I have never heard of Thanks on these forums before this thread when I looked into my profile and apparently I've given some myself so this must be it.
Which begs the question, why would they call it "Like" when you actually give it and "Thanks" when you view it in your profile?
I have a fairly high ratio, but honestly I don't really care about it. I like the feature as a quick way to say "I agree" without having to type out an actual post. My ability to thanks was bugged for a while, but it got fixed.
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A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
Had no idea anything like that existed to be honest, but now that you pointed, I'm at about 60% thanks to posts. No idea what it says about my posting.
I think I will create a second account and and then "Thank" every post I make. Outside of that being insane, I am sure I will feel all warm and fuzzy about it.
1. Don't know. 2. Don't Care. 3. Some times it does brighten my day. 4. Yes. 5. No leave alone. On enworld the various reactions are abused. Don't want that here. 6.Don't know. Some times I thank people sometimes I don't depends on my mood.
To me, the thanks/like feature is just an easy way for me to agree with or support someone's post without having to constantly type out "I agree with this" or "I like this idea" or something like that all the time.
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"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
Never calculated it before... but I'm about 44%, so that's not bad... but my sample size is under your minimum so... my thoughts don't count.
I do put in Thanks (likes) on posts regularly though. I think if someone says something well, without inflammatory language and helps provide useful information... the post is worthy of recognition and I'll click the like on it... which translates to Thanks on the profile. It's a long holdover from years of Reaper Mini forums (which, sadly, I have neglected the last couple of years). There was a bit more competition there because the likes were public and you could see the trends. And it gave you a good feeling to have the Gold post of the day. Kinda glad that's not a thing here, though, because there would be needless posting just for recognition or arguments breaking out because someone used more inflammatory language to get likes.
My general thought on anything that is tied to forum 'popularity' never quite works out as intended. What you want is people to keep engaging and you don't want to discourage people along the way or overly encourage "the loudest and popular" to stick to that.
I think the "thanks" are a nice little thing but I rarely look at them when I'm skimming a thread. I look for format and style way more than I look at likes and such.
To me, the thanks/like feature is just an easy way for me to agree with or support someone's post without having to constantly type out "I agree with this" or "I like this idea" or something like that all the time.
I agree with this :)
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A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
Do you think DNDBeyond should include alternative reactions? (Positive/Negative, Happy/Sad, Reddit-style awards, or Comments)
What would motivate you to use this kind of feature more regularly?.
My thank ratio is 56% and I'm regularly in General Discussion, Story&Lore, and Dungeon Masters Only, with occasionally cruising of DM's Guild and UA. I assume, like me, a lot thankers thank a post either because it has strong utility value (i.e. the tip will help me use DDB more robustly, or something to consider in my game) or entertainment value, or the post captured my opinion on the topic in a way I would have if it wasn't so well-done before me, so sort of a "ditto."
Relatedly, I just started PbP on here (hi Toots!) and I use the thank button I thank the DM when they respond to a question I or another player asked, or provides exposition and I'm using the button to show I've seen the post and am not ghosting the game (and DMs always deserve props for keeping the game together).
I appreciate the function, but my use of this board doesn't live or die by it.
I don't think positive/negative binaries should be offered. Like someone else said, this isn't Reddit, and I feel some of the "factional" engagement on this board would likely be further problematized and the feature weaponized.
What might be a constructive progression would be the option to mark your thank for "utility" or "entertainment" value.
Sort of like the how the Dev Update occasionally trotted site and team favorite home-brews, some sort of highlighting particularly popular posts, that advance the community teams values as to how this site is supposed to be used, might be neat. Say "most useful post" and "most entertaining post" (clearly rhetorical take downs where everyone is thanking for "pwned!" wouldn't be eligible). I, like everyone else, don't have the time to read everything and I wouldn't mind some curation and delivery of strong community content on a regular basis.
I don't know what would make me thank more other than more good posts.
I erase some old stuff if a question has been answered or if I rethink my decision to engage later. DDB has also been kind enough to erase some other posts which fall short of our high standards here.
As a result of this careful grooming, my ratio is a whopping 0.50-something.
I try not to worry about it. Occasionally, I swear violently at how under appreciated I am, but that’s more general bitterness at the world, nothing y’all should take personally.
I can't really say for sure. There are many reasons why people might use the thanks feature. It might be due to agreement on what I've said or the way I've said it, it might be because I said something they found helpful or maybe they misclicked.
Do you care?
Yes and no. It's nice to be thanked for something. It sort of lets you know that your thoughts and opinions aren't entirely unwanted. I find it a bit useful to know what types of posts are getting thanked but there's a lot of inconsistency so I don't rely on it. Half the time I don't know what posts are actually getting thanked because the system doesn't tell you and I don't really feel like going through literally thousands of my posts to find out. So the usefulness of the thanks system is... very limited.
Having said that, I'm not too fussed. I don't fish for likes. Even if I post something I was really proud of or took me a lot of effort - even if it doesn't get "liked", I don't feel bad about it. That would be like doing things purely for the sake of other people's approval and if I did that - well, I'd be dead by now. It's a shallow way to live. I post because I like to. I'm here for discussion, I don't need ego-fluffing. I'm not against any such ego-fluffing, of course, but even if they removed the feature entirely, I'd be fine.
Does it influence your engagement in the forums?
Not in the slightest.
Do you think DNDBeyond should include alternative reactions? (Positive/Negative, Happy/Sad, Reddit-style awards, or Comments)
No. This isn't facebook. While the upvote/thanks has some merit, ish, anything more in unnecessary. I've noticed that even the simplistic Facebook reactions and some of the Reddit awards, are used as way to be facetious or mean. I've seen people post about something heartbreaking and others use "laughing" reaction (facebook) or one of the more sarcastic 'awards' (reddit) to be mean. It's used with such abundance it's hard to moderate or discourage. A forum I used to write on implemented a rep system of upvotes and downvotes. So, of course, it got ruined by many people "negging" posts "for the lulz". You see this on Youtube where a simple video is posted that is pretty much perfect and it gets downvoted, often before even fully watched. No matter the community there will always be those within it who like to troll/dislike/neg purely for the "fun" of doing it. So these reactions and other things aren't going to do anything positive beyond what the "thanks" can already do and will only encourage: fishing behaviour to get more, or trolling negative/sarcastically used ones.
What would motivate you to use this kind of feature more regularly?
I dunno if I'd use it more. But it would be nice to be able to see which post got thanked like a notification or something. It's kinda pointless to thank a post if there's a good chance the author will never learn about it. A few months ago I had not posted in a good while and came back to find I had an extra near-30 new 'thanks' to my count. Yet, none of them were in any recent threads or my last 20 posts. It happens a lot, I get a lot of thanks and have no clue what they're for, which means, there was no point in anyone thanking them.
That being said, even if they implemented this, it won't change how much or what I post.
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Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond. Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ thisFAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
I don't care to the point that I don't feel like looking it up. I don't care, I don't check it, and I use the feature in conflicting ways - sometimes it's a +1, sometimes it's instead of replying to someone who thanked me. I have no interest in engaging with it and I think enough people don't know what it is that trying to increase usage of it is silly.
1. Mine is currently 37%. I think that's a fair percentage, but the site isn't exactly fair when you count posts in the PbP and most of Adohand's Kitchen in your "Posts" category. It certainly would be a bit higher if I had stuck to discussion threads. Nowhere near as high as Yurei's.
2. As I mentioned above, it is likely impacted quite a bit by my postings in Adohand's Kitchen and Play by Post threads, but I also did not think about my posts as much when I first started than I do now. As my posts got longer and higher quality, they tend to get more thanks. (Side Note: I have always been a bit turned off by the name of the "upvote" system on this site. It actually took me an embarrasing amount of time to figure out what the arrow button even did because of this, and may be why so many people seem to not be aware of it.)
3. Anyone here that says they don't care is lying. It always feels nice to get positive feedback, no matter how little or whatever it is for. I don't care much, but I still care about it.
4. I really don't know how to objectively answer this question. Maybe? Probably a bit. I'm not sure. I know I'm generally more engaged in threads that I get more "thanks" in than ones that I get less it, as that tends to signal that more people care about that topic and are reading it. However, it doesn't affect my behavior in threads that are more for fun or homebrew or feedback.
5. I'm not sure. If they were to do one, I think a "downvote" system would be the best to implement, but that would likely require a change in name for the current system. I think it's fine as is, and would be a bit hesitant to change it in a dramatic way.
6. Nothing. I already use it fairly often.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
3. Anyone here that says they don't care is lying. It always feels nice to get positive feedback, no matter how little or whatever it is for. I don't care much, but I still care about it.
Just gonna put this out there: 1/x gets smaller as x gets larger. The limit as x approaches infinity is 0. Technically it never REACHES 0 but for practical applications it can be approximated as 0 for all "large values of x".
So.. yes, while it's nice to get positive feedback, to say that I really "care" is not fair as while caring about likes/ upvotes is non-zero it is, 9//10 times close enough to 0 to be thusly so approximated.
3. Anyone here that says they don't care is lying. It always feels nice to get positive feedback, no matter how little or whatever it is for. I don't care much, but I still care about it.
Pretty sure I don't care at all if I can't be arsed to check it. I'm reading this thread as an anthropological study in 'there are people out there who care about that thing???'
Since the hover message says "Click to like this", then nobody is going to use it as a thank button unless they know it appears on a profile page under a section labelled "X Thanks".
I've just been using it to like posts (like ALL the other forums on the internet).
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My ratio is about 0.28
Doesn't matter too much but I'm glad somebody found my posts helpful or entertaining.
I give a lot of clicks though because I want to show somebody that they were helpful or entertaining without posting a "me too"
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
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"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
This.
Except obviously I'd normally just use the thanks, and this is only for demonstration purposes. :p
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Is "Thanks" the same as "Like" under the post?
I have never heard of Thanks on these forums before this thread when I looked into my profile and apparently I've given some myself so this must be it.
Which begs the question, why would they call it "Like" when you actually give it and "Thanks" when you view it in your profile?
I have a fairly high ratio, but honestly I don't really care about it. I like the feature as a quick way to say "I agree" without having to type out an actual post. My ability to thanks was bugged for a while, but it got fixed.
A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
My Improved Lineage System
I think I will create a second account and and then "Thank" every post I make. Outside of that being insane, I am sure I will feel all warm and fuzzy about it.
1. Don't know. 2. Don't Care. 3. Some times it does brighten my day. 4. Yes. 5. No leave alone. On enworld the various reactions are abused. Don't want that here. 6.Don't know. Some times I thank people sometimes I don't depends on my mood.
No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.
To me, the thanks/like feature is just an easy way for me to agree with or support someone's post without having to constantly type out "I agree with this" or "I like this idea" or something like that all the time.
"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
Characters for Tenebris Sine Fine
RoughCoronet's Greater Wills
Never calculated it before... but I'm about 44%, so that's not bad... but my sample size is under your minimum so... my thoughts don't count.
I do put in Thanks (likes) on posts regularly though. I think if someone says something well, without inflammatory language and helps provide useful information... the post is worthy of recognition and I'll click the like on it... which translates to Thanks on the profile. It's a long holdover from years of Reaper Mini forums (which, sadly, I have neglected the last couple of years). There was a bit more competition there because the likes were public and you could see the trends. And it gave you a good feeling to have the Gold post of the day. Kinda glad that's not a thing here, though, because there would be needless posting just for recognition or arguments breaking out because someone used more inflammatory language to get likes.
My general thought on anything that is tied to forum 'popularity' never quite works out as intended. What you want is people to keep engaging and you don't want to discourage people along the way or overly encourage "the loudest and popular" to stick to that.
I think the "thanks" are a nice little thing but I rarely look at them when I'm skimming a thread. I look for format and style way more than I look at likes and such.
"Teller of tales, dreamer of dreams"
Tips, Tricks, Maps: Lantern Noir Presents
**Streams hosted at at twitch.tv/LaternNoir
I agree with this :)
A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
My Improved Lineage System
My thank ratio is 56% and I'm regularly in General Discussion, Story&Lore, and Dungeon Masters Only, with occasionally cruising of DM's Guild and UA. I assume, like me, a lot thankers thank a post either because it has strong utility value (i.e. the tip will help me use DDB more robustly, or something to consider in my game) or entertainment value, or the post captured my opinion on the topic in a way I would have if it wasn't so well-done before me, so sort of a "ditto."
Relatedly, I just started PbP on here (hi
Toots!) and I use the thank button I thank the DM when they respond to a question I or another player asked, or provides exposition and I'm using the button to show I've seen the post and am not ghosting the game (and DMs always deserve props for keeping the game together).I appreciate the function, but my use of this board doesn't live or die by it.
I don't think positive/negative binaries should be offered. Like someone else said, this isn't Reddit, and I feel some of the "factional" engagement on this board would likely be further problematized and the feature weaponized.
What might be a constructive progression would be the option to mark your thank for "utility" or "entertainment" value.
Sort of like the how the Dev Update occasionally trotted site and team favorite home-brews, some sort of highlighting particularly popular posts, that advance the community teams values as to how this site is supposed to be used, might be neat. Say "most useful post" and "most entertaining post" (clearly rhetorical take downs where everyone is thanking for "pwned!" wouldn't be eligible). I, like everyone else, don't have the time to read everything and I wouldn't mind some curation and delivery of strong community content on a regular basis.
I don't know what would make me thank more other than more good posts.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Hi Tommary!
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
I erase some old stuff if a question has been answered or if I rethink my decision to engage later. DDB has also been kind enough to erase some other posts which fall short of our high standards here.
As a result of this careful grooming, my ratio is a whopping 0.50-something.
I try not to worry about it. Occasionally, I swear violently at how under appreciated I am, but that’s more general bitterness at the world, nothing y’all should take personally.
What is your "Thanks Ratio"?
Currently around 0.6 ish.
Why do you think it is what it is?
I can't really say for sure. There are many reasons why people might use the thanks feature. It might be due to agreement on what I've said or the way I've said it, it might be because I said something they found helpful or maybe they misclicked.
Do you care?
Yes and no. It's nice to be thanked for something. It sort of lets you know that your thoughts and opinions aren't entirely unwanted. I find it a bit useful to know what types of posts are getting thanked but there's a lot of inconsistency so I don't rely on it. Half the time I don't know what posts are actually getting thanked because the system doesn't tell you and I don't really feel like going through literally thousands of my posts to find out. So the usefulness of the thanks system is... very limited.
Having said that, I'm not too fussed. I don't fish for likes. Even if I post something I was really proud of or took me a lot of effort - even if it doesn't get "liked", I don't feel bad about it. That would be like doing things purely for the sake of other people's approval and if I did that - well, I'd be dead by now. It's a shallow way to live. I post because I like to. I'm here for discussion, I don't need ego-fluffing. I'm not against any such ego-fluffing, of course, but even if they removed the feature entirely, I'd be fine.
Does it influence your engagement in the forums?
Not in the slightest.
Do you think DNDBeyond should include alternative reactions? (Positive/Negative, Happy/Sad, Reddit-style awards, or Comments)
No. This isn't facebook. While the upvote/thanks has some merit, ish, anything more in unnecessary. I've noticed that even the simplistic Facebook reactions and some of the Reddit awards, are used as way to be facetious or mean. I've seen people post about something heartbreaking and others use "laughing" reaction (facebook) or one of the more sarcastic 'awards' (reddit) to be mean. It's used with such abundance it's hard to moderate or discourage. A forum I used to write on implemented a rep system of upvotes and downvotes. So, of course, it got ruined by many people "negging" posts "for the lulz". You see this on Youtube where a simple video is posted that is pretty much perfect and it gets downvoted, often before even fully watched. No matter the community there will always be those within it who like to troll/dislike/neg purely for the "fun" of doing it. So these reactions and other things aren't going to do anything positive beyond what the "thanks" can already do and will only encourage: fishing behaviour to get more, or trolling negative/sarcastically used ones.
What would motivate you to use this kind of feature more regularly?
I dunno if I'd use it more. But it would be nice to be able to see which post got thanked like a notification or something. It's kinda pointless to thank a post if there's a good chance the author will never learn about it. A few months ago I had not posted in a good while and came back to find I had an extra near-30 new 'thanks' to my count. Yet, none of them were in any recent threads or my last 20 posts. It happens a lot, I get a lot of thanks and have no clue what they're for, which means, there was no point in anyone thanking them.
That being said, even if they implemented this, it won't change how much or what I post.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
I don't care to the point that I don't feel like looking it up. I don't care, I don't check it, and I use the feature in conflicting ways - sometimes it's a +1, sometimes it's instead of replying to someone who thanked me. I have no interest in engaging with it and I think enough people don't know what it is that trying to increase usage of it is silly.
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
I have 255 thanks (likes?) vs 701 total posts, so 36%? - possibly 255/702 or 256/702 after this post...
1. Mine is currently 37%. I think that's a fair percentage, but the site isn't exactly fair when you count posts in the PbP and most of Adohand's Kitchen in your "Posts" category. It certainly would be a bit higher if I had stuck to discussion threads. Nowhere near as high as Yurei's.
2. As I mentioned above, it is likely impacted quite a bit by my postings in Adohand's Kitchen and Play by Post threads, but I also did not think about my posts as much when I first started than I do now. As my posts got longer and higher quality, they tend to get more thanks. (Side Note: I have always been a bit turned off by the name of the "upvote" system on this site. It actually took me an embarrasing amount of time to figure out what the arrow button even did because of this, and may be why so many people seem to not be aware of it.)
3. Anyone here that says they don't care is lying. It always feels nice to get positive feedback, no matter how little or whatever it is for. I don't care much, but I still care about it.
4. I really don't know how to objectively answer this question. Maybe? Probably a bit. I'm not sure. I know I'm generally more engaged in threads that I get more "thanks" in than ones that I get less it, as that tends to signal that more people care about that topic and are reading it. However, it doesn't affect my behavior in threads that are more for fun or homebrew or feedback.
5. I'm not sure. If they were to do one, I think a "downvote" system would be the best to implement, but that would likely require a change in name for the current system. I think it's fine as is, and would be a bit hesitant to change it in a dramatic way.
6. Nothing. I already use it fairly often.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Just gonna put this out there: 1/x gets smaller as x gets larger. The limit as x approaches infinity is 0. Technically it never REACHES 0 but for practical applications it can be approximated as 0 for all "large values of x".
So.. yes, while it's nice to get positive feedback, to say that I really "care" is not fair as while caring about likes/ upvotes is non-zero it is, 9//10 times close enough to 0 to be thusly so approximated.
"Teller of tales, dreamer of dreams"
Tips, Tricks, Maps: Lantern Noir Presents
**Streams hosted at at twitch.tv/LaternNoir
Pretty sure I don't care at all if I can't be arsed to check it. I'm reading this thread as an anthropological study in 'there are people out there who care about that thing???'
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
Since the hover message says "Click to like this", then nobody is going to use it as a thank button unless they know it appears on a profile page under a section labelled "X Thanks".
I've just been using it to like posts (like ALL the other forums on the internet).