Some confusions regarding "Merit system"

[Pvt-snafu]

Hello there, I am just wondering what is that Hype about Merit system, and in what way it should somehow affect on the spammers?
My confusion comes from the fact that during last week I saw few posts with 3 world which were awarded by 10-20 merit each, is that I or this is kinda strange?

Also, I am quite shocked by the "Merit Markets" I was already invited into one. Quote: "you can easily boost your account", How the good idea can be turned on into a shit so fast? From what I see the Merit is close to being the new tradeable object which is required (cause everyone wants to UPTHERANK). This is just assumption but I would say that the 80% of merit is located to the 10% of the accounts right now.

What do you say, is merit system works as you expected/it should or this is just plague?

[Vod]

Hello there, I am just wondering what is that Hype about Merit system, and in what way it should somehow affect on the spammers?
My confusion comes from the fact that during last week I saw few posts with 3 world which were awarded by 10-20 merit each, is that I or this is kinda strange?

Also, I am quite shocked by the "Merit Markets" I was already invited into one. Quote: "you can easily boost your account", How the good idea can be turned on into a shit so fast? From what I see the Merit is close to being the new tradeable object which is required (cause everyone wants to UPTHERANK). This is just assumption but I would say that the 80% of merit is located to the 10% of the accounts right now.

What do you say, is merit system works as you expected/it should or this is just plague?

This has been discussed already.   The merit system is new - those who are handing out sMerit irresponsibly will soon run out.

[Pvt-snafu]

This has been discussed already.   The merit system is new - those who are handing out sMerit irresponsibly will soon run out.

And who will decide is the sMerti hoarding is allowed in this case or not? Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that this won't work, just trying to realize the whole system. From what I see the merit is required to up the account from the Jr and so on, for instance, if someone who holds X amount of sMerit will be deprived of it how this sMerit(free) should be allocated to the others?

Cause from what I see right now merit is kinda very valuable object which is needed for 80% of forum besides the hero/legendary and there is no mechanism to "mine" it because the amount of it will be just dropping down (50% system)

[KWH]

This has been discussed already.   The merit system is new - those who are handing out sMerit irresponsibly will soon run out.

And who will decide is the sMerti hoarding is allowed in this case or not? Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that this won't work, just trying to realize the whole system. From what I see the merit is required to up the account from the Jr and so on, for instance, if someone who holds X amount of sMerit will be deprived of it how this sMerit(free) should be allocated to the others?

Cause from what I see right now merit is kinda very valuable object which is needed for 80% of forum besides the hero/legendary and there is no mechanism to "mine" it because the amount of it will be just dropping down (50% system)

" .......There is no point in hoarding sMerit; keeping it yourself does not benefit you, and we reserve the right to decay unused sMerit in the future."

[krishnaverma]

Hello there, I am just wondering what is that Hype about Merit system, and in what way it should somehow affect on the spammers?
My confusion comes from the fact that during last week I saw few posts with 3 world which were awarded by 10-20 merit each, is that I or this is kinda strange?
What do you say, is merit system works as you expected/it should or this is just plague?

You saw members abusing the merit system but did not mention about them being reported and getting negative trust. Please read the meta section carefully so that you can have full information. Quoting one side of story may misguide new members.

[Pvt-snafu]

You saw members abusing the merit system but did not mention about them being reported and getting negative trust. Please read the meta section carefully so that you can have full information. Quoting one side of story may misguide new members.

And do you know how that negative trust with merit system is working? If someone with negative trust will send you a merit (don't ask me why it has it, it will) your account most likely will be with minus trust in few hours, an exception could be only if you a legend bro. So there is definitely another side of a coin, but I am struggling to see it.

[Alone055]

And do you know how that negative trust with merit system is working? If someone with negative trust will send you a merit (don't ask me why it has it, it will) your account most likely will be with minus trust in few hours, an exception could be only if you a legend bro. So there is definitely another side of a coin, but I am struggling to see it.

Never heard about that, nor did theymos mentioned it in his post about the system. I don't think that is how it works. Merits/sMerits have nothing to do with the trust system. A person either with positive or negative trust can give sMerits to people without affecting their trust system because Merits are just to show that a post is constructive, and they are positive, so they in no way can work negatively towards an account.

[Pvt-snafu]

Never heard about that, nor did theymos mentioned it in his post about the system. I don't think that is how it works. Merits/sMerits have nothing to do with the trust system.

This is the true statement, but the thing is that these actions aren't done automatically, so this is just half true.

In the real world scenario if for instance, you got 10 merit from person with -37 trust for just a general post (nothing amazing) that most likely will mark you as "cheater" by hands of admins. Therefore in close future, the unwanted trust could come. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that this applies to one hundred percent of cases, but I saw few with my eyes, so I can say for sure.

[hilariousetc]

People will always try exploit something or get around restrictions. People complained and cried about signatures when they were changed depending on rank and then people started selling accounts. The same thing will happen with merit but those trying to bend the rules will be punished as are people trying to sell accounts. Already hundreds of alt accounts have been busted trying to farm or trade merit and thousands more will likely be caught doing so.

This has been discussed already.   The merit system is new - those who are handing out sMerit irresponsibly will soon run out.

And who will decide is the sMerti hoarding is allowed in this case or not? Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that this won't work, just trying to realize the whole system. From what I see the merit is required to up the account from the Jr and so on, for instance, if someone who holds X amount of sMerit will be deprived of it how this sMerit(free) should be allocated to the others?

Cause from what I see right now merit is kinda very valuable object which is needed for 80% of forum besides the hero/legendary and there is no mechanism to "mine" it because the amount of it will be just dropping down (50% system)

" .......There is no point in hoarding sMerit; keeping it yourself does not benefit you, and we reserve the right to decay unused sMerit in the future."

I don't think there's much of an issue with people hoarding merit; it's giving it to their alt accounts that is going to be the big issue.

[romanovst]

This is the true statement, but the thing is that these actions aren't done automatically, so this is just half true.

In the real world scenario if for instance, you got 10 merit from person with -37 trust for just a general post (nothing amazing) that most likely will mark you as "cheater" by hands of admins. Therefore in close future, the unwanted trust could come. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that this applies to one hundred percent of cases, but I saw few with my eyes, so I can say for sure.

Do not spread rumors. There is nothing like that. If someone is trying to get your account banned by giving you merits for a useless posts, you can report such and thing and get it removed. Whole account history will be taken into consideration after your appeal.

[paxmao]

Hello there, I am just wondering what is that Hype about Merit system, and in what way it should somehow affect on the spammers?
My confusion comes from the fact that during last week I saw few posts with 3 world which were awarded by 10-20 merit each, is that I or this is kinda strange?

Also, I am quite shocked by the "Merit Markets" I was already invited into one. Quote: "you can easily boost your account", How the good idea can be turned on into a shit so fast? From what I see the Merit is close to being the new tradeable object which is required (cause everyone wants to UPTHERANK). This is just assumption but I would say that the 80% of merit is located to the 10% of the accounts right now.

What do you say, is merit system works as you expected/it should or this is just plague?

Please, provide links to those posts or post them in the thread of "Users abusing the merit system" in Meta section.

[Pvt-snafu]

If someone is trying to get your account banned by giving you merits for a useless posts, you can report such and thing and get it removed. Whole account history will be taken into consideration after your appeal.

Oh, you might be right, my bad here.

[KWH]

I don't think there's much of an issue with people hoarding merit; it's giving it to their alt accounts that is going to be the big issue.

It has already started and I believe it will continue to be an issue.

[hilariousetc]

I don't think there's much of an issue with people hoarding merit; it's giving it to their alt accounts that is going to be the big issue.

It has already started and I believe it will continue to be an issue.

What use do people have for hoarding merit?

[krishnaverma]

I don't think there's much of an issue with people hoarding merit; it's giving it to their alt accounts that is going to be the big issue.

It has already started and I believe it will continue to be an issue.

Any evidence for proving this conclusion ? We can see merits being spend by members here but there is n way to see how many smerits they have currently. Most of the members who wanted to cheat this merit system already spent their merits on alt accounts and then got caught. Genuine members who were awarding merit points to newbies have also spent most of their merit points (as evident from their posts in merit giveaway threads).

[audaciousbeing]

Hello there, I am just wondering what is that Hype about Merit system, and in what way it should somehow affect on the spammers?
My confusion comes from the fact that during last week I saw few posts with 3 world which were awarded by 10-20 merit each, is that I or this is kinda strange?

Also, I am quite shocked by the "Merit Markets" I was already invited into one. Quote: "you can easily boost your account", How the good idea can be turned on into a shit so fast? From what I see the Merit is close to being the new tradeable object which is required (cause everyone wants to UPTHERANK). This is just assumption but I would say that the 80% of merit is located to the 10% of the accounts right now.

What do you say, is merit system works as you expected/it should or this is just plague?

You cannot control what everybody does with his or her merits and even if you have police all over the forum, there would still be some people that will get away with it. Just like the way accounts trading is frown at, tagged by DT member for anyone who engaged in it, its still be carried out. Its an exploitation of the system which should not be so in a place where everybody is sane and pursuing the same objective of making the forum better, there is nothing we can do about it.

The consolation here is that, you cannot go on fooling the system for long because of the way its designed. One, you will eventually run out of merits to give at some point and two, as you use the cheap merit to rank up, it will get to a point where the amount of merit between one rank and the other is so large that cannot be supplied by one account. At that point, you are either forced to remain at a rank forever, or start going the right thing.

[Emilyearl]

To me, I would say the merit system hasn't yet achieved what it was created to achieve. And in all honesty, merit system won't eradicate shitpost from the forum. This is solely because it can't control what people post as meaningless posts still get sMerit. Maybe with time, the MODs will come to realise this and maybe make some amendments or enact other rules to better the forum.

[KWH]

I don't think there's much of an issue with people hoarding merit; it's giving it to their alt accounts that is going to be the big issue.

It has already started and I believe it will continue to be an issue.

What use do people have for hoarding merit?

Zero.

Any evidence for proving this conclusion ? We can see merits being spend by members here but there is n way to see how many smerits they have currently. Most of the members who wanted to cheat this merit system already spent their merits on alt accounts and then got caught. Genuine members who were awarding merit points to newbies have also spent most of their merit points (as evident from their posts in merit giveaway threads).

Have you not looked at the several threads involving sMerit farming? You do realize these farmers don't just have 3-4 accounts, they have many more. Once those sMerits are used to level up a few chosen sig campaign accounts, off they go to buying more accounts with sMerits. So it would be safe to say the behind the scenes of account sales are surging and there is no short supply of account sellers.
If it has not already happened, the Merit source accounts will be bought and sold so someone with a little savvy will trickle sell the sMerits. Catching these will depend on just how savvy they are.

[seven2smoke1]

To me, I would say the merit system hasn't yet achieved what it was created to achieve. And in all honesty, merit system won't eradicate shitpost from the forum. This is solely because it can't control what people post as meaningless posts still get sMerit. Maybe with time, the MODs will come to realise this and maybe make some amendments or enact other rules to better the forum.

If you did not see yet how the merit system can affect shitposters and hasn't yet achieved his purpose then you should wait. This system is coordinate to achieve his goal slowly, maybe in few months you can see a high improve in posts and topics in the whole forums, it's matter of time, by the way, I think the purpose of this system is to decrease, not to eradicate shitpost from the forum.

[BTCforJoe]

If you did not see yet how the merit system can affect shitposters and hasn't yet achieved his purpose then you should wait. This system is coordinate to achieve his goal slowly, maybe in few months you can see a high improve in posts and topics in the whole forums, it's matter of time, by the way, I think the purpose of this system is to decrease, not to eradicate shitpost from the forum.

Agreed.

I think what a lot of people fail to realize is that the merit system was introduced with an "influx" of sMerit that came with all accounts across the forums, based on that user's rank, by default. Again, as others have mentioned, once these sMerits have dried up, the system will become effective in keep shitposters and sigspammers at bay. Yes, they can easily create dozens of multis for the sole purpose of merit-farming, but at that point, who is really going to take the time to create constructive posts (enough to get merited) in order to send their many alts a merit here and there? It really sounds like a huge investment of time and energy being wasted to distribute sMerits across a network of alt accounts that may or may not be sold in... a couple of months or years for a few bucks?

Come on. Anyone who is saying that the system will not help decrease the shitposting on the forums hasn't thought past the short term.

I'm curious to see the overall activity stats from January of this year compared to January of 2019 when the time comes. I'm willing to bet that user sign-ups will be at an all-time high, but the activity per capita will be at an all-time low. We'll have the merit system to thank for this.

Think long term, folks.