Can someone clear up point gaming for me?

This sounds obvious, but can someone tell me if I'm right or not. Here are some point gaming examples:





1) Answers with 'thanks for the two points' and no actual answer


2) Answers with 'thanks for the two points' accompanied by an actual answer


3) A question that has 'ten points for the best answer' in


4) When an agreement is made between two users to issue each other with points





Right, why are number 2 and 3 considered point gaming? You still ask a sensible question and get an answer, so why is it against the rules to advertise that you vote for your own best answer, or to say thank you when you recieve 2 points?





If I say '2 points for every answer here', is that point gaming? Would I be point gaming or would everyone be doing it (including the answerers and the questioner) .





I just need to understand this better because I had one of my questions removed and I was never told why!Can someone clear up point gaming for me?
Hi Mawkish,





Of these, #1 and #4 are considered point-gaming. We discourage #2 and #3, but they are acceptable as long as an actual answer is supplied or the ten points are only offered for the best answer (not for answering first or guessing someone's favorite color, etc.) respectively.





However, I've checked your account and am not seeing any violations. If you've had a question removed, it may have expired with no answers or gone to a vote with No Best Answer selected. I hope this helps clear up what happened.Can someone clear up point gaming for me?
if you mix points into the equation, it changes the focus of yahoo answers into a point grabbing free for all.


People ask questions in which they'd like to get an answer to. By saying 'thanks for the two points';, your not responding with an answer they asked for. People get fed up with that and won't come back to yahoo answers, and then they will lost revenue, then make less money, then cease to exist.


The rule is to protect the integrity of the purpose of asking questions.


If you don't have a good answer for a question, don't bother answering.
The best thing to do is just ask your question and do not say anything about receiving 2 points for answer or 10 points BA in you your question. That way you know for sure you are not messing up. It got really bad on here for a while with point gaming so yahoo has been really trying to stop it!!! Also to your question 2 points for every answer you are the one guilty because you ask the question not the people that answered it. Even though in reality they are point gaming also for answering. Hope this helps!!! Good Luck!!!
Technically, all four.





According to the blog, the Y!A team will crack down on ANY answer with the ';thanks'; line in it (thus my truncated use of it) as point gaming.





When I came on, #4 was the real definition of Point-gaming.





The smart thing to do would be avoid use of the term altogether