Whilst I always appreciated the 'equality' of the OFPEC forums, some members always ARE going to be more prominent and more well known. It was the case in the past (when I was an active member), and it's probably still the case now. The new star system is could well turn out to be a case of simply 'visually' recognising this.
This is just a cosmetic change, but the Admins should bear in mind that making the whole site bright Pink and Purple would also 'just' be a cosmetic change (And that would be a Very Bad Thing
). Cosmetic changes can be very powerful...
It is impossible to predict accurately what effect this will have. It's not based on post counts, but purely on merit, which is a good thing. However:
1. It's going to be something else that Moderators have to do, increasing their workload.
2. It could
potentially lead to some kind of elitism (but honestly, only to the point where the answers of those with higher stars are more respected - Which was the case in the past anyway, to some extent).
I'm fairly neutral at the moment. We'll see what happens.
-PsyW
::EDIT:: - Sorry about the gibberish, if you read through it a few times it should start to make sense. Maybe
I've corrected some of it.