On the surface it seems fortuitous that the OP confessed to ulterior motives for asking the question, however it's misleading to bring this up, since that was not your original criticism at all - instead you accused us collectively of piling on and complaining.
Had your criticism been that lukeqsee is behaving lame and trollish, you might have been received much better. Personally, I couldn't care less who gets the stupid points for actually asking the question - I believe getting points for posting stories is a bug anyway.
And the question itself is so simple and minimal, it doesn't really make sense to think of it in terms of being nice or not. It seems appropriate to me to just assume by default that it is being asked nicely and leave it at that.
(I would hope nobody misunderstands, but I am entirely serious.)
Edit: Udo edited his post, so I replied.
> lame and trollish
I partially agree. On one hand, it is both. On the other hand, like I said above, someone would post the question.
> I believe getting points for posting stories is a bug anyway.
I completely agree. Actually encouraging conversation and actively adding to the conversation is much better for the community. Perhaps 25% or 50% points for posts would level the field.
I thanked you because you accurately and fairly assessed my actions. A large reason I post or comment on HN is to receive constructive criticism (which is why I admitted to existence of self-interest). You provided it, and that’s why I’m thanking you.
nhangen falsely critiqued my actions as complaining and then turned my own admission against me; you fairly accessed that (IMO). You also added to the conversation with your own assessment of the broad trend, i.e., posts are worth points.
I think all of those actions are worthy of thanking.
No, I actually read it as someone trying to get cheap points (or popularity) by being the first one to post it. I would have felt differently had the question been asked with tact, and I'm certain those with high Karma know that the question was unnecessary. It just felt over zealous.
> No, I actually read it as someone trying to get cheap points (or popularity) by being the first one to post it.
That's not at all what you initially commented on. Even if that was your intent, you simply said something completely different and unrelated. You were judged by what you actually said and when people challenged you about it you got aggressive. I'm really sorry to go on about this, but that's honestly what it looks like from here.
One of the reasons why I chose to comment on this is that it's a mistake I made as well once or twice (getting motivations of fellow users wrong and snapping at them), and I had the good fortune of people pointing that out to me.
