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I realise this might be better served on meta.stackoverflow, but its surely already been asked. The only related question is this, which is more technical.

So I reached the 'daily limit' of my points last night for the first time, and was just wondering why we have something like this in place?

I'm sure there's a valid reason, but it's evading me. Why would we limit the amount of points someone can receive in a day? surely this just discourages people from participating?

For someone like me (who accesses the site primarily in my downtime at work), its disheartening to realise that my efforts can be capped. I'm only able to contribute on certain days, and usually store up my questions to post on the days I am able.

What happens to the points I'm awarded after I've reached the daily limit? are they applied the next day or do they disappear forever?

UPDATE:(08/01/14) I had to assign a random 50 point bounty so I didn't have to go 3 consecutive days exceeding my limit. I've not tried to 'work the system' or anything, I've just contributed some good answers. Do we really not think this limit might be a little low?

UPDATE: 09/01 I'm sorry to keep dragging this up, but it's happened again. That's 4 for 4 now, and with another bounty randomly applied.... is this pretty typical? once or twice, I'd get the fluke, but 4 days running? pfff

...but to be honest on M&TV it is a fairly rare occurrence.

UPDATE 13/08 By my calculations, I doubled the rep limit today. I'm only posting this to keep track: again, I know why a rep limit is important. It's just in my experience here, too low... time and time again I'm coming up against this supposedly rare event...

UPDATE 18/08 - One answer got me to the activity limit today. Just one.

UPDATE 03/09/14 As Above.

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  • I congratulate you on reaching the cap - but to be honest on M&TV it is a fairly rare occurrence. If I was a 'Jon Skeet' or equivalent I'd be fairly annoyed at the cap. On the positive side, reaching the cap 1, 50 and 150 times will earn you a bronze, silver and gold badge!
    – iandotkelly Mod
    Commented Jan 7, 2014 at 21:31
  • @iandotkelly that badge over here is like a virtual world coming to life experience.
    – Ankit Sharma Mod
    Commented Jan 7, 2014 at 21:38
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    @AnkitSharma - yeah - reaching 150 is kind of unlikely!
    – iandotkelly Mod
    Commented Jan 7, 2014 at 21:54
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    I'M 'ONNA DO IT
    – John Smith Optional
    Commented Jan 7, 2014 at 22:00
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    Only hit it once so far :(
    – Tom
    Commented Jan 7, 2014 at 23:25
  • TWICE... in 2 days running. This sucks, I'm trying to contribute, people are trying to thank me, and I'm rewarded with... limits? This limit is too low.
    – John Smith Optional
    Commented Jan 7, 2014 at 23:55
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    @JohnSmithOptional "This limit is too low." - Haha no, you're just too good. Really, two consecutive rep caps on a site with that low activity? You're not trying to become the Jon Skeet of movies, no?
    – Napoleon Wilson
    Commented Jan 8, 2014 at 9:46
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    I've also just had to start a bounty to get rid of some Rep again so I don't make it 3 for 3. It was about to happen! I'm honestly not even trying that hard (leans back, puts sunglasses on) ;)
    – John Smith Optional
    Commented Jan 8, 2014 at 16:16
  • Yet I'm not sure your daily additions of new incidents are necessary to drive the point. I'm sure there isn't anyone who hasn't got how important this is for you by now. If you still don't get the answer you're looking for, then maybe the primary meta might really be a better place to see.
    – Napoleon Wilson
    Commented Jan 10, 2014 at 9:41
  • It's not about 'getting an answer', its about keeping this question updated for reference, considering it's apparently rare. I would have waited until day 4 if I'd have known it was going to happen of four consecutive days.
    – John Smith Optional
    Commented Jan 10, 2014 at 10:53
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    @JohnSmithOptional: I know this is a little late, but I definitely agree with this. I've hit the daily limit some 25 times now. It really is quite annoying. All it takes is one random answer to an innocuous question on a slow day and bang, the limit is hit.
    – Andrew Martin
    Commented Apr 24, 2014 at 13:39
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    Aw, c'mon and stop it! Everybody here knows that this can happen now and then. There is absolutely no need for updating this question each day counting every single instance. This starts to turn from a serious question into indignant spam.
    – Napoleon Wilson
    Commented Sep 3, 2014 at 9:15
  • @NapoleonWilson "Everybody here knows that this can happen now and then. " apparently not, and this is exactly my point. The biggest challenge I'm coming against is people saying this isn't a common enough occurence to be a big deal. When one answer frequently puts you out of the forum for a day, di-insteresting and not contributing because a part of the incentive has expired, this is a problem worth nothing. How else can I keep the account of my argument an informed one without updating it?
    – John Smith Optional
    Commented Sep 3, 2014 at 9:45

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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Its to give everyone fair chance to catch up in reputation race. I mean everyone doesn't gets more then 200 rep in single day. It also save from trolls. Sometimes user can cheat in reputation by making different accounts (Which can be cached or sometimes not). On the side note reputation here means the trust you earn by the form of privileges. By doing this Se making trust earning time dependent, which in sense good.

There is a very good answer presented by @Diago here.

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  • Thanks! I totally understand the rep cheating point, and considered it myself, but if the limit comes into effect when users are using the site legitimately, doesn't that indicate it might be too low? I admit this is the first time I've hit it, however...
    – John Smith Optional
    Commented Jan 7, 2014 at 21:31
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    Also, from your link, I see someone sympathises with me: 'Your reputation should be based on what you do, not how often you are on the site; many people do not live on stackoverflow and may not be able to spend time exept on perhaps one day a week. I would rather see such people give quality answers once a week than be encouraged to rush through a few answers everyday.'
    – John Smith Optional
    Commented Jan 7, 2014 at 21:33
  • @JohnSmithOptional this answer doesn't means i am agree with rep cap but just tried to show you other side which i am also not completely agree with ;)
    – Ankit Sharma Mod
    Commented Jan 7, 2014 at 21:37
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I think the limit is as high as it needs to be. It's actually very tricky to hit the daily limit if you don't get any of your questions or answers featured in the Hot Network Questions tab (which the question you edited in was, all day for that matter).

At the point I'm writing this answer there have been 225 votes cast all week. Even if all those voters distribute their votes equally at no more than 20 per user and only on answers, that's only enough votes to get 11 users to the daily maximum.

There are also other rewards for hitting the daily maximum, such as the Mortarboard, Epic and Legendary Badges, the latter two nobody has so far achieved in the 994 days the site has been up:

Badges

I had to assign a random 50 point bounty so I didn't have to go 3 consecutive days exceeding my limit

Bounties actually don't effect the daily reputation limit as I found out today:

Bounty

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    Votes are bizarre on this site. I can put lots of effort into what I think is a popular question and get a single upvote... then along comes some random, simple to answer question, I whack down a simple answer and bang, twenty upvotes. It's bizarre!
    – Andrew Martin
    Commented Aug 21, 2014 at 11:05
  • @AndrewMartin You should know by now that if there's anything people like less than reading, it's voting. ;-) Or they simply forget it once they're finally through a big chunk of answer. If you don't remind the occasional visitor that he can vote, he simply won't do it since there's no direct motivation for it. That's even more so with questions, which more "help" the site in general in contrast to answers, which more directly "help" users. Thus users not worried about the bigger picture so much have a bigger inclination to vote on answers, I think (that system message exists for a reason).
    – Napoleon Wilson
    Commented Aug 25, 2014 at 10:32
  • @AndrewMartin And of course another factor in simple vs elaborate is accessibility. There are just more people that grasp (or rather attempt to grasp) a simple to answer question and likewise with answers. That's not to say those people are dumb, it's a question of dedication and motivation.
    – Napoleon Wilson
    Commented Aug 25, 2014 at 10:40

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