No I really like getting the points. I like answering the questions too.

I think that people who say they are not in it for the points,(at least partially) are fudging the truth a little. We all love to score points-it's nice to have someone appreciate what you write. But it should also be a place of enjoyment and fellowship.

Everybody likes the points...Even the ones that say they dont care. Everyone likes them a bit! It's true, that is not what the site should be all about...and it's not. But it helps keep it interesting.

i enjoy the points!

i agree 100%,the points are the only way that i have of knowing that all these lines that i type aren t going into some cybershredder.when i see the points then i know that someone really did read the answer.another thing that i try to do is to try to make the new people here feel more welcome by giving them equal time,it can be pretty scarey for some of the younger new members when they see how high up some of the veterans are.

I think most people enjoy the points and it makes them craft better answers or at least funnier ones for some. But they probably are saying it's not their main reason for being here. I like getting points because its like seeing the head nod from someone if you were actually talking to them face to face and they agreed with you or thought it funny or helpful. We don't have the luxury of that through the internet normally so I think of the points as a way to get face to face feedback from others in our little community here.

Hey, I've committed badgicide 4 times ("badgicide" means to discard all points)... and I STILL like points! The points represent a variety of things to us: attention, approval from others, a simple indication that somebody read what we said (we didn't just waste our time), and so forth. There's nothing wrong with points, and nothing wrong with liking points. But the guilt is an interesting phenomenon, because there is some complicated stuff going on under the hood with us about all of this. Here's some quick stabs at the things I've noticed: - Becoming preoccupied with points is really being preoccupied with attention and approval -- its an indicator that all isn't completely stable with one's ego: its fine to enjoy or want attention and positive feedback, but the only really satisfactory sense of being valid and whole has to be self-generated ultimately. Others cannot give us that full-scale, final, permanent "YES - You are OK". That's something which comes only after we thoroughly confront, untangle and understand the structure of our own being, including our self-doubts. The guilt is a reminder to us that chasing points is really a distraction from this more challenging work which remains incomplete in our own psyche. - There's a superficial source for the guilt also: seeking approval is frowned upon in our culture -- we have a naive notion that everyone should be their own source of approval: "I don't need anyone else's approval, I stand on my own two feet". This is a very shallow shared belief which barely gets noticed and rarely gets challenged. So feeling guilty occurs (in part) as a self-punishing reaction to violating this unquestioned social norm. In that sense, there's really nothing to be guilty about -- the social norm itself isn't worth a hoot, and one should not be shy about challenging or violating it as often as needed. I do feel that I've finally made my peace with the points system. I'm in that camp of users who are still a bit wistful for "the old days" when there were no points, but I'm no longer fighting the flow of the current. I stick to my knitting, answer a few questions a day, and do lots of commenting. I may never make Sage at this rate, but I'm having a good time and -- more importantly -- I'm satisfied that I'm doing my best to be a helpful presence on the 'bag. I don't know what more I can ask of myself... and it does produce a few points each day! :-)

I actually like getting comments even more than getting points.

Not really. I don't feel guilty. I enjoy being acknowledged and comments are especially nice.