Print Page - Source merit increase.

I've just been given a large increase in my source merit quota, and I'm not sure how to handle this. I've been awarding merits in ones and twos, but I plan to increase this. I'm going to be giving away 5 and 10 merit awards for posts that I like in a few categories. These will be -

Technical help for Bitcoin users
Quality topics on local economic issues, especially when related to crypto.
Political issues related to banking and international payments.

I'll add some more categories when I think of them.

I'll quote this (again):

Quote from: theymos on October 21, 2018, 02:28:55 PM

If they complain about amounts, tell them to complain to me. It's best if sources try to exhaust their source allocations, even if it means giving posts higher amounts than is typical. If you have 150 source merit and you only see 3 merit-worthy posts in a month, then I'd rather you over-give each of them 50 merit than let the merit expire. That way there are more people capable of sending merit, and the "merit economy" is less top-down.

I don't really agree though, and wouldn't just dump 50 Merit per post, so I'll leave it up to the reader how to interpret this.

After my last source increase (in January), I still managed to empty it by sending 1 Merit per post most of the time. My stats last Friday (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3078328.msg53027740#msg53027740):

Code:

     5. 6932 Merit sent by LoyceV (#459836) to 1362 unique users in 4744 transactions

But I couldn't keep up that way so my new system was to give more per post once remaining source amount reached 5-10% of the maximum.

Note that once your source amount is adjusted, you receive the total amount instantly. That means no refills for the coming 30 days.
My advice to Merit sources: spend it evenly the coming 30 days, and aim to empty your source around the last day (December 13), so that it comes back evenly after that. That prevents this repeating pattern of running out of source Merits:

Quote from: LoyceV on November 06, 2019, 12:37:54 PM

I can see from your (micgoossens') sMerit distribution that for months in a row you're out of sMerit before the end of the month:

Quote

Merit sent by micgoossens (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1067333) (Trust list (http://loyce.club/trust/2019-10-26_Sat_10.16h/1067333.html)) from January 24, 2018 until November 01, 2019 (source (http://loyce.club/Merit/history/1067333.html))

http://loyce.club/Merit/history/img/1067333_red.gif

After this first month, you can keep your source as close to zero as possible all the time to maximize the amount you can send.

I'd actually run out of source merits, and I had started on my personal merits, so I'll still have a stream of replacement merits arriving.
I'm about to quit the Sainsbury's restaurant, so I'll be hunting tomorrow, so all you guys who are after merits start making those qulity posts about the Bitcoin economy. If you are on my ignore list, then tough, but I may review that soon. Just remember the posts and threads I skip over.

- Threads with all caps titles
- Misuse of quotes, especially nested quotes.
- Stupid text formatting, or all bold or coloured text.

If English is not your first language, then I won't can you for trying, but do use a spellchecker, and read your post out loud to see if it flows nicely.

Quote from: Harlot on November 14, 2019, 07:41:43 PM

If you say “local economic issues” are you talking about posts and threads found in the Economics and Press section? Or are you also including literal economic issues found on local boards?

I think he means boards like Bitcoin discussion, Economics... If there is a quality post discussing on how Bitcoin and crypto is affecting economics in different parts of the world. Probably something like what you observed in your local area first hand and how its being impacted by crypto.

Quote from: Harlot on November 14, 2019, 07:41:43 PM

I think with a lot of merit sources receiving a huge bump in their sMerits to give they should start to also venture out on non-English boards as well if they do count on the certain categories you have provided.

That would be upon the local board Merit sources which i think are there in plenty at the moment.

BTW, I think people who make quality posts both in Local boards and the general English boards have almost 2 times chances of getting merit from both places than users who post only in the English boards or Local boards.
I have seen a number of members active in both local and English boards rank up very quickly compared to those active in only one type of boards.

If i had some data scrapping and statistical knowledge, i would try to study this... unfortunate, i know nothing :D

Mine was increased as well. The adjustment is based on the last 6 months of sMerit sent including both source merit and personal merit and the amount was multiplied by 175%.

I had found myself consistently out of source and personal sMerit and can start to increase the number of merit per post and number of posts I can merit each month.

Edit: there are now 98 merit sources and it looks like the total source merit decreased so some sources were removed.

Quote from: Quickseller on November 15, 2019, 12:36:28 AM

Edit: there are now 98 merit sources and it looks like the total source merit decreased so some sources were removed.

Not only this. Total merit sources decrease 24.6% whilst total sMerits allocated to all sources each 30 days increase 3.7%.
Details:

Code:

. di (130-98)/130*100
24.615385

. di (21671-20895)/20895*100
3.7138071

Additionally, please see (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5180975.msg53079446#msg53079446).

For theoritical increase of 30-days sMerits for each source, let assume each source receive same sMerits before and after the latest changes.

Code:

. di 20895/130
160.73077

. di 21671/98
221.13265

. di (222-161)/161*100
37.888199

From the above calculation, each source was allocated 161 and 222 sMerits before and after the latest changes, respectively. So it means each source theoritically received around 61 more sMerits or 38-percent of increase for their 30-days allocated sMerits.

You wrote this

Quote from: Quickseller on November 15, 2019, 12:36:28 AM

Mine was increased as well. The adjustment is based on the last 6 months of sMerit sent including both source merit and personal merit and the amount was multiplied by 175%.

So the assumption above is wrong, it is just for fun to give us a kind of estimation.

Quote from: eternalgloom on November 14, 2019, 06:48:22 PM

Same here, guess I'll start sending 3 - 5 merits at once from now on.

I might do the same thing, or I might just start looking for more posts to merit, though I don't plan on lowering my standards any. I did just check my sMerits and I'm glad to see I just got around 200 more. Thanks, Theymos. There are certainly a lot of shitposters who don't deserve to rank up, but there are a lot of members who do deserve it, and their posts go under-merited for whatever reason. Sometimes even really good ones don't earn any merits, and that's a needless impediment for the people making good posts.

Quote from: Quickseller on November 15, 2019, 12:36:28 AM

Edit: there are now 98 merit sources and it looks like the total source merit decreased so some sources were removed.

Huh. I hadn't looked at that number in a while. Weren't there something like 120 merit sources at one point?

Quote from: The Pharmacist on November 15, 2019, 01:16:09 AM

Huh. I hadn't looked at that number in a while. Weren't there something like 120 merit sources at one point?

Your memory is correct but the total merit sources was at 120 at two points at least: on 17/9/2018 and 22/12/2018.

Here you go (I posted link to this thread in my above post but it seems you did not notice it.) :P
The all time high of total merit sources is 131 (from my sparsely observation but it could be wrong).

Quote from: tranthidung on November 15, 2019, 12:02:04 AM

Time-series plot:

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

Updated data:

Code:

. list id day month2 year date meritsource smerit, abb(30)

     +-------------------------------------------------------------+
     | id   day   month2   year        date   meritsource   smerit |
     |-------------------------------------------------------------|
  1. |  1    24        1   2018   24jan2018            35     8125 |
  2. |  2    26        1   2018   26jan2018            49     9025 |
  3. |  3     1        3   2018   01mar2018            57    11975 |
  4. |  4    12        3   2018   12mar2018            77    17650 |
  5. |  5    22        3   2018   22mar2018            80    17800 |
     |-------------------------------------------------------------|
  6. |  6    18        5   2018   18may2018            80    18500 |
  7. |  7     6        7   2018   06jul2018            82    18900 |
  8. |  8    11        7   2018   11jul2018            83    19100 |
  9. |  9    17        9   2018   17sep2018           120    23045 |
 10. | 10    17       11   2018   17nov2018           119    22045 |
     |-------------------------------------------------------------|
 11. | 11    22       12   2018   22dec2018           120    22055 |
 12. | 12     5        1   2019   05jan2019           123    20735 |
 13. | 13     6        2   2019   06feb2019           122    20835 |
 14. | 14    15        3   2019   15mar2019           130    20605 |
 15. | 15    27        6   2019   27jun2019           131    21045 |
     |-------------------------------------------------------------|
 16. | 16    30       10   2019   30oct2019           130    20895 |
 17. | 17    14       11   2019   14nov2019            90    18821 |
 18. | 18    15       11   2019   15nov2019            98    21671 |
     +-------------------------------------------------------------+

Quote from: tranthidung on November 15, 2019, 01:03:09 AM

Quote from: Quickseller on November 15, 2019, 12:36:28 AM

Edit: there are now 98 merit sources and it looks like the total source merit decreased so some sources were removed.

Not only this. Total merit sources decrease 24.6% whilst total sMerits allocated to all sources each 30 days increase 3.7%.
Details:

Code:

. di (130-98)/130*100
24.615385

. di (21671-20895)/20895*100
3.7138071

Code:

. di 20895/130
160.73077

. di 21671/98
221.13265

. di (222-161)/161*100
37.888199

Quote from: Quickseller on November 15, 2019, 12:36:28 AM

Mine was increased as well. The adjustment is based on the last 6 months of sMerit sent including both source merit and personal merit and the amount was multiplied by 175%.

So the assumption above is wrong, it is just for fun to give us a kind of estimation.

If 175% of the average merit you have given out over the last 6 months is less than 10, you were removed as a merit source, so if you haven't been giving out much merit recently, your source merit was removed. It is also possible someone was quietly caused doing bad things with their source merit and were removed.

Can anyone tell me how I can calculate my source for each month? I spent all my sMerits a few days ago and today I received this message^[1], I checked Merits and found more than 300. Can anyone tell me how many sMerits are per month or a simple tool to calculate them?

[1]

Quote

The average amount of merit you sent per month (including both source merit and personal sMerit) in the last 6 months was computed, and your new source allocation was set equal to 175% of this amount. However, if this would've caused you to have a source merit of less than 10, then you were removed as a merit source

I feel so inferior - I got fewer than 200 added to my bag. I guess it is because I was only awarding 1s and 2s. I'm still ambivalent about awarding larger amounts. However, it does encourage me when I get few merits for a post or thread. What I find discouraging is the mass of merits that go to the providers of statistical info, and other post about the forum mechanics. All these services are useful, but they don't help to build the forum into a Bitcoin discussion hub. I try to award merits in the tech support posts, and it saddens me to see the paucity of awards in them.

Quote from: LoyceV on November 14, 2019, 07:03:10 PM

Quote from: LoyceV on November 06, 2019, 12:37:54 PM

I can see from your (micgoossens') sMerit distribution that for months in a row you're out of sMerit before the end of the month:

Quote

After this first month, you can keep your source as close to zero as possible all the time to maximize the amount you can send.

Yeah I knew, but the amount that was given wasn't very low, but I just had some good posts at that time and when there was merit available... I just didn't hesitate using it, if i'm out early I don't mind and I'll wait or complain :P

But still main reason is to empty the merits on good posts and I just don't calculate it out ::)

Now with this increase I'm provided much better as before obviously :D

I won't complain the first two months I bet .... But gonna be more online in different topics etc So gonna see where it go's

Quote from: Jet Cash on November 15, 2019, 09:11:13 AM

What I find discouraging is the mass of merits that go to the providers of statistical info, and other post about the forum mechanics.

I've noticed this too, and I'm on the receiving end of many of those Merits. I think it's just because many people with sMerit to send read Meta and Reputation, and less of the technical boards.
On the other hand, I've also received a nice amount of Merit (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2848987.0) for other subjects, but I've been bumping this specific topic since January last year.

It may be nice to compare "Merit received per view" for a few topics:
0.00185 Merit per view: LoyceV's Merit data analysis (full data since Jan. 24, 2018; not just 120 days) (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3078328.0)
0.00312 Merit per view: Fees are low, use this opportunity to Consolidate your small inputs! (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2848987.0)
0.01315 Merit per view: LoyceV's Trust list viewer - Create your own Trust list! (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5102296.0)
0.02802 Merit per view: Using Locktime for inheritance planning, backups or gifts (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5180850.0)
0.06054 Merit per view: LoyceV's Beginners guide to correct use of the Trust system (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5191802.0)

I must add that the third topic has by took much more effort to create than any other topic I've ever made.

Quote from: El duderino_ on November 15, 2019, 11:01:16 AM

But still main reason is to empty the merits on good posts and I just don't calculate it out ::)

You should calculate it :P
Theymos wants sources to empty it, so if you find more good posts, give less per post, and if you find only a few posts, send enough to still empty your source.

The problem with showering merits onto forum stats, and ignoring the main purpose of the forum, is that it discourages some members. Since I've started to notice the rapid rise in merits for forum "governance", and I've had posts deleted, and ignored when I comment in topics that I think are relevant to the old purpose of the forum, I've joined some other forums ( not crypto ), and I'm spending time on them, rather than trying to promote activity here. You guys need to decide on the forum you want for the future, and use your merits awarding and posting to help guide it. Mods can also help by considering their thread deletion policies. In the past, I've taken a few days off as a direct result of what I considered to be an unreasonable post deletion.

The latest source increases are likely to make matters worse. If the greatest increases go to the bounty encouragers, and the governance gurus, and not to the members who are really interested in Bitcoin, and want to talk about it, then you will end up with a social club and a shopping mall.

Another issue is the belittling of members with sincerely held beliefs. I've done a lot of research into vaccination for example, and I have become aware that it has been weaponised. Calling me a tin hat loonie because I have looked at results from 8 years plus, and the belittlers have only considered results from a few days after vaccination, just makes the forum posters appear to be blinkered, and discourages sensible discussion.

Lets adopt the rhetoric of Donald Trump rather than Donald Duck, and lets make Bitcoin Talk great again.

I’ve started to search a bit deeper around the forum lately to look for people who don’t get that many Merit’s. I’ll always Merit reputable members when they make a good post but I think it’s important to help lower ranked posters rank up otherwise we just have an exclusive old boys club of Legendary Members & nobody else gets Merited.

Try to send at least 1/3 of your daily sendable merit’s to deserving low ranked accounts.

My monthly allowance is a lot less than some of you guys, Loyce & suchmoon etc but I’ll do my best for the forum to spread the love around a little bit.

Quote from: Jet Cash on November 15, 2019, 12:27:18 PM

I would agree. Although, the forum statistics are informative, and I do believe they deserve some amount of merit. However, with the recent increase of source merit I'm hoping users will be rewarding more merits to other things, and not just the statistical threads. I'm certainly not going to stop meriting those statistical threads that are of high quality. Although, posts using generic data from tools made by other users on the forum will likely not be merited by myself or at least not receive as much merit. I think we've seen a rise of users who are using these tools as a way to get merit, when largely the statistical information provided doesn't really offer much insight that anyone else could get from the tools which have been made available to the public.

Quote from: Jet Cash on November 15, 2019, 12:27:18 PM

You guys need to decide on the forum you want for the future, and use your merits awarding and posting to help guide it. Mods can also help by considering their thread deletion policies. In the past, I've taken a few days off as a direct result of what I considered to be an unreasonable post deletion.

Don't feel like you need to take a few days off if a post is deleted. Message either myself or another mod that you think handled it. I certainly don't handle a lot of your posts that are reported, but I might be able to offer my thoughts on why it was deleted even if I'm not the mod that actually handled the report. This offer is open to anyone as well. I'll try my best to get back to any messages which is seeking clarification for why a post was deleted. If you don't get a reply then just assume I've missed it as my inbox can be a little messy some days, and send another message.

Quote from: Jet Cash on November 14, 2019, 06:44:27 PM

Technical help for Bitcoin users
Quality topics on local economic issues, especially when related to crypto.
Political issues related to banking and international payments.

I'll add some more categories when I think of them.

Personally i always like to give merits to them who are helping newbies and making contribution for the forum. I think it doesn't matter a lot where he is posting but purpose behind posting is important. Its a good news for newbies that merit sources are getting big number of smerit and as a merit source if you use your smerits for quality posters and contributors then number of merit isn't a big fact here. I can explain it from my own situation. I am not a merit source and sometime when i get out of smerit at that time if i wish to give someone merit after seeing his quality post or deserving activity then its not possible for me. You are one step ahead here and community users will be able to get best encouragement from you by getting merits.

Yeah you can select more categories for allowing someone to have merit from your side but i will suggest you to give priority to them who are working so hard for the welfare of this community and its users.

Quote from: LFC_Bitcoin on November 15, 2019, 04:10:15 PM

Merits should be given to posts without any attention to username of the poster, the rank and number of merits the user has already earned.
If a legendary member makes a post and receive certain number of merits, equal number of merits should be given to a newbie if that post had been posted by him.

Quote from: hugeblack on November 15, 2019, 08:56:40 AM

Quote

I believe your source merit is refilled when your monthly allocation is changed. So if you had 300 source merit immediately after you received the message from theymos, your monthly allocation is 300 and will see your source merit replenished 30 days after you spend any source merit after you received the message.

Quote from: suchmoon on November 15, 2019, 08:55:37 PM

So you should probably consider spending them at a pace that would last you a month without replenishment.

I've still got a load of "earned" sMerits, so I will be able to honour any meriting promises I make for the foreseeable future. I'd like to spend my source merits over the next few days, but I don't seem to have much chance of doing that given the failure of my mining thread in the beginners' section.

Quote from: Jet Cash on November 16, 2019, 06:03:51 AM

but I don't seem to have much chance of doing that given the failure of my mining thread in the beginners' section.

You ask alot from this range of users, how about Instead of restricting the discussion to certain range of users you open it for everyone but your merit rewarding will then be concentrating on the range of users you're hoping to read contributions from. Your criteria seems to encourage creating of new account to contribute while discouraging others to respond supposedly they had something worth saying as of when they saw the thread.

Could also be since the topic been discussed already has a focus user based individuals and most of them already spent most of their time in the mining board, they're not aware of this opportunity you offer.

Bitcoin Forum

Other => Meta => Topic started by: Jet Cash on November 14, 2019, 06:44:27 PM