[Guide & Analysis] Comment-Thank-Rep

[Agrippa]

What exactly is this guide?
In this guide we will analyse [Neopets Guides] threads in order to see whether there is a pattern with regards to Comments, Thanks & consequently Rep+ (assuming they have a high degree of correlation). We will see if we can come into a conclusion of whether most guides are not good or whether its users are a bunch of unthankful potatoes. We will also look into what your guide needs in order for you to be a successful Thanktomaniac among many other things.

What were the requirements to be part of this analysis?

• Guide had to be made in 2014-2015
• Main thread had to have received at least 1 'Thanks'
• At least 20 samples in order to be statistically significant (I won't bother anyone with details and complicated stats)
• Within the first 3 pages of Neopets Guide

What are we looking at?

• Dates
• # Thanks
• # of words used (including spoilers,etc)
• # of pictures used
• Male/Female (To see whether there is a correlation)
• Name of User
• More to be added+

Date	Guide	# Thanks in 2014 (strong correlation to rep)	# of words used according to .docx	# of pictures used	Male/Female	Name	Time since guide was made (days)
02/23/2015	[GUIDE] Account Checking Made Easy.	5	202	0	M	Lmp	21
02/22/2015	how to make a dope theme without downloading =)	2	320	5	F	fairydust2	22
02/15/2015	Guide to cheap books to read your pets!	11	1424	0	F	bonjour	29
2/9/2015	[Guide] The Booktastic life: Trophies & AB list	5	858	18	M	Agrippa	35
2/4/2015	[GUIDE] Cupcake Training for your Pets [UPDATED EACH MONTH]	21	929	4	F	bacchus	40
1/28/2015	Guide: How to get free proxies/socks.	12	471	4	M	VitaminX	47
01/19/2015	Offical Refersher guide . special random events	2	214	0	F	fairydust2	56
12/28/2014	[Guide] How to 'cheat' at Charity Corner	12	212	2	M	Accelerator	78
12/23/2014	How to use Shells and Mains at the same time. The easiest way to use proxys.	3	278	3	M	deverllus	83
12/21/2014	[GUIDE]] How to get neopets locked in the pound.	3	around 100 words + script	0	F	reestoquer	85
12/17/2014	Guide to Millions of Profit Through TP Sniping	16	1560	0	M	learningtoneopet1	89
12/5/2014	[GUIDE] intro into reselling	1	607	4	F	Water	101
11/24/2014	2014 GMC: Going for GOLD! (AoB Guide)	3	1197	12	M	l2eap	112
11/19/2014	☠☠ Legit Auction Sniping ☠☠	1	440	7	F	Water	117
11/17/2014	How To Get Neopian Lottery Avatar Faster	11	346	4	M	Infamous Joe	119
11/14/2014	[GUIDE] QUICK FIX FOR A QUICK BC ENTRY!	3	169	10	F	Water	122
11/14/2014	Quick BD Fix	1	158	0	M	zxzero	122
10/8/2014	[GUIDE] LEGIT RESTOCKING!	4	614	6	F	Water	159
10/3/2014	QUESTS 101	5	1281	33	F	Water	164
09/29/2014	[GUIDE] Change Your Online Persona!	5	769	0	F	Water	168
09/28/2014	[Guide] What to do after buying an account	6	441	0	F	Cheese	169
09/28/2014	[Guide] Beauty Contest	4	1421	2	F	Lindsay	169
9/1/2014	(✿◠‿◠) ✿ MoonMoon's Guide to Caches ✿ (◕‿◕✿)	6	1092	6	F	MoonMoon	196
08/30/2014	Using HMA ProVPN: how to NOT fuck it up.	9	479	6	F	Icebox	198
08/26/2014	[ How I got IP Banned on Neopets.]	10	675	0	F	Sophie	202
08/24/2014	[Guide]Neopets Abbreviations.	10	415	0	M	Ked	204
8/2/2014	A Guide to Understanding Google and How Caches Work	38	1247	3 (picture unavailable)	F	Doll	226
7/3/2014	[Guide] Secret lab map pieces Updated Prices	7	149	2	M	Detox	256
06/24/2014	[Guide] Using FoxyProxy in Firefox or Chrome	4	681	5	F	boomer	265
06/17/2014	[Neodeck Price Guide] [1mil+]	5	301	0	F	Water	272
6/9/2014	[Guide] How to Time Keep for Attic/Kads ☽	20	825	7	F	Cub	280
04/19/2014	[Guide] How to use Cheat Engine for Mac ☾	25	805	12	F	Cub	331
4/3/2014	Master Shakes's Guide to Grabbing Unregs	17	271	3	M	Master Shake	347
03/22/2014	♥【NEOCASH GUIDE】�� Updated Values for NC Populars	19	1031	100	F	Naomi	359
3/12/2014	Neopets ETS Item Price Guide	28	1512	150+	M	Ghosts	369
3/2/2014	Guide to blending in the PC	33	3024	8	M	simmie	379

• 'Thanks' are usually given in the first month of the guide being made
• There is a correlation in the number of words used and # of thanks received (doesn't mean you should write mumble jumble)
• Top 3 highest amount of thanks received are: 38, 33, 28
• # of pictures seems to have some correlation at 95% confidence with # of Thanks
• 61% of the guides a made by Female and 39% by Male

So what can I do as a Guide maker?

• Write about something that people can use
• Write between 700-1000 (as long as it makes sense based on the kind of guide you are making)
• Pictures gets people pumped up, so put some in it
• Don't use the "table" option on the thread, its horrible and laborious
• Use some colour in your guide (it doesn't have to be rainbow)

What should I do as a consumer of the guide or forum user?

• Read the Rules
• Comment on the thread (What can they improve, what did you like about the thread,etc)
• Thank or Rep the person accordingly (If you did well on an assignment, would you like your proff to award you for it? Same thing if you are working and your boss incentivize you)
• Talk about the kind of guides you would like to see
• Think about the amount of work the person spent doing the guide or answer (was it thought provoking? did they make you change the way you see something? was it helpful? Does it look like it took them a long time to do it?)
• The forum is as good as its people make it to be

People are like companies, they work on incentives. If the incentive is low or none, people won't act. If the incentive is too high, it may cause complacency.

You can say "but all of this is like common sense!". Well, it may be so, but does common sense stop people from buying products they know to be made by child labor? Does common sense stops people from buying products that harm the environment they live in? The answer may be yes or no depending on the individual, but for most people, statistical or scientifica data to prove a view may be necessary to change people's actions.

Conclusion

• Many of us are unthankful people (including me.. I need to change)
• Amount of work put into a guide tends to be rewarded, but maybe not as much as some people would like
• Helping someone directly tends to lead to Rep (people feel indebted to youwhen you go out of your way to help them) helping people do their homework for example

I intend to add more information and analysis at a later later