As long as we are throwing pennies onto the pile, I figure I'll add mine as well.
While I agree about the potential of abuse due to the gaming nature of the app (I also don't care about what my avatar wears), I haven't seen too much of this behavior in the areas I work in, so maybe I'm just lucky. I think that some of the problems that sneak in are partially due to the initial process of how editors are welcomed to Waze.
I remember first starting out editing, mostly because I was in an area where the roads were a mess. I tried to pave a road, and then wondered why nothing magically happened to make it "real", so I found out how to edit and went from there.
The problem is that the Video that you watch has just enough information to make you truly dangerous. They cover all sorts of high level topics, and the details is what kills you. I just re-watched the video, and most of the important details I've learned through the Wiki and Forum just aren't there...but the video doesn't tell you that before you edit, you should be familiar with all of these. Once you finish watching it you figure you are ready to go - "hey look at all these driveways that nobody has mapped!"
I remember doing my first editing after that video, seeing "red" roads that I added, and assuming that they needed to be approved by somebody. Nobody pointed this out to me, and fortunately I came across the guidance in the Forums and quickly went back and "fixed" all of the incomplete work I'd done. But I had to see that in the Forums, even after reading the "Best map editing practice" Wiki page, there really isn't a description of what that red road really means. The "Recorded via Client" section only briefly mentions a red road, but it sure isn't highlighted like it should be (no pun intended).
Information on Landmarks really isn't even in the Wiki, you need to somehow know to look in the Country Forums to get some guidance, and then you still need to track the WME forum as well to really understand what the Champs want you to do.
It seems to me that all of the available Documentation is written as reference for medium to experienced users, and there isn't a really good "Editing 101" document that walks people through the real basics, explaining some of the rules that aren't as obvious as they should be.
And as a new editor, if you have a question for an AM, it turns out (if I understand it properly) that the list of AMs that display as an overlay on the WME are very out of date, and some of these people may not be active, again, you need to know how to dig through the forums so you can ask a question of an AM.
As I see new editors start out, I often try to PM them to give them some heads up and point them in the right direction, but most of the time they either don't have PMs turned on, or don't read them. Seems like this would be a very good "automated" way to filter out wayward editors. If it is a community process, shouldn't they be required to talk to the community?
While I agree about the potential of abuse due to the gaming nature of the app (I also don't care about what my avatar wears), I haven't seen too much of this behavior in the areas I work in, so maybe I'm just lucky. I think that some of the problems that sneak in are partially due to the initial process of how editors are welcomed to Waze.
I remember first starting out editing, mostly because I was in an area where the roads were a mess. I tried to pave a road, and then wondered why nothing magically happened to make it "real", so I found out how to edit and went from there.
The problem is that the Video that you watch has just enough information to make you truly dangerous. They cover all sorts of high level topics, and the details is what kills you. I just re-watched the video, and most of the important details I've learned through the Wiki and Forum just aren't there...but the video doesn't tell you that before you edit, you should be familiar with all of these. Once you finish watching it you figure you are ready to go - "hey look at all these driveways that nobody has mapped!"
I remember doing my first editing after that video, seeing "red" roads that I added, and assuming that they needed to be approved by somebody. Nobody pointed this out to me, and fortunately I came across the guidance in the Forums and quickly went back and "fixed" all of the incomplete work I'd done. But I had to see that in the Forums, even after reading the "Best map editing practice" Wiki page, there really isn't a description of what that red road really means. The "Recorded via Client" section only briefly mentions a red road, but it sure isn't highlighted like it should be (no pun intended).
Information on Landmarks really isn't even in the Wiki, you need to somehow know to look in the Country Forums to get some guidance, and then you still need to track the WME forum as well to really understand what the Champs want you to do.
It seems to me that all of the available Documentation is written as reference for medium to experienced users, and there isn't a really good "Editing 101" document that walks people through the real basics, explaining some of the rules that aren't as obvious as they should be.
And as a new editor, if you have a question for an AM, it turns out (if I understand it properly) that the list of AMs that display as an overlay on the WME are very out of date, and some of these people may not be active, again, you need to know how to dig through the forums so you can ask a question of an AM.
As I see new editors start out, I often try to PM them to give them some heads up and point them in the right direction, but most of the time they either don't have PMs turned on, or don't read them. Seems like this would be a very good "automated" way to filter out wayward editors. If it is a community process, shouldn't they be required to talk to the community?
Re: Ranks, Points & the Scoreboard: The Eventual Death of Wa