Reputation Decay — Reputation System

Decay Rules

Event Type	Age Threshold	Weight After Threshold
Package installs	Older than 2 years	50% (each install worth 0.5 pts instead of 1 pt)
5-star reviews	Older than 2 years	50% (each review worth 5 pts instead of 10 pts)
Certified certification points	No decay	100% — certification points never decay
Q&A accepted answers	No decay	100% — community contribution points never decay
Admin awards	No decay	100% — admin award points never decay

Two Score Types Explained

Lifetime Points

Sum of all points ever earned, with no decay applied. This number only ever increases (or decreases by explicit deduction like certification revocation). Used exclusively for tier threshold calculation.

Weighted Score

Sum of points with age-based decay applied to installs and reviews older than 2 years. This score can decrease over time as old activity crosses the 2-year threshold. Used for leaderboard ranking only.

What Decay Affects

Uses Lifetime Points	Uses Weighted Score
Tier calculation (Bronze/Silver/Gold/Platinum)	Leaderboard ranking
Tier-based search boost eligibility	Publisher profile "Reputation Score" display
Featured placement eligibility	Daily leaderboard update

Tier is completely insulated from decay

A publisher who reached Gold with 5,000 lifetime points and whose weighted score subsequently drops to 3,200 due to old installs decaying still holds Gold tier — because tier is calculated from lifetime points (5,000), which remains above the Gold threshold (5,000). Tier never decreases due to decay.

How Decay is Calculated

Decay is applied during the nightly weighted score recalculation. Each install and review event is evaluated individually:

Event age check — For each install and review in the publisher's event log, the system calculates the event's age from the event timestamp to the current date.

Threshold evaluation — Events older than 2 years (730 days) are flagged for reduced weight. Events 730 days or fewer are counted at full weight.

Weight application — Decayed events contribute 50% of their nominal point value. Installs contribute 0.5 pts; 5-star reviews contribute 5 pts.

Score aggregation — All weighted event contributions are summed to produce the new weighted score. Certification, community, and admin award points are added at full value.

Leaderboard update — The leaderboard is re-ranked based on the updated weighted scores. Publishers can see their weighted score in the Publisher Dashboard → Reputation section.

Example: Decay in Practice

Consider a publisher with the following history at the 2-year mark:

Activity	Raw Points	Age	Weighted Points
800 installs (recent)	800 pts	< 2 years	800 pts
600 installs (old)	600 pts	> 2 years	300 pts (50%)
30 five-star reviews (recent)	300 pts	< 2 years	300 pts
20 five-star reviews (old)	200 pts	> 2 years	100 pts (50%)
2 certifications	200 pts	Any age	200 pts (no decay)
10 accepted answers	50 pts	Any age	50 pts (no decay)
Totals	2,150 pts (Lifetime)	—	1,750 pts (Weighted)

This publisher holds Silver tier (lifetime 2,150 ≥ 1,000) while ranking on the leaderboard at 1,750 weighted points. As they continue publishing and earning reviews, the weighted score will grow. If they stop being active, the weighted score will gradually decline as more old events cross the 2-year threshold.

Publishers who go inactive will see their leaderboard rank drop

Decay is the mechanism that keeps the leaderboard current. A publisher who earned significant points 3 years ago and has done nothing since will see their weighted score erode over time. Their tier remains protected, but their leaderboard position will decline as active publishers accumulate fresh, undecayed points.

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