Merit abuse by a Legendary

[iHodler]

Merit sent back and forth by Vlad2Vlad. Most likely his alts.

• Vlad2Vlad sent 50 merits to Apocalipsa for this post.
Apocalipsa sent 25 merits back to Vlad2Vlad for this post.

• Vlad2Vlad sent 28 merits to Apocalypsis: 12 merits post, 8 merits post, 7 merits post and 1 merit post = 28 in total
Apocalypsis sent 13 merits back to for this post.

Noted the users name Apocalipsa and Apocalypsis?

• Vlad2Vlad sent 44 merits to MarketMagic  and received 37 back from MarketMagic according to BPIP
Few posts from MarketMagic: 7 merits- one line post , 7 merits - for a 7 words post. 7 merits - for a greeting card, 3 merits - for a bump.

• Vlad2Vlad sent 271 merits to hornetsnest  and received 32 from hornetsnest according to BPIP
Few posts from hornetsnest that Vlad2Vlad merited big: 21 merits, 21 merits, 14 merits - practically he made this user Sr. Member alone.
Of course, hornetsnest sent part of the merits back for posts like this: 10 merits, 10 merits.

• Vlad2Vlad sent 28 merits to schnötzel for this 4 posts: 7 merits, 7 merits, 7 merits, 7 merits.
schnötzel sent 49 merits to Vlad2Vlad for this post.

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[Lauda]

Flag time? I'll watch until more evidence is presented and some consensus is formed.

[btcltcdigger]

Probably some sort of off-forum selling going on.
As it seems he ranks them up, and they send back half of it (as i understand, for every 2 metits you get 1 smerit)

[Vod]

Probably some sort of off-forum selling going on.
As it seems he ranks them up, and they send back half of it (as i understand, for every 2 metits you get 1 smerit)

If so, that is not allowed.  sMerit is not a commodity. 

[btcltcdigger]

Probably some sort of off-forum selling going on.
As it seems he ranks them up, and they send back half of it (as i understand, for every 2 metits you get 1 smerit)

If so, that is not allowed.  sMerit is not a commodity. 

I agree. Unfortunately fiverr.com has many merit sellers.
Anywhere from $10 per merit upwards

[AlexSimion]

This might also be the latest one . Happened a few days ago in the romanian local section .
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=177500.60

He gave 50 merits to a newbie with 4 posts for that single reply ,  found it odd , but assumed he was just overly generous cause the newbie supported his city.


Saw you were reffering to this in the op .   

[iHodler]

<snip>

Yes, this one caught my eyes from: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;stats=topreplies 2nd place.

Also the thread started by him is listed 4 times in top 21: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=317658.0 which is weird at least.

Note that user schnötzel is also suspect of being part of the same MAG (Merit Abuse Gang), I will add it to the OP. Added!

[logfiles]

This is clear cut merit abuse. Probably a merit sale deal going on or Vlad2Vlad is trying to farm some accounts. He/she shamelessly thinks he/she can get away with it since merit abuse isn't moderated.

[mikeywith]

Anywhere from $10 per merit upwards

Please tell me you dropped an extra number there by mistake, do you mean $1 per merit? if it's really anywhere near $10 per merit then why

Vlad2Vlad sent 271 merits to hornetsnest

 

I highly doubt that hornetsnest would pay $2710 to get that 271 merit, so if this is anything, he is probably farming accounts and not actually selling merit, or he is not aware of how much they go for. 

Flag time? I'll watch until more evidence is presented and some consensus is formed.

Since trading merit is against the forum rules, shouldn't the accused member/s be reported rather than tagged? I mean what stops them from trading merit even with an active flag and a dozen negative feedback?

[btcltcdigger]

No, i've seen it for $10 and upwards.
Not saying this is the case here, but fact is many people are desparate for merits and will gladly pay for just 1.

As you know, most bounties accept jr members or members minimum fir signature campaigns, so it's turning out to be a real shady off-forum business

[TryNinja]

I highly doubt that hornetsnest would pay $2710 to get that 271 merit, so if this is anything, he is probably farming accounts and not actually selling merit, or he is not aware of how much they go for.  

I always thought that the reason some users sell merits for as much as $10/each is that some users just want a quick single merit to start bounty hunting and $10 isn't such a big amount. But when we start talking about ranking up to Sr, Hero or Legendary, it becomes impossible for anyone to consider spending that much.

Since trading merit is against the forum rules, shouldn't the accused member/s be reported rather than tagged? I mean what stops them from trading merit even with an active flag and a dozen negative feedback?

Isn't merit trading only against the rules if you are a merit source? I mean, we all agree that it's not a good thing to do, but the consensus from the community that something is not ok is one thing and being officially not allowed is another thing.

[dragonvslinux]

Flag time?

Put your poll away, the humans are talking. Cats need some patience.
Interesting topic, looking forward to seeing how it develops.

[mikeywith]

But when we start talking about ranking up to Sr, Hero or Legendary, it becomes impossible for anyone to consider spending that much.

That sounds reasonable.

Isn't merit trading only against the rules if you are a merit source? I mean, we all agree that it's not a good thing to do, but the consensus from the community that something is not ok is one thing and being officially not allowed is another thing.

To be honest, even after 2 years of being around, the "rules" are still confusing to me.

If you read the Unofficial list of (official) Bitcointalk.org rules it has no rules regarding the trading of merit, however, there is another pinned topic FAQ: Everything you need to know about forum 'activity, account ranks and merit

It literally states:

Selling merit is disallowed.

Do I think that is a forum rule even though it's not in the rules' topic? YES. Am I 100% right about it? No clue.

[Lauda]

Flag time? I'll watch until more evidence is presented and some consensus is formed.

Since trading merit is against the forum rules, shouldn't the accused member/s be reported rather than tagged? I mean what stops them from trading merit even with an active flag and a dozen negative feedback?

No. Merit trading is an action that is first tagged. From what I know, I do not remember many cases of people getting banned for this. It is more in the sense of: If you are a merit source, and sell merits, then you will not be one much longer kind of rule.

[hornetsnest]

Merit sent back and forth by Vlad2Vlad. Most likely his alts.

• Vlad2Vlad sent 50 merits to Apocalipsa for this post.
Apocalipsa sent 25 merits back to Vlad2Vlad for this post.

• Vlad2Vlad sent 28 merits to Apocalypsis: 12 merits post, 8 merits post, 7 merits post and 1 merit post = 28 in total
Apocalypsis sent 13 merits back to for this post.

Noted the users name Apocalipsa and Apocalypsis?

• Vlad2Vlad sent 44 merits to MarketMagic  and received 37 back from MarketMagic according to BPIP
Few posts from MarketMagic: 7 merits- one line post , 7 merits - for a 7 words post. 7 merits - for a greeting card, 3 merits - for a bump.

• Vlad2Vlad sent 271 merits to hornetsnest  and received 32 from hornetsnest according to BPIP
Few posts from hornetsnest that Vlad2Vlad merited big: 21 merits, 21 merits, 14 merits - practically he made this user Sr. Member alone.
Of course, hornetsnest sent part of the merits back for posts like this: 10 merits, 10 merits.

• Vlad2Vlad sent 28 merits to schnötzel for this 4 posts: 7 merits, 7 merits, 7 merits, 7 merits.
schnötzel sent 49 merits to Vlad2Vlad for this post.

I have followed Vlad's thread for years and will merit who I fucking please when I please.It's a free country numb nuts so if you don't like it then pack up your tent and fuck off to China,Iran,North Korea or Russia

[hornetsnest]

If Vlad or anyone else gives me merit and I like a post of theirs I can give them as much merit as I want because my personal opinion of whats a quality post is my individual choice.

FUCKING COMMIES ...fuck yall commie freedom hating speech moderating biatches

"There is nothing worse than a fucking commie"

~Ronald Reagan ...Best president ever....after trump

[AlexSimion]

snip-troll

Sure buddy...

Edit : Checking hornetsnest posting history it's pretty obvious that he's another alt of Vlad , though it can't be proved with linked addresses etc , but seems like he has the same style of talking to himself like he's doing in the post lower with Vlad9Vlad.


This one is quite funny though ,   he's talking to himself




OP , please add : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=837994 to your list .

[hornetsnest]

Edit : Checking hornetsnest posting history it's pretty obvious that he's another alt of Vlad , though it can't be proved with linked addresses etc , but seems like he has the same style of talking to himself like he's doing in the post lower with Vlad9Vlad.

Look at this cunt making false assumptions.Anyone who administers this site with backend access can easily see I am not Vlad with actual meta data ...you dumb cunt

[AlexSimion]

Edit : Checking hornetsnest posting history it's pretty obvious that he's another alt of Vlad , though it can't be proved with linked addresses etc , but seems like he has the same style of talking to himself like he's doing in the post lower with Vlad9Vlad.

Look at this cunt making false assumptions.Anyone who administers this site with backend access can easily see I am not Vlad with actual meta data ...you dumb cunt

Sure buddy , but honestly just post from your main account , should be much easier.

Shove your meta data up your a hole , or Vlad's hole , should be relatively the same thing



Interesting fact , seems that this hornetsnest , Vlad + Apocalipsa are frequently talking to one another in  such as : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=233997.msg54155044#msg54155044
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=317658.msg53860609#msg53860609
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3015517.msg53823773#msg53823773

[hornetsnest]

Edit : Checking hornetsnest posting history it's pretty obvious that he's another alt of Vlad , though it can't be proved with linked addresses etc , but seems like he has the same style of talking to himself like he's doing in the post lower with Vlad9Vlad.

Look at this cunt making false assumptions.Anyone who administers this site with backend access can easily see I am not Vlad with actual meta data ...you dumb cunt

Sure buddy , but honestly just post from your main account , should be much easier.

Shove your meta data up your a hole , or Vlad's hole , should be relatively the same thing

Im not your buddy you fucking halfwit.How about I start making assumptions about you all over the web and you become my pet project from now? Now fuck off and go about your business and that means leaving me out of it