I doubt it - But is it too bad to ask you to review some of my posts?

[_BlackStar]

Seems like the title of the thread pretty much represents how I'm feeling right now, but let me ask if that's even possible?

I have somehow lost a lot of merit income since I made my first 1000 merit. I don't know if the quality of my posts is really bad or most people don't like my post style. In fact, I just realized that I only have earn 28 merit in the last 120 days or 36 merit in 150 days. Of course it's wonder when I actually post something that seems a bit less garbage/ spamming ^{[in my opinion]} than many of today's gambling posters.

Of course I recognize that there are several thread that might be useful when I feel my submission is worth reporting to the merit sources for review, but I'm really having a hard time deciding which one is worthy of your acceptance. This made me decide to create this one thread, but not for the purpose of begging you. But to be honest sometimes I have to skip a lot of posts when I don't have any sMerit to give to others.

So let me ask, was it really too much when I asked some of you to review my post and drop some merit there if you find something worthy? I hope this isn't a excessively attempt to do instead of sending you an unsolicited PM.

Theymos said:

Do not beg for merit excessively.

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[MainIbem]

You write well, though my accessing your post might not be the same as others, everyone have their own ways of evaluating your post.
The only thing I noticed was just that you feels more relaxed after achieving 1000 merits which makes you Legendary rank and having this mind you have not to stress yourself putting efforts to earn merits like other.
 
But truth be told, I have seen few users that have backslided after getting the required merits for the higher rank they wishes.
Besides, your pressure can't be quantified with those with lower ranks who are fighting every day to day making sure to achieved their desires of either becoming Full member, or Sr members and I noticed this are the people putting more fire 🔥 to get Hero and Legendary rank.

In conclusion, there's nothing wrong with your post, rather you got relaxed after getting the required merits for Legendary. So to keep earning merits you need to put more fire and action on your posts. Although lower ranks post with desperacy for them to earn merits.

[acroman08]

try asking The Sceptical Chymist, I remember seeing a thread of his several weeks ago where he reviews a member's post history, perhaps he can give you some advice or pointers as to why you're not getting much merit after reaching the 1k merits mark.

I looked for the thread but it was locked and had "paused" on the title.
[Paused] Rules for my post history review offer *updated*

[The Sceptical Chymist]

If I'm not mistaken (I haven't checked BPIP), I've given you a number of merits over the past couple of years.  If you didn't already have enough merits to reach Legendary rank, I'd be happy to do a post history review for you--although there's a long waiting list and I'm still short on sMerits.  I can only speak for myself, but I try to reserve my merit-giving for those members who need them in order to rank up.  Not everyone agrees with that style, but perhaps some do, which would explain why you haven't been receiving as many as you usually do.

And I also have to add: since you do indeed have enough merits to get to the last rank, why fret about it?  We've all got different perspectives on the merit system, but I'd suggest not using it as a yardstick for your value to the forum.  I haven't been getting nearly the number of merits I used to get, but that's A-OK with me, as I don't need them and it's not a competition for me.

Also, if you're a high-ranking member such as yourself you probably don't want to be starting up threads like this.  It just doesn't feel right IMO.

[robelneo]

So let me ask, was it really too much when I asked some of you to review my post and drop some merit there if you find something worthy? I hope this isn't a excessively attempt to do instead of sending you an unsolicited PM.

Theymos said:

Do not beg for merit excessively.

Based on how you post you are good enough to get merits, but if you're asking if it's too much I think not at all Theymos add the word

excessively

there is a parameter he sets in, if he means that no begging of merits he will just post

Do not beg for merit

.
But You should be confident enough about your post's history that those who will grant your request will not waste their time.

There is a thin line between requesting and begging, so you should be imaginative about on how you do it  

[skarais]

I don't fully know what you're worried about because actually you no longer need merit to rank up. But maybe, you expect some people to appreciate your post which I don't think is bad either. You've made good contributions as a cheater hunter as well as a spam busters, and you should have no trouble getting some merit with of that activity. But you definitely know that the quality of posts is very subjective between one user and another, so this can sometimes affect the amount of merit you can earning in a certain time period.

Don't worry about the amount of merit your earn, it only gets better the more patterned and balanced your contributions are. Sometimes it's hard to explain why one and two great posts don't yield any merit, it's just a matter of liking or disliking someone about the quality of your post. I am not merit source, but I can help you some merit.

Advice: If you want to contribute more to the merit system, I think you should also apply as a merit source.

[noorman0]

-snip-
I just realized that I only have earn 28 merit in the last 120 days or 36 merit in 150 days.

-snip-
Theymos said:

Do not beg for merit excessively.

Maybe this is the actual accumulated amount if you never asked for "rank boost" in the first place. Since you have reached the highest rank, things will return to normal mode which is enough to prove how high your visibility has been.

Now I understand the point of theymos suggesting good stuff like you pointed out, he just doesn't want users to be shocked by the reality later on that worry becomes a reason to get discouraged.

[dzungmobile]

I have somehow lost a lot of merit income since I made my first 1000 merit. I don't know if the quality of my posts is really bad or most people don't like my post style. In fact, I just realized that I only have earn 28 merit in the last 120 days or 36 merit in 150 days. Of course it's wonder when I actually post something that seems a bit less garbage/ spamming ^{[in my opinion]} than many of today's gambling posters.

There are merit black holes which drain out healthy smerits then exchange smerits back and forth to rank up. Let they do their jobs and I don't mind to engage with their jobs but your concern is valid and it has happened many months already. It started to be worse since the day theymos increased monthly smerit allocation.

Nowadays, it's easily to see Members, Full members with very good earned merit stats but if you look at their merit histories, I am sure you will see how they exchanged merits with Bitcointalk Merit Public Ledger.

Needless to say who they are and I hope that campaign managers will pay attention on that. Because their main reasons to do that is to rank up and join campaigns. Unfortunately, by inorganic rank-ups they will not be able to make good quality posts that are harmful and negatively constructive for their campaigns.

What a pity to see they exploited generosity and sympathy of higher ranked members to rank up with not too good quality posts, then use smerit they got for their own merit cycles.

I believe they are able to rank up organically but it takes more time. However, it is what they should do to play fair in this community.

[skarais]

There are merit black holes which drain out healthy smerits then exchange smerits back and forth to rank up. Let they do their jobs and I don't mind to engage with their jobs but your concern is valid and it has happened many months already. It started to be worse since the day theymos increased monthly smerit allocation.

You may be right, but supporting each other in the community on quality posts is not going to be wrong behavior and against the rules. There are many users helping other users to get rank, this also happened in my local board section. They help not out of pity, but they help because they know that those who are being helped are users whose posts are of good quality. But something can also happen as you say. But one thing, you will get a much higher amount of merit if you have two things. Firstly you are HQ poster and secondly you are well known among the community.

But the merit system doesn't only apply to those who need a rank, I mean the merit system is always expected to be useful for whoever they are even though their rank is stuck (Legendary). I also sometimes feel that my contributions just ignored, and actually I can say a lot of users also miss my posts which are basically of a quality (sometimes better than some of the other most merit users on my local board). But it's just my feeling, maybe because they think that I'm Legendary.

But I once hoped that this mindset would change soon because the merit had to flow between all ranks even if they were Legendary. They should care enough about contributors instead of just helping other people or some users who are climbing up the rankings. You know, in the past I wish someone/a few people also reviewed my post because I thought a lot of local users of my board just ignored me. Check there.

[Poker Player]

I have somehow lost a lot of merit income since I made my first 1000 merit. I don't know if the quality of my posts is really bad or most people don't like my post style. In fact, I just realized that I only have earn 28 merit in the last 120 days or 36 merit in 150 days.

What is happening to you is normal and also happened to me and many others. Simply when you are ranking up, many forum mates tend to give you more merits to help you reach the ranks. Once you have the necessary merits to reach legendary, that extra push stops.

Now you have to adapt to the new situation and try to earn merits that way.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

What is happening to you is normal and also happened to me and many others. Simply when you are ranking up, many forum mates tend to give you more merits to help you reach the ranks. Once you have the necessary merits to reach legendary, that extra push stops.

Yep, and I probably didn't convey that sentiment in my previous post, but it's quite true.  Your posts might still be of the same quality, but many members with merits to give away (including me, which I did say) do look at someone's merit count when they're deciding whether they're going to give someone merits.

That's just the way it is, and I think it's a good way to use the merit system.  Merits are more than just a thumbs-up or a like; they're the mechanism by which people rank up here, so giving them to someone who already has enough to make Legendary might be considered to be squandering those sMerits.

Note: I'm totally guilty of violating what I just wrote, many times over.  But as a merit source I've usually got plenty of sMerits to hand out.  *And speaking of that, I think I'll now get back to my extensive waiting list of members wanting post reviews*

Edit: Shitsky!!  I didn't realize how low I was running on sMerits, and I just handed out my last one while doing reviews.  If anyone who's still waiting for a review sees this, please be patient as I have to wait until my source allocation gets re-upped.   *eeek!*

[Despairo]

Each merit source has their own opinion about reviewing legendary rank account's post, but I guess most of them will reject it because there's no point for them to check your post history and give you merit (most of the reason is time consuming). Let's assuming they find few of your posts deserved to be merited, but what's the purpose? you have ranked up to the last rank and there's nothing you can achieve.

But don't be sad, if you're really think there are few of your posts really deserved to be merited, you can report to this thread [self-moderated] Report unmerited good posts to Merit Source. AFAIK there's no rank restrictions, so even it's a legendary rank, they might merit it.

[LoyceV]

I have somehow lost a lot of merit income since I made my first 1000 merit.

First: I wouldn't call it "income". Merit varies over the months:

Merit received by _BlackStar (Trust list) from January 24, 2018 until April 21, 2023 (source)

In your case, a large share (>40%) of your Merit came from one user who reviewed your posts several times. I assume that was meant to help you rank up since you're not a shitposter, but if it stops, you lose quite a large share of your Merit "income".

I quickly checked your post history: You're posting a lot in Bitcoin Discussion. In general, the post quality is quite low there, and I'm not reading the board very often. If I don't read it, I can't Merit it.

[mk4]

Also, if you're a high-ranking member such as yourself you probably don't want to be starting up threads like this.  It just doesn't feel right IMO.

Lol this — without opening the thread yet, I expected someone with like 900 activity with 10 merits.

Advice to OP: just focus on better quality regardless how good/bad you're doing right now. Far better to be trying to improve yourself harder than keeping on wondering why not much people are giving you points based on your current post quality!

[SatoPrincess]

You have complained about this before so it must really bother you. Your contribution to fighting scams and spammers do not go unnoticed and you have built a reputation for yourself, do not let the merits become a distraction that you forget the work you have done. Like others, I also believe the reason is because merit sources have limited allocated smerits and are more inclined to spend the merits on users who are trying to rank up not those who have already reached legendary rank. You can make use of LoyceV’s Report unmerited good posts to Merit Source thread.

I just learnt that Bitcoin Discussion is visited much by merit sources so posts in that board may not get as much merits even if they are quality posts. I have never looked at it this way but now it seems Bitcoin Discussion comes right after Gambling and Altcoin Discussion in post quality. There are quality posts in Bitcoin Discussion but they quickly get buried under a mountain of spam.

[Fiatless]

So let me ask, was it really too much when I asked some of you to review my post and drop some merit there if you find something worthy? I hope this isn't a excessively attempt to do instead of sending you an unsolicited PM.

Theymos said:

Do not beg for merit excessively.

Recently I heard a girl complaining to her friends that for the last two months, no boy has called her or asked her out, or collected her phone number. She was worried because she was feeling that she was no longer attractive even when it is clear that she was beautiful. So she asked her friend to review her physical appearance and score how she looks. I think the major problem was that for these months she has not been fortunate to be in an area where men that really like her physique or style are located.

I have also felt the same way in this forum. Sometimes you spend some quality time doing some posts and you expect to get at least one merit from it, but you end up getting nothing. While on some occasions you just get more than you expect. The reason is that members that will like your post have not located them. If members that really need that information you gave  locate them, you will definitely get some merit.

These are my own views, I might be wrong.

[rdluffy]

But it's just my feeling, maybe because they think that I'm Legendary.

What is happening to you is normal and also happened to me and many others. Simply when you are ranking up, many forum mates tend to give you more merits to help you reach the ranks. Once you have the necessary merits to reach legendary, that extra push stops.

Yep, and I probably didn't convey that sentiment in my previous post, but it's quite true.  Your posts might still be of the same quality, but many members with merits to give away (including me, which I did say) do look at someone's merit count when they're deciding whether they're going to give someone merits.

I was going to post exactly this that you already commented, I thought no one was going to comment on this point

But it is a fact, I think most users go through this same phase when they reach the legendary level.

I can say that I also had/have the same behavior, as I didn't have many merits to give, I often didn't give merits to legendaries in very good posts, just because the user is already a legendary and I had only 1 or 2 merits to give.
Thankfully we have merit sources that fill this gap and can give more merits to legendaries and balance things out a bit.
Some sections of the forum are also extremely hard to earn merits no matter the quality of the content too.

Now it is my turn to face this legendary level plateau.
From 900 merits up to 1000 were my fastest merits that I have earned, I think this also influences a lot the perception that when you reach 1000, the merits diminish.

With time you should get back to normal and get the merits again, but with another frequency that will depend on the boards you post / merit sources / quality of content.

Edit: forgot to mention, I consider this phase as a good chance to further improve the posts and try to add more value to the forum.

[libert19]

Once user earns 1000 merits, some shy away from giving more just because you have earned enough for highest rank on forum. Perhaps that could be the case? By the way, it was surprising to see you asking for a post review.

[Lucius]

~snip~

@_BlackStar, first of all, I don't think this is something that has a place in the Meta board, because it's your personal problem, not a forum problem at all.

Furthermore, I have never had the slightest sympathy for such things, because merits should be earned in a "natural" way, not in any other way - whether it is a public invitation to someone to view your posts, or in a way that some members ask others to send their posts for review.

If I were you, I would move this thread somewhere far away and lock it, because I think it does you more harm than good. However, don't take my advice seriously, because I'm not one of those people whose opinion carries some weight on the forum.

[DaNNy001]

~snip~

However, don't take my advice seriously, because I'm not one of those people whose opinion carries some weight on the forum.

An advice is always welcome on the forum and you sharing your opinion here is not a bad thing at all. What the op is feeling now is quite normal among some legendary member ranks in the forum because like what most merit source have already said about given out merits, some merits sources prefer given merits to lower rank member that are striving to rank up so when the  highest rank in the forum is achieved by a member, I feel they are left to earn these merits to actually represent the legendary rank they rep and most times its only takes extra efforts to keep these merits coming but just be sure that the merits will eventually come especially if you have built for yourself a good reputation in various ways of contributing in the forum.