Merit & new rank requirements

[thedino]

From the look of things,legendary members do not need merits anymore.That is to say,it does not affect them in anyway.But they are those that are currently being given the higher number of merits by others. Hardly will you see a newbie or a jnr member being given a merit so far.Well,the merit system just started and we cant jump to conclusion how the trend will be.But i foresee that lower ranked members will struggle to get merits. I must say that this is an important check system that has been put in place,but i see myself being a newbie for another year or two. Grin Grin Grin

[d5000]

From the look of things,legendary members do not need merits anymore.That is to say,it does not affect them in anyway.But they are those that are currently being given the higher number of merits by others. Hardly will you see a newbie or a jnr member being given a merit so far.Well,the merit system just started and we cant jump to conclusion how the trend will be.But i foresee that lower ranked members will struggle to get merits. I must say that this is an important check system that has been put in place,but i see myself being a newbie for another year or two.

You may be right that it's difficult to get merit points for new members. But that is also pretty obvious: If you are new to a topic, it's difficult to write contributions that other people will see as "meritable".

But the good thing is: If you are willing to learn about Bitcoin, then you will write increasingly better post. You will become an increasingly valuable member of the community, even if your rank at first stays low. But then people will give you more merit points and you'll rank up, like more than 1800 accounts have since the merit system was introduced.

I for myself, prefer to give merits to lower-ranked accounts, but if I see something useful written by a Legendary, I'll merit that, too. You can look at my profile and check that.

What I see critical is the low merit circulation we see currently, although the figures in @coinlocket's post indicate that we're probably near the "bottom". Maybe theymos - if he hasn't still - should think about increasing the distribution of merits to merit sources until more merit sources are found.

[TheQuin]

But the good thing is: If you are willing to learn about Bitcoin, then you will write increasingly better post.

Unfortunately, he's unlikely to be willing to do that on account of being a copy paste spambot.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2818350.msg28894124#msg28894124

[d5000]

But the good thing is: If you are willing to learn about Bitcoin, then you will write increasingly better post.

Unfortunately, he's unlikely to be willing to do that on account of being a copy paste spambot.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2818350.msg28894124#msg28894124

  . It seems one has to check every post to determine if it's worth to be answered ... maybe an one-click copy-and-paste checker would be a good "complement" for the Merit system  

But my post could as well be interpreted as an answer to @lKSLMNSLKnkndlksnkJ's rant.

(Reported the spambot.)

[lKSLMNSLKnkndlksnkJ]

Thanks for all the cogent responses.

I didn't mean to rile feathers, but in hindsight I can see that the way I used the words could have done just that.

The comments after my post raise enough good issues to make me realize the subject is much more involved than at first glance.

So, thank you to all the members here for giving your input on the subject.  And, although I think some of the points I made were correct, after reading your responses, I realize I am mostly wrong about the BCT merit system. 

I'm proud to be a member of BCT regardless of my rank, and I want to wish you all the best of luck both now and in the future.

[seizetehday5]

The fact that some people will never get Merit points is one of its great successes. Looking at your post history you are the type of user that should never rank up.

It is interesting to see users joined topics in Meta, including this one, to complain about merit system unfairness months after the lauch day of merit system. 

People have been complaining since day 1, nothing new here. It is true that some people deserve zero merits, but it doesn't feel like there are enough merits for the posts that do deserve them. A lot of worthy posts go unmerited, and if you have to find a merit distribution thread to get it, then that is a problem in my humble opinion.

[JayJuanGee]

The fact that some people will never get Merit points is one of its great successes. Looking at your post history you are the type of user that should never rank up.

It is interesting to see users joined topics in Meta, including this one, to complain about merit system unfairness months after the lauch day of merit system.  

People have been complaining since day 1, nothing new here. It is true that some people deserve zero merits, but it doesn't feel like there are enough merits for the posts that do deserve them. A lot of worthy posts go unmerited, and if you have to find a merit distribution thread to get it, then that is a problem in my humble opinion.

Of course the experiences of each poster is going to vary, and of course the dynamics of the forum are not the same as when I started four years ago (partly based on the introduction of the merit system, partly based on changes in the crypto space including infighting and pumping of coins, and partly changes in the membership that may be leaning to use this forum as a source of income rather than participating in topics and threads).

Nonetheless, I believe that anyone starting out in the forum or even continuing in the forum in one of the middle ranks can still figure out ways to earn merits (if they believe that earning merits is important).  You can also fully participate in the core aspects of the forum, such as posting and reading messages and choosing topics that are interesting to you) without earning merits, too.

I recall that when I started in the forum, hardly anyone paid attention or responded to my posts, and mostly I post in the Wall Observer thread - yet after a while, other posters got to know me better.. some liked me and some didn't and some ignored me (which continues, by the way).  

So there can be a variety of responses from other members (and sometimes direct hostility), and still I personally don't tend to adjust my approach too much based on what others think or want me to do, but instead I approach the whole forum participation matter by what I believe (in my own discretion) is important to me at any particular time (which changes over time too).

Anyhow, I think that part of the point(s) that I am trying to make is that it seems likely to me that if you participate in the forum in areas that interest you, and you are enthusiastic about those areas of your interest and you attempt to interact meaningfully with other posters, then sooner or later, other members will notice you and your posts and merits will flow in your direction.  Maybe not a lot of merits (or as many as you would like), but getting merits, now, involves posting (interacting) rather than merely reading or playing some more passive role.  

I will also concede that there is likely some truth to the fact that it takes merits to earn merits (meaning that the more merits that you receive, then the more likely other posters will merit you); however, even if there are advantages to having merits and having ranks, there are a lot of members who route for the underdog or will be willing to send merits to lower ranked (or lower merited posters) based on the content of the post or even some other aspect of other posts from the member.  Sometimes, also the truth of the matter is that some posters will merit you once you have merited them.  I will tell you that sometimes I think about meriting a post, but I see that the poster never gives out merits (even though they receive a lot of merits), and then I will weigh against meriting a poster who never seems to give out merits even when receiving a lot of merits (case by case of course, and sometimes, if a posts gets enough attention from me to consider meriting it, I will just merit the post without getting into too much research about the background of the person... in other words, there is quite a bit of variance and discretion in when any particular member decides if to merit a post or a poster).

Furthermore, participation in certain types of threads are not going to be likely to generate very many merits, and perhaps you can appreciate which ones, such as ones in which members are merely seeking bounties and ICO scams and some of that crapy and scammy alt coin pumping nonsense stuff that already exists on the forum.. .but hey, to each his/her own regarding where and how you want to spend your forum time.

[coinlocket$]

The fact that some people will never get Merit points is one of its great successes. Looking at your post history you are the type of user that should never rank up.

It is interesting to see users joined topics in Meta, including this one, to complain about merit system unfairness months after the lauch day of merit system. 

People have been complaining since day 1, nothing new here. It is true that some people deserve zero merits, but it doesn't feel like there are enough merits for the posts that do deserve them. A lot of worthy posts go unmerited, and if you have to find a merit distribution thread to get it, then that is a problem in my humble opinion.

This is true, my opinion is that we can maybe reduce the required merit to rank up for example if we reduce by 20-50% nothing will change, people with bad post will not rank up but will be easier for good people to rank up. Abusers will always abuse and for them is irrelevant.

[Steamtyme]

This is true, my opinion is that we can maybe reduce the required merit to rank up for example if we reduce by 20-50% nothing will change, people with bad post will not rank up but will be easier for good people to rank up. Abusers will always abuse and for them is irrelevant.

That's how I felt mostly in regards to the first step. I posted about it sometime ago, and if Members started halfway to their next rank I would now be carrying the Senior Member Badge. I do like the idea of lowering the requirements though It would be a nice balance between the old timeline for ranking up and still needing to produce quality posts.

I have also given up on caring, It'll be nice when I get there, but the second half is going to take longer for sure. The review services were nice but most of them died out, and a lot of people are beginning to hate searching out good posts to merit because they see there is still a ton of garbage out there.

[thd26bct]

People have been complaining since day 1, nothing new here. It is true that some people deserve zero merits, but it doesn't feel like there are enough merits for the posts that do deserve them. A lot of worthy posts go unmerited, and if you have to find a merit distribution thread to get it, then that is a problem in my humble opinion.

Complainers will never get any merit if they keep complaining about drawbacks of merit system and  new rank requirements.
Just ignoring them, let they do what they want.

[shahzadafzal]

Complainers will never get any merit if they keep complaining about drawbacks of merit system and  new rank requirements.
Just ignoring them, let they do what they want.

Well they do get merits if they come up with valid points like this...

[Xiaolongnu]

Complainers will never get any merit if they keep complaining about drawbacks of merit system and  new rank requirements.
Just ignoring them, let they do what they want.

Well they do get merits if they come up with valid points like this...

Every members have chance to get Merit. Because Merit is not a prerogative, it's such like a gift which you deserve it. Everyone has their own opinion, so when they think that there are some problems with the merit system, they have right to complain. Maybe the merit system will not change, but at least they spoke out what they want.

[joulion86]

There is no way to earn merit under the current system.  Stop deluding yourselves.  The merit system here works EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE HIGH RANKING members.  Most of the senior members here are somewhat jaded and do not have time to look around for interesting posts, because hardly anything interests these people more - except maybe another bounty announcement where Senior members get 1000% more than Jr. Members, for example.
To make giving out merit an optional thing provides zero motivation for current members to give it out, and leaves the system in a state where no one ever advances.  The proof is in the pudding.  It's become a farce.
...

There are ways to earn merits, but it is not an easy journey. By now you received 4 merits for your post, even though you mainly criticized the system. For my part, i read a lot and rarely post stuff, just because I feel like I never have a lot to add. Also I am only interested in Bitcoin and no other scammy coin or fork that drives away important streams of money and reduces the trust in cryptocurrency in general, which reduces the amount of threads that are open for discussion for me. Yet somehow I received a handful of merits already.

One merit I received from mdayonliner, and after reviewing his profile I was impressed as he really spends a lot of time in this forum and earned his way to full member from nothing in a few months. He posts a lot, and I can't say that I like the way he earns most of his merits, but it still serves as a good example that it is 100% possible to earn merits if you put your heart to it. The same goes for your post: you put your head to it and criticized the merit system, but many people seem to like what you wrote. It is all about making you think about what you post, instead of puking something into your  keyboard and sending it off. If it is something that resonates with someone else on the other side of the planet, that that's a good post and has the chance of earning merit. If it is not worth reading, it will go unnoticed.

I actually would like an even stricter Merit system: a system were you need to continuously earn merits to be and stay a certain rank. A system where you are never done earning, because only your last 3-6 months are counted. This would remove a lot of paid spam.

[jeanniej4]

There are ways to earn merits, but it is not an easy journey. By now you received 4 merits for your post, even though you mainly criticized the system. For my part, i read a lot and rarely post stuff, just because I feel like I never have a lot to add. Also I am only interested in Bitcoin and no other scammy coin that fork that drives away important streams of money and reduces the trust in cryptocurrency in general, which reduces the amount of threads that are open for discussion for me. Yet somehow I received a handful of merits already.

One merit I received from mdayonliner, and after reviewing his profile I was impressed as he really spends a lot of time in this forum and earned his way to full member from nothing in a few months. He posts a lot, and I can't say that I like the way he earns most of his merits, but it still serves as a good example that it is 100% possible to earn merits if you put your heart to it. The same goes for your post: you put your head to it and criticized the merit system, but many people seem to like what you wrote. It is all about making you think about what you post, instead of puking something into your  keyboard and sending it off. If it is something that resonates with someone else on the other side of the planet, that that's a good post and has the chance of earning merit. If it is not worth reading, it will go unnoticed.

I actually would like an even stricter Merit system: a system were you need to continuously earn merits to be and stay a certain rank. A system where you are never done earning, because only your last 3-6 months are counted. This would remove a lot of paid spam.

I strongly agree with your thinking: anyone can earn merit if they are really passionate about their work on the forum, although it is not easy because they need more knowledge.
But I do not agree on "... even the stricter Merit system", because I see the merit system is very strict and difficult now, if it is difficult anymore I think I will be desperate too!
I am a newcomer, and I have been quietly learning everything here for nearly six months. Now I start to work and hope to earn merit with my effort and wisdom. 

[DdmrDdmr]

<...>
I actually would like an even stricter Merit system: a system were you need to continuously earn merits to be and stay a certain rank. A system where you are never done earning, because only your last 3-6 months are counted. This would remove a lot of paid spam.

I have to agree with jeanniej4. De-ranking due to not gaining merits in a certain period of time is kind of out of the question, especially with the current lack of overall merit (I mean it’s not like we can bathe in a merit tub every day; not even the best posters can). This has been discussed here on Meta before and is generally dismissed as an idea for multiple reasons.

What on the other hand may take-off (or not -  but I would vouch for it) at some point is that Campaign Managers cherry-pick their participants (at least the signature ones) based on factors such as a non-smamming track, a rank, and a certain amount of merits gained over a given period of time (before the campaign, but perhaps during the campaign too). That would lead to giving the campaign better visibility and credibility, although credibility may need to step-up to become a two-way road between signatory and campaign in order to make it a win-win situation.

[MagicSmoker]

...
I am a newcomer, and I have been quietly learning everything here for nearly six months. Now I start to work and hope to earn merit with my effort and wisdom. 

This is a forum, not a job. The whole point of joining a forum is to discuss a common interest, not to churn out posts to meet the requirements of some bounty or sig campaign (ie - work).

[Sova_tmb]

Hello guys, to my opinion merit fair system , just the problem because people don't receive merit in the next:

1) Poor english.

2) Very lazy and don't read useful information  and share with another users.

Thank you for reading


 

[pugman]

Hello guys, to my opinion merit fair system , just the problem because people don't receive merit in the next:

1) Poor english.

2) Very lazy and don't read useful information  and share with another users.

Thank you for reading

And you do both of those. What are you implying here? You want merit, well your post history is horrible, filled with bounty forms. I looked into it earlier today and decided not to merit you. Good luck, with ever ranking up. Ass-licking won't take you anywhere .

[STT]

From the look of things,legendary members do not need merits anymore.That is to say,it does not affect them in anyway.But they are those that are currently being given the higher number of merits by others. Hardly will you see a newbie or a jnr member being given a merit so far.Well,the merit system just started and we cant jump to conclusion how the trend will be.But i foresee that lower ranked members will struggle to get merits. I must say that this is an important check system that has been put in place,but i see myself being a newbie for another year or two. Grin Grin Grin

Main flaw here is you are presuming the low rank member and the highest ranked members are making exactly the same comment.   Its not the case, the higher rank people are probably going to make more of a comment that is welcomed or agreed with on the forum just because they been around a few years in many cases.     The new guys are going to take a while to find a thread where people appreciate more what they are saying, I think that makes sense and its not really any inside game against people.

If anything Iam biased against the legendary ranks because as said they dont exactly need it but sometimes I just want the comment on my history so I can go back, maybe it was genuinely useful or interesting.   On the other hand if I can double sometimes merit quite easily because they have almost nothing, thats cool and I do go ahead and do that way more often.   Only should take some genuine comment nobody else will post, I think thats what counts most.

  Quite often there is useful info from very low post count members in the mining sections, some genuine knowledge and experience and yea not given enough merit.  There is a kind of natural economy but I dont think its being fixed against anyone, it might take some time to mature and propagate across the forum fully.

De-ranking due to not gaining merits in a certain period of time is kind of out of the question

People get distracted by events in life, I dont think derank can really be a thing.  Its not a competitive ranking system more ageing with more depth then plain activity takes

[jljahid1020]

The way activity is calculated is complicated to understand, but simply put you can only get 14 activity points every two week period. This is basically all you need to know but I will explain the intricacies and technicalities of the system below to avoid any confusion:

★ You can only get 14 activity points every fortnightly period.
★ The fortnightly periods are fixed and do not start when you sign up.
★ A list of all the dates of the activity periods can be found on this spreadsheet (credit goes to jambola2 for compiling it).
★ You can technically get more than 14 activity in two weeks if you sign up between periods.
★ You only need to make at least one post in each activity period to be able to collect the activity at a later date. For instance, you could make one post in three different periods and you would then have 3 posts and 3 activity, but a potential activity of 42. Once you made the 42 posts you would then have 42 activity but no more. If you made one post in 35 different periods you would then have 35 posts and 35 activity but a potential activity of 480. That means you would be a Junior Member but if you made the full 480 posts you would instantly become a Hero Member.
★ If your post count eclipses your activity by 14 or more then you will only need to make one post in the new period to get the full 14 activity. For instance, your post count is 200 but your activity is only 28. To get another 14 activity you will only need to make one post in the new period and you will then have a total of 42 activity.

Ranks and activity:

Brand New: 0 posts
Newbie: 1-29 activity
Jr. Member: 30-59 activity
Member:   60-119 activity
Full Member: 120-239 activity
Sr. Member: 240-479 activity
Hero Member: 480 activity
Legendary: Somewhere between 775 and 1030 activity

Merit:

In addition to Activity you now need Merit to achieve each rank. The required merit is detailed below:

Brand new: 0
Newbie:   0
Jr Member: 0
Member: 10
Full Member: 100
Sr. Member: 250
Hero Member: 500
Legendary: 1000

Here is a table of the activity periods and time it will take you to achieve each rank:
Code:
1 X 14 = 14
2 X 14 = 28
3 X 14 = 42  ---  Junior. Member (1.5 month)
4 X 14 = 56
5 X 14 = 70  ---  Member (2.5 month)
6 X 14 = 84
7 X 14 = 98
8 X 14 = 112
9 X 14 = 126  --- Full Member (4.5 month)
10 X 14 = 140
11 X 14 = 154
12 X 14 = 168
13 X 14 = 182
14 X 14 = 196
15 X 14 = 210
16 X 14 = 224
17 X 14 = 238
18 X 14 = 252 --- Senior Member (8.5 month)
19 X 14 = 266
20 X 14 = 280
21 X 14 = 294
22 X 14 = 308
23 X 14 = 322
24 X 14 = 336
25 X 14 = 350
26 X 14 = 364
27 X 14 = 378
28 X 14 = 392
29 X 14 = 406
30 X 14 = 420
31 X 14 = 434
32 X 14 = 448
33 X 14 = 462
34 X 14 = 476
35 X 14 = 490  ----  Hero Member (1.3 years)
36 X 14 = 504
37 X 14 = 518
38 X 14 = 532
39 X 14 = 536
40 X 14 = 550
41 X 14 = 564
42 X 14 = 578
43 X 14 = 592
44 X 14 = 606
45 X 14 = 620
46 X 14 = 634
47 X 14 = 648
48 X 14 = 662
49 X 14 = 676
50 X 14 = 690
51 X 14 = 704
52 X 14 = 718
53 X 14 = 732
54 X 14 = 746
55 X 14 = 760
56 X 14 = 784  --- Legendary rank (2 years)

-------------------

Activity FAQ:

Why is my activity stuck/not moving?

Because you can only get 14 activity every two week period. You will have to wait until the next period starts to get another 14.

Why has my rank/activity not updated?

It can take up to an hour to update. Just be patient.

Can activity or my rank decrease?

Yes. It can only decrease if you have all the posts you made from a particular period deleted or the threads you posted in trashcanned. If you do it's possible to drop rank until you have enough activity again.

Can I get more than 14 activity in two week period?

No. However, you can technically get more than 14 activity in a fortnight if you sign up in between periods, but you can't get more than 14 activity in a fortnightly period. For instance, if the period starts on a Wednesday and you sign up on Tuesday you can get 14 points on Tuesday and another 14 on Wednesday providing the period has started. You will then have 28 activity points but won't be able to get any more until two weeks' time when the new period starts.

What happens if I miss a period?

Nothing. You just won't get that activity and you miss that activity forever. Just make sure to post in the next period to get another 14.

Why can't I change my avatar?

You need to be a Full Member and up to be able to have an avatar.

When do I become Legendary?

You will become Legendary randomly somewhere between 775 and 1030 activity.

Does time spent online count towards activity?

No. It counts towards absolutely nothing and is a meaningless statistic.

Do only certain boards or posts have to be a minimum character length to count towards activity?

No. All boards and posts of all length currently count towards both.

If I create an account and leave it for x amount of time will I become a higher rank when I return?

No. You will still be a newbie. Activity measures how active you are on the forum and is to prevent against lazy account farming. If you do not make at least one post in each period then you will not get that activity.  

Why can't I post images?

Because you need to be a Junior Member to do that. To become a Junior Member you will have to have posted in three activity periods and have at least 28 activity. However, you can bypass these restriction by buying a Copper Membership for a small fee here.

-------------------

Merit FAQ:

What is Merit?

Merit is a new system created in order to reward quality contributions to the forum. Now to rise through ranks you will also need to acquire Merit in addition to Activity.

How do I receive merit?

You are awarded merit by people of the community if they find your post helpful or informative.

How do I send Merit?

There is a +Merit button at the top right of every post. To give merit click on it and follow the instructions.

What is the difference between Merit and sMerit?

There are two types of Merit. You cannot send your merits, just sMerit. For every Merit you receive you will have 0.5 spendable merit to reward posts as you see fit.

Can I ask for merit?

There is no need to do this and this behaviour is usually seen as 'merit begging' which is frowned upon by the community and may lead to you receiving negative feedback. Keep making quality, constructive posts and you will surely be rewarded over time.

Can I sell merit?

Selling merit is disallowed.

Can I give merit to my alt accounts?

No, this is frowned upon and will almost certainly lead to you receiving negative feedback if discovered.

Can I be demerited or lose merit?

No, not currently. Even if your post is removed the merit will still stay.

What is a merit source?

There are a certain number of special Merit sources who receive additional amounts of merit to give away. The list is not publicly available but is know to Staff.

How do I become a merit source?

If you want to be a merit source:

 1. Be a somewhat established member.
 2. Collect TEN posts written in the last couple of months that have not received nearly enough merit for how good they are, and post quotes for them all in a new Meta thread.
 3. We will take a look at your history and maybe make you a source.

Is there a limit on how many merits I can send?

Yes. You can give a max of 50 merit to a user every 30 days.

Note: Please do not make useless 'thanks for the info' type posts in here as they will be removed, as will any questions that have already been answered or explained. If there's something that isn't clear or needs to be added then that's fine and I will add the details to the op as needed.

Please report any threads that ask questions that have already been answered here as they are now unnecessary and will be removed. Thanks.