I still don't get why rank is so important to y'all. Yeah, I get it with newbie jail, flood limits and such are annoying, but once you make it to a full member, it just looks cool. It's not an indicator of personal merit (see what I did there?) or anything like that.
I confess that I like having "legendary" next to my name. But does it actually say anything other than over the last half decade I've wasted a lot of time on here? Not really. It wasn't all a waste, either, but the point remains.
The 'merit' system, I kind of like. Jury is still out in my mind, but it gives a way to reward positively people who contribute. The actual ranks?
Before "legendary" was a thing, I saw Hero Members scamming left and right, and Newbies fresh to the forum being solid citizens, and everything in between. For some reason, new people then thought the ranking had something to do with trustworthiness. Seems they still do. It doesn't. Pirate@40, for instance, was highly trusted... and ran with the money. Hell, past performance doesn't even prove anything. Apparently friedcat turned rogue while I was gone. And he was cool as hell back when.
Basically, don't stress it. If you have something to say, say it. Flood control is easily fixed with Notepad and well thought out posts. Once you're out of the flood control zone, the rest is just time in service. Have fun, say your say, and above all, LEARN. I was ACTUALLY here long before my official join date, just too much out of my depth to open my mouth. Things have not gotten less complex since then. Listen, read, observe, THEN post. Good posts are more likely to earn merit.
You make some great points. Nobody likes to be a Newby or a Junior but after you get past that it really doesn't mean anything at all to most of us. I'd forgotten all about friedcat but the VIP Legendary TradeFortress always reminds me to take rank with a pinch of salt.
Like you I spent a good 7 or 8 months reading this forum before I plucked up the courage to signup and actually say something. I'm glad I did as engaging in debate especially with those you disagree with is the fastest way to learn.
As for the Merit system I'm liking it much more than I did when it was initially suggested. Its purpose isn't really about ranking up. It's about making things that are worth reading stand out. theymos posted in elsewhere that he is considering in future making it possible to hide all posts in a thread that haven't received any merit. At the moment people seem to be using it to judge outstanding content rather than just what was worthwhile reading, I'm hoping it will evolve that way. Then anyone who is really engaged in this forum and here for the right reasons is going to get ranked up anyway without even thinking about it.
It's important because the higher is your rank, the more money you get by joining shit ICO signature campaigns.
Most part of this forum isn't here to learn about Bitcoin. They only want money. I have seen a user who made 60 posts in 1 day to get 120 activity and try to become a Full Member. Then he made a post "what is this merit thing". I explained that it's a new system where you need to make high quality posts to rank up and his spam efforts wouldn't be enought for him to get a rank. Guess what? He didn't make a single new post since them and haven't log in yet.
You have rather hit the nail on the head there. Rank is mainly only important to those that see this as some sort of sweatshop where they can bang out endless shitposts and get a few dollars a week.
