Except it's a pm from such user, then if you ask me there is no problem at all, if it's a general thread for all to see, I see no reason why you'll be suspicious of it. Many users have been flagged for one mistake in the past and have still continued to be productive in the forum through their posts.

The flag just signifies that you have to think twice before engaging in anything personal with such user, it's not like it is sure to go wrong, but for one to be careful.
Reading, commenting and even meriting their threads is totally cool.

I think the reverse is actually the case here, just as it has been said earlier in this thread. I think it's a dearth of BTC good signature campaign rather than lack of good posters, and I also think there are more than enough good posters to go round the campaigns, but there are not just enough open slots for them, which takes them to enroll in the majority campaigns which happens to be shitty ICO campaigns; which might actually be a waste of time for them, and no compensation for their good efforts through their posts on the forum.
I agree with you on this and it's due to a user appreciating anothers posting style, which is very important, and the impression the user has created on the forum, good posters who have cemented their legacy as such(good posters)tend to always receive merits even if what's written at that particular time is just normal or not worth merits, thats why it's always important for users to create good impressions on the forum and present themselves as good/quality posters from the outset.

This would be a shrewd idea if you look at it from one angle, but i do not see theymos putting any signature restrictions(such as this)anytime soon.
The onus falls on the campaign/campaign managers to do so, if they feel it'll help clean the campaign off bad posters, and I think top campaign managers look into this, they check the general posting quality, if it's good, then the user must have earned one merit in 12 months, hence eligible; if its terrible, with no merits in the last 365 days, then it'll be a no, except in cases where the account is inactive, which they hardly even consider.
Most campaign managers(top BTC campaign managers) have been in the system for a very long time, some are merit sources, spam busters, DT members, mods etc, their cv speaks for them, thus it'll be a stroll in the park for them, deciding if a post is worth a merit for whatever reason possible.

If you ask me, if a user is trustworthy, and has received good trust from users in the past and for some reasons is probably off the forum for a while, leaving them with positive trust for their past actions and trades is actually a good idea.

The right to to distrust them would be if such account wakes up and proves dishonest or not worth trusting anymore, probably if it's proven the account was hacked or stolen

No one would mind leaving satoshi positive trusts even though he's not been here for years.

After last nights performance, I couldn't agree with you more, not just because they lost the league opener to Athletic Bilba, but because of the way he has handled Barcelona in the years he has been in charge.

I think valverde has changed barca to a more defensive team, he sets up his side defensively at times and is usually scared to take risks and attack especially in the UCL when his team takes the lead going into second leg games, and it had cost them both against Roma and Liverpool in two consecutive seasons.
I think valverde has to go if you ask me.

Liverpool and Manchester City are set to go at it hammer and thongs this season for the epl title, though I think the pundits are neglecting the other big teams and that's not a wise thing to do.

If you ask me Chelsea, manchester United, Arsenal and spurs all have a part to play in the battle for the title, though city and Liverpool are front runners but let's not overlook the other teams.
I see easy wins for city and Liverpool this weekend.

Bitcointalk name: Coyster
Link to profile: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2376653
Rank: Full member
Current post count: 634
Mintdice username: Global
Wear appropriate signature: YES
Wear appropriate avatar: YES

I never removed the signature, I advertised with the Windice signature on,check properly.

I advertised on the bustadise campaign, no doubt, but I did so with my Windice signature on, please rectify this.

Hello yahoo I just ranked up to full member, is there any available opening for me to rank up.

I do not understand what you mean by crypto is identical to bitcoin, bitcoin is a cryptocurrency and if we're to be unfair to altcoins, it's the one and true cryptocurrency, bitcoin gave rise to the entrance of thousands of altcoins, but majority of them turned out to be shitcoins and they lack any tangible use at the moment.
I wouldn't complain about a total bitcoin dominance and total elimination of altcoins, it will tilt everyone's attention to the bitcoin, and this will enable them to safeguard their funds and put their trust in the bitcoin as altcoins at the moment are more or less shitcoins.

He had a spectacular season no doubt, but not one capable of making him the best player in the world, last year's award was a sham, I really didn't know what they were getting at, it was obvious Ronaldo was the best player as of last year.
So many players have had the season modric had last season.

It's not about having "balls", it's about how city make the game difficult for their opponents, sniffing life out of them with well calculated passes and making it hard for their opponents to record a decent amount of possession. If you don't have the ball, you can't score goals. I think peps game plan is superb and I see him going for the third epl title in a row.

Spurs in recent seasons have proved a hard nut to crack for city, but i don't think that will be the same on Saturday evening, I see city running out comfortable winners by 3 goals to 1.

To answer the question in your subject, it's a big NO for me, funding ICOs is like simply putting your money into someone else's pockets, enriching him or her while you impoverish yourself.

Your friend seems to have learnt the hard way and he wouldn't be the first nor the last to fall for ICO scams.If he had invested in the bitcoin, he'll have still been in possession of his coin no matter what, whether its a rise or a fall, that's what people need to understand.
Investing in an ICO this days is like giving away the private keys to your wallet, it's no coin/fund of yours anymore when you do so.

Reading in general is essential, the more one reads the more that person is in the know and the more confidence such person has when trading.

Reading everything that comes your way as pertaining to your area of interest is one habit that guarantees success.
Read threads on the forum, read books, cryptocurrency journals, trading methods and what have you, just keep reading till you no longer exist, the individual who reads most is mostly the most knowledgeable and more likely the one the market would favor.

My major contribution to stop spam has been to develop myself hugely in over a year on the forum, learning how and the right way to post, so I do not fall on the wrong side of the line and increase the number of shitposters that roam the forum everyday.

To me that's a wonderful personal contribution, one that if everyone takes they'll be better persons here and it'll reflect on the forum, instilling sanity and stamping out laziness.If only everyone can behave in the most appropriate way expected, then in here would be a better place for sure.
This one is never going to happen, to put in the words of theymos:

It's all about being apt in our decision making, you can be conversant with all the strategies in trading and have all the experience needed, but if you make decisions without prior proper thought then you cannot be said to be a good trader.
As a trader or investor, you need to know the best time to buy,sell,cut losses etc.

I personally sell immediately my target is attained for that particular investment, then i wait for a favorable time when the price would be lower than the price I bought previously to buy again, you just need to make good decisions all the time.

Why are you desperate to earn a merit? If it's to rank up to Jr member and participate in ICO bounties, then you're definitely going to be walking on the wrong path.
If you take a second to go through the preceding comments before yours, you'll see the word effort, determination, quality, helpful,decent etc, those are the characteristics your post must embody to enable you to rank up, and you wouldn't have to beg for it, users would be glad to give them to you.

Start up with building your account to a reasonable rank and also increasing your reputation on the forum, if you're able to do that, in the long run you'll be glad you did, but one thing you must know is that it takes time, so you'll need to be patient.

Congratulations to talkstar, it's not a thing of luck to rank up really, you don't just stumble on it, you must have to put in work and effort and you've done so, the feeling of achievement is one good feeling to taste, having being merited over 250 times is quite an achievement, congratulations.
You're one poster on the forum i admire so much, you're always there to assist newbies and warn them of fraudulent scammers waiting in the wings, you are a paradigm of the fact that the merit system works and serves a very good purpose.
Posters such as yourself helped to encourage me when the new merits system was introduced, then I thought no chance in hell am i going to rank up higher than the Jr member rank(1 merit)

But today in less than a year I'm just 8 merits away from full membership.
Congratulations baofeng.

I stumbled upon this news today, and really pep and his team can breathe a sigh of relief as they've come out of this fix unscathed(315,000 is no money to them)
I think teams like Chelsea, Barcelona etc that have received transfer bans in recent years would be raising eyebrows as to this news, wondering why city are off the hook with just a fine while FIFA sought to ban them from two successive transfer windows when they inturn broke financial fair play rules, it's indeed a beautiful game, isn't it  

Liverpool will clearly head into the game with a superior psychological advantage over Chelsea, as the blues enter tonights match on the back of a 4 -0 loss to arch rivals Manchester United, while on the other hand Liverpool ran out comfortable winners against Norwich.

But nonetheless this is definitely going to be a tough game, as Chelsea played far better than the scoreline suggested on Sunday, let's hope they fix their pitfalls in tonights match, and are able to score goals when the opportunity presents itself.
I think Chelsea would win 2-1 tonight