The software takes an average of my votes on your posts and uses that (along with everybody else's). I could rate you a 1 for all 6790 of your posts and the net effect on your member rating would be the same as if I'd only done it once.
My best guess is that you are wrong, but I may be wrong. I have been assuming that a members rating is the sum of all the individual message ratings divided by the number of messages rated. In all, I think Buzz's appraisal is pretty accurate.
I'm in favor of a 1,2,3, good, better, best type message rating system, with no (member supplied) negative ratings. The admins could/would do a separate a negative ratings system, applied to messages that are moderation issue problems.
I think Percy is working on a system that will try to take disproportionate power away from an individual member. Also, in the longer term, there will be no member rating at all, only message ratings.
I would also like to see an Amazon.com type system where, instead of a messages rating being an average, the number of 1, 2, and 3 point message votes would be displayed. Perhaps there could also be available info on what member voted what point level.
Adminnemooseus
™ Version 4.2