Merit & new rank requirements

[Stedsm]

Maybe me too, I didn't know that accounts can be buggy and unable to participate in signature campaigns when getting negative tags. I thought at first it would not be a serious problem.

Oya, you signed up for a very long time. May I ask, have signature campaigns that pay with bitcoin been around since 2015?

Lol they've been here since long time
I'd say that Bitcoin paying signature campaigns were a thing since 2013, and at times, we used to earn about half a Bitcoin every single week. IIRC, the best paying ones were Primedice, Coinsbank, Coinroll (flexible at that time), and the longest ever signature campaign that ran here was Chipmixer.

Remember that even if you don't have a negative tag but a neutral tag for being a spammer, you won't be able to participate in signature campaigns that pay considerable crypto like Bitcoin or stablecoins like BUSD/USDT/etc.

However, I don't see such strictness in bounties here.

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[_act_]

There's nothing wrong with that. I appreciate independent thinkers who can demonstrate original thought. The problem as I see it is the dynamics of the forum have shifted completely to the point where the only reason people sign up anymore is to join a campaign, or a bounty, or a second campaign or bounty (or 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.).

I see people that joined signature campaign to be posting good but just that you can not compare a place with 100 people to a place with 10000 people. If there are more people, there will be more spammers.

The success that many people will have may not come on this forum. I know a guy that make money but only joining bounties on this forum before he did not do so again.

People that join this forum that are posting good or not are exposed to crypto and also learning in one way or the other. Because someone do not know book in class does not mean he will not be successful in life.

There are some people in signature campaign now that may have other things that they are doing also just like you have joined a campaign before and now in a campaign.

It is just that merit is used to make this forum to have quality posts.

[Dunamisx]

It is just that merit is used to make this forum to have quality posts.

You're right, maybe just few members of the forum may not consider merits for some reasons maybe they are spammers or not interested in making a quality post than them chasing after bounties,  but ever since the introduction of the merits system, it has helped in a lot ways and people are not going to just remain on the forum without contributing well and received the same benefits with those giving their best.

[Upgrade00]

As a newbie, I'm much less inclined to altruistic considerations like what I can add to a forum. I'm much more interested in what I can get from the forum. If the forum has useful information, funny chatter, then users will share something one way or another.

You make a very valid point. People are attracted to what they can benefit from; it could be some social app like Facebook or Tiktok where they can scroll around and watch videos if they are board, or it could be Quora where they can ask questions about pretty much any topic and so on.

This is the same with Bitcointalk; ideally users who register an account here has some slight interest in learning about Bitcoin or crypto. It's also fine if along with that they learnt about signature campaigns and build an interest in it. But some users have no interest in Bitcoin or the forum at all, they just want to make a quick buck.
They may have learnt from a friend that there is a forum where you can join bounties and get rich like that. The ask for the URL, register and account, run straight to the bounty sections and start spamming with no consideration to how the forum works. Until they need to earn one merit to rank up, then they start with the merit leaning posts in the hope a user will consider it.

The forum definitely has useful information and some funny chatter, but you have to be looking for it to find it or for it to be beneficial to you.

[Mr.right85]

When I first joined, signature campaigns weren't really a thing.

When I joined, I didn't know signature campaigns exist.

I ant have this attestation and  so I can never know what it was like but, its not unlikely that there have been a shift.

The problem as I see it is the dynamics of the forum have shifted completely to the point where the only reason people sign up anymore is to join a campaign, or a bounty, or a second campaign or bounty (or 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.).

I'm pretty sure there are still people who sign up without knowing about signature campaigns, but it is indeed a very small minority nowadays. It's still better than before the Merit system, at least they can't get away with only spamming.

Despite the shift, it's of note that certain systems like the trust system and even  these campaigns works in ways to correct the shift and one who seeks value in things would know what the forum has to offer to be more than bounties and signature campaigns.

Though some might have joined up due to campaigns, when you get to realise the value in bitcoin to he more than the forum and the information in which gorym offers, your must likely not going to stay away from the forum without the advent of these campaigns.

People drop by here to ask questions, verify informations and call out a scam. These works and add values to the forum still.

[Etranger]

It is just that merit is used to make this forum to have quality posts.

Merits cannot be fully considered as the certain way to ensure quality posts. If this were the case, then there would be unified objective criteria for evaluating qualified posts. And each time these criteria are met, the post receives a predetermined number of merits. But in reality everything is absolutely different. Merits are often given not for a quality post, but for agreeing with the author. Therefore, merit turns into something similar to like. In addition, users give a completely different amount of merits depending on their capabilities (number of sMerits), as well as depending on how generous they are in general. And there are far fewer generous people than stingy ones. Also, merits are more often given to those users who already have a large number of merits. The less you have, the more suspicious and distrustful they treat you, and as a result, they give you less merits.

I will not deny that the merit system has had a beneficial effect on the forum situation. There are significantly fewer freeloaders who want to get easy money for spam. But the system is far from perfect, and it cannot be stated that there is a direct indestructible correlation between high-quality posts and merits.

[Who is John Galt?]

This is the same with Bitcointalk; ideally users who register an account here has some slight interest in learning about Bitcoin or crypto. It's also fine if along with that they learnt about signature campaigns and build an interest in it. But some users have no interest in Bitcoin or the forum at all, they just want to make a quick buck.
They may have learnt from a friend that there is a forum where you can join bounties and get rich like that. The ask for the URL, register and account, run straight to the bounty sections and start spamming with no consideration to how the forum works. Until they need to earn one merit to rank up, then they start with the merit leaning posts in the hope a user will consider it.

The forum definitely has useful information and some funny chatter, but you have to be looking for it to find it or for it to be beneficial to you.

I agree, there is a lot of interesting information on the forum. I have already found interesting clarifications of some questions for myself. In this regard, the most interesting thing here is that among the members of the forum there are people who are very deeply versed in the topic, who can briefly and easily explain rather complex things.

Funny moments also occur, but I do not always have enough preparation to understand it all. To talk freely, you have to learn more.

I also see nothing wrong with signature campaigns, why not take advantage of the additional opportunity to get more satoshi. But this also requires a separate time, so I'll deal with it a little later.

Merits are often given not for a quality post, but for agreeing with the author.

Of course, I have little experience in this regard, but it looks like that there's no system in meriting. You never know for sure what others will like. It seems to me that you just need to take it easier: it's nice when you are noticed, but if no one notices... well, that's okay too!

[Upgrade00]

I also see nothing wrong with signature campaigns, why not take advantage of the additional opportunity to get more satoshi. But this also requires a separate time, so I'll deal with it a little later.

You're right, there's nothing wrong with signature campaigns, it's an extra incentive to be here and discuss Bitcoin with strangers. If there were no signature campaigns a lot of users will not be as active as they are on the forum, it will just be a recreational forum to chat on when bored or when we have a question or are looking to learn something new.

It's only a problem when users spam because of it. Churning out redundant posts on all the accounts in their farm to meet the campaign requirements.

but it looks like that there's no system in meriting. You never know for sure what others will like. It seems to me that you just need to take it easier: it's nice when you are noticed, but if no one notices... well, that's okay too!

There are personal whims but majority of the time quality posts is universal and can be identified by anyone. The fact that a post isn't merited does not mean other users did not find it to be a quality one, but it could be they did not have smerits at the time of reading it.
Just do you and put some effort into your discussions and you will get merits eventually.

[Etranger]

but it looks like that there's no system in meriting. You never know for sure what others will like. It seems to me that you just need to take it easier: it's nice when you are noticed, but if no one notices... well, that's okay too!

There are personal whims but majority of the time quality posts is universal and can be identified by anyone. The fact that a post isn't merited does not mean other users did not find it to be a quality one, but it could be they did not have smerits at the time of reading it.
Just do you and put some effort into your discussions and you will get merits eventually.

Yes, the key word here is eventually. You never know when it is going to happen. Just because quality posts can be identified by anyone doesn't mean they will be rated. Very often, qualified posts get lost in the flow of discussion and got forgotten. And if ordinary users may not have sMerits, then the merit sources have them. But how to understand that the merit sources are looking at topics in which a particular user writes? I don't know exactly how they choose who they reward, but the likelihood that they will notice your post decreases with each passing day. Therefore, it is impossible to talk about the system in meriting, in my opinion. I will agree here with Who is John Galt?

[Sexylizzy2813]

Of course, I have little experience in this regard, but it looks like that there's no system in meriting. You never know for sure what others will like. It seems to me that you just need to take it easier: it's nice when you are noticed, but if no one notices... well, that's okay too!

That's why they say "you never know what the next person is thinking" and what you like might be what the next person dislike, just like the saying "another man's meat is another man's poison" that's how it is.
I feel whenever you have this recognition it makes it easier to get merit but it doesn't work that way to some members, depending on how frequent you are in the Forum and what you bring to the table.

[Cryptomultiplier]

It is just that merit is used to make this forum to have quality posts.

Merits cannot be fully considered as the certain way to ensure quality posts. If this were the case, then there would be unified objective criteria for evaluating qualified posts. And each time these criteria are met, the post receives a predetermined number of merits. But in reality everything is absolutely different. Merits are often given not for a quality post, but for agreeing with the author. Therefore, merit turns into something similar to like. In addition, users give a completely different amount of merits depending on their capabilities (number of sMerits), as well as depending on how generous they are in general. And there are far fewer generous people than stingy ones. Also, merits are more often given to those users who already have a large number of merits. The less you have, the more suspicious and distrustful they treat you, and as a result, they give you less merits.

I will not deny that the merit system has had a beneficial effect on the forum situation. There are significantly fewer freeloaders who want to get easy money for spam. But the system is far from perfect, and it cannot be stated that there is a direct indestructible correlation between high-quality posts and merits.

I couldn't agree more with some of your points, because I have come to understand on my own, that more merit is often in a direct correlation with ones quality input or amount of merits gained overtime.
Just as you said when one has more merits, it's easier to simply add just a few more, compared to very low merit score(likes) trying to get more to become recognized.

A forum or community as this with more minds interconnected on a subject of interest is more spiritual than meets the eyes, that is why spammer are easily spotted without even seeing their faces or knowing them in person.
Writing is one that expresses intentions at the most, and any one of the more successful pleb here, knows that they got to where they are because they bared their intentions and kept a clean mind. It is just like I would say, they remained faithful, consistent, disciplined in their posts and organization and above all learned the terms, language, rules before even applying it fully.

It is the wisdom to express all that has been learnt in good understandable words, that makes one rank up.

[_act_]

It is just that merit is used to make this forum to have quality posts.

Merits cannot be fully considered as the certain way to ensure quality posts.

I couldn't agree more with some of your points, because I have come to understand on my own, that more merit is often in a direct correlation with ones quality input or amount of merits gained overtime.
Just as you said when one has more merits, it's easier to simply add just a few more, compared to very low merit score(likes) trying to get more to become recognized.

Just like I have said before, merit system has been the reason we have quality posts on this forum. If merit system was not introduced, this forum would be a place of trash posts.

You can noticed someone not posting as good as another person, but having more merit, but still he is having merits and ranking higher. People that are giving merit can be partial, especially those on local boards, but merit still ensures that posting quality on this forum is achieved.

[JayJuanGee]

It is just that merit is used to make this forum to have quality posts.

Merits cannot be fully considered as the certain way to ensure quality posts. If this were the case, then there would be unified objective criteria for evaluating qualified posts. And each time these criteria are met, the post receives a predetermined number of merits. But in reality everything is absolutely different. Merits are often given not for a quality post, but for agreeing with the author. Therefore, merit turns into something similar to like. In addition, users give a completely different amount of merits depending on their capabilities (number of sMerits), as well as depending on how generous they are in general. And there are far fewer generous people than stingy ones. Also, merits are more often given to those users who already have a large number of merits. The less you have, the more suspicious and distrustful they treat you, and as a result, they give you less merits.

I will not deny that the merit system has had a beneficial effect on the forum situation. There are significantly fewer freeloaders who want to get easy money for spam. But the system is far from perfect, and it cannot be stated that there is a direct indestructible correlation between high-quality posts and merits.

I couldn't agree more with some of your points, because I have come to understand on my own, that more merit is often in a direct correlation with ones quality input or amount of merits gained overtime.
Just as you said when one has more merits, it's easier to simply add just a few more, compared to very low merit score(likes) trying to get more to become recognized.

A forum or community as this with more minds interconnected on a subject of interest is more spiritual than meets the eyes, that is why spammer are easily spotted without even seeing their faces or knowing them in person.
Writing is one that expresses intentions at the most, and any one of the more successful pleb here, knows that they got to where they are because they bared their intentions and kept a clean mind. It is just like I would say, they remained faithful, consistent, disciplined in their posts and organization and above all learned the terms, language, rules before even applying it fully.

It is the wisdom to express all that has been learnt in good understandable words, that makes one rank up.

Like you suggested, there can be a variety of factors that attract the receipt of merits including persistence and quality contributions, but at the same time, quality contributions could come from drawing from experiences, showing actual interest in topics in which you post, helping members or maybe providing some kind of substance that causes them to think or even to laugh.  Some posts might not even be good quality in and of themselves, including that they might be difficult to understand or even in not so great English, but they still might receive merits based on some kind of an ability to relate or even that members have historically recognized the posting member as a good contributor, so they send smerits based on "giving the benefit of the doubt" to the post and/or to the member.

Another phenomena could be that a member (most likely a source merit member) has some extra merits that they are purposefully wanting to send, and there could be some coincidence (or luck) that they saw your post.. and they were not offended by it, so sent an smerit or two based on a kind of random serendipity.

It is just that merit is used to make this forum to have quality posts.

Merits cannot be fully considered as the certain way to ensure quality posts.

I couldn't agree more with some of your points, because I have come to understand on my own, that more merit is often in a direct correlation with ones quality input or amount of merits gained overtime.
Just as you said when one has more merits, it's easier to simply add just a few more, compared to very low merit score(likes) trying to get more to become recognized.

Just like I have said before, merit system has been the reason we have quality posts on this forum. If merit system was not introduced, this forum would be a place of trash posts.

You can noticed someone not posting as good as another person, but having more merit, but still he is having merits and ranking higher. People that are giving merit can be partial, especially those on local boards, but merit still ensures that posting quality on this forum is achieved.

Maybe the forum would not be "a place of trash posts" without the merit system, but it does seem that the merit system has mostly improved the quality of posts - even if there surely might still be some problems in terms of some of the subjective nature (which is not necessarily a bad thing in itself), and maybe there could be some improvements that would come from the employment of some rotation of source members.. but it can take a lot of work to select new source members and also some amount of follow through that might be needed.

[Etranger]

Just like I have said before, merit system has been the reason we have quality posts on this forum. If merit system was not introduced, this forum would be a place of trash posts.

You can noticed someone not posting as good as another person, but having more merit, but still he is having merits and ranking higher. People that are giving merit can be partial, especially those on local boards, but merit still ensures that posting quality on this forum is achieved.

Merit system is not a direct cause of quality posts on the forum. Qualified content existed even before the implementation of this system. Moreover, many users who have been here on the forum almost since its inception claim that there were more high-quality discussions than now. Merits did not affect the improvement of the quality of the posts. They just contributed to reducing the number of users who spam.

Because such people do not have enough motivation and they stop visiting the forum. And those who write useless nonsense but still visit the forum, just do not get any attention, often precisely because they do not have merits at all or there is not enough of it. But still such users are present here and they continue to write garbage. The Merit system did not make their posts quality and interesting.

 And those who write well did it with and without merits. There is no system here, because the system presupposes the possibility of foreseeing which post  will receive merits. That is, guarantees are assumed. And they just don't exist. Because you can write high-quality posts, but you won’t get merits, because either the merit sources didn’t notice or ignored you, or those who would like to give merits didn’t have such an opportunity at the that time. And no one waits for sMerit to show up to retroactively reward a post, such a post is simply lost and left unappreciated. And such situations are repeated very often.

[rachael9385]

In the case of I know what I know and people don't know what I know is very wrong, everyone has different knowledge and different skills, what others might know you that thinks you know all doesn't know it, hope you guys understand what am trying to saying? Sometimes people who thinks that they can't create a quality post doesn't know that their post might be of good help to another person.
I believe that the merit system is designed to grow anyone who has a quality post that deserves it, i haven't been here for long but this is what I understand about these merit system.

[Coyster]

In the case of I know what I know and people don't know what I know is very wrong, everyone has different knowledge and different skills, what others might know you that thinks you know all doesn't know it, hope you guys understand what am trying to saying?

No, not really, i don't understand what you are trying to say.

Sometimes people who thinks that they can't create a quality post doesn't know that their post might be of good help to another person.

Users make high quality posts because they have the knowledge about most of the discussions that takes place in the forum, if you don't have knowledge about a particular topic, it is better not to post and to read, there's really nothing in between; you cannot think that you can't make quality posts when you are a quality poster.

[Little Mouse]

In the case of I know what I know and people don't know what I know is very wrong, everyone has different knowledge and different skills, what others might know you that thinks you know all doesn't know it, hope you guys understand what am trying to saying?

[Who is John Galt?]

In the case of I know what I know and people don't know what I know is very wrong, everyone has different knowledge and different skills, what others might know you that thinks you know all doesn't know it, hope you guys understand what am trying to saying? Sometimes people who thinks that they can't create a quality post doesn't know that their post might be of good help to another person.
I believe that the merit system is designed to grow anyone who has a quality post that deserves it, i haven't been here for long but this is what I understand about these merit system.

As you can see, with the understanding of what you wanted to say, many didn't succeed. I am not the exception.

As for the fact that it is not always clear in advance how useful your post will be to others, this is true. But if you always post only to get merit, you will often be disappointed. Each post cannot receive merits. In my opinion, here it is worth changing your own attitude to posting: write what you think is important and interesting, without expecting that someone will definitely appreciate it.

Yes, of course, it can be very sad when you joke somehow or share an idea that seems important, but there's no reaction at all. I'm not talking about merits, but when it turns out that no one understood your humor, on one even answered it with emoji, it's sad. But don't give it too much importance, just keep sharing your thoughts and jokes, and sooner or later they will be noticed!

[DVlog]

Just like I have said before, merit system has been the reason we have quality posts on this forum. If merit system was not introduced, this forum would be a place of trash posts.

You can noticed someone not posting as good as another person, but having more merit, but still he is having merits and ranking higher. People that are giving merit can be partial, especially those on local boards, but merit still ensures that posting quality on this forum is achieved.

Merit system is not a direct cause of quality posts on the forum. Qualified content existed even before the implementation of this system. Moreover, many users who have been here on the forum almost since its inception claim that there were more high-quality discussions than now. Merits did not affect the improvement of the quality of the posts. They just contributed to reducing the number of users who spam.

In my point of view, the most notable thing the merit system does is that it draws a line between quality posters and spammer. The higher number of merits below your forum names represents his dedication, contribution, and ability of that person to make quality comments. When i saw some posts that got merited i tried to read them all in case i might learn something new.

[JayJuanGee]

In the case of I know what I know and people don't know what I know is very wrong, everyone has different knowledge and different skills, what others might know you that thinks you know all doesn't know it, hope you guys understand what am trying to saying? Sometimes people who thinks that they can't create a quality post doesn't know that their post might be of good help to another person.
I believe that the merit system is designed to grow anyone who has a quality post that deserves it, i haven't been here for long but this is what I understand about these merit system.

I believe that I largely understand what you are trying to say, which is that each person has differing levels of personal knowledge, and sometimes they may or may not communicate their knowledge very well.

Their experiences may well still be valid, and they also might know things that other forum members do not know, but they still may need to work on improving how they communicate their ideas, whether they receive merits for improving their post quality or not.

I will also add that there are likely a decent number of forum members who probably should spend more time in terms of constructing their posts better to try to make sure that they are either communicating decently good ideas or making some kind of a point that adds value to the conversation, and surely I doubt that there is any kind of necessity that every member understands what they are saying, and in fact if they are communicating sufficiently well, then maybe only a few members will understand what they are saying, and whether they have reached a sufficient enough of a threshold of members understanding them, is not even any kind of a forum requirement, but surely, the more that they can get their posts to resonate with other forum members, then the more likely that someone will end up sending them some smerits.

Surely native speakers of English do have advantages to communicate more clearly and probably do not necessarily need to spend as much time on typing and rereading their posts, and not all new members want to earn merits, but if they do want to earn merits, then it will probably serve them better to either make sure that they are making some kind of a decently new point (and sure it could just be adding something in regards to their experiences on the topic), or that they try to write their post well and perhaps read through it a few times, try to lessen the number of errors and try to make sure that the ideas flow or are grouped in a way that makes sense.

Members do not need to be perfect, as long as they are attempting to be genuine and really attempting to add value (even if they might throw some jokes in there or some provocative statements), but if it seems like they are not really trying or they are being disingenuine, then they are likely to neither receive smerits and also some forum members might start to dislike them or even tag their account with neutral or red trust.

And, sure sometimes style can be helpful too.. so for example, if you are using the same phrases and references, then other members might start to get annoyed by your way of writing or they might lose track of what you are saying... and by the way, you do not necessarily need to be a non-native speaker or a newbie member in order for some members to detect some repetitive patterns in your style of writing and even to make fun of your way of writing.  I have had members imitate my posting style, and surely, I can notice that it looks like something that I would write, and I can recognize why some of them might get annoyed with my writing style.    .. but sometimes if any of us are able to practice some variety in the ways that we say things, then that can be helpful to better communicate some of our ideas a bit more clearly (and in less of an annoying way)... ..

.. even with all of this, I am not even suggesting that any member needs to give into the haters, because haters are going to hate, and you should not let the haters bother you or to direct you, unless you believe that maybe it might be the right thing to do in terms of taking some of the advice of the haters, even if you might sometimes end up taking some of their advice (based on your own choice) and perhaps without even letting the haters know that you are taking some of their mostly hater-motivated advice... and sometimes it is just funny.. sometimes haters are funny too, even if they hate you and then they tell you how much they hate you.. and not to make fun of them, but we cannot necessarily take all of these matters too seriously, even if they might have both good points and bad points all at the same time.