You know, we've had a lot of 'kiddie' **** (pardon my french) happening around here lately, and all it has done is hurt the community as a whole. The purpose of the AP system, as I see it, is to reward those who make posts that are informative, helpful, or make a major contribution to the subject at hand, and punish those who post bad info, incite flaming, or seek info for illicit purposes. Like everyone else here, I have a streak of vanity running through my personality, and I would love to be one of the 'Top Ten' AP earners. But if I ever do make that list, I want to get there because I EARNED it, not because I joined up with a group of AP vigilantes who think they have the right to determine who stays and who goes i this community. And if I ever make that list, I don't want to stay on it by unjustly 'negging' anyone who appears to be earning more AP's than me. If I don't ever make the list, it's no big deal. I've got more than enough in my life to be proud of, accomplishments and contributions that have made a real difference to the community that I live in. I got out of high school and its popularity games a long time ago. While I realize that a great portion of the membership is considerably younger than myself, AO is a community that deals with real-world grown-up issues, and we all need to behave that way. Popularity contests and mud-slinging are for children and politicians....they have no place here.
I've been asked in the past to join such groups. I've alway responded by saying that I am happy to give positives to posts that deserve them, but that I will not give negs just because someone asks me to. That kind of behaviour is wrong...no ifs, ands or buts about it. At one time I had a tendancy to seek out posts that were wrongly negged and apply my AP's to correct them....that was wrong too. So now it's time to do it the right way...give the post the points it deserves based purely on the merits of the post, not who wrote it or who asked you to assign points to it.
