Some Newbie ~ Membar got nice rank through pumpkin contest

[leonair]

Pumpkin Contest was an account creation machine for someone. For some it was entertainment and for some it was a place to show talent. Some Newbie ~ Membar got nice rank through pumpkin contest.  The list is given below

*	Username	*	Registration Date	*	Received merit from pumpkin content	*	Total Merits	*	Rank
	KrispyKrypto		July 20, 2021		84		101		Member
	tjtonmoy		May 03, 2021		71		142		Member
	xSlyy		January 04, 2021		97		113		Full Member
	Remsjack		June 22, 2018		65		121		Full Member
	xsyren		October 17, 2022		76		76		Member
	Shaha98		September 18, 2021		100		132		Full Member
	LDL		October 19, 2022		109		194		Full Member
	Dubaian		June 28, 2022		94		117		Member
	Tanvi50_		October 12, 2021		58		62		Member
	BRINIRHA		May 20, 2022		55		143		Full Member
	John Abraham		April 26, 2019		55		149		Full Member
	Patrol69		October 24, 2022		43		31		Member
	Gallar		September 01, 2022		42		54		Member
	Rabata		September 26, 2021		45		46		Member
	crypto sufixe		October 28, 2022		54		54		Newbie
	Muba20		April 11, 2021		28		29		Member
	Nothingtodo		July 24, 2021		16		16		Member
	Eye$		March 30, 2022		12		12		Member
	11K		September 20, 2021		19		19		Member

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[Rikafip]

So what exactly is the problem here if they ranked up through the contest? Sure, there might be some alt accounts there that saw an easy way to get merit (like in all activities where bunch of merits is shared) but in order to reach higher ranks they will have to write decent posts.

[EFS]

Participating in these events is one of the best ways to get merit. Anyone who takes their time to think about it and come up with something deserves a merit. Those who attend these events feel included in the community and their recognition will increase. We see some users who don't normally attract attention, thanks to these activities. Some users may try to manipulate this but overall this group is too small to matter when there are so many merits to distribute. Also as Rikafip said they need to do a lot more to reach higher ranks.

[mk4]

So what exactly is the problem here if they ranked up through the contest? Sure, there might be some alt accounts there that saw an easy way to get merit (like in all activities where bunch of merits is shared) but in order to reach higher ranks they will have to write decent posts.

Add the fact that the number of users who managed to capitalize through the contest is only a very small number compared to the number of users in the grand scheme of things. The contest might've been taken advantage of, but in general it's a nothingburger.

[Dunamisx]

There's nothing too bad or new here since they contested and got the deserving meirts for their skills presented during application, the idea is not about getting merits because not all of them ever thought about getting as much as that before applying but to show their crafts skills they were made up of, what i will say is to encourage each member to have or create value, it could be a path to opening dimensions of ways with different opportunities for them.

[hugeblack]

Pumpkin Contest was an account creation machine for someone. For some it was entertainment and for some it was a place to show talent. Some Newbie ~ Membar got nice rank through pumpkin contest.  The list is given below

I appreciate your effort, but such competitions happen once a year, so unless the member writes some posts, they will not be rank-up and joined the signature campaigns.
And even if they join, the quality of subsequent posts will determine whether they will continue or not.

This can become a problem if:

 - Accounts started to spam.
 - Collectively joined signature campaigns: Here, a list must be prepared and the campaign manager should be contacted.

Other than that, they won't be able to do much.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

We see some users who don't normally attract attention, thanks to these activities.

No kidding, I don't recognize any of the members on that list--but I was being a typical party-pooper and probably would have blown up the thread and all the pumpkins had I participated in it.

Nobody here is a mind reader that I know of, so there's no way to really know why those low-ranked, basically unknown members did whatever they had to do to earn merits and rank up.  I have a feeling that some of them probably played the system like their personal one-holed skin flute, but they didn't force other members to give them merits, so....

So TL;DR I see your point, OP and know where you're coming from--but since there's nothing to be done, this discussion was dead on arrival.

[Pmalek]

It takes two to tango, right? Whoever those people are and whatever their reasons for coming here and participating in the context, many people appreciated their creations. And many gave them merits. It's only a problem if you can prove that people created alt accounts and merited themselves. But if the distribution came from dozens of different forum members, you can't tell people what to do with their merits.   

[leonair]

So what exactly is the problem here if they ranked up through the contest?

This is not a problem. I myself admire such activities. And it's great to see that the users had a lot of fun with it and everyone presented the pumpkins in their own strategy. However, there have been some reports that many of them have created their alt accounts.  And many users have earned merit from here and qualified themselves for signature campaigns.  But sadly those who got merit only from pumpkin contest.  They are not being accepted into good campaigns.
First reported incident - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5277020.msg61503580#msg61503580
Second reported incident - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5432453.msg61629310#msg61629310

[LoyceV]

Most of them don't look like account farmers, nor are they terrible spammers. The last 2 are bounty spammers who posted their pumpkin entry less than an hour apart. Even the background (wall) in their pictures looks the same. The last one abandoned his account the moment he got negative feedback. Let's ask @lovesmayfamilis if the other is also part of the same account farm.

Other than that: good for them, if they get some easy Merits. It's still a long way to go to a higher Rank.

[Maus0728]

Most of the time receiving merits from art competitions can push someome to make useful and interesting posts that will probably help them move up the ranks. Because that is what occurred to me during the 10th anniversary contest, where merits poured in which helped me quickly move up to Sr.Member rank.

At that point, I made the decision to make myself more useful, write when I had anything worthwhile to say, and make it a habit to read anything on bitcoin and stuff.

Plus, illegally distributing merit to their alts can't be hidden forever anyways..

[Zilon]

It wasn't easy coming up with those creative works of theirs anyway, so they did deserve their merit. I was too occupied during the contest maybe I would have been among the list. The Pumpkin contest had so many creative works, even if many used it for the sole aim of account farming i think their works were exceptional the reason they got reasonable merits in return for their time and creativity.

[YOSHIE]

Pumpkin Contest was an account creation machine for someone.

That is the greatness of Bitcointalk, art content is one of the entertainments that is offered to the whole community, regardless of whether they are new or old, as well as the ratings they have, free, provided they have expertise in the art content field, I often see unique things here, such as the one at (the 10th anniversary art competition) in 2019, rookie accounts get special privileges.
Example:
1. Bloodie44 [Newbie].
2. Alai19 [Member].
3. LeafAndWood [Member].
4. 1Dq [Copper Member]

It seems that there is nothing wrong with beginners and so on, if they follow the pumpkin art content, while they are able to create works of art of high value, with the expertise they have, (merits) should be donated to them, isn't that so.

[lovesmayfamilis]

Most of them don't look like account farmers, nor are they terrible spammers. The last 2 are bounty spammers who posted their pumpkin entry less than an hour apart. Even the background (wall) in their pictures looks the same. The last one abandoned his account the moment he got negative feedback. Let's ask @lovesmayfamilis if the other is also part of the same account farm.

Other than that: good for them, if they get some easy Merits. It's still a long way to go to a higher Rank.

It's good that the OP created a very handy list. I am more than sure that in addition to the ones I have listed below, two or three more accounts are part of this farm. In addition, there is another account that has a high rank but is not the real owner.
It was not me who discovered the wall with the same background, but someone who is apparently afraid to speak from his main account. And I think today he is with us . But the fact that the behavior of some accounts seems suspicious is true. I can tell that this farm betrays itself with its consistent behavior, which seems to be expected, and in the end, everyone who tries to be too cunning here will be exposed.


Holiday5    red cheater 
Shaha98    red cheater and spammer.
Dubaian      Autoban user Plagiarism
Patrol69      spammer 

[tranthidung]

Art contests or similar ones are for fun and people are more easily to drop merit on art works which are attractive, beautiful in their point of view. I don't say it is good or bad because if Art contest participants actually did those things, they spent time to think creatively (if not cheating) and create those stuffs so merit is well worthy for their creativeness and effort they put in.

However, as said it is easily to be abused by abusers. I did not observe the Pumpkin contest too closely but I believe merit distributions to artists won't be much different than the 10th anniversary contest. Difference if there is, only comes from lack of participation and merit distribution from theymos.

Top-100 merited-artists in the 10th anniversary art contest

[Awaklara]

in a contest, it is natural for each participant to receive an award (not a prize) for their participation in the contest from the contest organizer and also other people. so there is no problem with the Merit that participants get and then rank up.
maybe the problem is when contest participants start abusing this system by joining contests using multiple accounts. of course with the hope of getting Merit to rise in rank and not to take part in the contest celebrations being carried out.

[aysg76]

They are not being accepted into good campaigns.

Most of the signature campaigns have merit requirements in the past 120 days but the reputable and good manager will not only see how many merits you have received but will also look into your post history because if you get selected your post on forum will advertise the company so they don't want any spam poster to get accepted.So if you look into the account and see most or say all merits are from this pumpkin contest will they select that member? If they can't manage to earn merits with quality posts then they will not be selected so merit is just one criteria to apply but quality posting remain always the first aspect.

[Rikafip]

However, there have been some reports that many of them have created their alt accounts. 

Well, based on the list you provided I see only a few accounts that were created after pumpkin contest started.

And many users have earned merit from here and qualified themselves for signature campaigns.  But sadly those who got merit only from pumpkin contest.

If that's what they needed in order to get into signature campaigns then I don't expect them to be very successful staying in those or getting into new ones, or reaching higher ranks.

[Timelord2067]

The first few posters stressing out about alts need only to follow the merits for a couple of generations to see where they end up.

[Woodie]

One thing about art contests on the forum is that these can not go unnoticed because everyone sees and gets the invite thanks to being featured on the news ticker! And the fact that it had no entry requirements to secure participation, naturally the lower ranked members were always going to be the majority knowing very well the perks that come with this....on the contrary, new accounts created for the sole purpose of the contest that's a head scratcher for now, a few years from now will give its intentions.

But overall what do the numbers look like, how was the merit distribution for all that participated on average?