Cash/Points Mod

Some forum softwares have a mod/plugin known as the Cash or Points Mod. Do you use one on your forum? Has it helped? What kind of forums do you think it's best for?

On my previous forums, I've never had one except for a Forumotion forum I made to play around without the stuff a bit. The cash mod there is quite detailed. Anyways, I don't use it because I really have never seen a use for it. In my opinion, the only forums that they are good for are forums that have trading involved or SOME role-playing forums.

 

We have it. Its a fun add-on & it allows us to do fun little activities. Also it is another way to reward members for things they do (in addition to awards & reputation/like's). Members love to be rewarded.

 

I agree, it's a great add-on to use, and gives users the incentive to post. The only issue is that you need to work out what you can do with them

 

You could sell Premium/VIP membership (if you have it), you could sell real life products (like ForumPromotion's domain service), you could also have members pay you points to have one of their threads stickied for a while.

 

Yes, it's good for forums like FP, but what about general chat forums? Why would they need or what to give away a free domain? The only thing I can think of is a lottery and to sell other permissions, etc.

 

I am going to add a Cash Add-on to my forum that is coming out soon. I am not going to add it from the start because I am getting a customized one due to the one for XenForo only offer basic features

 

Hmm this is hard. To get the forum active I would have a point system that will allow them to gain certain benefits(maybe cash but then again depending on popularity, budget, and expenses you might be digging yourself deeper). But still this is hard, the thing is that if you are offering some type of reward for being there the guest will want something worth their time. Maybe offering something IT related and no cash might work but then it goes back to the variable "budget". This requires real thought if to succeed.

 

I agree, it's not of much use on general chat forums. But, general chat forums can cover a wide variety of topics. A topic that could be included is Graphics. Within that topic, members could buy/sell/exchange graphics or things of the sort. So, in general chat forums, it all kind of depends on what your community knows a lot about.

 

I really do enjoy a points mod. I've installed it on my forums multiple times. Its very fun and gets people posting. Shops are also great to have.

 

I used one in the past, but couldn't really find a use for it, so I never re-implemented it on my community. I've seen some forums use it in exchange for cash - in running contests, but I just don't see a point for it at this time.

 

While we're on the subject of Points and shops, I've seen forums where members set up their own shops or services where the points are the currency. Some of the things that we're commonly sold were art, avatars, signatures, post styles, etc.

 

I think its a great way to spic up the forum somewhat.

 

how do you think it's a great way to spice things up?