General assumption now, no offense to anyone

[BitcoinSupremo]

This forum was a great place a few years ago when 90% of the time and threads were about bitcoin and its technology. Right now I am regularly checking every section (although posting very few posts) and I see that the 90% of the posts is not bitcoin related at all. Spammers and shitposters have invaded this place, if this wasn't enough, non responsible DT members who care only about their micro earnings from signature (because unfortunately a few of them don't even understand bitcoin fundamentals, they should take a free Udemy or CBT Nuggets course on that) have made this place even worse. This forum was supposed to back up decentralization and not give power to only very few individuals who are doing more harm to the forum than good. This is just my perception of the forum as an almost 3 year everyday member here. It will only go to worse as long as nothing is done. I know many things can be done to change this forum for the best.

PS. If anyone will relate this post to my negative trust, it has nothing to do as I will be here even with -9999 trust, and beside that it is non valid.

[bitmover]

You are making your contribution, with one more not Bitcoin related topic  

You are somewhat suggesting that this forum could be centralized... I thought about it when I joined the forum, but I don't think this forum should be decentralized.

There is no decentralization if anyone can create thousands of accounts here.

DT system and the merit system are centralized, but it's better that way. In general, the "power" is with good individuals.

Of course there are exceptions, and as you said many legendaries here know nothing about Bitcoin ( even what is a privatekey, how to keep your wallet safe etc..), but those are not the ones with DT and merit sources.

I see lots of criticism in your post, but zero suggestions.

And, this forum is also a place where people all over the world can share their experiences absout economy, society, politics, etc.. if you don't like off topic discussions, don't go to those boards. Keep yourself in Bitcoin related boards.

You want decentralization by imposing your will? Can't people have onon Bitcoin related discussions?

[Marshall14]

According to you, you've stated what you feel about the forum,but meta is the section where we discuss forum policy,and thus you haven't brought up any suggestion to better this place,you have only stated the obvious that everyone even from their first day on this forum know about...

But bringing up a suggestion wouldn't make it any better,as over a million suggestions have been brought up already to somewhat clean the forum up, buy we are powerless to implement any, only theymos can,

And I don't see him implementing any anytime soon,the garbage was full to the brim, the only reason why the newbie restriction was enhanced,theymos tries to make the forum accommodating for all and sundry,its a shame some members on the forum blatantly abuse such privileges

[Yeahpro]

I am a relatively newer member to the forum, and my opinion may not carry as much weight.
But I still am entitled to an opinion and can air it out freely, that is a form of decentralization.
There are no restrictions to members regardless of ranks (except PM, signature and image restrictions for newbies)

Shit posting and spam is viral, but that should not be confused with non bitcoin related topics. There are boards for specific topics and a topic being non related to bitcoin doesn't make it spam.

DT system and the merit system are centralized, but it's better that way. In general, the "power" is with good individuals.

I've heard of a couple of DTs who got tagged for erring in their duties. That proves they are also compliant to the forums guidelines.

Also merits were not put in the hands of 'a few good individuals'.
During the airdrop, merits were distributed to anyone who met the requirements. Saying its centralized makes it to look like a few, selected individuals were freely handed it. That is not the case.
In terms of its distribution, that can not be regulated.

[suchmoon]

PS. If anyone will relate this post to my negative trust, it has nothing to do as I will be here even with -9999 trust, and beside that it is non valid.

So your account farming and trading activities have nothing to do with the spam avalanche burying this forum? Come on.

How about we start the cleanup by banning you, and then all signatures, avatars, bounties, airdrops, and other shit that has nothing to do with Bitcoin.

[virendarnagpal]

To demotivate shit posting merit system has already been introduced.  Despite that we see many members still there which are still doing the same shit posting.  But Meta system has been successful in throwing out the garbage from the forum.  I think 100% achievement is really very difficult.
With the passage of time IMO several new steps will be taken by the administrators which will further cleanse the forum from shit posters.

[Astargath]

Funny that you are getting paid to post when you are complaining about it. 

[The Sceptical Chymist]

This forum was supposed to back up decentralization and not give power to only very few individuals who are doing more harm to the forum than good.

Just FYI, it wasn't DT members who started the DT system--I think it was Theymos who came up with that, and in the early days scammers were labeled as such right under their avatar (if I'm remembering correctly).  Some members have negative trust from "oldscammertag" which was a way of grandfathering in the red-trusting of scammers.  My point is that this forum has been centralized from the start, and I'd also like to point out that there's no reason whatsoever that a forum has to be "decentralized".  

Decentralization is not a god that I pray to, unlike some other members here.  I've given some real-life examples from the field of pharmacy where centralization works a lot better than decentralization (nursing home and prison pharmacy were the examples I gave).  Frankly if the trust system were any more lax, we'd have even more anarchy here.

And again, a dig at people's understanding of bitcoin vs. their ability to contribute constructively.

(because unfortunately a few of them don't even understand bitcoin fundamentals, they should take a free Udemy or CBT Nuggets course on that) have made this place even worse.

Who exactly are you referring to and how does any ignorance of bitcoin impede a DT member's ability to fight shitposters/scammers?

PS. If anyone will relate this post to my negative trust, it has nothing to do as I will be here even with -9999 trust, and beside that it is non valid.

I know you have negs from some DT members, but I did not take that into account when replying to your post--nor would I neg you for something I disagreed with.

[LTU_btc]

So, what's the point of this rant? You didn't said anything new, we alk know current state of forum. Can you suggest some ideas which would help to improve forum? I'll just remind that there was already so many suggestions, for example here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4893744.0, and as you can see, many of suggestions was already ruled out by theymos. Personally, I think that things like Merit helps to improve forum, but rank requirements aren't strict enough to have more meaningful impact to forum quality.
And it's fun to see that you're complaining that 90% posts here aren't about Bitcoin when majority of your recent posts is about football

[JetAid]

We are about to enter a very exciting and interesting period in the birth of crypto. Actually, in my opinion, it's more of a puberty stage than a birth period. The real answer to all of these spamming problems is for the serious crypto enthusiasts to start self- moderated threads, and to delete the spam and rubbish posts in them. We are going to need to generate some good discussions between intelligent and informed members, and Bitcoin Talk is probably the best place for non-banksters to do this.

Use your voice ( well perhaps your keyboard) to help us to enter this new world of opportunity, and do your bit to improve the quality of the threads where they matter.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

The real answer to all of these spamming problems is for the serious crypto enthusiasts to start self- moderated threads, and to delete the spam and rubbish posts in them.

Dammit, I don't start a lot of threads here, but I started one the other day in Reputation about Dig Bicks and his beef with me--and I completely forgot to make the thread self-moderated.  You're right about this, and I know it's been discussed that people should be making self-moderated threads....I just keep forgetting to do so.

Now that I'm thinking about it, it's time to lock up my thread I made.  That's another thing people should be doing once everything that can be said about something has been said.  Keeping threads open too long leaves them vulnerable to spammers.

[Jet Cash]

I don't understand the Dig Bicks situation. I try not to read his posts, but I noticed one that was related to intelligence and skin colour. I thought that was unsuitable for this forum. It was also not logical, and historically inaccurate.

[marlboroza]

Spammers and shitposters have invaded this place, if this wasn't enough, non responsible DT members who care only about their micro earnings from signature have made this place even worse.

Why not be honest, I have the accounts smho_16, zend7 and Cereberus. Yes I bought them to enter in signature campaigns

[coolcoinz]

Of course there are exceptions, and as you said many legendaries here know nothing about Bitcoin ( even what is a privatekey, how to keep your wallet safe etc..), but those are not the ones with DT and merit sources.

The main reason for that is the 2016 mass account hacking. I'd estimate that at least 25% of all hero and legendary accounts on the forum are no longer under control of their original owners. Some were sold, some hacked, some sold and hacked. You can easily spot them by a large gap in posting and sometimes also a change in style and local language. A forum rank doesn't say much about the person behind it.

[OgNasty]

This forum was a great place a few years ago when 90% of the time and threads were about bitcoin and its technology.

We really need to get beyond this fallacy that creating Bitcoin related threads is helpful or what made this place awesome. This place was awesome because it was the home of lots of cool Bitcoin PROJECTS. People were creating asset micro-exchanges, games, new services, innovative goods... Now all people do is shill gambling sites and ICOs. There are basically no projects people can be involved in that use Bitcoin’s blockchain. There’s endless useless stats and people bickering over who started the most discussions. None of this crap matters. Sorry. Have an idea, start something that uses the Bitcoin blockchain that people can be a part of. Actual use cases for Bitcoin have become few and far between on this forum. It’s ridiculous that people have posted their way into relevance without making any sort of mark on the blockchain. That’s not why this forum became popular and won’t be how it grows a useful user base. Build something you can see on the Bitcoin blockchain. Get people involved. That’s how this place will begin elevating to it’s prior glory.

[acarli]

I started on this forum in late 2016. I am a bitcoin enthusiast, but not a blockchain expert. This was before the crypto fever of 2017. Honestly, I see no difference. I could be wrong. Most of the technical subforums are over my head, and I would be contaminating their threads with questions. That being said, BTC has made a lot of money for a lot of people. Probably most of the early members here. Maybe the users who are only into the monetary gains of crypto are higher now than before.

That's how I imagine it to be. Seems like the natural progression of a high yield market. It starts off as a niche, then early adopters "wealth" gets noticed. Money then floods in and yuppies jump on board. Walla, here we are , lol.

[Jet Cash]

Bitcoin is growing up, and you no longer need to have an in depth knowledge of mining or the blockchain, although it is useful. It has also spawned a large number of associated industries and alternative coins, and Bitcoin Talk has incorporated some of these into the forum, but not all. I've started quite a few projects, and many are stagnating. This is partly due to my inattention to them, and partly because I have not been able to sustain interest. For example, the Fit to Talk project needs the kiss of life at the moment- lots of visitors, but not much talk.

I'm also exploring the possibility of creating a crypto investment club - this is my Crypto Coin Tree project, and it may have its own coin eventually - the AssuredCoin seems to be the preferred name at the moment. It does require a lot of work, and an increase in my knowledge. For example, I'm using Drupal for the basic CMS, as that seems to give the greatest potential for future expansion. The coin will have to wait, and initial recording can be done with spreadsheets. At the moment, it seems difficult to decide on a policy for mining if one is only going to have one or two transactions per day.

These projects require a great leap of faith initially, as most members don't seem interested until the project has become a success, and this is why one sometimes has to create alts to test the viability of the system.

[bitmover]

We really need to get beyond this fallacy that creating Bitcoin related threads is helpful or what made this place awesome. This place was awesome because it was the home of lots of cool Bitcoin PROJECTS. People were creating asset micro-exchanges, games, new services, innovative goods... Now all people do is shill gambling sites and ICOs. There are basically no projects people can be involved in that use Bitcoin’s blockchain. There’s endless useless stats and people bickering over who started the most discussions. None of this crap matters. Sorry. Have an idea, start something that uses the Bitcoin blockchain that people can be a part of. Actual use cases for Bitcoin have become few and far between on this forum. It’s ridiculous that people have posted their way into relevance without making any sort of mark on the blockchain. That’s not why this forum became popular and won’t be how it grows a useful user base. Build something you can see on the Bitcoin blockchain. Get people involved. That’s how this place will begin elevating to it’s prior glory.

Thanks for the reality check. Inspiring, and at the same time we can see how different this forum is now.

I didn't knew this forum you talk about, as a home of cool bitcoin projects. The projects most people talk about here are the scams. Lots of topics proving that something is a scam (many times they make that research for merits... which seems to be the most discussed subject in the forum for now). Nobody seems to care about cool projects.

However, making a mark on the blockchain now is much harder than 5 years ago, when we had basically no infrastructure. Good and useful projects are going to be scarcer everyday.

I'm also exploring the possibility of creating a crypto investment club - this is my Crypto Coin Tree project, and it may have its own coin eventually - the AssuredCoin seems to be the preferred name at the moment. It does require a lot of work, and an increase in my knowledge. For example, I'm using Drupal for the basic CMS, as that seems to give the greatest potential for future expansion. The coin will have to wait, and initial recording can be done with spreadsheets. At the moment, it seems difficult to decide on a policy for mining if one is only going to have one or two transactions per day.

I saw your discussion in Ivory Tower, about small cap crypto investment.
I am interested to see this project.
What would be the use case for the coin? Would that be like shares of the those selected small cap coins?