It would be like talking to strangers. With no incentive…would you talk to a stranger?

Because it motivates people to give better answers.

I don’t notice either one. The lurve is an off-the-cuff gauge of how involved a user is with the site. And it’s fun to be able to give feedback to answers without having to say, “Good point” or “I agree”.

As for the prizes, those are a relatively new development. Not sure why those popped ut, but perhaps Ben and Andrew needed to have some fun with the site, too, and being able to keep everyone guessing about why/how you earn some of the prizes is fun for them. They’re pretty clever.

Exactly the same, except without lurve and awards. They’re just a fun little extra.

I know everyone says they don’t matter, but they do. People give better answers if they know there is a reward. People respect people more when they can see how much lurve they have.

Its psychology, economics, and business.

Really, I do think that it makes people try harder. At least as far as the lurve is concerned. People are less likely to compose horrible, unreadable answers if they think that if they write good answers, they will be injected with delicious lurve by their friendly fluther compatriots.
Works for me.
In my mind, anyway . . .

What Prizes?!?!?!

I can live without the silly named awards (what is up with the Atlantis awards!?). I think lurve is a silly word, but I like the points.

The awards are actually a really recent addition. They didn’t exist in October, for sure. So those really don’t care about those that much. Now fluther without lurve is hard to imagine.

They keep peoples attention and may make some people try harder. As long as it doesn’t become a crazy race as on some sites. The awards are fun, especially the Atlantis-class where you have no real idea why they were awarded (sort of like being back in the Army again).

I think they are there because it’s fun.

Without lurve, I’d feel like I’ve attended a few less parties. I’d also have less opportunity to tell people how I feel about them. Other than that, it would pretty much feel the same to me.

Because we all live for someone else to click the “Great Answer” icon on our post. I know I feel special every time someone does for me, and I hope people do when I give them a “Great Answer”. It makes me feel like a valuable member of the collective.

The most important thing about lurve is to see who’s a beginner and who’s a veteran. And yes, incentives are important.

@mattbrowne It’s only a rough approximation though. Veterens of other sites can gain “lurve” fairly rapidly even though only a “newbie” on this site.

It makes things more fun for me. I LIKE seeing the scroll on the side. It gives me the chance to see who is being rewarded, which I love. Sometimes, I’ll even send them a quick PM just to tell them ‘good job’. They can respond back, or not. It’s yet another positive that, without it, would make the site seem a little more bleak.

I don’t know what they mystery awards are about, but they add a layer of extra fun, too :)

It would be boring like AB right now.
I find the names amusing. And the points let you know that someone found your info useful or amusing, depending on what you wrote, without them having to offer and explaination if you don’t feel it necessary. When I award points, its my way of saying I agree. If it was really awesome and I want them to know then I will comment as well.

For some lurve is a pat on the back for a job well done. I believe it drives those to answer questions they normally wouldn’t and to ask questions they think might get them a GA whether or not they have a real interest in the question. Maybe that last part is a bit harsh. Then there are those who don’t seek lurve but if it comes their way it’s nothing to get upset about. They are probably those who also don’t dole out lurve in heaps.

As for me, I fall somewhere in the middle, and maybe most do. I really don’t care about lurve (as evidenced by being here as long as I have and not mounting any sort of assault on 10,000) and I don’t give it often. Frankly, I get annoyed seeing lurve dished out like Ice Cream. But every know and again it’s nice to get lurve for an answer or a question you are proud of. More important to me are the nice little PM’s expressing thanks for answering a question or for making someone laugh.

I’d vote to do away with lurve for a month and see what happens…..And to your original question, if lurve didn’t exist I think there would be fewer answers and questions but the quality would improve and PM’s would sky rocket.

At this stage, doing away with lurve might have the same impact as it did on the site I recently left. People are used to it, .ike it, use it as a form of communication and some have pride invested in their score level.

You wouldn’t have nearly as many questions and answers if at all….go check out AB it’s a ghost town….

All those things, awards, lurves, friendship, nice people, points, etc., is what makes Fluther a fun site. To take any of those away would deminish the site. Like my old coach once said, “when got a good lineup,don’t mess with it!” To consummate that statement, asked any of the ex-members of AB about messing with a good thing!

@Cotton101 @Cruiser Totally agree, just look at the train wreck that was our former home.

@Cotton101 Bravo! Bravo!

I couldnt imagine it… it’s just too hard.

There are sites like Cramster that offer rewards of real monetary value, but I am turned off by the mercenary nature of such sites and have never and will never cash in my points.

@stranger_in_a_strange_land

Really? They give you real money for answering questions? It probably takes forever though, so they keep you on the site… who knows? Well they do, of course

@XOIIO You get credit towards buying goods, like the old Green Stamps. I have enough credits to buy things but just ignore it. I’m there to help people, not accumulate stuff.

Lurve…
I feel a bit ambivalent about lurve. It’s nice to be able to show appreciation, and it’s nice to be appreciated. But I feel it’s making me a bit vain.
I keep glancing at the side bar showing how much lurve my posts earned me today. It’s like an addiction. Even as I’m writing this, some part of me is wondering if people will upvote this.
It interferes with my efforts to be a detached rationalist.

I don’t care as much about the prizes, on the other hand.

@Fluthermucker
I certainly would. And I do.
Talking to strangers is pretty much what the social side of the internet is for.
Are we not strangers? I haven’t seen you here before. Yet I’m talking to you.

@Fyrius Know what you mean. I am a recovering “points addict” from another site.

we’ve became addicted to lurve :D
can you imagine a bunch of junkies without dope??? that would be kind of dangerous….

Lurve and awards keep us jellies motivated to work towards something and contribute as much as we can to the questions.

@Cotton101 Great answer my friend. It would be more like a chat room to me.

Getting lurve is the reason I come everyday. I don’t answer many questions or ask them. If I didn’t get 1 point for coming two days in a row, I would quit coming.

The same. I do not rely on the “perks” to be here.

I enjoy the diversity.

Besides, you will still have your:

* Last visit
* Member since
* Questions asked
* Responses written

If you wish to keep score.

I think that the “soul” would still be there, but some of the “spark” wouldn’t be. Like @sweetteaindahouse said, lurve is what keeps many of us coming every day. And to me, it just makes it a little more fun. I think that one could keep it the same way that it is now, but that less people would.

lurve for great question!

Batches? We don’ need no steenkeen’ batches.

But I lurve all of mine.

Mmmmmm, mmnn…..nothing tastier than chicken-fried lurve!

It’d be yahoo answers more or less.

Not really.
Unless they also Mod out all the catchy, snaky, quips of “wisdom”.

@mattbrowne Not really. I’m a veteran Flutherer, I just changed my account name to protect my identity, and deleted my old one.

And in answer to the question, I always thought lurve (or points) was kind of silly, and I ignore them. I enjoy discussion for discussion sake, not for points.

Honestly, I think it does not make a significant difference in Fluther. It has always been a great website, even before they added the lurve are prizes.

prizes? yessss. i like.

makes me want to flutherr

@minolta – GA!

I can, but I’ve never really been a points-whore anyways. Sure, it’s nice to have/get Lurve, but there are other things that are nice-but-not-essential.

@JONESGH Fluther would not end up like Yahoo answers. We jellies are intelligent, they are not.

Example 1

What prizes does Fluther give out?

@erichw1504 I think they meant Awards.

Neither of them mean anything to me. Honestly.

@jerv Oh…

If spitting up food every time I read something on here is a prize…

Keep them coming!

@ChazMaz I couldn’t agree more.

If there were no lurve I would spend a lot more time pm’ing people. Lurve is automaic appreciation.

The 1,000 lurve gift card I got from Benandrew meant a lot. I would be bummed if we didn’t have prizes!

@tinyfaery couldn’t agree more :)

@Narl Out of curiosity, why did it mean so much to you?

^ Because I <3 Fluther and Benandrew! Now I know that they love me back.

@Fluthermucker I would. I’m a masochist. Also, only just got your name. Kudos to you.

Even virtual incentive is enough to keep someone addicted to something.

Until very recently the “awards” didn’t exist. We weren’t missing anything without them. The lurve is fun, and it does help sometimes to know which members are new and inexperienced, but I think we’d be fine without it.

@fyrius I agree. It would be nice to be able to have an option to not see your points or your lurve or whatever people want to call it (Personally, I think the word “lurve” is kind of silly). Like I said, I do this for the discussion, not the points.

@Rarebear
Most of Fluther is kind of silly.

@daemonelson My original answer, while the first, was meant to be ironic in that we are all talking to strangers while we are on Fluther or the “interwebz”. I’m not sure people really get my wry sense of humor most of the time…oh well, fuck ‘em.

@Fyrius LOL point taken

like doing homework and a professor’s website.

@stranger_in_a_strange_land – Yes, very often it’s just an approximation.

@Rarebear – Yes, my observation doesn’t apply when veterans change their user ids.

There’s prizes?

Yep, there are. Delicious, home-made endogenous opioid polypeptides. Offering support to others also rewards people who offer it.

The way it used to be?

Matt – pm the recipe for endogenous opioid polypeptides? Thanks.