Well, obviously there isnt 1 credit scheme that works for all forum types but I would like to make a few suggestions on the credits and see what you guys think.
1) There should be an admin set Floor and Ceiling variable set to determine the absolute lowest value a download can be worth and a max number of credits a download can be worth if getting credits based on file size. I don't want to encourage people to upload 40 meg files to earn credits.
My forum group trades 3d models. Our file sizes get pretty big, and its easy to spam the uploads with bloated files by increasing the number of triangles in the model. I can take a model from 1mb to 1gb in about 2 clicks. It would be great if I could say a file was worth 5 credits MAX and never worth less than 1 credit when uploading.
2) It would also be nice if a user could override the default number of credits required to download their upload. If the file is only 10kb but its something thats seriously hard to model or find, the guy shouldnt have to let people download it for 1 credit, he'll just add more triangles and bloat the file, which just hurts my storage space on my server lol.
3) I think it makes sense that when a user downloads a file, the author of that file should be able to earn credits (if enabled). This way, users that submit more sought after files will earn more profit from them by earning more credits. Sorta like a royalty payout.
I guess ultimately Id like a min/max value for earning credits, more user based control for editing the value of their upload (like setting their price). And the ability to earn a credit when another user downloads your file.