Goal
The main goal of JavaBlackBelt version 4, that we develop now, is to increase questions quality.
We think that freeing users from being obliged to contribute just after their yellow belt, would help reduce new low quality questions.
Cheating
But being obliged to contribute is one of the tools that help preventing people to cheat by creating a fake user and training on real exams with their fake user while taking their real user to succeed them.
Sequence
We would offer users a sequence of exams that they can take for free, with no contribution points, up to the green belt.
Why a Sequence ?
If all exams were just free, it would be too easy to cheat by just creating another user and looking at the released questions (by taking exams) with the other users, just before taking the exam with the first (real) user.
If we force people to follow a specific sequence, they need to make their fake user progress simultaneously to discover (and succeed?) the next exam with their fake user before they take the exam with their real user.
Of course, if the user has contribution points, he can take any exam by paying this his points, he does not have to follow the sequence.
Proposed Sequence
1. Java SE - Basic
2. OO for Java - Basic
3. Java SE Core - Intermed
4. Java SE Collections
5. Java SE Base API - Basic
6. OO - Intermed
7. Java SE Base API - Intermed
8. Java SE Core - Intermed - Programming
9. XML Core - Basic
When is one of these exams free ?
When a user has succeeded all the exams up to a specific point in the list, the immediate next one is free.
For example, a user has succeeded exams 1, 2 and 4 in the sequence. He could take the 4th exam by paying with contribution points. The next free exam is the number 3. When it will be succeeded, the next free exam will be the number 5.
What do you think ?
We are eager to have your opinion on this change before we develop it.
Please use this thread
.