Since becoming an 'active' on perlmonks, I've noticed a number of way of whoring for XP.
Now in the general give and take of the system, your XP should go up gradually.
This is the guide to how to accelerate the process.
The first is, of course, to write profound and useful articles.
Of course, if this isn't an option (or you just want to increase the XP gain from those articles),
then there are some few tactics for gaining those few (hundred) xp to make the next level.
- Post. Post non-crap. Can't get upvotes without something to vote on. (or downvotes, but this is why
you need to avoid the crap). Post often. The average reputation of a post is 11 (or so) so by posting
frequently, you either drag the average down (thus making gains easier in the future - see Voting/Experience System),
or gather some votes.
- Vote. Use all your votes every day. Before L5, you get a bonus for doing so. After L5, you still
gain (on average) 25% of your votes each day if you use them. It's slow, but just a couple more steps
in your headlong rush to reach Saint in the minimum possible time. If you are a newbie, then you
don't have the votes to use in this way. You'll have to start with some of the other suggestions...
- Humour. If it's funny, you get some upvotes. This of course, doesn't tend to apply to questions
asked in Seekers of Perl Wisdom, but
numerous others, such as meditations and in responses to questions asked. To be avoided in
Q&A since they exist as a more permanent record, and therefore
frivolity is not generally appreciated.
- Polite and literate. In general if you take the time to spell your notes properly, avoid 'txt spk',
and punctuate properly (or at least punctuate _some_), your responses are more likely to get upvotes.
- Getting on the front page. It seems that many monks out there, seem to like just clicking '++' on
every item on the frontpage. OK, that probably partially because it's more visible, and also because to
get front paged implies a certain level of quality already. I'd speculate that bribery to get on the front
page, would also do fairly well as a way to gain votes.
- Offtopic/Not Offtopic. Posting on topic is the way to go. Or at least mostly. NOTE that the topic
doesn't _necessarily_ have to be perl, or perlmonks, however it does need to be 'appropriate'. Responses
to posts/questions can digress lots, particularly if they are amusing.
- Post things that sound authorative/informative, but always plonk a disclaimer ("This code has not
been tested") on the bottom. This allows you to look like a guru, without incurring the wrath
of people who try your code and crash/trash/burn their system.
- Avoid flames. Flaming someone is a good way to pick up downvotes. Since by definition you are
reading this guide, you are not yet a saint, it's probably unwise to flame someone else. In certain
situations, well thought out and considered flames along the lines of 'this code is rubbish because...'
will work. It's not really a good gamble if you are whoring though.
- Say nice things about perlmonks. Old and cliche perhaps, but it works. Not a blatant suckup post, that's
just too obvious. But something along the lines of "I wouldn't ask this anywhere else, because
it's a little silly, but I know that the Monks are such a helpful/friendly bunch...."
- Pick where you post. Spamming Seekers of Perl Wisdom is the standard newbie trend. Making your
posts in less noisy places, make it more likely that they become 'visible' (and thus voted upon).
- Show that you have done some work. Not necessarily obvious, but a question like "I want to do this,
and it doesn't seem to work" is not good. It sort of implies that you just want a free handout of the
answer. Of course, it may well work, since many of the Monks are generous types, if you want an answer,
however, the goal here is XP whoring. It just won't do. Make sure you at least refer to places you've
looked. Modules that you saw (keyword searches on CPAN work for this) that might do the job, or perhaps
just a link or two to similar discussions. If all else fails in this regard search through merlyn's
history and quote one of his articles on the matter ;p. (This may backfire if someone realised and
flames you for plagiarism. Attribution is your friend in this regard.)
- Use those HTML tags. CODE tags, READMORE tags, and paragraph formatting lead to an easier post to
read, and therefore, higher probability of getting those all important ++'s
- Read voting guidelines. This will give you indications of what you are trying to achieve in each
section.
- Pleas in the chatterbox "I only need 50XP to make $LEVEL" may give you some votes. It depends who's
logged on. The more malicious types will take this as a cue to downvote. A desperation move, but may
pay off. (It does help if you actually have some posts to vote on though.)
- Lastly, write a meditation on how to XP whore ;p
Upd: Added a </UL>
--
It's not pessimism if there is a worse option, it's not paranoia when they are and it's not cynicism when you're right.
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