Are points becoming worthless?

persi & alley

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Last year there was a time that Persi & Alley were the richest users, with about 50,000 points. Then, as now, all points were donated by members. The daily payout from KatKwiz was about 500 points a day. That was a lot of points then, and it was easy to entice people to play for points.

Today, KatKwiz gives out about 3600 points a day. There are only a few players although quite a few look at KatKwiz every day to learn information about The Cat Site. It is no longer easy to entice people to play for points.

The point is that we have had a lot of inflation since last year and there are points everywhere and nothing to spend them on. Just like in countries that continue to print money, the money eventually becomes worthless. We have all heard in our history books how it became necessary to use a wheelbarrow full of money just to buy a loaf of bread. And the 2% interest, (1% daily) is what fuels all this inflation and makes points worth much less now than last year. By next year, most of our members will be millionaires with nothing to do with their points.

I can hardly talk about a problem unless I offer a solution.

My solution: I can offer no solution for the runaway inflation other than adjusting the interest rate just as countries have to do. As an alternative, I would suggest to have "big ticket" items for sale, items that premium and regular members can buy for 50,000, 100,000, or even 250,000 points. (Dare I mention a million?) Give people a reason to save for something big. Points become more meaningful once again in this scenario.

I would leave it up to our wonderful staff to come up with items, which could even include money or premium membership.
 

mrblanche

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We should note that the "wheelbarrow full of money" was not a U.S. problem, but in a number of other countries, especially in Europe and eastern Europe.
 

hurdyburdy

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I don't think they are -- I think that if new/more members realize what points are and what they can do with them some of them would become interested. I like your idea about having some bigger ticket items. A couple of days ago you put something about winning points in your KatKwiz title.. I thought that was a good idea too
for people not as familiar with it.
 

AbbysMom

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It's easy to say that there are too many points in the system when you have over 300,000 of them.
I think some of our members that do not have many points would disagree with you. Many members give gifts to others and donate points to members that don't have as many and tend to "spread the wealth".

I certainly wouldn't blame the lack of replies to Katkwiz on there being a glut of points in the system. If someone knows the correct answer and realizes that it has already been given, they aren't going to give you the same correct answer. You normally get the correct answer within in first few replies, except in cases of those harder math questions.
We also have members that don't visit the Lounge at all and probably aren't even aware of Katkwiz's existence.
There is also a learning curve with the newer members about the VBPlaza system.

Having said that, just like with anything else there has been a learning curve for us with the implementation of the VBPlaza system. There have been some growing pains along the way and some fine tuning. Anne, our site owner, has been running though some new ideas for the points system.
 

butzie

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I love the point system.
I love to give gifts and have made many friends that way. I don't have a gazillion points, but I have started to notice I am getting up there and I have started giving more gifts and donations. It is so much fun!
 

trouts mom

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I think that when they first came out they were a novelty..people were going crazy changing their usernames and giving gifts..etc..

Now they are still cool to have..and I love giving gifts still. I just think the excitement from the beginning maybe has worn off.
 

natalie_ca

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I think the problem is that many new users have really no clue what "points" are for because they weren't around when it first came out. Perhaps a post explaining points and what they are for and how you use them etc, should be made and stickied to the top of the Lounge forum?

As for participating, I would participate but I don't qualify because of my point level and I don't want to spoil it for anyone by giving an answer, so I don't bother looking at the Kat Kwiz threads.
 

jcat

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Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

I think the problem is that many new users have really no clue what "points" are for because they weren't around when it first came out. Perhaps a post explaining points and what they are for and how you use them etc, should be made and stickied to the top of the Lounge forum?
There's an entire sub-forum dedicated to such topics, Forum How-To and FAQs, http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=46
where there are already two stickied threads directly relating to points and vPlaza,
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=111771
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=112345
in addition to many threads asking about them, avatars, posting photos, etc..

How do we get people to actually read the stickies?
 
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persi & alley

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Originally Posted by AbbysMom

.
Having said that, just like with anything else there has been a learning curve for us with the implementation of the VBPlaza system. There have been some growing pains along the way and some fine tuning. Anne, our site owner, has been running though some new ideas for the points system.
Wonderful! And what better time than right now to remind our members that in a worse case scenario, KatKwiz can gaurantee (thanks in whole to our donors) that between now and the end of the year will give out over ONE MILLION POINTS!
(Which translates to 5,102 gifts!)


And now, with that publicity, I need to go find a new question for tomorrow.
 

glitch

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I love to get points! Quite possibly because I donate alot of points to new members or members that dont have any and I like to give gifts! I was very thankfull that I won the Katkwiz today because it helped me give out the gifts for the little bet thats going on right now! (not so little anymore!
)
I didn't even KNOW till yesterday that you could spend points to change your usertitle! I think thats a cool idea, but I really have to keep the points I have for the winner! (if she ever pops!

There has been alot of new members asking what the points are for! I dunno, I guess I read all the stickies, and still do! There is a wealth of invaluable information in those things! Id be lost without them!!
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by glitch

I didn't even KNOW till yesterday that you could spend points to change your usertitle! I think thats a cool idea, but I really have to keep the points I have for the winner! (if she ever pops!
if you're a premium member, you can also change the fonts & colors of your username & title... see this thread: updated font list with side of chicken gravy [don't you just love Ryan's sense of humor? where has he been, anyway?]
 

going nova

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Persi & Alley;2199999 said:
...

Today, KatKwiz gives out about 3600 points a day. There are only a few players although quite a few look at KatKwiz every day to learn information about The Cat Site. It is no longer easy to entice people to play for points.

...

My solution: I can offer no solution for the runaway inflation other than adjusting the interest rate just as countries have to do.

.../QUOTE]


I don't usually get a chance to play because I'm on PST and by the time I see the KatKwiz, it's been correctly answered.

You could take a socialist approach and re-distribute the wealth.
Unless someone donates points to me, I'm "point-pinching" to be able to buy gifts for anyone... (I've been here just a month and have about 100 posts.)
 

renovia

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I've already bought what I could for my user name - if there were more options available I'd start using my points again.
 

alleygirl

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I used to spend tons of points on my username colors, etc. but now that I use firefox I can't see the glow colors or anything so quit bothering with it


I buy gifts when I can, but it would be a lot easier if we could purchase multiple gifts at one time. I don't always have enough time online to wait for it.
 

kittkatt

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Originally Posted by butzie

I love the point system.
I love to give gifts and have made many friends that way. I don't have a gazillion points, but I have started to notice I am getting up there and I have started giving more gifts and donations. It is so much fun!


At one time, after receiving some points donations, I pretty much blew them all by buying gifts. I just love to give gifts!
Now I try "hoarding" them to a certain extent, so I have them when I need them, cuz I don't want to lose all of them if I need them..


I'm not earning points as I once was, b/c I haven't been posting as much as I was before - mainly b/c I'm having to use my WebTV, and it takes forever for it to load a page, and I don't have the patience to sit there and wait for it
I guess I wouldn't be "hoarding" them like I am, if I was able to post & earn them as I once did..


I think the points system is really cool, and I enjoy it b/c it allows you to either give gifts, or donate points to others.


~KK~
 

gailuvscats

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It was a novelty in the beginning, and gift giving was new but a bit frivolous. Now that the honeymoon is over, for me anyway, gift giving has a lot more meaning. I'm fine with it the way it is.

If anyone needs points, I will be happy to gift them.
 
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