BTW, isn't this thread http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/transactsql/thread/3d271f5d-f049-43b3-b57d-1671d2e3bba3 an another sample of the problem?
Naom, you're speaking of Adam T? I met him in a (substantially censored) thread when I was protesting all the swastika avatars.
I've been following these discussions with interest, but now I feel the need to make at least some comment seeing as my name was mentioned.
So, one a a time.
First Naom, the thread you have highlighted is indeed an example of the problem. I will openly admit that I have marked my own posts as answers in the past and as can be seen from the dates on the audit trail of the thread (I'm not sure if non-moderators can see the audit trail) in this case I had done so too eagerly. My bad. I completely agree with the notion that this is bad etiquette and that a greater amount of time is allowed before resorting to doing this. I will come back to this later. BTW I appreciate your kind words.
Next Arnie and the topic of this thread, as I've mentioned above, I have resorted to marking my own posts as answers, however in the majority of cases this would be in old abandoned threads that had not been picked up by any other moderators and doing so only to help other forum users and not myself by bumping up my score.
I do not necessarily see this as a bad thing, after all we are here to moderate and marked answers are supposed to help with search results, so that's just what I was doing. Would I care if the algorithm was changed and I was not credited with the extra points even if it meant dropping down a level, I'd have to say "a little" no=80% yes=20%. Like it or not, the points and medals system is in place and is there to give recognition to the forum participants and visibility to the people asking the questions of the sort of individuals that are doing the answering.
I said 80% no because points do not really bother me any more (they used to) and my main focus is to help the community by sharing my knowledge. I say 20% yes because even though I'd marked some of the posts myself (sometimes after weeks or months) it doesn't change the fact that I did provide the right answer and hence deserve the credit for doing so. But as I already stated, points don't bother me that much any more.
Regarding offshore moderators, I wonder if all moderators have expertise in the subject area of the forum they are moderating, or is it more mechanical than that?
Maybe what could be done as part of this change is that in all cases where posts are self marked as answers (whether it's the OP or a Moderator), these posts be reverted to the "Proposed as answer" status? The offshore team and Moderators can then go back over these threads and mark them appropriately. What do you think?
I agree with this change and I believe that rather than not crediting users for marking their own posts as answers, it should not be possible in the first place and the feature should simply be disabled. By this I mean that the button should not appear on your own posts and that at most you should be able to propose your own post an answer (even or especially in the case of the OP). Proposing your own post as an answer is in itself problematic and should potentially only be allowed after a set period of time.
Last and by all means least derosnec, I do not really care what your opinion is of me. I care what other, respectful forum users think. You are very opinionated which in itself is not a bad thing, however I feel that your approach to voicing your opinions is misguided, very disrespectful and in many cases your posts are either not relevant to the discussion at hand, not helpful or both. This is not a forum for voicing opinions of injustice, prejudice, censorship or whatever else you choose to cry about. It is a place to ask questions, get helpful answers and have on-topic discussions about specific technologies and not to berate Microsoft or other forum users. If your contribution does not fall within these categories then expect moderators to do their job and delete your irrelevant content i.e. moderate your contribution to the community.
You've got to ask yourself, would you really welcome someone in your house if they keep spitting at your door and throwing litter on your lawn? I think not.
Adam Tappis. (MCSD VB6 & .NET, MCDBA SQL 2000)
