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Is it considered poor form for a user to "resurrect" a ton of old questions from another user so that the latter can rake in more points? I'm just curious to know how others feel about this.

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Answers. 19 helpful answers below.

  • by Anonomous on July 30th, 2008

    Anonomous

    I have done this numerous times to various friends on the site. I never thought of it as point farming and more of showing my appreciation for a user. I can imagine the smile on their face as they log in and see pages full of new answers...... and well, it kinda brings a smile to my face. So yeah its all about the smiles and nothing at all about the points :)

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  • by Skirtsnhose on July 30th, 2008

    Skirtsnhose

    If that's the reason, then yes. I like to go dig through the old questions to find interesting ones, especially on "Outside the Bag" where questions end up 10-15 pages back in less than a few hours.

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  • by Account Closed on July 30th, 2008

    Account Closed

    I don't feel it is in bad form because the points are going to keep going up regardless. If there was a grand prize at the top or we could cash them in for a cool coffee mug then I was think it was bad form. I enjoy bring up old questions there are many great ones that did not fair so well the first time around.

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  • by gtravels loves her life penguin on July 30th, 2008

    gtravels loves her life penguin

    You seem to be alluding to a particular situation- the case of consciously resurrecting questions solely for points. I consider that poor form indeed. Having said that, I would also like to express my gratitude to friends who have "shopped my questions" to give them a second shot at life. To be honest, with my ratings indicator off, I don't even know if they're getting more points. I just like seeing some of those old nuggets pop up on my activity page again!! And in general, I have no objection to seeing excellent questions rejuvenated for new users and those who didn't see them the first time around. Especially lately, when the home page has been filled with some less than scintillating submissions;)

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  • by Penal Colony is wicked marrying Andy on July 30th, 2008

    Penal Colony is wicked marrying Andy

    In my opinion, yes, it is in poor form.

    In one sense, it is earning new points without making additional contributions to the site. In normal AB use, it is perfectly possible that old questions would be occasionally discovered and URed as a natural course of action, but if a user intentionally pushes old questions to the top, it seems unfair to everyone else who is submitting fresh new Q&A.

    Another problem with this is the fact that it implies some sort of conspiracy to mine points. It would take at least 2 users to accomplish something like that, and to me, that is just as much in poor form as users who intentionally miscategorize their questions so another user can get the mod points for it.

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  • by Sixty B - Commander Topcoat on July 30th, 2008

    Sixty B - Commander Topcoat

    Anything done for points is poor form. Poor forum, hardy har. But honestly, I think it is a great nod to go through your friends' stuff and pick out gems that get lost in the fast-moving, fast-paced world of AB. With this site, one day it's in - the next day it is forgotten. I think that a good friend acknowledges your contributions and also goes back through your history of work to not only give questions another run, but also, to get to know the user even better. Someone brought back an old question of mine today that I had already forgotten about, and it blossomed into quite a success. I greatly enjoyed the answers, and it never would have been possible if someone didn't bring it back! Even if it was a fluke, it probably made my AB day!

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  • by GreenFreak on July 30th, 2008

    GreenFreak

    If the questions are good, not at all. If it's done merely to, as you say, resurrect them, then I think it's okay to a certain extent. 5-8 questions max.
    ...I wish someone would do that to me :(
    Some of my questions are still unanswered, or only received one, useless and not serious answer
    /whine
    /emo

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  • by Sweet T on July 30th, 2008

    Sweet T

    I have been resurrecting old questions on all my friends, randomly, not any in particular. It doesnt really bother me, that is what friends do, is help each other. I have never looked at it as point farming, I looked at it like, there are a lot of great questions that are being missed, so I wanted to bring them out again.

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  • by BigDaddyBS on July 30th, 2008

    BigDaddyBS

    Not if the questions are good.

    To me, anyway, while points are nice, it's more about the answers and contacts you make.

    If you find someone with good and interesting questions, they may have passed unnoticed the first time. If they are STILL good, why not? They may get many more responses, depending on when it hits the front page, than they did before.

    And isn't AB about keeping questions open forever, so others can find and answer them with their own ideas and opinions?

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  • by Cyndi Ninja on July 30th, 2008

    Cyndi Ninja

    IF a user is digging them up, just so that they can get points for answers, then I would agree that it's just tacky.

    However, if you are digging them up for the benefit of the questioner, I think it's ok. I know that I have done that myself for other users as kind of a pick me up if they are having a not so fun day, or as a random act of kindness.

    It's fun to look through the old questions of others to see what I might have missed, or may be 'resurrection worthy".

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  • by Prime wants the old AB back on July 30th, 2008

    Prime wants the old AB back

    I agree; if it's just for points I would think it bad form.

    Points are nice I suppose but I'm more interested in answers and thoughts.

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  • by Rollie on July 30th, 2008

    Rollie

    I need to do that with some of my old questions. Maybe someone will answer them now.

    Whatever, you need to change them somewhat or they will be flagged as duplicate.

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  • I would say yes, since those "resurrected" questions are duplicates by definition.

    I'm much more interested in original, thought-provoking questions.

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  • by Galeanda on August 21st, 2008

    Galeanda

    Anything done just for points is poor form in my book, whether it's that or asking ton of questions just to be asking and not concerned about adding to the database or posi-trolling one or two people.

    But sometimes we get into answering one person's questions because that's how they get listed in our Friend's List Q&A, especially if we don't have many friends that ask questions. Sometimes they are good questions and you feel like responding to each one in order. Sometimes you realize they are only asking to ask and you dump that Friend. But when you do answer them, it will flood in the home page with all those questions from one user. I don't feel that's wrong because they are good questions.

    When you find someone, like for me it's Rosie, that you just love their questions, it's easy to answer them all and try not to miss a gem in there. I've also done that when I find someone new and really have a good time going through their question list. But in no way is it being done for points. It's the joy of the questions that does it.

    I do know that at one time many people were trying to go back and answer all of Blank Savage's questions as a memoriam to him and I don't think that was a bad thing either. Some people even wanted to make sure that the people that answered them were not forgotten either and felt gratitude for remembering him. I am still okay with that and there were great questions then.

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  • by the VP wears a Wicked COAT on August 10th, 2008

    the VP wears a Wicked COAT

    If done purely for points, that is just lame. Pretty much doin' anything around here for points is sad. It's not like Rich is giving away free gas for the most points. He isn't, is he? :)

    To address your other point: I see nothing wrong with perusing ANYONE'S questions for something interesting to answer. Sometimes you meet someone you click with that you haven't interacted with before so why not check out some of their Q's? I've never just sat here and answered every single question in someone's profile...that would get a bit boring, if you ask me. Though answering a few that catch your eye, no, I see nothing wrong with that.

    Again, Rich is NOT giving away free gas for points, correct? ;)~

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  • by Yarnlady is happy every day on August 10th, 2008

    Yarnlady is happy every day

    I have occasionally looked at someone's list to pull up questions that had 0 answers. I never thought of it for points, though, only for answering orphan questions. I usually only do three or four per person, and very rarely.

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  • by unknown on July 30th, 2008

    unknown

    Just for points? That is tacky. And please never feel the need to resurrect my old questions, it's exhausting! lol

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  • by MG1942 Has a Life Penguin on October 21st, 2008

    MG1942 Has a Life Penguin

    I don't see anything wrong with it. People hardly uprate questions anyway after a certain point. Thats why some of the Uber-questions have 1,000 answers and 1,000 points. That would imply that 1,000 level 1 beginners answered it, which is hardly the case;)

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  • by ENigma on August 16th, 2008

    ENigma

    If the only reason the questions were "resurrected " were for points its wrong.

    If the question was really interesting and worth answering then its worth it.

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