hi,

used many forums, never come across "rep". what is it how does it work? is it a post counter?!?

What is this “rep” thing on the forums?
Rep is the user's reputation rating, showing how respected and well-known you are in the community. You can quickly estimate a user's rep by looking at the number of stars next to their rep value. Getting one or two stars is fairly easy, while five stars is a serious achievement. Those who earn maximum reputation can expect some kind of nice bonus (surprise, surprise! :).There is a number of ways you can earn and improve your rep, including actively spending time on the GOG.com forums (no, that doesn't include spamming), receiving lots of positive ratings for your posts or simply helping other users (this can earn you lots of rep!). On the other hand, ignoring posting guidelines and rules is a simple way to lose tons of rep points (depending on how severe the violation was). Also, getting lots of negative feedback in a short time will cost you some rep points.

yeah i read the faq, still confused :-)

Can't you guys choose a new avatar ?

i feel i need more "rep" before i take that step :-P

There is no need for it. Or am I wrong?

It's, roughly, a number-of-days-of-forum-activity counter, with bonuses for having made posts that peoiple have up-repped a lot (green plus button) and malus for having made posts that people have down-repped a lot (red minus button). Below a certain amount of reputation (10 i think, or zero ?) you cannot post internet links - as an attempt to hinder commercial spamming.

That's basically it. No reason to pay attention to it.

was interested in the "surprise". i suppose i will have to post for 1500 days OR a 5 star poster can just tell me :-P

There is, there is ! It is what makes the forums PRETTY.

... and makes it easier to recognize people.
When someone changes their (non-default) avatar, it confuses people like me.

In other words :

Avatars are also needed in order to succesfully confuse people !

Damn, now I have changed it. I can`t confuse people anymore :)

You can change it again. But, as an easily confused person, I'd recommend waiting long enough so that an association between your username and avatar has been established.

Rep is what gives a gog user his power. It's an energy field created by all posts. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the forum together.