Here is some more information on our karma system. First of all, consider this a beta test. Some of you are worrying too much about this .
In the past, there was no way for us to have a members rating, except by going by how many messages were posted. This is what signifies the difference between the New Members, Members, and Senior Members titles. But, it says nothing in regards to the quality of the messages and how your fellow members feel about what you posted. You might post a lot of messages, but have little content worth reading. Or maybe you enjoy starting arguments or posting inflammatory remarks.
The software has specific settings in regards to what awards you with karma. For instance, if you post a message, you get karma. If a certain number of people reply, you get more. If it is read (message views) a certain number of times, you get more for being popular. But, your message now allows your peers to rate your message. So, while you can get points by posting, you can actually loose karma if enough people think it is not worthy. Everyone who replies to your message is also open for peer review.
To give someone good or bad karma, simply click on the karma icon on the far right bottom corner of the message. You will then have the choice of what kind of karma you want to give, and any short message to the poster as well.
Moderators can give karma as well. This can be to reward posters in their forum, or to punish those who are causing trouble.
In my case, I have handed out bad karma to members who fail to follow the rules, especially about signatures. Thus, a new member with low good karma will immediately see the error in their ways. For the most part, that is all the karma I dish out. It is interesting to sit back and watch the karma logs and see some of you battling back and forth between good and evil. For instance, Richard Ray has been getting good karma from people reading his messages, but he has been hit with lots of bad karma from members.
If your karma drops to a certain level, you will not be able to post new messages.
If you are away from ebudo for extended periods of time, your good karma slowly moves back towards 0.
Uses for good karma? Well, I am still working out the details. Here are a few ideas:
500 karma- users are entitled to a free email redirect. Thus, you could use "yourname@e-budo.com."
Only members with at least 25 karma can post in the "for sale" forum.
50 karma- free help in designing and preparing your avatar graphic.
100 karma- members are eligible for monthly drawings for free products, provided by e-budo sponsors (books, videos, etc).
These are just ideas and nothing is official. If you have any other suggestions, please post them here...