Bitcoin Forum

This post is based on this source
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=178608.msg2514705#msg2514705

IIRC, Theymos has hinted about adding at least one new rank, and members have chipped in with suggestions for name and customization,big however this should happen, then besides an activity count there would also be a new merit requirement that one should reach to attain this new rank.

Also, I cannot think of any motivation to add other ranks available for purchase, the admin has said that the forum does not need extra funds and copper membership pretty much covers the necessities that one would need when joining the forum and if they need to advertise a little service.

He did? Can you please point me to that post?

The only thing I could find about him commenting on adding the new rank after Legendary is when he classified suggestions in Community generated suggestions to improve the forum (+ eventual voting on them) (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4893744.msg44432901#msg44432901) post and that specific suggestion about new rank was in the "no" group.

Anyway, I really hope that there won't be any new ranks as I don't see who would benefit from it. Maybe only people that are taking this forum way too seriously and wanna separate from others more than it is possible now.

I wouldn't mind if there are new ranks added but I don't see how it could be beneficial (for the users and/or the forum).
You propose news ranks but you don't give arguments on why they should be added and it's the most important thing you should have mentioned to convince.

- For fun? There are a lot of better things to do here to get fun.
- To make less high-ranked users? With time, the situation will be the same, and so the forum will need again to create new ranks every X years
- To get more coins under a username? fuck that, no need to make a Christmas tree
- sec. of waiting between posts won't make a difference. I think people can wait some seconds more if they really want to post

to me, mega, ultra, super are not very innovative as name

The only rank that makes sense to me, without this place becoming something you see on a gaming server with loads of different ranks, which usually just become meaningless with the more you add, would be one beyond Legendary which is reserved for the exceptional. Think 10k or even 20k merits.

Would be news to me, I'm pretty sure theymos has never commented on further ranks being added at least in favour of it, I could be wrong in that though. I think other staff might have hinted at supporting the idea.

I can't remember who proposed it first, but "mythical" was suggested before by cryptoaddictchie here (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5212330.0), while it definitely does sound a little cheesy, I think it's the only one which I think would work in the current system. It seemed to get a little support at the time.

I was half kidding back when I suggested we add a “Prophet” rank and the activity level would be rather low looking back ~8 years later. A new rank would be cool though. It’s been discussed as you can see from the quote for quite some time, so I wouldn’t hold your breath. This is one of the easier things to add to the forum though, so maybe if there’s enough interest then theymos will oblige the calls for a new rank.

What would I suggest now you ask?  Bad Mother Fucker - At 4000 activity/merit

https://youtu.be/YDiRZ2xx9xI

^ only takes 10 years of being active everyday for 4k activity, sounds good, but I would change 'bad motherfucker' to 'Veteran' or similar as it sounds less cheesy and more reflective of reality.

A decade is a long time, most people move on by then, very few who stick around can get that shiny rank under their name.

Instead of introducing new ranks, I would recommend more merit requirement per rank. Well it's not to make the process harder to rank up but to make it more precise. I mean 100 merit for Full Member really sounds too low and so does the above ranks.

That's an idea I can get behind--not only because it'd be a much-needed (IMO) addition to the ranking system but because a title like that would showcase just how uncensored bitcointalk is.  There are forums out there--many of them, in fact--where you wouldn't even be able to write "motherfucker" in a post without having it deleted by a mod.  So I second that suggestion.

And that's why such members who do stick around long enough to earn the highest rank ought to be rewarded with such, regardless of what it's named.  Maybe 4000 activity is a bit much, but a new rank based on activity and a hard-to-achieve number of merits should at least be considered by Theymos.  I've written much the same thing every time this issue pops up.

I don't think you're wrong; I even thought he'd rejected the idea out of hand, but there's been talk of this for so long that I lose track in my head of what Theymos's most recent opinion is on any given suggestion.  Seems like he so rarely gives one, and when he does I probably miss it.

Hero and Legendary already seem pompous enough names, which are difficult to surpass without going into the realm of the gods. Adding a prefix to Legendary seems to sell short on the pompous scale …

If meeting the current Activity required for a Legendary is between 2 and 3 years roughly, meeting 5K would take over 13 years, and 10K over 27 years. Not much of an incentive in real terms, and seemingly more relatable to becoming an aged relic on the forum, so as to say.

Since the Merit System was set in motion(*), 182 Legendary members (48 from scratch) have ranked-up needing Merits in the process, and 173 Heroes (71 from scratch). Not that many considering (besides all those pre-Merit System ranked members also existing).

There could be room for additional ranks, although I wouldn’t say that there is any seemingly good reason for it beyond elevating the ego of those that would meet the requirement, at most. Currently:

73 Accounts surpass 2K Activity + 2k Merits (earned+airdropped) (https://public.tableau.com/shared/TKN7R4QHM?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link)
7 Accounts surpass 3K Activity + 3k Merits (earned+airdropped)  (https://public.tableau.com/shared/PW574S5X9?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link)
1 Account surpasses 4K Activity + 4k Merits (earned+airdropped)  (https://public.tableau.com/shared/R2P8QH3G5?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link)



(*) https://public.tableau.com/views/BitcointalkMeritDashboard/Ranked-up?:language=es-ES&:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

just an opinion, I think adding a new rank is unnecessary. I feel like a badge(similar to the art badge) that will be exclusive to members who reached certain merit/activity after reaching the required merit/activity for legendary would suffice.

+1, while I would put "getting into the realm of bullshit" instead that bold part, as that's what making up new ranks just for the sake of it looks like to me.


This also serves as an answer to those asking for increased merit requirement for current ranks as they don't realize that very few managed to reach Legendary rank since merit system kicked in, compared to the amount of new members.


This sums it up really, its all about the ego and that's the one thing I noticed on all forums; after they spend a lot of time on some forum, some people start taking it way too seriously and even substituting real life accomplishment with the forum ones. I am not saying that all people asking for more ranks are doing that, but I've experienced that more than once in the real life.

---

All these demands for the extra titles, ranks, badges and whatnot reminds me of the image below. Do we really need that?  ;D

https://i.postimg.cc/NfnyfZRq/medalll.png

Conservation of current system of ranks is a direct path to degradation. Many reaching Legendary rank lose motivation for further useful deeds.

People need in development

A long time ago Legendary rank sounded proud and divine. But now Legendary rank means nothing. Some farmers pump this rank in a short time. This rank has turned into something like a Newbie

https://i.ibb.co/NVg4cQ2/god.jpg
-I am God
-Yo're not a God
-Blasphemy
https://youtu.be/lNwzawXu4v8?t=55

If we think about it well, adding more ranks may increase the work of mods because it means an increase in the number of posts and thus an increase in the possibility of spamming.

The only beneficiary will be the signature campaigns, as it means that it is easy to distinguish high-ranking accounts with the possibility of giving them a little more money than the rest of other members.

Currently there is no point to add more ranks, perhaps it is better to focus on getting things like a custom title, new Positions (like VIP, Donator) a special star and so on.

Currently, there is no difference between a hero and a legendary member.

I'm not a massive advocate for a new rank, neither do I care about status that much, and there's plenty of others that don't, but there are definitely users on this forum which are motivated by this sort of thing, and that could potentially be good for the forum. I do definitely see the downsides, and I definitely don't think the forum needs a new rank, but if implemented correctly it could potentially contribute positively to the forum. What the criteria should be I don't really know.

As long as we don't become like one of those gaming servers like I pointed out earlier.

Then it's decided, the new rank will be called "fossil" or "part of the furniture" :D.

Maybe, earned merit could be a contributing factor to getting a certain rank, might potentially increase the motivation for users to get more merit that they earned, I don't know.

While it definitely is something that artificially changes the way users act, it does actually provide motivation. When there's a limited rank that only a select few will ever reach, then some genuine users will be motivated by that. Unfortunately, you do have the flip side, where the status hungry users then try their absolute hardest, despite it potentially being detrimental to the forum.There's pros, and definitely cons to adding an exclusive type of rank.

The one who is motivated only by some new rank is on the wrong forum, because rank does not make anyone better or worse, some other things are much more important.

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I understand that it is important for some to be prominent and different from others, whether they have earned 5000 or 10 000 merits, or made 100 000 good reports - but we do not need new ranks for that, each such member can get a special badge, maybe change the color of the coins below the name  - and for those who have been on the forum for more than 10 years and have been active in the last 1 year, recognition could be given by adding the word "veteran" to the profile.

Well, I'll look at you when the user's activity & merit achievements starts to get close to the marks above 9000

Do not exaggerate, but it's looking good

The new ranks from the table above looks bogus with the so many gold coins attached to them. They look funny with that. What we have at present is only a gold coin difference to the next rank and that makes it very easy to understand and interpret. Beside that, the suggested new ranks all have Legendary to their names. That makes it absurd. If there will be new ranks they should have new names. Ranking up to legendary is not easy to achieve. Yes, those who already are there will think it is easy and I guess that is why they think Theymos should increase the stakes.

Fixed

This is a Bitcoin forum. I think it would be useful to know how many members actually believe in Bitcoin. Maybe a badge for all members who hold more than a certain level of Bitcoin. Perhaps 0.1 would be useful at its current value.

This would require everyone to sign a message from their BTC address, which would mean they have to sacrifice their privacy, and someone would have to check it all before the badge is awarded - it doesn’t seem very applicable.

Maybe there could be a badge for the longest BTC holder in signature campaigns - someone who hasn’t spent a satoshi in years - I know for sure there are such members ;)

It can be automated. As long as "address" has BTC, they will have the badge, once they don't have BTC, badge will be removed. So, it will be changing everyday depending on the holding lol.
But still, this is something which people have to attach their address with the forum and make it public as you said people will have to sacrifice their privacy, I too agree this is something not a good idea. I'm not sure if Jet Cash did a joke here lol but his tone seems to be serious.

There is no short time, the terms of the rank-up calculating time remain the same as 10 years ago. Anyway I haven't seen this one yet, and if you know when you said it there were a lot of members who were offended that until now they haven't gone 1 level higher since the start of 2018. Let alone wanting all of their accounts to rank up, they would even feel lucky if just one of their accounts made it to the new rank.

Have you noticed that some people reach Legendary rank on time. While others waiting a long time.
And all due to the fact that the Legendary rank does not have clearly defined requirements for activity.
Therefore, it is imperative to enter at least one more rank above Legendary

At now the Legendary rank achievement is very buggy

Yeah I understand that, but we have so many things already at our disposal to make distinction between power user and just some casual forum member. Right there on profile you can see someone else's activity and merit, and then if you have that browser extension you can see bpip ranking, DT status etc so is another rank really needed? And what when many people reach that rank, should we get new ones, making forum look like some endless mmorpg grind.


You mean back in the good ol' days where all you had to do is write one mindless shitpost each day (might as well been one of those bounty authentication posts) and in a couple of years you got Legendary rank. Classic rose-tinted glasses case.


In what universe is 2-3 years short period of time? You can farm as much merit as you want, but you can't speed the activity.


It's not buggy, it just has some RNG element to it. AFAIK, activity number needed to reach Legendary is decided when you create the account. I personally wouldn't mind if its fixed number like for other lower ranks, but don't mind this either. What's the rush anyway, is there something that you can do with Legendary that you can't with Hero rank?

What degradation? Just because some members have the legendary rank doesn't mean they have more deeds than a newbie, junior, or another member.
We shouldn't give a fuck to the ranks because they don't mean much other than a member is a long time user (or not)

It's just a discussion platform to talk with like-minded people. We don't come here to show who has the biggest cock. I don't think I have to do more than others, we all have to be considered at the same level, no matter the rank.

I see what you mean, but don't worry, members are not blind, even if they're silent

Proposal updated

^ at least rank was making sense, why would you want to separate staff and mods?

You put is nicely but I do not think alot of people will agree with you as they see the difference in ranks to mean superiority and intelligence. Even signature campaigns make that statement. If not, there will not be difference in payments. Campaigns will not pay someone in my rank the same thing as legendary members eventhough I have been long here in the forum before them.

My comment was serious. Obviously it would be optional  and many members have a Bitcoin address in their profiles or signatures, so privacy is not really an issue.

In my own perspective. Must be better if the next color of the half gold and silver coin must be full silver and it's very nice to view, color gold next on half is very redundant, I think that if we have a new coin badge under the staff and moderators names we must choose a other color of the coins or it may silver coins until in the end.

Just a suggestion for these proposals.

IMHO we dont need to add another title for the ranks because its already good enough, better not having like super legendary can be adjusted to like tier, for example


Or just adding a token symbol for the additional ranks i guess make more simple too.

Why stop there? Why not introduce Semi-Newbie > Newbie > Uber-Newbie and apply that to all ranks.
The suggestion doesn't improve the forum at all, so the chances that theymos introduces these new ranks are slim to none.

However you justify it, the end result will be that it will become harder to rank up. I don't like it. It's better if it stays the way it is. The requirements that you had to fulfill should be the same as those that new members have to respect when they join in my opinion. 

Another bad suggestion that was shared many times before in the pas as its not like we have bunch of quality new users that are ranking up very fast. On the contrary, situation is completely different and it's not an easy task for an average member to reach Full Member, let alone Legendary.

Keep in mind that one of the main purposes of merit system is to simply prevent spammers and shitposters ever reaching higher ranks and not to make it very hard for decent members to rank up.

Even altcointalks has more ranks

https://i.ibb.co/MfBKjx0/altcoin.jpg
https://www.altcoinstalks.com/index.php?topic=183665.0

That's just another proof that bitcointalk doesn't need more ranks in order to be successful.

Looking now at their ranks and on top of totally overdoing it, some of their rank don't even make much sense. Take for example "Padawan" rank which is the 2nd highest rank on altcointalk. That word comes from Star Wars universe and generally means apprentice, begginer, someone who just started learning while for them that's one of the highest possible ranks. If anything, that should be one of the lowest ranks.

Why we should compare Bitcointalk and Altcoinstalks? Do you think our forum policy must follow Altcoinstalks policy? Anyway, having many ranks doesn't make Altcoinstalks forum better than Bitcointalk. To be honest, I don't see any advantages to having the Mythical and Padawan ranks. That only makes a more complicated rank system on the forum. So, why we must follow it?

Mate, if we want to appreciate those people who have dedicated their efforts and time here, doesn't mean should grant them with new higher ranks in this forum. Admin can choose other ways that can be more efficient than creating new ranks. For example, by making a different color on their tags. That is simpler and easier, isn't it?

Current ending Legendary rank - is a dead end

Superhumans with more than 10,000 activity/merits will soon appear. Are you going to ignore them?

It's time to stop thinking in obsolete patterns

But where does it end? Someone will have 10.000 activity points tomorrow, and they get a higher rank than Legendary. What happens when someone gets 20.000 activity points, or 30.000 if anyone ever gets to that? Will theymos continue creating new ranks for each significant milestone or do we stop somewhere?
It's just new badges and glitter, it doesn't make the forum better in any way.

Why is it a dead end ?
The most of the Users dosnt get to that Rank and dont care about it .
I guess it makes no sense to add a new or more Ranks , for sure it can be some encourage for a few but not for all.
We still waiting for the badges from theymos and i think we will not get new Ranks in the next years.
Then you should start with yourself.

It doesn't have to be a dead end. You can continue to make progress on the forum (if that is your goal).
You can, for example, continue to help the community and thus earn merit, or you can do some other skillful deeds.


What are the purpose and significance of these ranks?

I honestly don't see any need for rank extension here, cus it probably not going to benefit any one, even if it was going to benefit someone, it might just be few persons, then the question we should ask ourselves is "is it worth the stress?".

There several other important things to improve on if actually we want to make the forum better, and one that I've been thinking about is how to bring scam rate on this forum to the barest minimum, most especially in the altcoin section,  and my suggestion is those in charge can develop or create a criteria which every altcoin wanting to list on this forum must meet before they can allowed to create an Announcement thread here as well as launch a campaign, this will really help bring the amount of scam altcoins that starts from this forum down, and also reduce the many abandoned projects here as well as give bitcointalk more credibility out there.

There's a flaw in your proposal that allows users to become a "Mega Legendary" prior to acquiring the Legendary rank.

If you're referring to those who already have the activity points while suddenly receiving ridiculous amounts of merits for questionable posts, then there are certain users that leave negative ratings for that and even if they try to cover their tracks, we still have a few ways of viewing them...

Are you implying that the amounts in their addresses are directly related to how much they actually believe in BTCitcoin?

Nope, that *user* is the only one and I'm a fan of his/her listing website :D :P

There is an argument for adding additional ranks below Legendary and not grandfathering people into the resulting higher ranks.

1000 merit isn’t easy to achieve and not many will get there. 400-500 is much easier and more will earn this much merit. There could be some criteria to adjust the initial airdropped merit downwards and some working towards getting legendary status could need to get less merit, while those with a lot of merit could have a higher rank.

I am with you on this one. Of what use will it be adding more ranks to the forum and how does it applies to helping cryptocurrency in the real word? It virtually means nothing and even if it were to be considered, it doesn't mean it would stop there (addition of new ranks) and one of two occasions might happen along the way.

* Either it would become boring along the way of accumulation of the necessity or
* You find out it made no difference from the legendary we now have.

The names attached doesn't mean much but the contributions coming off users beating it do. There have been newbies in the past that have been said to know so much to be a newbie or beginner where as, there are ranked up users that doesn't know much for the ranks there bare.

Should we view these ranks like the institutions of learning, we might clip to the idea that, we don't need any other ranks to make a user feel special or separate from the others. Professionalism through high schools just defines what you've been exposed to and is expected to have known. Some will represent it in every way, others won't and the best way to see that isn't the names you carry about as a professional but what is produced through you, the problems you solve in the field. Your content as a user defines your ranks the more better than your the name tag.

I'm under the impression that you don't want to introduce new ranks as too many scripts and statistic tables depend on the current number of ranks

If Theymos wants to add another rank, I think it will be cool, but it should be added one and not three at a time. The activity should be that people that joined the forum 9 - 10yrs ago will automatically qualify and then merit should be 10,000 merits.

Reason
This will be an honour to users that have been here for long and still working hard till date.

For your suggestions about Jr staff and Jr moderator, I do not think it is necessary, maybe unless you want to place them on a different salary scale.

Busted :D
 
I was just hoping to enter the largest holders Hall of Fame, but who knows, they may recognize me in the years to come ;)