Enhanced newbie restrictions & requirements

[tranthidung]

I noticed just now that new rank requirements were released one year ago. Release of merit system was big thing, but I think that these rank requirements (1 merit to become Jr. Member) have real effect. It changed forum a lot into positive side.

Effects of enhanced merit system (aims at old-era Junior Members) can be seen on the time-series plot, with a spike (from abuse) in September of 2019.

Time series plot of truncated dataset (from 26/1/2018 to 16/1/2019) [first two days dropped]

Another evidence is total monthly registered accounts fell dramatically since September 2018. You can see from that raw statistics and from the time-series plot. After merit system run in January 2018, people kept creating new accounts, because they were still able to rank up to Junior Member rank from shitposts, but since September 2018, with this change, they realized the fact that they were unable to rank up to Junior Member from shit posts. Most of shitposters are unable to earn a single merit, so they stopped creating new accounts.
Let's compare stats of September (total register accounts from mid-August 2018 to mid-September 2018), for the month before the enhancement and some months later:

• One month later: 16oct2018 (figure from mid-September 2018 to mid-October 2018), at 41516 and 35335, respectively.
  It means about 14.9% drop after one month since the enhancement.
• Three months later: 15dec2018, the stat fell to 20733, that equals the 50% drop.

Code:

. list id day month2 year date regacc, abb(30)

     +------------------------------------------------+
     |  id   day   month2   year        date   regacc |
     |------------------------------------------------|
100. | 100    19        1   2018   19jan2018   136872 |
     |------------------------------------------------|
101. | 101    18        2   2018   18feb2018   107237 |
102. | 102    20        3   2018   20mar2018    87087 |
103. | 103    19        4   2018   19apr2018    89659 |
104. | 104    19        5   2018   19may2018    83999 |
105. | 105    18        6   2018   18jun2018    72430 |
     |------------------------------------------------|
106. | 106    18        7   2018   18jul2018    61360 |
107. | 107    17        8   2018   17aug2018    41451 |
108. | 108    16        9   2018   16sep2018    41516 |
109. | 109    16       10   2018   16oct2018    35335 |
110. | 110    15       11   2018   15nov2018    31502 |
     |------------------------------------------------|
111. | 111    15       12   2018   15dec2018    20733 |
112. | 112    14        1   2019   14jan2019    20046 |
113. | 113    28        2   2019   28feb2019    16202 |
114. | 114    31        3   2019   31mar2019    18932 |
115. | 115    30        4   2019   30apr2019    17910 |
     |------------------------------------------------|
116. | 116    30        5   2019   30may2019    24472 |
117. | 117    30        6   2019   30jun2019    22357 |

Plot:

Visit Assumed monthly statistics on registered accounts of bitcointalk.org (2009-2019) to get full details, please.

Happy anniversary merit system! Long live!

You are incorrect.
Merit system's birthday is not today. In fact, its birthday is January 24, 2018, 11:00:11 PM (forum time), or Wednesday 24 January 2018 22:12:21 (GMT time). Please read: One year anniversary of merit system. We have not yet reached the 2^nd anniversary of merit sytem.

[1714632572]

1714632572

[1714632572]

1714632572

[1714632572]

1714632572

[1714632572]

1714632572

[LTU_btc]

You are incorrect.
Merit system's birthday is not today. In fact, its birthday is January 24, 2018, 11:00:11 PM (forum time), or Wednesday 24 January 2018 22:12:21 (GMT time). Please read: One year anniversary of merit system. We have not yet reached the 2^nd anniversary of merit sytem.

Yeah, I know. Probably I just expressed myself wrong. I had to say "happy birthday enchanced newbie restrictions and requirements" .

[Coyster]

Release of merit system was big thing, but I think that these rank requirements (1 merit to become Jr. Member) have real effect. It changed forum a lot into positive side.

It was really a positive move and it has had a positive effect, getting one merit is quite easy to do, but it's easy to say that simply because we're good posters, for the terrible posters, getting one merit is like swimming across an ocean, and when this was implemented they tried and tried till they gave up, which help get rid of some negative forum members.

So in general, Theymos really improved the forum implementing that.

[kyawzayaroo]

I started a month or two back so I dont mind. And This totally makes sense. But As a user I never look at Rank.I do over 150activities post..

[JeromeTash]

I started a month or two back so I dont mind.

Lol, you started off over 11 Months ago

And This totally makes sense. But As a user I never look at Rank.I do over 150activities post..

You can go ahead and have activity of 1000 with the newbie rank but In a few years, you will start realizing how important a rank is. Posting those spam bounty links isn't worth it in the long run. Build your account and learn more about bitcoin, blockchain, wallets, trading etc

[CryoWebToken]

Just curious if the Donator and VIP memberships are ever updated or is it correct that it is $2 million USD to be VIP?

[acroman08]

Just curious if the Donator and VIP memberships are ever updated or is it correct that it is $2 million USD to be VIP?

with the current price of BTC to UDS? then yes. as far as I know, the price in BTC is not updated. the price of VIP and Donator has always been the same which is 50BTC. if you are thinking that it would be unfair for people right now to pay that much BTC, then you have to realize that it would be unfair to the people who already paid 50BTC in order to get the Donator/VIP title.

[ShowOff]

Just curious if the Donator and VIP memberships are ever updated or is it correct that it is $2 million USD to be VIP?

I don't know where exactly the question is worth asking, but maybe not in this thread, and more likely in a thread of the same relevance or indeed creating a new thread.

Here are a few things you should know, now the forum is no longer accepting donations, pay attention to the part I bolded.

Donations
The Bitcoin Forum is a website meant to host free discussion of Bitcoin and related topics. It is operated mainly as a service to the community, and the vast majority of income after expenses is either saved for future expenses or reinvested into the forum or the community. The forum was started in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto, the original creator of Bitcoin. It is now managed by a dedicated team of admins and moderators.

Long ago, we collected donations. People who donated 10 BTC have a special "Donator" title and a green "who's online" color. People who donated 50 BTC have a special VIP status and the ability to create a custom title for themselves. Both Donators and VIPs also have access to an exclusive forum section. It may seem incredible now, but even though there are many Donators and VIPs, the total donations collected in terms of USD value at time of donation is less than $70 000! Donations were collected back when BTC was comparatively worthless.

Because we are able to operate comfortably using advertising and fee revenue along with our BTC reserves, we no longer collect donations. If you want to help the forum, please make good posts, report rule-breaking posts, and invite friends. If you want to donate BTC, donate it to a charity, or maybe even to your fellow forum members.

Thank you to all past donators!

[Igebotz]

Just curious if the Donator and VIP memberships are ever updated or is it correct that it is $2 million USD to be VIP?

with the current price of BTC to UDS? then yes. as far as I know, the price is not updated. the price of VIP and Donator has always been the same which is 50BTC. if you are thinking that it would be unfair for people right now to pay that much BTC, then you have to realize that it would be unfair to the people who already paid 50BTC in order to get the Donator/VIP title.

I'm not sure anyone would regret spending that much money later on, and it wasn't a lot of money when they lauded that amount of BTC. If they hadn't paid for the VIP or Donator rank, they'd spend it on something else. The 1BTC we are spending today could be worth $2 million in the near future, and no one would ever regret spending such a large sum for something they needed in the past.

I spent 0.1 bitcoin on some random ebooks in 2016, and it's now worth millions in my local currency, but I've never regretted it.

[JayJuanGee]

Just curious if the Donator and VIP memberships are ever updated or is it correct that it is $2 million USD to be VIP?

with the current price of BTC to UDS? then yes. as far as I know, the price in BTC is not updated. the price of VIP and Donator has always been the same which is 50BTC. if you are thinking that it would be unfair for people right now to pay that much BTC, then you have to realize that it would be unfair to the people who already paid 50BTC in order to get the Donator/VIP title.

This comment makes very little sense to me. 

In other words, fuck those nonsense theories of acting as if those 50 bitcoin that might have been spent prior to 2013 could not have been replaced for a few hundred dollars (if that much).. back when the VIP amount was established.

In other words, it would be fair to have the VIP price come down and to have some kind of a peg to dollar value rather than staying at 50 BTC which is outrageous at this point to expect any mere mortal to be ready, willing or able to pay that amount for forum VIP status. 

Sure, the VIP amount could be $1k, $10k or some other reasonable amount. .(not 50x $40,0000 = $2 million.. seems ridiculous to me to keep the amount pegged to a strict BTC value when the price of real BTC in the real world has surely changed over the years). ... so if $1k were considered a reasonable amount, then such amount would end up being somewhere in the ballpark of 0.025 BTC these days.. which seems reasonable and comparable to me..

Of course, when someone acquired their VIP status will have varied and will surely affect what the dollar cost would have been for them at the time that they had paid the 50 BTC for such status (unless they acquired it in another way),... So, surely there may have been some folks who also acquired their VIP status at later dates.. such as after March 2017 when BTC prices went up beyond $1k for the last time (so far).

[Pmalek]

if you are thinking that it would be unfair for people right now to pay that much BTC, then you have to realize that it would be unfair to the people who already paid 50BTC in order to get the Donator/VIP title.

No, not really. Those were different times. Bitcoin didn't have the value it has today. Don't forget that we have faucets that gave out 5 BTC per claim at one point in the past. Do we have those now? No, because no sane person would give away such amounts. Bitcointalk doesn't want donations anymore. I could have said doesn't need, but I think want is more precise. If theymos wanted people to donate, the requirements to become VIP and Donator would have been lowered. But he doesn't want the donations because he doesn't need them.

[LoyceV]

In other words, it would be fair to have the VIP price come down and to have some kind of a peg to dollar value rather than staying at 50 BTC which is outrageous at this point to expect any mere mortal to be ready, willing or able to pay that amount for forum VIP status.

I'd say VIPs and Donators are just "relics from the past". No sane person will buy it anymore, and the ones who have it will eventually stop posting (within the next 100 years for sure).
All this happened before I even joined Bitcointalk anyway. And it doesn't belong in this topic

[The Sceptical Chymist]

I don't know where exactly the question is worth asking, but maybe not in this thread, and more likely in a thread of the same relevance or indeed creating a new thread.

It's not worth necrobumping a thread to ask it, especially when OP likely could have searched and found the answer (though I have my doubts about bitcointalk's search functionality).

In other words, fuck those nonsense theories of acting as if those 50 bitcoin that might have been spent prior to 2013 could not have been replaced for a few hundred dollars (if that much).. back when the VIP amount was established.

Bah, who cares about squabbling over something as inconsequential as this?  And I mean that.  Buying your way into the bitcointalk VIP club is so far in the rear view mirror that it looks like a speck of dirt or a dead bug.  The reality is that while one could purchase a VIP tag, nobody has done so in a long time and it's basically a dead feature of the forum.  That's not to take anything away from those who donated in the early days (or whenever) and became VIPs, but at this point it's just a novelty that crops up in threads from time to time.

OP, if you've got a question like this, either search for the answer or start up your own thread.  Bumping old threads is against the rules.

[LoyceV]

OP

That's theymos

[tranthidung]

In other words, it would be fair to have the VIP price come down and to have some kind of a peg to dollar value rather than staying at 50 BTC which is outrageous at this point to expect any mere mortal to be ready, willing or able to pay that amount for forum VIP status.

I'd say VIPs and Donators are just "relics from the past". No sane person will buy it anymore, and the ones who have it will eventually stop posting (within the next 100 years for sure).

We never know 

If in 2017, the forum received last transaction from Claymore for a donator badge, we might see others in future. As observers, we can think it is insane but in reality, services charge fee on customers by specific input coin. If the input coin is Bitcoin, fee will be in Bitcoin and there is no harm for them to donate in Bitcoin. Like ChipMixer, there is no harm if they donate 10 Bitcoin and have a donator badge.

• Donators & VIPs after 10 years

Thanks to Claymore, the first Donator in quite some time.

[PrimeNumber7]

Just curious if the Donator and VIP memberships are ever updated or is it correct that it is $2 million USD to be VIP?

with the current price of BTC to UDS? then yes. as far as I know, the price in BTC is not updated. the price of VIP and Donator has always been the same which is 50BTC. if you are thinking that it would be unfair for people right now to pay that much BTC, then you have to realize that it would be unfair to the people who already paid 50BTC in order to get the Donator/VIP title.

This comment makes very little sense to me. 

In other words, fuck those nonsense theories of acting as if those 50 bitcoin that might have been spent prior to 2013 could not have been replaced for a few hundred dollars (if that much).. back when the VIP amount was established.

In other words, it would be fair to have the VIP price come down and to have some kind of a peg to dollar value rather than staying at 50 BTC which is outrageous at this point to expect any mere mortal to be ready, willing or able to pay that amount for forum VIP status. 

Sure, the VIP amount could be $1k, $10k or some other reasonable amount. .(not 50x $40,0000 = $2 million.. seems ridiculous to me to keep the amount pegged to a strict BTC value when the price of real BTC in the real world has surely changed over the years). ... so if $1k were considered a reasonable amount, then such amount would end up being somewhere in the ballpark of 0.025 BTC these days.. which seems reasonable and comparable to me..

Of course, when someone acquired their VIP status will have varied and will surely affect what the dollar cost would have been for them at the time that they had paid the 50 BTC for such status (unless they acquired it in another way),... So, surely there may have been some folks who also acquired their VIP status at later dates.. such as after March 2017 when BTC prices went up beyond $1k for the last time (so far).

According to theymos, the forum no longer needs donations, and according to the donation page it is not even clear that VIP/donator titles are even available anymore.

When VIP accounts were more commonly purchased, they were frequently purchased by business owners and were somewhat of a way for businesses to advertise their brand. Also, I don't believe many businesses were willing to spend much on actual advertising, at least not enough to support the resources required to run the forum. Today, businesses are more willing to advertise, although ad revenue has declined over the past several years, so there is little reason to collect "donations" in exchange for special features.