Should there be a cap on ratings?

I mean, even with a high tolerance, if you are sampling more than ten beers, you are probably getting drunk (or am I just a lightweight?) and, depending on how often you are doing this, you may have a drinking problem that needs to be addressed. If a person is averaging 12+ ratings a day (backlog nonwithstanding) then how does that person NOT have an alcohol problem?

I appreciate members sharing their opinions, but WTF, is there no end to attempted limitation of personal choice. I thought I lived in the USA not the USSR from decades ago. If I want to drink one 12 oz beer and get one rating or drink twelve 1 oz pours and get a dozen ratings, who cares.

How do these two posts not contradict each other? If I want to drink 12 beers, in the comfort of my own home, why is that anyone’s business?

If someone wants to confront a friend or relative about what they perceive as a drinking problem, go for it. But to try and add a limit of ratings or drinks one can have while useing this website is absurd.

^ using

Originally posted by Ryan82SM

Originally posted by TheCheeseMan

Originally posted by Ryan82SM

Originally posted by nbutler11
Most bars will "cut you off" if you’ve had too many, but what constitutes "too many?"

From what I recall, for example, Old Chicago will only let you buy 4 beers a day to count toward their 100 beer club.

Is there a demonstrable problem? If so, is more regulation on the site a viable solution?

My concern doesn’t stem from a jealousy regarding economic differences.

Bottomline: Are we facilitating rating addiction?

This seems like a valid question that should be discussed, and although I’ve talked in person with Ratebeerians about it, I haven’t seen a thread on it. Thoughts?

I think you are brave for bringing this up at all- it is the elephant in the room of Ratebeer, I think.

As we see, people will find a way around a ratings cap, but I would personally take this as an opportunity to remind myself of my duty as a husband, father and as a friend to other beer drinkers. Fortunately, I don’t know anyone who has an alcohol addiction in this community (and, the people I do know were alcoholics long before Ratebeer) but how many of us are keeping up with our friends drinking habits, and making sure they aren’t slipping into dangerous drinking?

I mean, even with a high tolerance, if you are sampling more than ten beers, you are probably getting drunk (or am I just a lightweight?) and, depending on how often you are doing this, you may have a drinking problem that needs to be addressed. If a person is averaging 12+ ratings a day (backlog nonwithstanding) then how does that person NOT have an alcohol problem?

Why are you assuming that a full beer was consumed for that person to enter a rate?

To clarify, I said twelve ratings, not twelve beers. And, earlier in the same paragraph, I did refer to sampling. I think 2-4 oz. is a pretty typical size for a rated beer. And, depending on how many people are sharing, that sample may be 6 oz., if you are drinking with one friend.

Of course, it is impossible to know how many ounces were consumed in any one rate, but I think it not unreasonable to be concerned with a person’s well-bring when averaging 12 rates a day, at the perceived sample size above. Consider also that some of the beers involved are likely higher gravity, so the chance for intoxication is increased.

I clearly saw what you posted, but you are assuming quite a bit, as is the OP.

Originally posted by javit

Originally posted by DuffMan

Originally posted by javit

Originally posted by DuffMan

It should be. Even 6oz isn’t enough for a legitimate rate.

Wow! Your criteria for a "legitimate rate" must be pretty hardcore given that you haven’t even logged one rating! I bow to your aesthetics sir!

See my post a couple of pages back. The majority of the ratings here are for aesthetics only anyhow.

Dammit! And here I was hoping to change lives and shape opinions! So you are saying that these ratings that people bother with are only for their personal enjoyment? What a sad waste of time, not to mention the fostering of so many addictions...

You clearly don’t get it.

And seemingly, neither do you.

Originally posted by nbutler11
My thanks to the posters who took the time to write their thoughts instead of making this into a joke.

The cap idea aside, the deeper concern is whether we are incentivizing people to rate, and in whatever quantity, consume beer.

I thought the site was based on sharing opinions, not on excluding people who you don’t agree with.

Who is this "we" you are talking to? What collective do you represent? If you have a drinking problem, seek help and stop worrying about what others are doing.

stop the madness that is rate beer!

With regards how most of the raters here get so many ratings there are various methods to get there. I for one used to get almost all my rates from work, as we had a high turnover of different beers and i think i got 1400 rates one year. As it is in my job now i could easily get 10+ rates a day if I still rated, but i dont, I do however try thousands of different beers a year and thats just part of what my job entails.

So realistically if there was some cap put on ratings, I wouldnt be able to record my rates for no real reason at all.

Can I also say that any bar that puts a cap on the number of beers you have must be insane. Each person is different and some people will be mad on it after 3 beers, some will be fine after 15, its the responsibility of the bar manager to decide in each individual case wither to serve the person.

Originally posted by MagicDave6
Each person is different and some people will be mad on it after 3 beers, some will be fine after 15

A good point for the OP to consider. Of course, beers differ in their ABV, too, which complicates the picture further. For me, I’ve learned that 25% ABV in one day, spread over *several* hours, is my limit in avoiding hangovers (this amount is in conjunction with food, incidentally, typically a dinner and/or snack). I’m a 5’2" female - work out a lot, muscular 117 pounds, but still smaller than most here, so I’m probably never going to attain the kinds of rating proficiency or tolerance some people here have, and that is fine since I know my limits and don’t like to abuse them (can’t understand people who can "tolerate" hangovers - have only had a few in my time, but they are awful, ugh).

Anyway, taking that into consideration, along with the fact that many people merely sample small sizes of a beer, and that many go into backlogs of prior tastings, there are simply too many factors that could affect policing of what the OP wants.

I think we’ve all piled on him enough, and what he wants probably won’t occur much to everyone else’s agreement, so this is my final post in the thread - moving on to other things...

An other negative side to this idea is the losing members, do you really want that?

Originally posted by TheCheeseMan

Originally posted by Ryan82SM

Originally posted by TheCheeseMan

Originally posted by Ryan82SM

Originally posted by nbutler11
Most bars will "cut you off" if you’ve had too many, but what constitutes "too many?"

From what I recall, for example, Old Chicago will only let you buy 4 beers a day to count toward their 100 beer club.

Is there a demonstrable problem? If so, is more regulation on the site a viable solution?

My concern doesn’t stem from a jealousy regarding economic differences.

Bottomline: Are we facilitating rating addiction?

This seems like a valid question that should be discussed, and although I’ve talked in person with Ratebeerians about it, I haven’t seen a thread on it. Thoughts?

I think you are brave for bringing this up at all- it is the elephant in the room of Ratebeer, I think.

As we see, people will find a way around a ratings cap, but I would personally take this as an opportunity to remind myself of my duty as a husband, father and as a friend to other beer drinkers. Fortunately, I don’t know anyone who has an alcohol addiction in this community (and, the people I do know were alcoholics long before Ratebeer) but how many of us are keeping up with our friends drinking habits, and making sure they aren’t slipping into dangerous drinking?

I mean, even with a high tolerance, if you are sampling more than ten beers, you are probably getting drunk (or am I just a lightweight?) and, depending on how often you are doing this, you may have a drinking problem that needs to be addressed. If a person is averaging 12+ ratings a day (backlog nonwithstanding) then how does that person NOT have an alcohol problem?

Why are you assuming that a full beer was consumed for that person to enter a rate?

To clarify, I said twelve ratings, not twelve beers. And, earlier in the same paragraph, I did refer to sampling. I think 2-4 oz. is a pretty typical size for a rated beer. And, depending on how many people are sharing, that sample may be 6 oz., if you are drinking with one friend.

Of course, it is impossible to know how many ounces were consumed in any one rate, but I think it not unreasonable to be concerned with a person’s well-bring when averaging 12 rates a day, at the perceived sample size above. Consider also that some of the beers involved are likely higher gravity, so the chance for intoxication is increased.

I clearly saw what you posted, but you are assuming quite a bit, as is the OP.

To be fair, my conclusions do assume quite a bit, but you also assumed that I was referring to twelve full beers when I said samples in that post.

I can only go off of my experience, and typically, when I sample twelve beers, I am drunk (though I may sample this much 2x/year). Some of those beers are lower alcohol, some are higher, it depends on the session. So, I am basing the assumptions on my behavior.