Bitcoin Forum

I assume everyone knows by now that there was a new change to the ranking-up system and in order to rank-up to Jr. Member you need 1 merit. Also, all of the Jr. Members that did not have any merit were demoted to Newbie.
You can read more about it here: Enhanced newbie restrictions & requirements (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5030366.0)

This is a good approach to stopping the shit posting/spam in the forums and this might help us regain the Bitcoin & Altcoin discussion forums which were lost to spam a long time ago.

Another thing that needs to be fixed since there are a lot of people here that have higher ranks and still post garbage, is a better control over the shit campaign managers that basically pay people to spam. This way we could kill the cause completely and not the effect.

So, to all you guys that were demoted to Newbie please stop wasting your time by bitching about it and start contributing to the forum in order to receive merit and rank-up.

If you wonder where is the best place to start, then take a look at the rules here: Unofficial list of (official) Bitcointalk.org rules, guidelines, FAQ
 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=703657.0)

Or buy Copper Membership here (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2385104)
It will be so satisfying to report Copper spammer /I already did btw (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1926895.msg45822610#msg45822610)/, then you know that you loose time catching them ,but they loose money.

Yeah, you can buy the Copper membership but I think putting some time into your posts would be more beneficial long term.
If they buy the Copper Membership and then continue to spam the forums that's not solving our problems here.

Good catch BTW!  ;D I hope he will be red tagged as soon as possible.

theymos just killed meta  ;D

https://image.ibb.co/ncK7Be/1533145920788.gif

Even worse than back in January.

I kind of just woke up and haven't read the deluge of posts here yet, but are all of these Jr. Members that got busted back down to Newbie level going to get kicked out of their signature campaigns?  I would imagine they'd have to be since they can no longer wear any signature, right?  That sucks for them, but it's good for the forum overall.

Theymos, I applaud you for doing this.  It took some balls, but it was the right thing to do.

Yep, they're back to the newbie corner.

The thing is, I wonder why they're not focusing on making a good/contributive post, but choose to complaints and accuse theymos to be unfair, and etc. Even on my local board, there are a lot of accusations and complaints here and there. Meta? Nah, I will stop visiting meta for the next weeks because of this.

1 merit is not that hard, even I can get 1 merit by posting funny pic :/

Hopefully, the signature campaign managers give them tough love, and allow them 1 week to get a merit or they are kicked out. I imagine we'll be catching a few alt accounts meriting each other in the next few days.

Of course i will get used to the new forum update. i dont have a choice.
i just hope that the 36 new merit source accounts will do well to award merit to meaningful posts. And not award merit to a picture. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5030366.msg45810400#msg45810400  ;D ;D
I just have one question will i be awarded merit based on my previous post or current post.

Just when I thought the endless merit posts in Meta were over....

Another way, the new-newbie will destroy this forum buy a ton of shit post to get one merit  :(

Never gonna happen ;D

Before: Getting Merit Is A Big Deal

Now: Getting 1 Merit Is A Big Deal And May Break Your Whole Life ;D

Nope - Newbie shitposters will get nuked. Once they are members they can be banned but not nuked. (Nuke = entirely disappear)

If people want merit then write something worthy of merit. It isn't a shit-post lottery where by some miracle a shit-post will attract merit.

Here, I updated my picture so it will be accurate for the next few days weeks months. Feel free to use anywhere you like.

https://i.imgur.com/wfzSUEi.jpg

Exactly, already seeing full members randomly giving 1 merits, a bit surprised i haven't seen someone offer rep up service in 'Marketplace' yet. lol.

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40ish 60 i give up type of number new merit-related topics and it's been just a couple of hours. God have mercy.  I'm afraid to ask, but how many Jr.Members did we have...24hrs ago?

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Wonder what will be the long term effect. I struggle to believe that signature campaign abusers with thousands of accounts, will be stopped by the new ranking requirements. Possibly a minor inconvenience for them, as they are likely to find a way, whether it's buying/trading merit or hacking accounts. We can expect countless jr.members accounts with 200+ activity and single merit hoarding signature campaigns again in less than 5 months.

edit:

It didn't take long:

https://image.ibb.co/nrwGMe/merit_sell_is_selling_merit.jpg (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5030998.0)

Already reported, a troll?

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https://image.ibb.co/jzdcBe/kro.jpg (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4979978.msg45836066#msg45836066)

Agreed, but it's a good first step. 1 merit is easily tradable, and I think the ultimate goal would be to remove signatures from everyone below member rank, thereby requiring 10 merits instead of 1 before being able to participate in bounty campaigns.

It's good for the forym right now but with me now i have to stop everything. I dont complaint about it, just want everyone to be active in this forum, avoid many dangerous

Yes indeed! The new rule is an excellent response to the spammers and shitposters at the forum.

I also think that the main reason why people here spam is because of the bounty campaigns. Just to get the minimum post they spam which causes this forum a bad image.

I see great opportunities for "writing services": selling good quality unique articles, so a spammer can have one decent post and likely earn some Merit.
(and this is why I often check a user's post history before meriting him)

I have no doubt there will be some cheaters who slip trough, probably a few thousand (just like there are many more users with exactly 10 Merit than 8, 9, 11 or 12 Merit).
The Merit system isn't airtight, but it reduces the problem from "unlimited" to "a few thousand".

Okay, so I'm also one of the fresh N00bs (and I probably lost some bounties and/or airdrops because of this new rule) but hey - if nothing else, reading all the new topics and arguments from forum legends on the one side and all the affected ones on the other is actually quite entertaining... ;D

Joke aside, is there by any chance a list of topics where merit is more often given away? It seems that I mostly hang out on the wrong parts of the forum...

Don't give them any ideas  ;) I'm sure they fill figure it out but still...


Totally, we just have to get through this spam i want to help topics/posts which are spreading like wild fire through entire forum.
My fav board - Scam Accusations is now filled with these recently demoted users.  :-\

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On a side note, i know it's probably bad, but i'm having a great time seeing these shitposters beg/cry for merit. It's just feels right. lol

I found the Nostradamus Prophecy where this was predicted:

85
Throughout Meta and neighboring places,
They will be at war over the new merit requirement:
Swarms of bounty hunters and signature spammers,
The faults of the forum will be laid quite bare.

(Of course this is my interpretation - since Nostradamus is more cryptic)

85
Through the Suevi and neighboring places,
They will be at war over the clouds:
Swarm of marine locusts and gnats,
The faults of Geneva will be laid quite bare.

This is extremely bad... I think a lot of newbies will try to buy merit but I think they are missing the point. If they just put a bit of time in one of their posts I bet they could easily get 1 merit for it.

What if theymos will increase the merit requirement? Will they buy more? Long term buying is not a solution.

No it is not bad.

A lot of shitposters will abandon their "work"

Others will buy merit and get red tagged for it - making their account only acceptable to the worst of the campaigns that will take anyone that breathes.

Others will buy a copper membership, buy merit, plagiarize content, or make a genuine post and then get banned for shitposting or plagiarism if they break the rules.

Either way - it will cost them effort or crypto to have an account that they can lose for breaking the rules - so hopefully they will stop breaking the rules.

Less rule-breakers is the ultimate goal. If they go undetected for buying merit - that is less bad than spamming the forum.


If you buy merit and the merit seller gets caught - ddmrddmr has fantastic graphics that will show all the recipients.

Awarded merit is viewable  -forever !

https://i.imgur.com/OEy8Vi2.png

It's sad and pathetic to read this barely 2 days into the new regime for ranking up. Humans will always look for ways to cheat the system. Unfortunately, a lot of people will get scammed in the process. I see no reason why anyone should try to buy a merit to rank up. My gut feelings tells me that newbie account was created by someone who's ranked up already and is using that as a pseudo in order not to get busted.

I'm still a newbie and will NEVER attempt to buy my way up. It's never been in my character to do such, even in the outside world.  

I'm sure that no one on the forum wanna become shitporters or something like that. If the BM use google form to report the "work", maybe you can't see any spams.

Bounty camps will be shut down > which will lead to increased unemployment rates > street riots and government takeover > occasional mass suicides in Southeast Asia. The events of 17th September 2018 will be nothing compared to what will happen if you require 5/10 merits to rank up. Bounty warriors will set META on fire and burn it to the ground.
Nostradamus signing off

Don't worry you will rank up and light up some merit.


I am sure you can do it!


Kidding aside, Merit do kill. According to research:

Merit generally has negative health effects, because of enhanced newbie restrictions & requirements inherently poses challenges to various physiologic processes such as respiration, which affects your thinking for new quality post just to gain merit. Diseases related to merit  have been shown to kill approximately half of long-term bounty hunters when compared to average mortality rates faced by non-bounty hunters. Merit caused over 1.2 million deaths from January 2018 to present.

Merit is one of the most common forms of recreational drug use. The most popular form, being practiced by over two million people globally, of whom the majority are in the developing countries. Less common drugs for merit include cannabis and opium. Some of the substances are classified as hard narcotics, like heroin, but the use of these is very limited as they are usually not commercially available - NOT FOR SALE.

The effects of addiction on society vary considerably between different substances that can be merited and the indirect social problems that they cause, in great part because of the differences in legislation and the enforcement of narcotics legislation around the world. Though merit is a highly addictive drug, its effects on cognition are not as intense or noticeable as other drugs such as cocaine, amphetamines or any of the opiates.

Merit is a risk factor in Alzheimer's disease. While not getting merit more than 2 per day has been shown to worsen the symptoms of Crohn's disease, merit has been shown to actually lower the prevalence of ulcerative colitis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merit (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking)


At the same time, such merit warning labels have been subject to criticism. 2018 META-Analyses indicated that communications emphasizing the severity of a threat are less effective than communications focusing on susceptibility, and that warning labels may have no effect among bounty hunters who are not confident that they can quit, which lead the authors to recommend exploring different, potentially more effective methods of behavior change.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merit_warning_messages (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_packaging_warning_messages)

Have some https://i.imgur.com/6d5oMss.png.

I think they should start practicing their self first to make a better person and keep in their mind that before they get something they want they need to fight in a fairly way.

You're a funny guy  ;D

If you think of it the last prediction with META being on fire is not far to be true. Everybody has started posting here like mad, hunting the magical 1 merit.
I didn't see any of them posting here beforehand.  ::)

It's not that hard, if you have only 1 account, and you really try it... But if you are an account farmer with 100s or 1000s of account, just imagine, they have to write 100s and 1000s of decent posts, if every post gets it's merit... if only every 3rd... that's 3000 posts to write in a few days, because they will be kicked from their campaign... So for the good newbies, it should not be a real barrier but for cheaters... I like this idea

Yes, indeed. That was the whole point, making it really difficult for people that are farming loads of accounts to join bounties to continue spamming the forums.

Merit is now becoming a big deal for every newbie in the current situation wherein it may had disappoint the former jr. members that are now newbies  and no longer able to join bounty campaign. Despite of the the new ruling by Theymos, newbies should accept wholeheartedly and just accept it as a challenge to improve and enhance the postings to become more informative to the viewers.

https://image.ibb.co/jqOxhK/257656318.jpg (http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/shared/npr/201805/257656318.jpg)

Boys, it's been two days since... Do you think we will recover?

   Really sad about them, selfish people, are they trying to profit from this forum, sometimes I find it more anxious for those who are trying to put money to buy merit, they can be cheated by the crooks.

why will people using money to buy merit , on what purpose is that is meant for? i think according to what read in this forum , merit are for everybody so,therefore give merit to those worthy for it.

It's really reduced spam on the forum! It's a bitcointalk but not a bountytalk!

Day 3:

*happily OD'd on shitposts in Meta

http://oi63.tinypic.com/r1zfix.jpg (http://oi63.tinypic.com/r1zfix.jpg)