Is it possible to reach a high rank nowadays?

[fudster]

If you are here in the forum just to read, there wouldn't be the need for you to rank up anyway. I agree there merit system is making it harder for someone who has the intention to earn through bounties. If you are one of those who just want to make business, its the TRUST rating that you should build NOT the rank. For now the merit system works for those who want to get away with bounties but not contributing to the forum contents. Just my opinion.

[mu_enrico]

I just want to add some opinion in addition to all high-ranked member comments above. At first, it seems impossible to rank, but many high-rank members started from 0 merits. See this thread https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5039605.0

In addition, I have created a simple guide as a starting point for you who are new to this community https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4932316.0 and have listed many various sources about how to get merits. Since maybe you are not new to this community, I think you have a good "head start."

Tl;dr

Once you have a good grasp on how to get merits, It's just a matter of finding your niche, topics that you really understand. Then your problem will be "how much effort should I put on this forum" since I find it intriguing to tweak effort vs merit. It's not rocket science, more effort = more merit.

[YOSHIE]

Don't be discouraged and start reading & posting good quality posts

It is true? do not be sad and discouraged, all have benefits, For you in achieving success many challenges and trials. The hard work needed and needed in achieving this success is totality hard work. But unfortunately in this struggle and hard work not everyone can run it to its maximum totality. To achieve perfect success, you really can't do it halfway, you have to run it with totality and maximum, especially in this forum. Only by hard work here is not enough for a member. So to achieve perfect success, you must be able to maximize it.
1. Plant in your soul the ultimate Clear Vision and Purpose.

2. Love what you do.

3. Do it wholeheartedly despite many obstacles.

4. Create something that is good and useful in the forum.

5. Do it without harming others.

6. Be patient and thankful.
Focused and consistent then the great opportunity to achieve success in achieving rankings will be wide open for you.

[TheUltraElite]

-snip-

OP, if you are going to make threads with a opening post of s huge paragraph resembling the 12mark essay question of an Ancient History paper, dont expect to get any merits. Some generous soul did give you some I can see but thats not how you can earn merits here. Here are some stuff that you would want to keep track of :
1. Keep your content short and simple - you dont need to over-exaggerate what you want to say and "Meta" is not the section for making blogs on your personal opinion. Use Medium/Steemit for that.
2. Try to read more than write. Learn more than what you say.
3. Do not post just to increase your post count or hoping to get merits. Post if you have  something constructive to say.
4. Last but not the least, stop refreshing your profile every 2 minutes to check how many new merits you received.
The last one goes out for all the newbies who are reading this. You guys are wasting your internet bills

[o_e_l_e_o]

Luckily i do not need a high rank for what i chose to use Bitcointalk for so it would mean nothing other than being a status symbol.

Correct. You do not need a high rank to read, post, discuss, converse or otherwise get involved in the forum. The only thing you need a high rank for is displaying a signature, and so the only reason to get annoyed about this is if your raison d'être for being here is bounty spamming.

I think Bitcointalk has a responsibility as the largest forum of it's kind to the crypto-users of the world to provide a fair, open, informative and balanced platform for everyone.

And it does just that. Anyone can come to this open forum, gather information, learn, and present their views for discussion. Rank and merit does not change that in the slightest. Again, the only thing a higher rank provides is a signature.


This is all secondary to what has been pointed out multiple times already in this thread - ranking up is not difficult provided you aren't a shitposter.

[tranthidung]

Yes it still possible, there's couple members that already got full member or even senior member from low rank. Try surf this meta section and find thread about people that already rank up. One that i know is DdmrDdmr who already earn more than 1k merit and he can wait until the time come to make him become legendary and looks like he start from newbie or jr.member(?).

I known that guy.
@DdmrDdmr is one of the forum's merit sources for now.
Nevertheless, before got acceptance for his application to be a merit source, that guy made intensive efforts and got hundred of merits.
He is one of the most impressive case-studies that users can still be able to rank up with merit system and new rank requirements via their good initiatives and continuously intensive contribution to the forum.

[mk4]

that's why i wouldn't work for a company where i "didn't know crap" let alone complain but i don't see how your comparison is actually relevant at all in this scenario either?

But yet you're here on bitcointalk complaining about merits.

The chances are small whichever way you look at it, i have since starting this thread gone through a large volume of merited users and 99% of them are not posting anything special or greatly assisting the forum they are merely just posting in the correct place that users that have a lot of merit to give frequent.

Heavily disagree. Can you give us any proof of some posts that aren't "anything special" that are given merit?

It doesn't seem balanced at all and i work as an analyst for a job in the banking sector so i am used to reviewing and sorting through data such as this.

Sure you do.

I think that it will be extremely hard for the majority of people to rank up here and in general it is highly probable that this forum will suffer as a consequence of that.

Depends what you specifically mean by "the forum will suffer". If you mean suffer by forum activity in total, then sure it probably would due to less spam. But in exchange of what? Better quality posts. It's a no-brainer that the merit system is a huge step up.

I have a question for you also, do you not think that If bitcointalk refuses to adapt to this increased userbase than it's  ability to survive against competitors and continue to be the favored place for crypto discussion will continue for very long?

"refuses to adapt to this increased userbase". What are you talking about. People can freely join the forum.

Also, competitors? LOL. Not even close. Take a look at bitcointalk's competitors and see how far bitcointalk is ahead.

[kewlc3s]

Sure you can! But it is much harder than I expected.

For newbie - you must involve huge job to reach next rank.
You can´t post quality posts to get merit, unit you know something about crypto.
So first try to read, don´t rush with posting. Read successful post, make your own strategy.

Tip from me: mate, it is really hard to read your text. Try to make it a bit reader friendly.

[Alone055]

After signing up to this forum only today i have a few comments to make regarding the ranking system.

Never bothered to make an account since you could read everything without having one, and as soon as you make one, you start asking about the ranking system. I wonder what that makes you look like.  

is it possible for people to rank up on here still?

Look for yourself. You can find some examples of ranked up users even in this thread of yours.

To gain enough merit without being a well known or already established user of the forum would take such a considerable effort that any user would also need a stroke a pure luck to even reach member rank now.

A user making considerable efforts does not require any luck to reach any rank, and the ones making zero to no efforts would reach nowhere no matter how lucky they are since this is a manual distribution system and isn't a kind of a lottery where a user can get any amount out of luck.

The chances of being merited even a few times are very small let alone gaining hundreds of merits.

That totally depends on an individual and the efforts they are making for the community. There are users who had earned more Merits to rank up to higher ranks then they are right now. LoyceV and DdmrDdmr are the brightest examples of that.

If you are already of a high ranked position then most likely you like the recent stricter rules as you don't need to jump through the hoops yourself to claim merit and be able to rank up anymore

I'm not of a very high ranked position, but I still like the recent rules as they are for the betterment of the forum. As far as the rank is concerned, I believe I can reach the rank I deserve to and there is nothing that can stop me if I have the ability to reach there.

Hopefully there will be some loosening of these rules or an entirely new system implemented sometime in the near future so new users are able to participate in all that this great forum has to offer.

Why should the rules be loosened for the new users to be able to participate in things in here? No rules are stopping anyone from that. The rules or the new implementations are only to stop the useless posters and the ones who has done nothing for the community but are always looking to benefit from it without making any efforts, and there is no need to loosen the rules for them.

[iqlimasyadiqa]

Of course !! That everyone on this forum has the opportunity to have a much higher rank. The easy thing we do is to improve the quality of the posts that we have, make a post that is useful for others. So if you can give the best in this forum then you will get a reply and for anyone who does not contribute then they will not get anything.

So, that is an easy thing when you have the nature to be dedicated to the forum. The forum will get better when you provide benefits and you will get benefits by getting better trust responses from other users.

[Elqui]

That’s exactly what happend to me, maybe if i joined here 2years or 3years ago, maybe im a legendary member right now. But merit is so hard to have nowadays, I don’t know what kind of post should i do to have some merits here, I think im stuck at jr. member forever.

[KonstantinosM]

You have made some valid points.

People that were grandfathered in, like me, had a very easy time getting high ranked accounts, and it could be argued that it's not fair.

This happens all the time in the world. An excellent example of that is bitcoin itself. The people who were here in the early days, could have mined 50 bitcoin blocks on their laptops.

The people who were in this forum back in 2010-2011, could have gotten legendary accounts by 2014 if they stayed active with not a lot of effort.


My position is that the forum rules are fair. Yes, there could be more merit to go around but we should be careful not to cheapen it. But as you are not owed bitcoins just for joining and being part of the ecosystem you are also not owed a high ranking bitcointalk account.


Yes, you'll have to work harder but you can rank up. I agree, there should be a lot more merit to go around. But ranking up always took some effort and so did bitcoin mining. (to use my analogy).


It's not like people back in 2010 showed up on the forum and were given a legendary account.

I'm not someone who puts a big effort into this forum and I'm not a bitcoin expert at this time and I've gotten a few merits here and there. The system is fairly new and merit sources are being added. I think you'll be able to rank up if you put an effort into your posts.

[LTU_btc]

OP, you signed up only yesterday, made few posts and you're already complaining about Merit system. Are you really new here?
You said that you don't need high rank, then why you're concerned about getting Merit? You can continue posting by being Newbie or Jr. Member without getting a lot of Merit. It's true that it's not easy to get Merit if you're not ecxeptional user, but I think it's fine - you need to put some more efforts if you want to get higher rank benefits, what's wrong with that? We want to improve quality of this forum and Merit is a motivation for users to improve quality of their content.

The chances are small whichever way you look at it, i have since starting this thread gone through a large volume of merited users and 99% of them are not posting anything special or greatly assisting the forum they are merely just posting in the correct place that users that have a lot of merit to give frequent.

Heavily disagree. Can you give us any proof of some posts that aren't "anything special" that are given merit?

I think he is right in this case. If you have famous name or great reputation here, it's easier to get Merit even if you make some average posts. I don't want examples, but I see this trend. But I don't think it's something wrong.

[coinlocket$]

Of course !! That everyone on this forum has the opportunity to have a much higher rank. The easy thing we do is to improve the quality of the posts that we have, make a post that is useful for others. So if you can give the best in this forum then you will get a reply and for anyone who does not contribute then they will not get anything.

So, that is an easy thing when you have the nature to be dedicated to the forum. The forum will get better when you provide benefits and you will get benefits by getting better trust responses from other users.

Why do you talk about "we" when you have legendary rank and don't you need any merit?

[jointherevolution]

I think it is still possible when you apply a lot of your time. Merit givers look for intelligent posts or for post that need a lot of work to create.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

That’s exactly what happend to me, maybe if i joined here 2years or 3years ago, maybe im a legendary member right now. But merit is so hard to have nowadays, I don’t know what kind of post should i do to have some merits here, I think im stuck at jr. member forever.

I had to click on your profile since I have signature-view disabled, and yep you're in a campaign.  As has been stated, the only reason people care about rank here is so that they can make more money--so nobody here has any sympathy for anyone who's stuck at the Jr. Member rank.  All the whining in the world is going to do no good.

OP, you signed up only yesterday, made few posts and you're already complaining about Merit system. Are you really new here?

I highly, highly doubt that.  When people say shit like that, I just tend to think they're lying and they probably are.  I think most people who wear advertising in their signature space have multiple accounts, and especially those complaining about merits.

People that were grandfathered in, like me, had a very easy time getting high ranked accounts, and it could be argued that it's not fair.

It's totally fair.  Bounty shitposters brought this upon themselves, and the problem doesn't lie in the hands of more senior members.  Yes, I'm sure there are some Legendary members who post complete garbage (looking at you, Amph), but the vast majority of spammers are low-ranked members with multiple accounts.

[Jrashid]

Possible, you have to just make sure that you are not running after merit/rank. That's how it will be possible. You can have a look on the profile which has been upgraded. I want to request you to check the nullius and his merit history. Only then you will realize how easy is this.

[TheBeardedBaby]

This is turning slowly in a megathread but I'll leave here my two satoshi.

Merit is not difficult to get, difficult is to build reputation among the valuable people here.
If you have the reputation the merit is no longer an issue.
How to distinguish yourself from the shitposters, thats another obstacle for the newbies, not the Merit (it will come eventually).

You don't need merit in the beginning, you need to be yourself here, be someone with opinion and a vision.

The merit is the final result of the combination of many factors.

That's the two satoshies of someone walked the whole way up from member.

[DdmrDdmr]

The simple answer is yes, it is possible ... But things are not Boolean, and a simple yes or no is deceiving. As can be seen on some of the referenced threads within this same thread, people are ranking-up, a few with no issue from the merit side. It’s when you compare the speed of the process of ranking-up before and after the Merit System that you notice that we’ve shifted from sixth gear down to first.

This is the key difference really, since even for those that make decent posts (I’m not talking about the best of the best, but second and third levels) the merit per day is often subpar with the 1 merit per day necessary (roughly) to rank-up at the same rate as before. Out of the people merited, 0,5% are on par or above. That means that for 99,5% of those merited, the expectancy is a slower than before ranking process.

Recently I wrote a post on this matter, and the projected dates to ranking-up we’re pretty far off in time (see Analysis – Personal merit per day, merit per post and ranking-up projections).

[Lafu]

Its possible to rank up!
Merit is like women!
If you just want to get them on the easy way, you will not get them!
You have to do the right thing to get them!