Bitcoin Forum

How long have you checked your merit status to see how many smerits you have there to appreciate worthy posts?
Sometimes for a very long time, we do forget that we have some smerits to give out. Maybe because it takes really a long time to decay, then we don't use it ;
" There is no point in hoarding sMerit; keeping it yourself does not benefit you, and we reserve the right to decay unused sMerit in the future".

Have you thought about it disappearing by April 1  ;D :o  ::)?

Smerits would not just decay all of a sudden, that is if it will decay at all, I'm sure before theymos does that he will inform the community ahead, so users can make good use of their smerits. Everyone is encouraged to be involved in the merit process(sending and also receiving), but it cannot be imposed on them, but then there are the merit sources who are giving them out without any restraint.

I think it wont be a bad idea if Theymos can effectively decay unused merit as he mentioned at the start of the Merit system. Perhaps the Merit sources will know better on this. A lot of users may be having the sMerit without even knowing they actually have them or some who only wait to merit only posts from their clique/friends even when such posts are not worthy to be merited.

He is probably talking about the April Fools prank theymos and the admins pulls off every April 1 in forum time. The last prank if I remembered it correctlt was about a fake KYC requirement that has a funny KYC form. OP might just be suggesting this idea to prank and teach users at the same time to use their unspent sMerit in their account which might be a good prank.

As @ETFbitcoin mentioned those who don't use their smerits for whatever reason will not mind much if it's decayed and it will not encourage merit usage, neither will it increase the amount of merits in circulation.

There are a couple of reasons why smerits are not spent quickly, one of them is lack of time to check out quality posts around the various boards,in which case the user may give huge chunks to members at one go when they do funds quality posts or give out merits to more active smerit spenders to increase their stash.

Personally, I'm aware of how much sMerits I still have, because I have given if I see some post worthy of a merit. Just a couple of weeks ago, I exhausted my merit to help one locals to rank-up. But I was able to earn a few now and will continue to distribute it as I see fit.

Lol, you have given Theymos idea on what prank to pull on April fools,  :)

I check and use them regularly, so I rarely keep many sMerit. Recently, I never keep more than 10 sMerit for a long time. Especially now, it is only a single sMerit (1). For a member like me, it won't be surprised if seeing no sMerit. I think it will be better to apply another idea for a surprising moment on April 1. How about if every member is required to do KYC to access their account at that time?  ;D :D

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For someone who doesn't understand what April 1 is. Please googling or use "search" feature! No need to PM me.  :D

Imagine those Merit Sources seeing their balances at 0.

Major uproar! :D

Thanks buddy for looking deeper on the mind of the writer  ;D
At least I know some users have not really checked on sMerit they have for a long time.

The post isn't for those who don't have smerit because you can't give what you don't have  ::)

i wouldn't mind a decay period as long as it is more than 2 or 3 days.
or a better idea would be replenishing spendable merits of those users who have 0 smerits 90% of the times despite receiving a lot of it already :P

If this happens on 1st of April it wont be a constructive joke for sure. I try to empty my sMerit stash all the time so it won't be nice you are looking for good posts and suddenly realize you have no sMerit left.
If they decay with the time, I won't have a problem, I empty them so often that already applied for a merit source ;)

Good point.
I often find myself "keeping" the merit in case i need it later. But i never "need" it, so might as well spend it when i see something helpful, or at least funny

I always rinse my smert like an addict, never having more than 1 at a time for more than 24 hours  ;D

That said, I only ever really merit 1 post/topic at a time, so I have no issues with this  :P I think the lower rank you are, the more important it is to "spend" your smerit imo. I think believe people merit "smerit hoarders" as much as those who give as much as they receive. What comes around goes around and all that.

No, and I doubt this year's joke will deal with merit, but we'll have to see.

I got off to a horrible start this month distributing merits, but I'm trying to catch up.  The good thing is that I'm not running out anymore, because that was a problem for a while.  I don't like when my sMerits start to pile up, because it makes me feel like I'm doing a lousy job as a merit source, but it's even worse when I see an excellent post and don't have any sMerits left to give.

But face it, OP.  Some members really don't care about the merit system and don't feel the need to use it.  That's their prerogative, and I don't have a problem with that at all.  Just like on Facebook or Reddit, you're not obligated to like or upvote posts.

But this does not mean you have to distribute all your available smerits on any given post that you find "funny" or "interesting". The rank that is gained through merits has to indicate the user's adequacy, effort on the forum's development and knowledge level in the industry.

No, I don't think also like this. This will not surprise more what we need IMO. Because only who will check the smerit or who will try to give merit someone will face a problem and would be surprised a little bit. But all people user will not be surprised by it. And I will think theymos will try his some way by which all people will be surprised by the first visit of bitcointalk on 1st April. :)

I uses some userscripts (thanks @ETFbitcoin) that make it easy to check it, but if you are not a Merit Source, you will find that you have a few sMerits to spend, so I don't think it is a problem (Sources generates more Merits.)

Everything is received on the first of April, but everything ends on that day, so even the verification of identity "When the hell cooled down" was requested on that day.

Ain't that kind who hoarding of smerit, even though I know that I don't have smerit to spend but once I saw a good and constructive post I still click the +Merit just hoping there is a change and I have something to give. But the fact it will always remain zero (0) balance upon seeing on it.

Let see what theymos come on his mind about this coming April fools, maybe like this, everyone will surprise seeing there is unlimited smerit on that day that you need to spend how many as you can to merit a good post. Just like everyone has privilege as a merit source (we'll become a merit source on that day). But we'll have to see what comes on his mind.

April Fools jokes in the forum aren't really meant for those who are observant and at least really reading the forum topics in the first place so I think making this as a prank for the majority of the people would really be funny to see. Imagine that people will start to create topics complaining why their sMerits suddenly disappeared without any prior announcements. It would simply be hilarious to see how other members would react to such prank with them being really clueless.

I don't hoard smerits, I give them out as soon as possible, sometimes if I come across very good post, I even save it in my notes so I can merit them later.

I have some smerits left but I always checked some good posts on some board that I frequently visit. Its not that Ive hoarding it but giving to those helpful and quality post are the best mitigation for merits. It can come and go but the important part here is the circulation. Its valuable for every users since its needed for rankinf up but ensuring it is put in goos use is always the best method. Dont mind if theymos decayed it too, its always come and go as we know it.

What exactly is the smerit decay rate or cutoff period after you have earned them?

I think there is no such rate or period for smerit. Theymos just have add the line so that people get more encouraged to send smerit. May be if someone does not send smerit for long time, Theymos will decay them.

As Little Mouse pointed out, AFAIK there is no smerit decay rate but if those smerits seems to be pointlessly staying with an individual for a large amount of time it would be good to decay them and reassign the same to any active merit source. Moreover just decaying the smerits are simply waste of time as they aren't really helpful in anyway to anyone. But instead of them being decayed, merit receivers might be forced to give away their smerits at some point.

But on the other hand, if merit sources are not actively spending their smerits there is a decay or lessening of merits as far as I have seen. I constantly check through the Most generous members list from time to time, some were constantly sending 300+ for few months but recently even though they are active in giving (not up to the extent) away their source merits they have disappeared from the Most generous 30 day list. If anyone doesn't spend their merits, it's reducing the total merit circulation which certainly makes the merit receivers to rely on merit sources alone.

Giving away merits aren't minimised to merit source but every one of the forum user should give away their smerits for quality posts.