Current Plans For Repbot

[avik]

I've had a little chat with Patti, and I've come up with the following plan, which will hopefully reduce the burden repbot places on her while remaining functional at identifying droppers:

1. Add the 'saved' command, as in 'tell repbot saved <player>', which tells you the number of saved games a player has, without the reputation metric.

2. Add a reminder to people that use repbot not to bother Patti about it. The reminder will arrive with higher frequency for people who are new to repbot and with lower frequency to veterans; of course, repbot will not bother people who don't talk to it.

3. Switch 'ask' and 'list' to only consider opinions from people you have vouched for - basically the 'friends' formula. This will make creation off nicks for the purpose of reputation bombing pointless.

4. If needed, only allow registering an opinion after a match has been played. This should prevent ganging up on people. I'll only take this step if absolutely necessary since it means dumping the current database, which will probably induce heart attacks in a few people.

Step 1 has already been implemented; I'll start with the others once I return from my snowboarding vacation next Sunday.

If you have any suggestions, please post them here, but be aware that I'm offline for next week.

[diane]

That is excellent news - thanks for doing that avik - lets hope this sorts out the issues    

[webrunner]

Great work Avik!  
If you need any help or resources here let me know.  

[adamosad]

             

[mrbond]

In the best tradition of the Oscar Awards speeches, I would also like to thank a few people  ......



I like to thank both avik and burper for their tireless efforts in this project. It has been a long journey and we have not yet reached our destination, but we are on the right tracks and there's light at the end of the tunnel!

I would also pass my gratitude to Patti. She too has shown dedication to the cause inspite of unwarrented and unneccessary distraction.

Thank you also to the many others who have contributed with suggestions! Please keep them coming!

Keep up the good work!  







Right, I better get ready for the Oscar ceremony. Adios  

[Mookie]

I'm thrilled.  I'm ecstatic.  I'm not Shuggie.  I'm Mookie.

Anyway, thanks to PATTI, Avik, and, of course, Burper.  What an elegant solution to this issue.

An additional comment:  As much as the discussion about repbot was something of a pain, I really do think the portions on fibsboard and the carryover conversation on FIBS itself was once again an illustration of the "agon," of spirited debate, at its best.  Outside of lewscannon's inane suggestions that repbot needs to wear cuter outfits, the conversation was tactful, thoughtful and, quite frankly, useful.

MOOKIE

[dorbel]

What would be wrong with dumping the entire RepBot database and starting again? In my opinion this would be a good idea anyway, in fact fibs ratings could also do with resetting to 1500 as well, thus discouraging those who live only to enhance their rating at all costs, curiously often the same customers who abuse RepBot!

[dorbel]

[socksey]

You have such a nice smile, dorbel, I'm going to leave it there.    And, btw, bite your tongue for this

What would be wrong with dumping the entire RepBot database and starting again?

!    

Thanks ever so (in my best Marilyn impersonation) to burper for originating and continuing ideas, Patti for her patience during the whole thing, and to avik for continuing to carry the ball!  You guys (and girl) are the greatest!  

socksey



"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Arthur Schopenhauer

[adrian]

Touche Dorbel!  Why not, Patti?  ^_^ . Some will cry, some will curse, some will leave, but the gang will survive.  

@Avik: number 4) will be a welcome adition. Do we need a poll on this one?

[donzaemon]

Dumping the current repbot database would be a GREAT idea,  
1. Those with 'harmony' and 'balance' will quickly get their rep back
2. Those who have abused it will have a much harder time bringing back the abuse

There can be absolutely nothing bad about dumping it,  it will only come back in a better and more realistic form.
Those who oppose this are likely the ones who use artificial techniques to either boost their own rep or to slam others' reps.  I'm sure that no fibsters of an open and honest disposition concerning repbot would oppose this action.  

With the current changes you have outlined above,  there is even MORE reason a complete dump would be beneficial for fibs, and keep in mind , the dump would NOT affect the saved games status,  only the vouch / complaint feature which will be rebuild significantly quickly and in a more honest and realistic manner. (but I certainly can see how the artificial boosters and cheaters would cringe at this idea , which is another good reason to do it)  

[diane]

Sounds like a good idea to me too - I am not worried    

[burper]

3. Switch 'ask' and 'list' to only consider opinions from people you have vouched for - basically the 'friends' formula. This will make creation off nicks for the purpose of reputation bombing pointless.

Question: what is the exact change to the list command here?
One decides to vouch for someone based on two things:
1) they would make an enjoyable opponent (will finish, will be nice etc...)
2) their opinions make sense to factor into my view of the data

E.g. I would normally vouch for maria for reason 1, but won't because of reason 2, i.e. I do not want her vouches for droppers to skew my view.

So will I still be able to view marias' list in order to make an evaluation of her opinions?

[burper]

I would advise against resetting the database:
1) There is no reason for it, since the effects of any abuse will disappear the moment Avi "throws the big switch". If anyone can provide an example of how this might not be entirely true, please do so.
2) The friends command will not get off the ground without data to work with.

While it is true that the reasons to vouch/complain have changed slightly,
I don't think your view will be very inaccurate to begin with if you have
used repbot with good intentions in the past.

If you don't use repbot with good intentions, it doesn't matter anyway.

People should still review their lists and make whatever changes they feel like.
It will be less work for those that have used the bot well in the past, and
more of a penalty for those who have not

Bulk commands would help, i.e. if complain/vouch/withdraw took multiple names, and a
"reset {complaints,vouches} command existed. Those people who wanted to
start their lists fresh could do so.

[burper]

Does anyone know who the mysterious user with no name that appears on the top of the savedgames (http://fibs.com/savedgames/list.html) list is?

[adrian]

That list is not accurate. Speaking only about myself, I finished most of the matches shown (not with the adrian nickname!    ) and more important, in one session, without any breaks (not saved and then resumed). Something is wrong in that list dated 5-mar-2006, 21:18 UTC.

And you are right again in the previous post about the db flush, but I want to start fresh because a lot of payers I vouched or vouched for me doesn`t exist on fibs anymore. A reset command would be nice. (or maybe another avenue for abuse)

[Hardy_whv]

4. If needed, only allow registering an opinion after a match has been played. This should prevent ganging up on people. I'll only take this step if absolutely necessary since it means dumping the current database, which will probably induce heart attacks in a few people.

Well, I usually wait with a complaint a few days to give the opponent a chance to resume. With the feature described above, I would be forced to complain immediately?! Or did I get that wrong?

Hardy    

[burper]

That list is not accurate. Speaking only about myself, I finished most of the matches shown (not with the adrian nickname!    ) and more important, in one session, without any breaks (not saved and then resumed). Something is wrong in that list dated 5-mar-2006, 21:18 UTC.

And you are right again in the previous post about the db flush, but I want to start fresh because a lot of payers I vouched or vouched for me doesn`t exist on fibs anymore. A reset command would be nice. (or maybe another avenue for abuse)

The inaccuracies of that list have been discussed before and I think are pretty well understood.

Users who get deleted from fibs automatically get deleted from the repbot db too, so that should not be a concern.

[diane]

If that is the way it works - I guess the answer will be to complain and then remove it if the match is finished later.  You couls also message the player with this info - to try to avoid any bad feeling arising due to genuine disconnection situations.

[burper]

4. If needed, only allow registering an opinion after a match has been played. This should prevent ganging up on people. I'll only take this step if absolutely necessary since it means dumping the current database, which will probably induce heart attacks in a few people.

Well, I usually wait with a complaint a few days to give the opponent a chance to resume. With the feature described above, I would be forced to complain immediately?! Or did I get that wrong?

Hardy  

Not true Hardy. The saved game lasts for N days. I forget what N is, but its' greater than 30 I think. Anyone remember?