk of rating "decay" but I'm not sure if that was ever done as I have never been rate conscious. I don't know how many I had before the decay (if any) happened. Old rates are like an appendix, now, but people hang onto to them fiercely and I sometimes read newbie posts on the forum in which they are trying to make sense of the system. Or, as sometimes happens, they excited propose that we should start having negative rates - then we all groan and roll over in the forum threads.

Now I never think about rates. Every once in a great while I'll rate someone. Well, maybe once every 6 months. Maybe even that's an exaggeration. I think I've rated twice since the rate system overhaul and rating, for me, is probably just easing to a halt altogether.

However, I have been rated 3 times in about the past week or so, by strangers. One was something to do with Fidget as there was a message saying something like, "Nice cat!" or something. The one I received today I have no clue about. It's nice -ish - well, actually it is a blast-from-the-past and a startling little nice episode for anyone, I suppose. However, I feel like people should just save their money. Of course 25L is about... um... I don't know - 8 cents? But still, they can buy a lot for 8 cents.

It might be useful to, as they say, have a merchant, etc., rating but the fact is any evil-doer can get mass pos rates from alts and friends and any good person can be neg rated by the evil-doers, so there's no truth to the numbers.

Labels: Rating