Bitcoin Forum

Now, i know, yeah I'm a newbie, but in here, gaining merits is so difficult, I was wondering, what is the best way to gain merits, so many people won't want to just give merits, and in my own opinion, I think every newbie should have a kind of startup merit, maybe send able or personal or even both so as to navigate in this space.
For sure, this forum is one of the best forums so far when it comes to navigating in the crypto space, all thanks to the founder of Bitcoin and the whole management team, with that being said, I think this my opinion needs to be taken into consideration, provide a newbie startup merits so as to build from there, thanks

Terrible idea. This will be abused a lot, increasing the number of registrations to cycle merits. You do not need a merit start-up kit, you only need some knowledge of the rules and the ability to read and assimilate the information shared.

Stop prioritizing merits. It is not the main focus of this forum, bitcoin is. Prioritize how much you can learn about bitcoin and connections you can build.

- Jay -

As newbies, you have more concerns than merit. It's a forum for discussions through which you can learn about Bitcoin and other things, and you can do it without any merit for your account.

Almost no restrictions on Newbies to learn and discuss in this forum, except some special boards.

But if you want to know how to earn merit, let's check two threads
Welcome message. (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5036308.0)
[Guide] Searching effectively. (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5276341.0)

How do you actually know that getting merit here is difficult? I mean, you only registered on bitcointalk yesterday and in the meantime you wrote 5 posts, including this one where you complain how hard it is to get merit.

What did you expect, to get showered by merit right from the start? Smh...

The forum is open for suggestion given that opinion will likely not happened. What happened on the newbies that start from scratch? Also even newbie can gain some merits as long as they show potential on some topics and posting habit. Merits introduced for a reason and not abuse in here.

Being a newbie is a struggle but when you gain traction then youd realize its not that hard but only a minot setback for your hardship. Make some good post and merits will come your way.

I'm also here to look for some good pieces of advice from my fellow brothers.

Honestly, t's been quite a long time since I haven't focused on merits as I'm not sure why but a motivation to achieve a rank always forced me to put in some extra effort, and these days due to some other busyness in life things are slipping like sad from a closed palm.

Anyway, be natural give something productive and organic in the local community and you'll get the merits.

How inquisitive you can be, as I check your profile You are just newly registered here and have made 5 post in total and have not yet navigated through the forum. You sound like you have been here for a very long Time. All I can tell you is to navigate through the forum and involved yourself in serious discussion to be able to earn merit. you must be a problem solver and your post should be clear and precise with relevant Information, to be able to earn merit. And mean while that doesn't mean you will get merit in all reasonable post you make.

Gaining merits should not be your main focus. You should focus on becoming a good community member that helps people and spreads information. Share your knowledge and skills, start a service, post good articles and the merits will flow in naturally. It won’t happen quickly and it might not happen for weeks or even months but I guarantee you that people will notice you if you keep making quality posts. Join the conversations in various topics, express your feelings and thoughts. One thing I noticed is that people usually tend to merit posts that share technical knowledge. Maybe you should start from there.

I just want to point out why you didn't get any merit(s).

Literally you're a newbie since you totally have 5 posts under your profile, even on the threads you started you didn't join in the discussion. Then how do you expect to get merits when you don't have intention of learning anything and just want to rank up.

Giving merits to newbies nullifies the purpose of merit system and if you found a very good post that deserves some merits but you don't have any to give one then always use this : [self-moderated] Report unmerited good posts to Merit Source (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5093271.0) so memeber with smerit will look into it.

There is nothing that difficult to achieve in the forum. You are a new member, so it may seem difficult for you to achieve merit. But if you pay close attention to the rules and regulations and express your creativity, you can easily achieve merit.

As a new member, you talk differently, so you try to learn everything about the forum slowly. If you can learn everything a little, it will be easy for you to achieve merit. Am helping you with some important links to achieve merit. If you look at these, it will be good for you.

Newbies - Read before posting (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1689727.0)
Unofficial list of (official) Bitcointalk.org rules, guidelines, FAQ (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=703657.0)
FAQ: Everything you need to know about forum 'activity, account ranks and merit (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2766177.0https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=178608.0)
Forum ranks/positions/badges (What do those shiny coins under my name mean? (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=178608.0)
[self-moderated] Report unmerited good posts to Merit Source (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5093271.0)
Ranking up is possible! 2900 Merits earned in less than 12 months!My 11 Hints! (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5098333.msg49267880#msg49267880)

These are very important posts for beginners to learn at first. If you read these, beginners can understand everything very easily. Read this post then you understand all things. Good luck to you new member of our forum.

I can point out many people that started as a newbie, earned merits and ranked up. Just read than you post. Pay attention to being smart and make yourself useful on this forum. These will help you to earn merits and rank up.

If all newbies are given merits, many people will continue to create new accounts and be using the new account to send merits to themselves which will lead to merit and account farming and merit abuse.

Just give what you have learned all these while as newbie, there are things you needed to know as a newbie and it was the experience once that provided the information to you, so there are newbies who will be at the need of helping them with those things you must have learned, fill free to share to them the knowledge which you have acquired about crypto since you got to know crypto,  this way you will be rewarded with merit when your contribution is helping the community positively and to the once that needs it.

First of all welcome this a wonderful forum Mate:

You will never regret having yourself in this forum that means if you focus on what exactly brought you here,  everyone here face the consequences the first time that they introduced themselves into this forum that’s how they it for difficult include me too; but is just for the main time everything will come and pass that it will also turn to an historical.

My advice for you now is that is for you to figure out how this forum operates well, so the best now is that is for you to visit the previous thread that has been created by high ranked members here; once you go through them and read them properly, you will know how you can able to create personal content here: which if it’s well standard up to quality you will gain merits from difference members here.
 

First of all I would like to say that this forum created by the Satoshi Nakamoto to build a community where the bitcoiner will can communicate and also help each other by the information like as volunteer.
And this community has gradually grown to where it is today, but now paid services like the signature campaign, and the bounty have been added. I would call it a reward for volunteers.
Now what I want to say you, never join the forum thinking that you will earn income only by doing those campaigns and for this you need to rank up, so you have to earn merit quickly. Because when you rush to earn merit quickly, your chances of violating forum rules and abusing them increase. Explore this forum like as genuine user and earn knowledge and spread the knowledge you earn.

I hope you understand what I want to say you-

Now here is a source for you-  (Mega resources for newbies) Check here, find most of your need, before asking (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5500358.msg64230160#msg64230160)

Many will abuse it if newbies have startup merit. A newbie joining in bitcointalk forum should not focus on earning merits but focus on learning about cryptocurreny. This is a "BITCOINTALK" forum to start with which is a discussions about cryptocurrency or other related stuff and this is not "MERITTALK" forum which you can ask for merits and even farm merits to your hearts content. Merits may be needed to rank up but it is not really needed when you want to be knowledgeable in crypto. As others and myself have said that you should not focus on merits first but rather the knowledge.

You just registered on the forum yesterday, and the only thing that interested you is the opportunity to get merit. Forget about the merits, read and discuss, and if your post is useful to others, you will definitely get your first merit sooner or later.

I get what you are saying, but maybe going about it that way isnt the best idea.  The merit system is supposed to show whos put in effort for the community, not be some VIP thing.  Handing them out like candy could make merits feel worthless.  

But for new folks, getting merits can be tough when you got nothing to your name you know? Feels like you screaming into the void sometimes. But I guess thats the point - it should be difficult. It encourages users to contribute thoughtful, insightful, and helpful content.

I dont know, I see both sides.  We want to encourage new members without making merits meaningless.  Maybe there is a middle ground instead of just giving them out or making it near impossible to get any.

one of the main reasons why the merit system was established is to encourage members(not just newbies) to put effort into their posts if they want to earn merit and rank up. this would also most likely lead to abuse as many account farmers can create new accounts and send merits to each other.

a lot of new members here have reached higher ranks without "start-up merit" and it is all because of the effort they put into their posts, if they can do it, you can do it too.

A startup merit can’t help indeed, if op is here to learn about crypto as it’s written this space is one of the best space to learn about bitcoin then the aim is to learn. For the first fact there’s no such like merit farming also begging for merit, a merit startup for what exactly? To gain confidence or what although I don’t know why op feel the need to get a startup merit and I’m sure this rule will not be implemented honestly this idea is not the best.

I don't know if it's the best way, but a good way is not to open a thread stating bullshit like people don't want to give you merits (as if they have a grudge against you or something), that way you won't end up on some people's ignore list.

In the end you end up getting the opposite effect of what you wanted to achieve.

Getting merits is not as difficult as it seems, all you need to do is interact in the forum through your replies. Create engaging topics that are helpful for the members of the forum that result in discussion on your topic. Follow the rules of the forum and stay active, engage in forum activities and you will see merits coming. Do remember your growth here is directly proportional to the kind of activities you are engaged in within the forum.

Add this post from fillippone also in the list. It has guidelines on how to get merits on the forum and it's a must read for users who are aspirant of getting merits and moving to higher ranks.

Ranking up is possible! 2900 Merits earned in less than 12 months!My 11 Hints! (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5098333.msg49267880#msg49267880)

There is no point changing the system of the forum because if newbies are spoon-fed, they will not appreciate the process. All of us passed through the process except those who were awarded merits sometimes in the past and I wouldn't a repeat of such thing. I grew from newbie to where I am today and I appreciate the process of growth, the hard-work and the determination that comes with it. I learnt a lot from the process including about Bitcoin and the Blockchain and the learning is still ongoing as this forum is awash with information. You simply have to appreciate the process if you really want to make any remarkable progress.

You should continue to help others with your knowledge and play a role in solving problems. It is not important that you need to acquire new knowledge to gain merit. If your knowledge is relevant and beneficial to others, you will be worthy of merit (position doesn’t matter). It is not important that you receive merit for every helpful post. If your knowledge is not helpful to any member of this forum or you fail to engage in relevant discussions, continue to gain knowledge from the forum and improve yourself. Don’t hesitate to ask questions if needed. Except for some boards (other local boards), you can access all boards. Enter the relevant boards for exchanging the knowledge you need. And yes, earning merit should not be the main goal of the forum. The main purpose of this forum is to gain knowledge about Bitcoin.

Thank you, I had bookmarked it but forgot to add it. I have added this post there, please take a look. These links have helped us rank a lot. Although we have not yet reached a good position, we are still learning a lot about the forum from these days. Along with learning, Am keeping notes in order so that next time, if any new member can be helped, he may be able to move forward nicely with help. :)

It is too overwhelming for a newbie who joined and quickly asked about merit, how to gain merit. Newbies like this usually don't mind to learn, and I think two threads I shared above are enough. It is enough for quick reading and possibly finding motivation for learning more.

After finding good motivation to continue, guide on seraching effectively can help for self-learning from available topics.

Op, for someone who just joined the forum on the 26th December 2024, I expect you to do better in trying to get to understand other things about the forum instead of trying to ask questions related to merit because it only shows that you are interested in the merit and not how to learn about the forum and cryptocurrency which is the most important thing here.

I think increasing in your knowledge will give you a better opportunity to get merit because merit is the reward of your good works which I think is the contribution you make here.

Not a good idea, because if it is implemented, we might see some merit abuse. So let it be as it is now, posts that deserve merit will get merit, those that don't deserve it will be left without merit. My advice to you, contribute to the forum, either by helping fellow members or providing education through your posts, then you will get a stream of merit easily.

Has having no merits stopped you from navigating the forum the way you wanted to? I believe the answer is no. For someone that joined the forum two days ago, merits should be the least thing on your mind right now, you should be getting yourself acquainted with the forum rules so you do not out of ignorance violate any of those rules. See the newbie stage as a very important stage to be because this is the time you get to acquire lots of knowledge about Bitcoin and the forum. If you ignore the things you are supposed to learn now to start chasing after merits, you might not have another chance to learn those things again. Utilise this stage you are in wisely.

Op you should focus on how to know more about bitcoin and the forum and not planning how to get merits. If you have merits and your posting of nonsense in the forum then you'll be like a caricature so to avoid all that, calm down and learn so you can also teach others what you have known. Real Newbies ask questions and learn from there. If you focus on merit then you will no see merit but when you  remove your mind and focus on learning and make quality comments then you will receive merits unexpectedly. Read the forum rules and know more on bitcoin either here or outside.

Gaining merits is not as difficult and complicated as most people make it appear, the challenge is always focusing on it and forgetting the bigger picture which is the knowledge that this forum offers which can transform the lives of anyone who apply them correctly. If a newbie focus on the knowledge, the merit will flow naturally as a reward for the knowledge because with knowledge of bitcoin and other aspect of it, they will be able to make meaningful contribution in the forum and be rewarded accordingly with merits, opportunities and in many other areas.

It’s really a wrong idea because if newbies are given startup smerit, then it’s going to be abused. I can sit at a place and create multiple accounts, and the smerit that I receive will be used to rank multiple accounts, so can you see that the idea doesn’t make any sense? Don’t be surprised that some people will have more than 10 accounts on the forum here, and they will join signature campaign with all.

I don’t think merit is so difficult to get, if you are making quality posts and you are making quality comments, then you will be able to rank up your account. If you check some posts and comments, you will see that some are still receiving merits, so if you determine to learn and share your knowledge with forum members, then you will be receiving merits.

We are still seeing newbies rank up, so if there is no merit on the forum, then no one will be able to rank up their accounts again. The strategy you are talking about won’t really work out because people will definitely misuse the opportunity.

There is a quote that says anything easy is less valuable and anything hard is more valuable. This quote is enough as an answer to your idea. Moreover, you don’t only need knowledge to be successful in this forum but also consistency and determination. You even mentioned that this is one of the valuable forums so far, so let me ask you, what will be the future of the forum if every newbie that just registered in the forum gets a merit package? For me, the only answer I will find is the total downfall of the forum, which means the forum will have no value anymore, and that will definitely affect the reputation of the forum.

So when you are thinking on an idea, you should try your best to see the precautions of this idea before you can bring it to the community; if not, you will face the consequences because some opinions are not meant to be listened to due to poor points. Because having opinions that will raise the value and reputation of the forum is more considerate than having an opinion that will depreciate the value of the forum.

Come on! Seriously?? You only have six posts so far, and one of them is this one, which leaves five behind, and you are already complaining and saying it is so difficult to get merits. Let me tell you something: getting merits is not what's difficult, but one needs to put in some effort, and that is what most people find difficult.


You can make quality contributions in the forum by making constructive posts in threads/topics you participate in, and you will eventually get merits. :)


Yes, because it's somewhat scarce and should only be given to quality contributions and not without a reason. :)


No offense, but your opinion is a bad one. Newbies don't need merits initially. You don't need merits to navigate in this space; you need merits to rank up, and if you don't get enough to rank up, you don't deserve to rank up in the first place. That is the basic purpose of this system. :)


No, it doesn't. :)

Hmmm, that's so silly, Mate!!!  
You have just registered on 26 December and are guilty about it, that getting merit is a difficult here   ???. I don't know what feat you have done with 5 posts to come to this conclusion that merit gain is hard work. First of all, let me tell you that this is not a merit-gained competition forum, but it is an educational forum, the aim here is to gain knowledge. Here you can often see academic standards. So it will be better to aim for knowledge instead of merit and get it. Because you need to understand that On this forum you can get the knowledge that you will not get anywhere. Thus far, it is the method which can give you knowledge as well as merit in a pretty simple way....  :D

Nobody should have startup Merits.  Merits are there just for those who earn them.

The best way to gain Merits is to stay here and discuss and focus less on gaining them.  They will come by themselves before you even know it.  Try too hard and you will likely not earn any.

I get that Merits are for a lot of Bitcoin Talk users exactly like likes on Social Media or upvotes on Reddit.  They become some sort of goal at a certain point.  You see others with envy for having more Merits than you and you want to compete.  Social Media was so much more fun before like addiction was a thing.  Reddit was a much cleaner and better place before everybody started farming Karma and re uploading the same content every day for attention.

And lastly, Bitcoin Talk is much more fun to read now than it was just before Merits were a thing.  Everybody and their mommy were here just to farm, join as many Signature Campaigns as possible using their Alts and therefore Bitcoin Talk became a garbage can.

Be yourself and participate in discussions here.  But better do it when you feel the need, it is obvious when you force yourself to write just for the sake of it.  You do not always need to put a lot of effort into the things you write, some members will simply decide you deserve a Merit or two.

If there  is a start up merits in the forum, then there will be an abuse of it in the forum. New account will be created daily just to get to gather more merits from that account and send to the central user or owner of the alternative accounts created. Merit should not be your main focus on the forum because when you solely depend on it, you’ll find it hard to rank up in the forum. Just make sure you’re natural with your posts and do the best of contributions you can to the forum and merits will come to you naturally. Many newbies faced the same ordeal as you are now, but with continuous improvement in post quality and contributions to the forum, merits will find you and you’ll be awed by the results in due time.

And... here we are again with another merit-related thread coming from a newbie-ranked.
Just take note of this OP, in real life, TRUST IS EARNED, NOT GIVEN. It's the same here in the forum. MERIT IS EARNED, NOT GIVEN... or at least for free. :D

Many here started as newbies and climbed their way up to reach the Legendary rank. I myself will admit that I was a Full Member when the merit system was implemented way back 2018, and I consider myself as an average Joe without any deep knowledge about crypto, but I was able to reach it with the help of many users (a big thanks to them). Thanks for complimenting the forum as "one of the best crypto forums", but that doesn't change the fact that you need to earn your first merit through interacting here and there and share your opinions as well.

I know it's hard to reach Legendary rank nowadays especially if you aren't that knowledgeable enough, but there's always a possibility that you will reach it at some point. It might take a long time, but you will. ;) Many already did, and it took them a long time to do it. Navigating the forum doesn't need a high rank because you can still interact with other users here despite of you being a newbie.

By avoiding topics like this that barely add to the forum. Merit is not needed to navigate the forum and posting just for merit usually lead not having any.
Be natural and keep making good posts, you would one day be noticed.
It's not really rare receiving merits from a post you made months or years ago
Been there.
Don't rush it, grow in knowledge and experience
It's easier explaining what you have personally experienced than what you have heard.

you created your account 2 days ago and made 6 posts and reached this result? I don't know but when I logged in it took me 2 weeks to know borads, where to post and how the forum works. If this is your alternate account then it means that merit is working well as it prevents alts from rising quickly.

Lol, you really want to be given a start up merit? For what exactly? For just creating an account?  ;D

When you are being given free money to start up a business, you'll definitely squander it since you don't know what it takes to raised that money but when you work hard to earn money and establish business, I believe you are definitely going to cherish it and maintain it never to get liquidated.

Whatever that is easily gotten is never appreciated. I'm very sure you wouldn't have bothered about merit if it were to be given without any effort upon registration. Merits is a sign of your dedication and contribution here and as a newbie, you are yet to make any contribution. You literally don't deserve it.

Your knowledge is highly valued here, if you have demonstrated expertise here, they will give you awards (merits) continuously, rather than you just coming and complaining about Merits, you can see new beginners who have skills here, they easily get all the points.

Life in this forum is full of struggles and challenges, for those who can get through it all, they are the ones who are successful, those who complain a lot and don't do anything, they will be left behind here, so instead of complaining, it's better to do something useful for the community, do useful things first, before you ask for this or that.

The more you ask for merit, the more harder you can get it. So maybe divert your attention on other things and make your self became more knowledgeable more about  Bitcoin also include whole crypto.

For sure you notice that the more you think about merits. The more you will get frustrated especially if you didn't get those things on each post you made.

So for now be consistent on posting and make sure not to post any out of the topic lines also be helpful on the community since provably that you can get those merits you want later on.

Ask or not, merit comes to quality and helpful posts. If you have quality and helpful posts, you will receive merit with or without begging attempts. If your posts are good, your begging attempt can have higher probability to receive merit. If your posts are simply shit posts, no chance to receive merit no matter how many times you try with merit begging.

Your post quality decides.

There are topics for newbies, beginners to submit their "good posts" and ask for merit, but you see a biggest condition is: Submitting your good posts.

If your posts are not good, your application will fail, no merit comes.

Your fourth post on the forum and you are already worried about earning merits and even claiming to earn merits is difficult here. It’s never difficult but a newbie will not understand that since you are all bothered about earning merits even without doing a thing. All newbies are always eager to earn merits instead of focusing on learning and understanding the forum better.

The best way to earn merits is by focusing on learning because you earn merits when make valuable contributions to the community. There is no particular way to earn merit and no one can tell you what to do to earn some merit just do what you feel is valuable to the community and will help members of the community by doing so you may earn merit if any member finds your contribution merit worthy.

Just focus on learning, engage in discussion, make quality contributions and you shouldn’t prioritize earning merits and they will flow in.

Not difficult at all. It does require some time and effort on your side, but once you get a hang of it, it's like a snowball effect
Main thing to keep in mind is to be polite and helpful. Help people where you can, and more often than not, you'll be rewarded

That's because it is always what many newbies think about earning merits on Bitcointalk and also the reason why they think it's hard is because it is what many newbies focus on earning here on the forum instead of focusing on gaining vast knowledge. I have seen a newbie myself where I taught him that merits shouldn't be the high priority on getting in this forum and now he has earned some merits which he is no longer a newbie rank but a member rank.

I don't know why you're so focused on merits or maybe ranking up (I can think of a reason, though). If this is your primary goal, then you should've done your research to achieve it. Or are you a bypass lamer, success with no effort? Not going to happen.

Merit is earned, not given for nothing, as someone already wrote here. When you add value for other readers with your posts, merit will flow to you. But you need to add value or help others with your contributions. Do you have the knowledge or skills to do that? If not quite, you should know what to do next. Knowing the forum rules (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=703657.0) can't hurt or this one (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1689727.0), too.

I also see an annoying pattern with topics you opened (three so far, all over the place of the forum): you start a topic and that's it. Even here, we're on page 3 and who's not engaging with his or her topic. You!

If you open a new thread and don't engage further with it, don't respond to contribution of others, then why have you opened the thread? This is not how it should be and in my opinion this also doesn't deserve to be merited.

Yes, it's totally possible that a user asks a very interesting question or makes a valuable statement and the resulting replies of others all in all produce a really good thread. But I doubt this would work when the thread opener remains silent except for the initial post.

When I registered my account, the top ranks seemed unreachable. The first merits were really nice and motivating, but if you focus too much on them, it's going to be a rough ride, unless you have a really good plan and can execute it well.

Relax and enjoy the read and ride in this forum, learn and gain knowledge and add value with your posts. Easier said, than done, I know.

Exactly. Merit is just that, what the word means, merit, a reward for good behavior. In this case, being a good community and forum member, helping others learn, spreading knowledge and being selfless. Being a role model.
But alas, i know merit is just a way for people to farm accounts for bounties and signature campaigns

Not only did this user created a thread that is not very much appreciated or needed to take a look at on the forum but, offered a solution that might lead to some serious abuse. Perhaps it’s due to ignorance but, OP, if you’ve been looking well enough, you would know that this is no solution. There isn’t even a problem with the merit system as even up to this moment, users are still getting just what they deserve from the merit system.

I’ll also like to note that, sMerits is a rewarding power and it in turns implies, one who is able to earn merits from quality writings would also be someone that is able to decipher quality where it’s found. Having that rewarding power just given to anyone would lead to some more abuse.

I have gone through your first post on this thread and there are several important links there that can help us performing good on this forum. I have book marked those links for future reference. To go up in rank, one has to work hard by updating his knowledge and writing posts that can help others. So there is lots of effort required if you want to go up.

We are still at very initial stages and still a long way to go. It's nice that you are writing down things for helping others. If you continue this approach, soon you will be a legendary.

nah...I got exactly what I wanted, what I wanted was to see how engaging this forum is and how many people are willing to reply and discuss about things even on trivial and nonsensical issues as this

Now you may be banned, stop spamming by creating multiple consecutive replies.
Please spend more time reading about the forum, start with ----> https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=703657.0

I assume you mean that WILL only land the OP in some people’s ignore list.

Yeah that’s pretty much correct. And I’ve come to understand that the reason why most newbies come in to the forum and prioritize merits over gaining knowledge and experience about crypto or Bitcoin could be usually traced down to their referees, most of these folks just tell them, Yeah all you gotta do is register an account, grow your account by earning some good number of merits, then you can look for a Sig Campaign to enter and start making some money, this I believe is what they’re mostly being told which explains the reason why they believe that their sole aim and purpose of being here is to earn merits and join a campaign, so we really can’t blame most of them because they were misinformed and naive. It’s after most of them get to interact here that they even get the opportunity to know the actual purpose of the forum and its importance.

OP, are you suggesting that give you several merits in absentia? Am I understanding you correctly when you talk about a start-up?

However, if you check your latest one-line answers, then instead of merits, you need to make a remark about how you came to the forum and were too lazy to read the rules, but for some reason, you teach everyone to respect you.

First, understand that joining a new community should be very modest and unobtrusive with your lessons. In addition, to get merits, you need to read the forum and answer more fully, not multi-posting, since the forum is not at all a social group where short answers are welcome.

Likely won't happen, though in my opinion he would've deserved a short temporary ban as a learning lesson.

Five posts of OP got deleted because of violation of at least two forum rules. He just posted mostly fullquotes and replied with some empty content thanks and, of course as you pointed out, as consecutive posts. ::)

OP has obviously no clues about forum rules or likes to break them deliberately. No thanks and merits for that!

The easiest way is to create a dozen alt accounts and spam the forum with your pointless posts until you faint every day. History has shown that you will earn merits that way sooner or later - and if anyone thinks I'm making this up, here's an example (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5522290.0) of an alt farm that is still going full steam ahead no matter what.

It's not the best or most ethical way, but I want to say that people are willing to do anything to reach higher ranks and participate in sig campaigns.

Did you mean giving you merit when your post wasn’t worth it? Because if that is what you meant, then seriously, the forum will be hard for you if you think that way. However, earning merit is not really hard; you just need to post quality content, and merit will come, but giving you merit just for a start, I don’t think that is necessary, and that will be an abuse because many newbies will not work hard to get merit again,

so I think you should be ready to work hard if you want to grow in the forum and stop thinking about how to get free merit; learn how to post quality content. You are still a newbie; don’t rush. Nobody starts bigger; we all start from a newbie rank. 

Anyone here for the sake of merit will find the forum difficult, because all they will be after is merit, and most of them won’t really stay long here because they will end up going against the forum rules, and their account will be compromised. Forum is not really a difficult place, and if you are a quality poster, then getting merit won’t be difficult. Any newbie joining the forum should make sure they read more and post less, they shouldn’t just post anyhow just because of merit. If you take your time to learn things, then merit won’t really be a problem.

You are right. If newbies are welcomed with merits immediately they join the forum, they won't see the need to put efforts in making quality posts. I like the fact that newbies face these challenges in getting merits because if it weren't so, we will have to deal with thousands of Shit posts and spams here everyday from newbies. Even with the merit system available and strict forum moderation, we still face challenges from some newbies. OP's suggestions are not valid, newbies should work hard for merits. The forum is a jungle and only the strongest will survive it.

earning merit is dependable on how you respond to threads, if your response is formative you will be earning merit, if you are creative you will earn merit, because what the forum needs most is to be innovative.

 Things you should consider before making a post, because for you to earn a merits you need to consider the following as a tools

1. Read a post and understand the point of views of the thread before you comment
2. Make sure you cross check what you have written before you post
3. Let your sentence be well arranged, your English language should be comprehensive..
4. Observation is most important, observe the kind of discussion going on before you respond
5. In summary...ensure you make a post were you understand the subject and composition of op.

As long as this Bitcointalk forum is concerned you are not allowed to ask for merit. As a newbie you need to work very hard and focus on learning how to make a good quility post on the forum rather than asking for merit. One thing you need to understand in this forum is that merit is always awarded to a post that is helpful and meaningful to the forum, so if you want to get merit from high rank members here you most contribute meaningfully in the forum.

Op, bear this in mind that your opinion will never be accepted this way, obviously it's very bad to ask for merits or beg for merits,its even against the forum's rules you just need to work harder and make a quality posts and also insight your good contribution to the forum, to be able to gain merits unexpected.

As a newbie, I think it's very difficult to earn merits in a short time because they aren't aware of these things about earning merits. In my opinion, I consider merit as an award from other members for your positive contributions to the forum. The more and better you provide help to someone, the more merits you will receive as appreciation or as an award. I would recommend you to go through the fillippone (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1852120) post where he explains everything about how a person can earn merits on the forum. He is outstanding, having earned 2,900 merits in less than 12 months. He gave 11 hints in his post about merits. What I can learn from him is to consider merit as a knowledge exchange, give merit when you learn something new and receive merit when you teach or provide something new. If you can just work on this single piece of advice, I think you will not only earn merits but also become a reputable person in the forum.

Here is his post link (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5098333.msg49267880#msg49267880)

Welcome mate,as a newbie you ought not focus on receiving merits when all what you've written are not worth meriting,on this forum merit is earned for contributing something quality(Quality over quantity).Merit is an award for quality contribution,to me the merit system is fair, don't expect the management team of this forum to add start-up merit for newbies as part of the merit system,if they do it'll promote alts account on this forum.Receiving merits on this forum is not a bed of roses, you earn them(quality contributions) and not the other way round.
When a person is new on a forum,he or she ought to read the rules of the forum for more clarity,rather than complaining or trying to request for a change of system that has been for years.Read this thread (Everything you need to know about forum 'activity, account ranks and merit (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2766177.0)),on this thread you'll get to know everything about merit and activity as a newbie.My advise to you as a newbie is to do more of reading and research than contributing.

This question has been asked multiple times on this forum and always by newbies. OP, if you really want to earn merits then first try to learn the forum and also try to learn about Bitcoin by reading as many articles and books as you possibly could. And, once you have done those then simply visit one of such threads where users already asked that how they could earn merits and then read all posts in those threads. Trust me if you read those threads then you'll understand how to earn merits in this forum. In simple words, contribute contribute contribute, that's the best way to earn merits, share your knowledge, contribute good posts and you'll see merits coming to you. There's no shortcut to earn merits here, only if you contribute then you'll earn merits.

Think start-up merits for newbies is the most wicked thoughts I have come across ever since I have been reading merits lamenting topics like this one, the ops have failed to acknowledge the importance of merit's system to quality posting in this forum because giving out airdrop merits to newbies will reduce the quality of their contribution from the beginning and that could lead them into missing the whole essence for being a member of the forum.


Newbies avoid full focus on merits and focus on improving your knowledge and giving quality contributions around here, with time you are gonna get the merits that are deserving to your posts as long as you contribute positively to topics around here.

Problem with some newbies is they want to rush everything. They think gaining merit faster is beneficial to them while the fact is the most important thing to get those things is to provide quality post in this forum.

And they can only have or make thay if they are knowledgeable enough. So really more better that instead of getting merit from their post they focus their selves reading this forum and get an idea from people on how they discuss some matters also do more research so they would know many things about crypto. Once they learn a lot and can share something valuable to other people maybe for that their chance to get a merit is high.

So research bring good result and newbie should not be lazy to do it because this is the way how they can help their selves.

You just created a new account, and of course, you just need to roam around right here in the community and find a suitable board to your interests. by that you can get more engagement and contribution on the topic they are discussing if you haven't yet related to those topic internets is free to use so you can ask a question, give your thoughts and contribute to the discussion. You don't need to chase merit as of now enjoy the learning here in the forum by the time goes by merit will come.

When you expect merits, you have to think about what you gave in return to the forum. If you write good content, you can expect merits in return. You have written less than 20 posts so far. There are a lot of Legendary forum member who got their first merit after writing over a hundred posts. You are still a new face in the forum and people don't know your capability. Show us something that is worth a merit, and you don't have to ask for it.

The first rule to get merit is never to ask for it. Personally, I received merits from some posts where I did not expected merits. But I did not received any merits where I was expecting. So, don't be disappointed. Read more, write and stick with the forum. You will start getting merits eventually.

That is the truth about this forum. If any member, whether he or she, is chasing after merits to rank up their account, in fact, it can easily lead to the account being tagged or banned. This happens because the member may constantly look for posts to reply to, aiming to attract the attention of other members to merit their account. From there, the member might start spamming the forum or possibly copying content from another site and posting it here.

This forum does not encourage rushing. What it needs is for you to calm down and learn well. Once you’ve gained knowledge, you can start posting or replying to posts and asking meaningful questions that contribute to the forum. By doing so, merits may naturally start coming to your account.i would advise newbies to first build their knowledge before thinking about ways to earn merits in the forum.

They will just get heavy pressure since they are looking after on something hard to get especially if they don't have any good knowledge on what they are dealing in this forum. So maybe better for them to focus building up good learnings since once they post nicely and it can attract people or let say it help them on some matters then maybe by that reasons they can get a merit. But just like what has been said its better to focus researching, rather than paying to much attention on those things that can discourage them. If he didn't get what he wants like gaining merits for sure that he might decide to quit especially if he feels that its impossible to rank up in that situation.

The problem with most newbies is that they start inquiring about merits and how they can rank up right after joining the forum. It's probably because they have either been referred by those who are already in this forum or are alts of others. Either way, if one considers this forum a source of income, then one needs to remember that you can't earn money that easily and quickly; no matter what field it is, you will need some knowledge and experience to at least start earning money.

So, those who are coming to this forum with their focus on earning money should understand that it's not an easy process. To earn money from here, you will have to build your profile. You should work on getting as much knowledge as possible and reach a point where your knowledge should reflect through your posts, and that is when you will start getting the recognition you are looking for,

Even if one manages to get some merits either in a legit manner or by cheating or buying them, they should be reminded that merit is not the only thing needed to rank up, the first requirement will always be your activity points, and you can't get enough activity to rank up quicker and you will still have to be active and spend enough time to reach a rank where you can possibly get hired by a manager in a signature campaign if you are worthy of it.

They can start with pinned threads from which they can learn many things for their adventure in Bitcoin forum.

[Bitcointalk sticky threads] Newbies - read before starting. (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5279088.0)

It will be hard for them to start but by learning, they will prepare more knowledge to become better forum members, then they can contribute more. More contributions will help them increase chance to receive merit and rank up.

Just don't think, let's start with learning, then with time and from learning, they will feel they are more ready to help other members with their posts and rankup will become more achievable.

In order to navigate in this space you don't need merits although to get rank you need merits and getting merits is not that hard although I do agree with you on one thing that many people don't want to give merits to just anyone unless the person's idea really worth that much. In order to get merits as a newbie you must spend some time in your local board as I have seen mostly local moderators are allocated with some merits I suppose and they distribute them in the local board s if your moderator or anyone else liked your posts and they realize it really worth a merit they might give you one.

Otherwise there are merit source threads where you can apply and maybe get approved and get merits as well. I suggest don't chase merits although they look good and very necassary to get rank and until you won't rank your chances to get into some signature is very hard as well if that's what you mean to navigate in the space! Overall keep it up bring good content about crypto and you will do good. Don't judge me on the basis of my merit list hehe as I also don't get any.

You just came in and you’re worried for the wrong things, your concern now shouldn’t be merits. You should be talking of learning and knowing the rules and regulations of the forum and how to navigate and make good quality posts. You don’t get to college or any school and ask to be given a grade when you’ve not written a test or exam, you have to show your ability first before you’re rewarded.
So Please change that your Opinion and Mindset.

If you ask me sincerely, I would say you nailed it. Perfect response for the OP. A newbie merit base for a starter? Am sure abuse will be inevitable.

For me, I think it's better like this, work hard for the merit. this will make newbies dedicated to reading and learning. This continues quest brings the desired knowledge that births merits.. @ un_rank, you have said it all. Weldon

Let me answer you straight and very clear.. what is the best way to gain merits in Bitcoin talk..?? Yea. It has a very simple answer which is....

*Raise threads or post that solves problems. Yea! There are alot of people who seek answers to problems about Bitcoin and related matters. When your post provides some or few solutions to these existing or future problems, then merits will fall like rain for you. So make quality post, be impactful, and merit will never leave your domain.

*But then, remember that to make this quality post, share knowledge and solve a problem in this forum, you need great knowledge about the system. And believe me you that you can't get this much knowledge if you don't read thoroughly and navigate the forum properly. Therefore OP, If you can dedicate to learning through reading threads, and then produce quality post here, Merits will be your friend. Goodluck!

Good idea I must say that you are not the first person that came up with this idea but the way merit philosophy is build is to keep some integrity of the forum, it is going to be abused because the merit system is the only way to rank up in the Forum and not just that, it's the key to getting into signature campaigns in the Forum, if that is done in the Forum, people will use sue privilege to want to rank up new accounts so they can get their ways into the campaigns.

There are plenty of genuine newbies that want the safe way to rank up but it's better if it's left the way it's, if you are active in the Forum, after sometimes you should get one or two and the more recognized your threads and posts get acquainted by the merit sources, the more merit you will earn most often. You can also check out the threads where some merit are given to best posts submitted, check the forum boards, you should be able to locate them.

You still have a long way to go merit is just given like that you must really work hard for it besides this is not the time to be talking about someone giving you Merit which post have you done that was able to solve out problem in this forum when you make a quality post in the right thread you will definitely see merit coming your way, what you need to do now is to focus you must make reading your hobbies also try to be very active in this forum by making a helping post regularly you will definitely see merit coming your way, also try to be going through what others has done for them to be merited and do the same also as a newbie making post in gambling thread won't earn you Merit this is the mistake most newbies make by posting regularly in the gambling thread.

OP, opening this thread is in bad light; considering that it was opened barely 24hrs after your registration on this forum. Yeah, you're simply telling us that you've been here longer that we officially know for you to have come to the conclusion that it's difficult getting merit as newbies.

Well, for your question, I think the best way to get merit is to engage in conversations aimed at providing information to issues raised by other members. Contribute something meaningful without any intention of getting rewarded for it. Trust me, someone will read your posts and find them worthy to place merit on. Be passionate about what you do here. On the long run that will pay off.

It can be abused if every newbie account that just registers gets a startup merit as you think. Do you believe that everyone has the skills to register more than one account?
The existing system is good and does not need to be changed anymore.
Since I registered an account on the forum, I have only been able to get 444 merits and it feels like I am stuck at that number. But that happened because the quality of my posts may have decreased.

Competence is not something that can be forced or snatched from someone. And competence is never achieved in a day. Competence will come automatically when a person tries, researches a subject, and contributes to the benefit of others.
Everyone values knowledgeable people. When people understand that you have something in you by which you can do good for the people. So spread the information for the people's welfare. This ability will not happen overnight to anyone, you have to try a lot for it. If someone posts a question and wants to know the answer, then you should present it in simple language as fluently as you can. If people enjoy reading your writing, then you can earn merit from here. Be present in the topics that are discussed in the forum every day and increase your awareness.

It is not right to manage accounts alone, it is a bad thing for the forum. Nowadays, many account farmers keep many accounts in reserve on their farms. However, this is not right. If an account can be promoted well, it is best. Seeing the amount of good reach that can be achieved by putting effort into an account, it is impossible to do well if you have one.

That is why one account is best. It will be best if you can move forward well by posting good quality posts, using your creativity, and creating a good position in the forum. If you can post good quality posts, achieving merit is not too much trouble.

IT indeed was abused waaay back when 1st merit was introduced.
People had hundreds of member rank accounts, and each started with i believe 50 merit to send.
And of course, people started sending merit to their main accounts. Needless to say, there were quickly found out and banned for abusing the system

That's why the rules that are allowed and should not be made in my opinion are very good. You, me and they just need to obey it. Bukam means that everyone here is forbidden to propose something, but it is not certain that the usual is useful for the development of the forum.
This forum is a Bitcoin community forum made to discuss Bitcoin and other things that are not to be misused.
If you want an account ranking, just follow the standard. Create a post that can bring merit.

Do I need to understand the subtext of your post, that the more alternative accounts you have in your reserve, the greater the "reach" in the financial sense?

Perhaps this is difficult to translate, but I understand this as advice and, at the same time, a not entirely logical denial.

So, what is an advantage for you, having one account and being calm, not committing yourself to anything reading and being on the forum, or a bunch of alts sitting at the monitor for days, dreaming of earning as much merit as possible and everything that comes?

How can you say you are stuck in 444 merits when your merit history shows that you are earning merits often and besides the last merit you received was on 31 December 2024, which is still a recent merit considering the current date as at when OP created this thread or when you made a reply here. Your post quality may have decreased if you feel you are not earning enough merit as you normally do in the past but for the fact that you still earn some merits in your last 120 days shows that some of your posts are still of good quality hence, reason why you have been able to earn some merits while you make posts. There are some accounts i have seen in this forum that haven't earn a single merit in their last 120 days which shows that they have been either inactive or they don't post quality.

Hey man!
We all started here as newbie and you can't just come to the system to implement something new whichever people has already thought of it before started. Like I know within my little knowledge, merits is not the ultimate of this forum rather a kind of thing that is given to you when you create a quality post or have a quality comments which must be a original or not original but must carries the source link to show you weren't the creator.

With this, if found helpful to people, reader or someone who created the post/thread you could be rewarded merit's depending on the usefulness of the information or help you rendered to the person.

You have to learn to undergo the system more better and also see reasons to why millions of users do not vote for that particular changes, and of course meritocracy was introduced to reduced or eliminate spam and shit-posters.

With that, the forum has remained clean and enjoyable for people like you to come commend of the usefulness of the site, otherwise here could have been a dustbin with a lot of scrap post and shit-post maybe you couldn't have found here enjoyable like this. All thank to the moderators and admin who are keens working tireless to make sure here still maintain its quality and the true value.

Not having merits doesn’t stops you from navigating around the forum, it will not restrict you chatting or interacting with others on any serious discussion, and it will also not stop you from asking questions when the need comes.

Merit is a reward for your hard work and quality contribution to the forum; if you keep interacting positively in the forum, you will earn merits and you don’t need to put it as a top priority unless if you are eager to rank up to participate in any signature campaign.
However, it is very important to earn merits because it will keep encouraging you to be giving positive impact in the forum, and it will give you more confidence on yourself in the forum.

You will find this one helpful: 2024: My Mistakes and Learnings. What are yours? (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5524907.msg64905906#msg64905906).
I have recently (today) ranked up and let me tell you this, 'Forget about merits' and find your interest area in which you are passionate. Engagement will occur naturally if you have some things to share.
If you cannot tell your interest area then you have to give yourself some time, relax, and enjoy parts of the forum that are relatable to you. Yes, it will take time, there is no way around it but soon you will realize it is a process not a state. ;D.

---

 

Congratulations on ranking up. I know that feeling of having the approval of being worthy of ranking up. :)

What you said about how natural engagement comes and how one can earn merits without even trying to get some is what most newbies don't understand, even though it's a very simple thing. If we look at our lives in general, we tend to fail the most when we try very hard to achieve something because we are mostly focused on winning instead of focusing on what we are doing and whether we are doing it right or not.

When you have a goal, you have to think about possible ways of achieving that goal instead of thinking about success all the time and being more focused on winning than how you can win. So, the moral of the story is that our focus should be on what we are doing so that we can do it efficiently. Eventually, the target will be achieved if we master it.

Its now known to me that people are still making efforts to strategies a way to get merit when there a simple rule that say, post quality and you will be merited. And you OP has failed to understand the forum properly before chasing for merit. If you are a big contributor to the forum there is no way you wont get merit for your honest contribution. Have you take the time to look how things are being done here? What activities have you participated in yet?

Another thing i have to say to you is that. Several merit topics have been started in this board but you did not search if not the replies you want would be there already instead of creating new topics everywhere.

Personally, I mean it is not right to use multiple accounts because if you use multiple accounts, your brain will be distracted in several ways. When one brain is distracted in several ways, you will have to focus on many things, and in this way, you will see that he will get confused in the middle.

On the other hand, if you work with one account, your brain will not be distracted, and your focus will be on how to move forward well. And he will be able to give enough time and move forward well.

If it is done correctly, it is okay, but it will be considered a scam for the forum. One account is enough to express yourself well in the forum.

I agree with you because one is enough to do something well. If you can give good time to one account, you can move forward well in relaxation.

But you don't need merits to navigate through the forum. Why should there be a start up merits for newbies? What are they doing with it? You earn merits for contributing positively to the forum or being of help to someone or people who find your post useful. Everyone you see here started as a newbie and non was given a start up merits. As a newbie I will encourage you to focus on reading and understanding the forum more better. With time the merits will come on it's own naturally. The more you are merit oriented, it will not come. Just be yourself and contribute where necessary familiarise yourself with the forum, be active and you will start seeing the merits come. You have only 14 activities and your are already complaining about merit being hard to get, come on that doesn't make any sense. Get your priorities right, merit is a reward for positive contributions.

No need for free merit for starters since merit system launch in 2018.

Newbies have nothing to do with merit because they are not allowed to wear signature, avatar and can not join in any signature campaign.

Reading and learning about the forum, its rules, and about Bitcoin, will help newbies to use this forum better, don't break rules, and are able to make more contributions through posting more helpful and quality posts.

Merits are for helpful posts and if newbies can make helpful posts, after reading and learing, they will have merits.

The new system changes everything, changing the way we as beginners started out sharing unhelpful posts and more posts from bounty campaigns.

I started when the merit system didn't exist and everything seemed fine to me, because I was used to commenting and creating threads that didn't have apparition.
But when the merit system is implemented, it becomes a system that will discard accounts that are not growing and do not strive to improve their quality.

I just learned about the term "MERITOCRACY" and it is indeed about a system that gives individuals the opportunity to occupy positions or positions based on merit, ability, and talent, not wealth or social class. It works like a natural Selection system which will naturally reduce spam and farming accounts naturally, no achievements hence no rank increase.

It seems that the objective of op is to earn a merit, actually earning of merit is very important and for someone to earn a merit you most have ought to come up with cogent ideas that show a good impact to the community, its obvious that merit is been earn for free and before you earn merit people most have like your response or your contributions...so learning as you said buddy will help op to earn merit if his response is answerable to question on a thread he or she responded to.

With merit system, many things changed, first with rank requirements and your efforts put in for ranking up. After you ranking up and even were approved to join signature campaign, you can not stop there. With competition of other campaign participants and applicants as well as stricter management of campaign managers with time, you always have to keep up your quality posts, and contributions with time. This approach in posting style will help you receive merit even you no longer need to rank up more, or no higher rank for moving up.

If you don't put your efforts in your posts, threads, you will not receive merit and finally you will be kicked out of good campaigns my managers.

Well thanks for your advice. Regarding the reason I made this post was because of what I heard from my guys who introduced the platform to me, so I made the suggestion to them and decided to make this post, I'm just getting to know some things and figure out some things.

BTW, I'm not saying this is the way forward, I'm just giving a suggestion and an opinion. And, yes you'll are right, the best way to go is to learn, engage and share ur ideas.

Wow, I've not heard of it this way, thanks for the insight.

yes I am aware of that and every day I am always trying to improve the quality of my posts and how I interact on the forum,
to get some fairly stable Merit and some useful contributions also to the forum.

It's not just about who moves up the rankings faster and gets a position with the signature campaign, but it's about keeping that position safe.
Each manager has their own criteria, and some will also refresh participants and select members who are not developing.

Almost everyone were newbies at some point and the fact that there are lots of persons with good number of merits which they earned honestly, should tell you that it is possible.
 
You should focus less on the merit and more on putting out good content out there while following the forum guidelines.
 Work the benefits will come because people recognise value.

Quality ratings for each post are highly subjective, that's the point. But in the end, getting merit depends on how readers or merit providers (user) pay attention to the meaning and purpose of our posts, even if they consider them ordinary or general posts. It is always difficult to reach the standards set by others so that we can merit from them, so I personally tend to post whatever suits my taste with constructive elements in mind.

I really know about how difficult merit is if the goal of our post is to get merit, but merit is easy to earned when our mindset about merit is easy. We will get merit when our posts are meaningful and useful for other users, including technical posts or some other general knowledge related to forum or others.

Merit will indeed be subjective to who and what they post, but still with better quality.
And the most affecting thing is also where you are, if you are in the right place with people you know then it will be easier to get merit,
but if you are quite unfamiliar with that place or sub forum that makes people rarely give merit, of course no matter how good it is, there will be no merit given.

Now it is difficult, especially if the posts are just monotonous and there is no progress. I am more interested in threads that discuss real events experienced by someone in the crypto world and some valid data exposures, so I can also explain the data I get.

Some of the threads that I made and really useful get the merit they deserve and are also not threads but works that participate in contests and giveaways that are often done such as carving pumpkins, making pizza are potential activities to get merit.

Merit is like a reward and you know rewards don't just come easily, you must work hard to gain it. And with things like this if you are not very patience you may be disappointed to keep on working towards it. The best way of getting merit is to contribute in discussions that will benefit the community and you will definitely get it with time.

I know it is not very easy with most newbies because some newbies joined the forum without having much knowledge but they have no choice to grow as they join the forum to meet the standard of the forum and sometimes this process of learning may delay one in getting merit,  but you shouldn't be bothered so much if you don't get merit quick as newbies,  it is better to be patience and focus the process of learning,  this will fasting your growth in the future. Just focus in your learning and give the community what will benefit its members.

same as me, I also haven't received merit for a long time and haven't focused on merit

I got my first merit when I posted and gave information on this forum to people who asked,

so the more information you have and you share it with people who don't know yet, and it is useful for them, merit will come to you by itself

Merits doesn't have anything to contributes towards you navigating to this forum, a lazy person is always a lay person. I won't also agree with you that such thing should be implemented when they don't know the rightful use of merits and how they can spend it, besides newbie should be more of knowledge finding and discovery to know how the forum works than going straight in talking of merits while no much efforts has been laid down to know why you should have such merits or be given prereferral merits to start up the forum.

It is true that getting merit is not easy and it is especially hard for new members who might not know much. But instead of getting upset it us better to focus on learning and improving. With concentrating on learning and sharing useful ideas with community new members can learn faster and eventually get merit. Your suggestion to be patient and focus on helping others is very good. And by working hard and being patient and helping community is important to get merit.

;D Well said!
Although I just want to add that some time it is not individual's fault entirely. There are deep-rooted social barriers to individual's overall development. This is particularly true for some parts of the world where an individual has devoted so much time just following oppressive structures which resulting in hampering his ability to think big.
It is not easy to get out of that trap.

A time will come when you won't even be bothered about earning merits and that's only if you chill, become contributive, learn more and be determined to grow gradually. It doesn't matter how long it will take you to grow but the most important thing is for you to understand how the forum works and stay put to discussions in relevant threads and boards. There are enough merit source who can come across your quality posts and give them merits even if they are posts you made in the past.

There is no need for newbie to have a startup merit because it makes no difference since it will still depend on your activity that will make your rank to increase with the number of merit you have been able to earn. We all started with zero merits but here we are now having enough of it in our profiles.

Well it's also important to have self development in a community that is so competitive, people should learn how to live by the standard of every community such as putting their best knowledge to understand how the forum works. I don't really see those that are so dolent about whatever thing they are stepping into as theat to them due their lack of experience or knowledge towards the community were they would want something as a form of compensations to their start-up package. Most time it's not usually valued because they wouldn't see that important to them rather take it as entitlement that is why I wouldn't for one day values those who takes things as their right or entitlement without putting in their efforts to work hard towards achieving what they they wanted.

Since you are most concerned about earning merit in the forum when you newly joined the forum, I see you as someone who is not ready to learn about bitcoin and the forum entirely, so earning merit in the forum will be difficult for you since you don't want to learn but just want to earn merit without positively impacting people's lives in the forum. As a newbie in the forum, you are not even meant to be concerned about merit in your early stage in the forum, you should be more concerned about how to learn about bitcoin and not how you will earn merit quickly so that with time you can be growing and earning merit gradually in the forum.

The truth of the matter is, hard work and consistency is a major factor that brings about one's progress in this forum. As someone who have pass through the process himself, I won't say getting rewarded for your efforts through the merits is easy. As a matter of fact, it requires one's full energy and passion to navigate the ranks and levels of this forum. One thing I've realized and appreciated with this forum is that forum members are intellectual people and they try as much to reward you based on your show of intellectual capacity and wherewithal.

People don't just get rewarded for the sake of reward, it is usually on the bases of one's contributions vis-a-vis their level understanding towards proffering an emerging solution to simple and complex problems. Although what I've noticed is the reward system seems to be getting tighter as merit sources are not generally as generous as they used to be in the past and I hope that this reward system works better for us all again in the near future.

However, there are still boards where you get rewarded for your contributions especially the technical board but my argument at the same time will be that it's not everyone here that's good in technical aspect of Bitcoin so, if merits are more available over those boards than others, many people might end up not benefiting from the reward system.

The last advice I'd like to share with every newbie is not become so hard on themselves in using grammars. The forum wasn't created for grammarians and we equally know that the forum is a global platform which has accormodated diverse set of members across the world and still accommodating more, so while we are only using English as our own official language here, you do not have to be painstaking about using grammars to communicate here.

Lately, I observed that creating useful tools for Bitcointalk is best way to earn merits. Now, if you don't have any such skills to offer then just stay active, pour your thoughts where you feel like to do so and slowly and steadily you will earn merits.

There are also merit giveaways and contests where you can take part. For example, this one: 🍑 PeachBitcoin [CHALLENGE] Run A Bitcoin Node: 14 Days To 14 Merits (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5480200.msg63432449#msg63432449) — such contests are running all the time and IMO these are better than 'start-up merits for newbies' idea you are proposing (I do see taking part in these contests require you to be somewhat active already but it's only fair).

Wow, nice, thanks for the tip

True to what you say, it's quite hard to get merit if you don't have the skills to create a useful tool or thread that discusses things that are quite technical or that need some useful factual data for forums and tools for Bitcoin and others.

I myself made some information threads that may not be very interesting but quite useful,
but I always make it to stay active and provide the correct information according to the data.

I don't even have programming skills or anything like that, so I can't make some tools that might be useful like the members who have a lot of skills in this forum do, but we can follow it up as you said by noting the events that give merit to participants who do the task, like the latest merit giveaways created by @NotAThether
GingerWallet.io | LN Quest ⚡Up to 50 merits (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5527488.0)

Just keep trying to stay active and productive by following how the forum works.

i am a newbie like you, but by researching and studying various materials on this site and this topic, i have come to an important conclusion in my opinion and i want to say it briefly and briefly.
our friends here have introduced tools and topics that can be extremely useful for our progress.
but the points i realized =
act like a caring teacher and if we have information that can help others, be sure to share it.
Speak fluently and make our posts useful and targeted.
be dynamic. When our friends notice our continuous presence and see our efforts and see useful posts from us, it will make them help us.
participate in different topics that we are interested in and do not limit ourselves to a specific topic. this will help us find more friends and also have more chances.

in general, the higher the quality of our performance and posts, the faster the progress will be.

You are right, consistency in creating quality threads in this forum will help you grow faster, and actively participate in conversation that are useful to the forum and make sure you give good impacts on the discussion.

Answer and ask valuable questions that will make everyone think and learn from will also help you grow fast because such questions help us to discuss some important topics that worth creating threads for.

Furthermore, always avoid using AI to create content just because you want quality content, and always avoid copy and paste from the internet; Plagiarism is not accepted in this forum.

Gaining merits here could be quit difficult this days, unlike before merit was not hard to get. All you need to do is to creat a quality and educative thread or be a problem solver by answering questions you may be lucky to recieve merit from people who find your post informative. But even if your post is informative and has quality content doesn't mean that all your post will receive merit. Make sure your post is a natural post not a kind of merit hunting post which everyone will know your plan. The Truth is that people willingly give merit to newbie before but now there has been too many Alt account or merit farming and this has lead to most merit source or people to stop given out merit to newbies. Because you don't even know if such account are fishing merit to grow their account, that's why merit is becoming scarce this days.

Hey mate, instead of focusing on getting merits handed to you why not try focusing on how to get knowledge about Bitcoin and how to navigate the forum, you don't need a startup merit to navigate the community. Thinking about merit the moment you registered has made you loose focus and you have been in the newbie rank up to this day, earning merit isn't an easy thing especially if you are still starting out but you are in luck because this community is the right place to be and there's so much knowledge to gain. I totally understand you buddy because I've had this same thought about merits (so I won't condemn you) you but for you to grow here you need to know that merits are rewards for contributing and adding value to the community and that takes efforts and hard work.

You don't need merit to navigate through the forum my friend, all you need is your data connecting and your mobile phone or a laptop. Merit is awarded to quality post based on what a merit patron deemed fit to be a quality post for him or her. Merit is never what can make you navigate the forum, look beyond that and if you try and learn and be productive on the forum, you will get the merit.

Good and sound advice and I second this.
There is another interesting perspective that I want to share about merits and ranking up. You need to forget about about merits in order to get merits  ;D. I know it sounds quite paradoxical but it is true. Especially in the initial days, your approach has to be learning-centric instead of merit-centric.

They forget about forum is not built for that matters since there's lots of stuffs we can enjoy more rather than engaging our self on more stressful things on early part of their participation in this forum.

People can learn a lot here like

Mining
Trading
Bitcoin long term investment
Also they can get lots of crypto freelance work if they have skill.

That's why they better stop chasing to rank up and do crazy things since there's only few bucks to earn on signature campaigns. If they focus to get lot more knowledge in this forum for sure they could earn a lot more profit from their future crypto gigs.

Read more and care less about the merit. The reason why you are still backward is because you fail to read through comments and share the best opinion or contribute to a discussion technically. Dont just scroll through the forum like you said navigate in the name of earning merit. Take your time read through and you see people who enjoy reading what you say give you merit. Everyone is free with merit in the forum just that they dont see anything useful you write. Until then keep learning.

I agree with you, but on second thought some of the newbies have always been seeing merits as the target ones they join the Forum, well that's true because everyone wants to be like the next member with higher rank but they forget that before you get any of that (merit) you need to put all your effort to earn it and where they normally see merit as something they can just get each time they login and is not coming is another thing that result to this kind of post or thread. I think we need to blame it on the members who introduce the Forum to the newbies because the ideas are not clearly given to them and that's why you see some contribution that doesn't have that energy to receive merit, and don't forget that is not everyone that loves to read that much.

Newbies should focus on learning about Bitcoin, the forum, and making contributions. How would a newcomer have a startup merit when you don't know how to use it since you are new. Some people visit this forum constantly, but they have not registered because they are benefiting from the information they are getting. Many newbies I know who focused on merits and ranking up become disappointed and left the forum because they didn't get it as they wanted. Focus more on contributing to the forum, and merits will naturally come.

participating in different topics and not limiting oneself to particular topics really helps to broaden once knowledge and it increases level of knowledge and post quality and also increases your chances of earning more merits. Knowledge is what makes your interaction easy and enjoyable, and when you have enough knowledge you make quality posts and makes your growth faster and easier that’s why knowledge should be your first priority.

People actually underestimate questions asked and answers given by others members but it really helps a lot, I have learned so much by asking questions and the answers I received help me to understand a lot.

Merits are not just given to any user probably because of their participation on a discussion, but because of the vital information they shared that would definitely help the next person. For instance one of the reasons I give my smerit is when you make a post that's well pleasing to me sharing quality information shows that you have clear understanding of what you're discussing on. Though I admit  that not all quality post here in the forum are merited, and there are also threads where you can report unmerited quality posts. Its no new that the merit system has become more rigid than it used to be not because there are no more quality posters but because some merit source refuse to do their work.

This topic has been made several times,and it is good we are still making it so that the newbies will definitely have something to learn.How merits can be gained or earned is based on the kind of posts you make,it is  as simple as that.
If you aren't making enough quality posts,then you will find it hard to get merits,and another question is,how can one know if a post is of quality or not.Yes,it can be known if a post is of quality or not through the longevity of the post,and apart from that,it can also be known though the logical arrangements of the posts.

During my early days in forum as a newbie, it usually take me lengthy period of time before I can be able to make a post but now experienced, I can spend less minutes making quality top notch posts. Another thing that help, don't be specific in one area, distribute your posts to other boards, ensure they make good sense and the threads are imperative. This is cote duty of every register member of bitcointalk, the task is firstly complex at first, but as time goes by, and daily routine applicable, it's seen easy.

What other way can one gain merits in bitcointalk? The main task is composing quality posts and huge contrihution to forum. It's noticeable and acknowledge able that we should be extremely careful when posting in forum. The forum is not designed for merits only, there are other sectors to build and get attached to better qualities, we're talking about factors that will serve as benefits.

Merits should only be given to users who share important and useful information that helps conversation. It is not just about joining in but about giving ideas that can help others. I like how you give smerits because you look for good information and clear understanding of  topic. Merit system has become stricter and it can be annoying to see some good posts not getting merits but system for reporting good posts that do not get merits is good solution to this problem. And I think this is due to lack of merits sources. We know this forum is growing and theymos should add more merit sources in the list so good posts will get enough merits.

As a newbie i would love to know how to build up my account and gain so merits

Theirs no official way to earn a merit, before you earn a merit you most be a good thinker, and you most be innovative, it's obvious that what attracted merit from my understanding in this community is a quality posts, and for you to make quality post you be fast thinker, and you most be problem solver, because people who is into cryptocurrency also people who is in this community what need is for you to be creative, like bringing up some that's new, answer a question to a problem, bring solution to solve problems of blockchain technology.

The best way to gain merits on bitcointalk is to make sure that you make all the necessary available contributions that can help other members get answers to their questions and also make contributions that help the forum to grow to the next expected end, this is because most merits sources and other forum members are mostly interested in what you can offer as in form of help and also build the reputation that earns your that trust and acceptance from other forum members.

That being said, merits are earned but not begged for so for that you should work to earn merits and not demand for it this way.

There are a lot of people who are benefiting from the forum to get information related to Bitcoin. There is a special number of those people who leave the forum without getting the startup qualification. I agree with you that many of us new members get frustrated and lose the forum due to lack of sufficient qualification. For members like us who need more study, the recommendation for newbies is to try to gain knowledge of the qualification so that other members can publish unknown and informative topics through the forum so that everyone can easily benefit.

Don't be frustrated when you are not getting merits from merits sources users in some post or other forum users, People don't merits users who are not active in the forum because it will not encourage newbies to be active to improve in quality post in the forum. There are many people in this forum who are not after merits than to be concentrate on the knowledge of BTC and they are benefiting from BTC by investing what they can afford to lose.

Keep study even though you are not getting merits now, it will help you to develop in quality post which is the major thing that is attracting people to merits some topics and comments of other people in the forum.

Most definitely there is no shortcut to earn merits in the forum rather the only means they will seem easy is why you have in the head (knowledge) to offer and how you can be a solution to forum users issues and equipment to satisfy the bitcointalk forum platform with good featuring insights of opinions.
You earn merits as rewards of your good offers and not my compassionate.

Good offers sound like negotiation offers for merit exchanges, do you mean so?

Merit is for highlighting good and quality posts to encourage forum posters to make more quality posts. You don't need to give others any offer to deal with, posting naturally with your knowledge and quality contribution, if other forum members see your posts are helpful, they will send you merit.

You don't need to exchange merits through "offers" and the best way to gain merit is Making Good Posts.
Welcome message. (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5036308.0)
Merit & new rank requirements. (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2818350.0)

I am obviously lost with your mentioned of merit exchange. Is that a new coin exchange or what? Because what I can recall is the talk about how one can earn merits in the bitcointalk forum which I referred to be a means of forum users efforts of what help that that they can offers to to other users with a high quality of contributions.
I also highlighted it clearly that merits can also be earned by means of users supporting the bitcointalk forum with an quality offers that is to enhance usability of the forum.

Merit comes on it own and not by request and what you have said is a red flag. When you have posted quality. They will come by itself. And from your posting history you are not yet good in posting and you have to improve on it.