Some ideas
Rewarding contributors strikes me as an interesting idea, but any reward should also take into account the quality of the contributions. As a reader of Wikipedia (I also contribute) I find personal opinions embedded in an article and unsourced contributions are worth much less to me than contributions that have been researched and well sourced, but even some types of sources are more valuable than others. A master bibliography for all of Wikipedia could help. Each source in the bibliography could be evaluated and rated. Articles and individual contributions could be rated based on the quality of the source. MissionInn.Jim 14:41, 26 November 2009 (UTC)
Agree with that. A lot of contributions are really subjective. Something like Featured Article status or adminship is at least determined by consensus... If we reward people just for hanging around, we're talking more about acknowledgment than reward. Some people manage to make it through an entire year and end up getting blocked or warned repeatedly.
".. If we reward people just for hanging around, we're talking more about acknowledgment than reward."
I don't understand the above where is states "just hanging around" because that is no contributor.--Brother Officer 00:46, 27 November 2009 (UTC)
" Some people manage to make it through an entire year and end up getting blocked or warned repeatedly. "
I would like to see what you have written about. Anyone getting "blocked or warned repeatedly" should not be allowed to keep posting in my opinion. But my opinion does not have the experience that your does backed by the offenses. It sounds like to me that anyone doing those things that causes them to be blocked repeatedly should be placed on a wait to post again status and that this would increase with each offense by any given problem person. Finally, a permanent lock out but that, I think, should be by the opinion of several people and not just one person.--Brother Officer 00:46, 27 November 2009 (UTC)
You'd be surprised how forgiving the community is, if you read this study. Someone can sockpuppet, edit war, canvass, and deceive so that they can push their viewpoint. But if they promise to be good guys, they can come back, repeatedly. Many people learn from their first block and become great guys. Many people learn from their second block too. But others just become smarter, and find ways to barely meet policy, and push a viewpoint. The rare time they cross the line, they've acquired enough supporters who are really just pushing the same viewpoint. You see a few barnstars, and all is forgiven. I wouldn't reward these editors with anything more than 20 characters.