"Good Samaritan" badge.

[Rainy-Chan]

That shouldn't happen if what Tekner describes is the system

Spoiler: Tekner's description • show

[quote author=Tekner link=topic=2563.msg179336#msg179336 date=1338918929]
I vote yes on some conditions. No matter what systen we use, popularity will always play a role in who is most rewarded by other users. There has to be some intervening, unbiased (as unbiased as you can get, anyway) force that oversees any system that is designed to make certain people stand out over others.

What I think should happen is that nominations should be allowed by users. A user can only nominate another user once, ever. Nomination happens based on a post and the nominating user must give a reason why this person should gain a badge. On the moderator side, they can see which users have nominations and how many. Once a user has enough nominations, they can click on that user and see what reasons the other users gave and under what context (the post they were nominated for.) It will then be up to the moderators to decide who gets a badge.

[/spoiler]

The reason why this is being suggested is for the community, as you've seen, most of the problems and questions answered are by the community. You rarely see any of the mods, so it's difficult to talk to them. As for the community, they can help more easily and can be seen as closer and nicer because we're all peers here. Especially new members, if they want to ask something in private, but the mods haven't been answering, they can look for people with the badge.

this sounds better but im not convinced yet. letting the users decide only means that people can go around asking for nominations, or someone might refuse to nominate someone they know deserve it because they dont like them. its probably going to be more of a popularity contest than anything else

That shouldn't happen

"On the moderator side, they can see which users have nominations and how many. Once a user has enough nominations, they can click on that user and see what reasons the other users gave and under what context (the post they were nominated for.) It will then be up to the moderators to decide who gets a badge."

Unless the mods screw up, they should be able to give an unbiased judgement, because there's a reason on the post and the post itself.
[/quote]

youre taking a lot of things for granted here and with mods like perry i doubt there will be anyone getting one of those badge unless its his favourite users. i still say no, this is a decent idea that wont work too well in reality

[Equestrian]

If there is one thing I've learned in my almost 15 years on the Earth, it's that no one, and I mean NO ONE, can give a truly unbiased judgement unless they have literally no knowledge of anything. But then it becomes a random vote.
I've seen it happen far too much everywhere, happens to me almost all the time when something bad happens.

That makes me sad to read. There are good people in the world, you know, more than you realize. You might need to look for them, but they'll show up sooner or later. And you have to get rid of your own wants if you want to accept an unbiased judgement or you'll think everyone else is the problem.

youre taking a lot of things for granted here and with mods like perry i doubt there will be anyone getting one of those badge unless its his favourite users. i still say no, this is a decent idea that wont work too well in reality

I'm not taking things for granted. I'm taking a risk (not me personally, but you understand, right?) and you can't know what'll happen until you try. This is something that could turn out very helpful for new members. The worst thing that can happen is that'll it turn like the karma system, which they got rid of.

[The Wandering Magus]

That shouldn't happen if what Tekner describes is the system

Spoiler: Tekner's description • show

[quote author=Tekner link=topic=2563.msg179336#msg179336 date=1338918929]
I vote yes on some conditions. No matter what systen we use, popularity will always play a role in who is most rewarded by other users. There has to be some intervening, unbiased (as unbiased as you can get, anyway) force that oversees any system that is designed to make certain people stand out over others.

What I think should happen is that nominations should be allowed by users. A user can only nominate another user once, ever. Nomination happens based on a post and the nominating user must give a reason why this person should gain a badge. On the moderator side, they can see which users have nominations and how many. Once a user has enough nominations, they can click on that user and see what reasons the other users gave and under what context (the post they were nominated for.) It will then be up to the moderators to decide who gets a badge.

[/spoiler]

The reason why this is being suggested is for the community, as you've seen, most of the problems and questions answered are by the community. You rarely see any of the mods, so it's difficult to talk to them. As for the community, they can help more easily and can be seen as closer and nicer because we're all peers here. Especially new members, if they want to ask something in private, but the mods haven't been answering, they can look for people with the badge.

this sounds better but im not convinced yet. letting the users decide only means that people can go around asking for nominations, or someone might refuse to nominate someone they know deserve it because they dont like them. its probably going to be more of a popularity contest than anything else

That shouldn't happen

"On the moderator side, they can see which users have nominations and how many. Once a user has enough nominations, they can click on that user and see what reasons the other users gave and under what context (the post they were nominated for.) It will then be up to the moderators to decide who gets a badge."

Unless the mods screw up, they should be able to give an unbiased judgement, because there's a reason on the post and the post itself.

youre taking a lot of things for granted here and with mods like perry i doubt there will be anyone getting one of those badge unless its his favourite users. i still say no, this is a decent idea that wont work too well in reality
[/quote]could you give some specifics as to what is being taken for granted please?  The idea seems reasonable enough to me, bar your point on Perry, which I concede is possible.  SweBow would be taking complaints on a biased judgement if it comes to that.

[Zygrograxgra]

If there is one thing I've learned in my almost 15 years on the Earth, it's that no one, and I mean NO ONE, can give a truly unbiased judgement unless they have literally no knowledge of anything. But then it becomes a random vote.
I've seen it happen far too much everywhere, happens to me almost all the time when something bad happens.

That makes me sad to read. There are good people in the world, you know, more than you realize. You might need to look for them, but they'll show up sooner or later. And you have to get rid of your own wants if you want to accept an unbiased judgement or you'll think everyone else is the problem.

I know there are good people in the world, where did that come? Bias is not necessarily a bad thing.
Seriously, where in the hay do people pull stuff like you did from?

[Azure Dusk]

Any opinion that someone gives on anything will always be biased, because it is based off the things they know, believe, or witness..

[Equestrian]

If there is one thing I've learned in my almost 15 years on the Earth, it's that no one, and I mean NO ONE, can give a truly unbiased judgement unless they have literally no knowledge of anything. But then it becomes a random vote.
I've seen it happen far too much everywhere, happens to me almost all the time when something bad happens.

That makes me sad to read. There are good people in the world, you know, more than you realize. You might need to look for them, but they'll show up sooner or later. And you have to get rid of your own wants if you want to accept an unbiased judgement or you'll think everyone else is the problem.

I know there are good people in the world, where did that come? Bias is not necessarily a bad thing.
Seriously, where in the hay do people pull stuff like you did from?

What I understood is that you think people not only don't choose what's right, but nobody cannot choose what's right. They either judge with a biased view or they judge in something they know absolutely nothing about. That is what I, and I'm sure others too, view as corrupt and ignorant people.
When you said "I've seen it happen far too much everywhere, happens to me almost all the time when something bad happens." I honestly believed that most people were oppressing your opinions and your rights to be heard. I'm sorry I was wrong and I'm glad to hear you're not in that situation.

And Azure may have clarified what you meant by a completely unbiased judgement

Any opinion that someone gives on anything will always be biased, because it is based off the things they know, believe, or witness..

That's not what I believe to be unbiased, but I can accept it. (It's true that can be called bias, but I understand bias to be ignoring facts and accepting an unsupported belief -- or choosing favorites over facts)
Here's the dictionary definition. Verb (used with object): to cause partiality or favoritism in (a person); influence, especially unfairly.

[The Wandering Magus]

un·bi·ased
Showing no prejudice for or against something; impartial

bi·as
Prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair

[Tekner]

I would like to remind everyone that there is a reason I added the "(as unbiased as you can get, anyway)" tid-bit. I agree with Zygrograxgra that nothing isn't biased, ever. Basic humanity dictates that everything we do is biased, but per that fact, that means that ultimately there isn't a thing we can do to avoid bias. Instead of saying "I don't like this system because it is prone to bias", just do your best to design a system that has as little bias as possible/is necessary, which is what I think I've done. To address the complaint that it still involves the users, which will introduce bias to the system, I'd like to remind you that bias is necessary for the badge system (or any such similar system, for that matter) to work. We're going to want users that are helpful and considerate to have the badge. If everyone was impartial to everything and everyone else, we wouldn't be able to pick the few people that truly deserve a badge. Skepticism and anti-intellectualism are two of my least favorite horseman, please don't fall to them.

[Brick Stonewood]

    I completely agree with everything Tekner just said, but I also have an innate desire to be pedantic. I'm so conflicted. I'm also in favor of this system.