cryptofrka's Merit Source application - let's improve the gambling boards

[cryptofrka]

Guys, thanks for the free bumps, but I'd ask you to keep this topic clean of that kind of spam and on topic.
There are multiple threads of you arguing which are perfect for this kind of content.

As I alluded to in the previous post, what would be the possible effect of having one merit source in the gambling board actively giving merits to quality posts versus say for example those that do not care for anything except spamming in order to meet their signature campaign quote?

Regarding this - well, if there would be a merit source on the boards, people might be incentivized to open more interesting threads, with more content and maybe some interesting links in the OP - instead of just opening another 'what to do when losing' thread every few days.
It can't reduce spam, it can improve the quality though. Then increased quality brings more quality in the form of better replies etc. Gradually, it decreases the % of spam posts that have no value whatsoever. Well, hopefully at least.

The path on BTT is more or less defined - more merits, better account standing, better campaign, more money, better opportunities.
I would like to help members that write quality posts get merited more, so they can grow their accounts on the boards that are currently rarely merited.

[1miau]

Regarding this - well, if there would be a merit source on the boards, people might be incentivized to open more interesting threads, with more content and maybe some interesting links in the OP - instead of just opening another 'what to do when losing' thread every few days.
It can't reduce spam, it can improve the quality though. Then increased quality brings more quality in the form of better replies etc. Gradually, it decreases the % of spam posts that have no value whatsoever. Well, hopefully at least.

One particular type of post / topic I could imagine to attract more Merit are community contests, like ⭐⚽⭐ Sportsbet's Bitcointalk Sports Fanatics League (BSFL) – 7000+$ rewards ⭐⚽⭐.

Or creating prediction pools, where organizing a sponsor is part of the deal, like bringing a Signature Campaign into Bitcointalk. It's beneficial for everyone if it's a good deal. We still don't have any pools for sports like NFL, NBA or MLB, which could be interesting in my opinion (just as an idea).
Or mixed sports events like BSFL is arranged like.
We have so many betting sites here on Bitcointalk, so much potential to uncover. Sponsoring a prediction pool is probably much better used money than to pay for spam in a sigspam megathread.

Merit could cause a shift towards more of such incentives, where also more sponsors are involved.
People could share their strategies, dedicate more time to Gambling topics and (for self-moderated posts) remove spam as well.

There are many ideas and I'm sure a Merit source could be key to incentivice good ideas. 
For example, I'm still completely baffled why I'm the one who gave the most Merit (4) to cryptofrka's and Trofo's ⭐⚽⭐ Sportsbet's Bitcointalk Sports Fanatics League (BSFL) – 7000+$ rewards ⭐⚽⭐. It's so much work to arrange it and keep it updated. This fact alone shows we need much more Merit (sources) to reward good Gambling topics.

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This fact alone shows we need much more Merit (sources) to reward good Gambling topics.

Has anyone ever analyzed how many Merit sources come regularly to the gambling section? Because of writing posts or personal interest in gambling, regardless, as long as they are present.

I don't know if this has already been discussed here, but I didn't really read the whole thread, I was a little discouraged when I saw some off-topic and useless discussion.

[holydarkness]

..

This fact alone shows we need much more Merit (sources) to reward good Gambling topics.

Has anyone ever analyzed how many Merit sources come regularly to the gambling section? Because of writing posts or personal interest in gambling, regardless, as long as they are present.

I don't know if this has already been discussed here, but I didn't really read the whole thread, I was a little discouraged when I saw some off-topic and useless discussion.

Not sure how updated his list is, but we can pull the "data" from Huppercase's list, and I think there's none, with cryptofrka being the applicant asking for it, with the same reason; that there's no gambling board merit source. Though... I rarely take a stroll in gambling board, so I might miss some name, that one or two merit source on that list were actively meriting gambling posters.

[Woodie]

If merit was designed as a solution to help fight spam on the forum, then it just makes sense to have someone that understands the board very well and can help clean it up from within in a board that has been labelled to be a spam Hub for a very long time.
Having a merit source on this designated  board is long overdue and am in support of cryptofrka being a merit source especially that his intentions is to have patrons of this board to up the post quality and help fight  spam altogether with incentivized posting.

Good luck cro2

[digaran]

If merit was designed as a solution to help fight spam on the forum

I wonder how could merit fight spam? It was meant to reduce the number of lazy garbage posters by preventing them from ranking up simply by posting garbage, so they learned quality is needed to keep farming accounts and campaigns, therefore merit forced them to provide a proof of work/ quality to deserve the reward/ rank up.

So, no having "enough" sources will not force people to spam less, it will help them to farm more accounts.

The same spammers will not suddenly turn into quality posters if gambling board has more sources, instead certain somebody would double down on busting stranger spammers/ cheaters to make room for the cartel's employees which systematically post the same artificial generic garbage in a more "qualitative" manner.😉

[examplens]

I wonder how could merit fight spam? It was meant to reduce the number of lazy garbage posters by preventing them from ranking up simply by posting garbage, so they learned quality is needed to keep farming accounts and campaigns, therefore merit forced them to provide a proof of work/ quality to deserve the reward/ rank up.

Spammers will always be spammers, there is no reliable method that can change anything much. Merit should influence those who are on the border between useless and a post that really brings something new to the discussion.
Somehow, users like this have recognized that there is more merit traffic in sections like Meta, Reputation, and B&H, so they come here, start new discussions or at least try to participate. More merit in gambling, maybe keep some of the users who will write better about the gambling they know than open meaningless topics in Beginners & Help.

[SamReomo]

If merit was designed as a solution to help fight spam on the forum

So, no having "enough" sources will not force people to spam less, it will help them to farm more accounts.

I think that's not a true statement because the merit sources are really valuable for the members of the forum who make high-quality, constructive posts, and if there are more merit sources then most of the posts which are good in quality but haven't received any merits may get merits from those merit sources.

The merit sources mostly give merits to those threads and replies which contain valuable information, and I believe that in gambling board there are members who make very informative threads/replies but unfortunately due to lack of merit sources in that board they don't get deserving merits for their contribution.

I really think that the gambling board also needs merit sources and someone like cryptofrka who's active on that board could be a very reliable merit source for that board. I wholeheartedly support the merit source application of cryptofrka and I hope that theymos will select him as a merit source when the selection starts.

[1miau]

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This fact alone shows we need much more Merit (sources) to reward good Gambling topics.

Has anyone ever analyzed how many Merit sources come regularly to the gambling section?

Could be an interesting task to look up in DdmrDdmr's Merit dashboard. From what I know, LFC_Bitcoin is actively distributing Merit in our Gambling section but it's not enough of course. From all sections, Gambling seems to be the biggest one, overtaking Altcoin Discussion and Bitcoin Discussion after especially in Bitcointslk's Altcoin, activity declined due to bankrupt shitcoins. 
And we have so many different Gambling topics, it's close impossible to impossible for even 5 Merit sources to notice every post. Of course, Gambling section is 95%+ of posts not deserving any Merit, too.

[JollyGood]

There are several campaigns that are now making increased payouts to members that have accrued x-thousand merits therefore it is an incentive for members (posting in any thread) to make their posts have some meaningful content and context as well as have some quality behind it. When it comes to the gambling board we know there are threads that are out of control with signature spamming going on at unbelievable speed.

You are right when you state that even if focusing merits in the gambling board will not reduce spam, it will (or should) at least have some impact on improving post quality. I would like to see that experiment happen.

As I alluded to in the previous post, what would be the possible effect of having one merit source in the gambling board actively giving merits to quality posts versus say for example those that do not care for anything except spamming in order to meet their signature campaign quote?

Regarding this - well, if there would be a merit source on the boards, people might be incentivized to open more interesting threads, with more content and maybe some interesting links in the OP - instead of just opening another 'what to do when losing' thread every few days.
It can't reduce spam, it can improve the quality though. Then increased quality brings more quality in the form of better replies etc. Gradually, it decreases the % of spam posts that have no value whatsoever. Well, hopefully at least.

The path on BTT is more or less defined - more merits, better account standing, better campaign, more money, better opportunities.
I would like to help members that write quality posts get merited more, so they can grow their accounts on the boards that are currently rarely merited.

[notblox1]

I am supporting candidate cryptofrka Merit Source application for making Gambling boards great again.
He is managing campaign so he knows they way how members are posting, and he is active in gambling threads I usually visit.
For start I would give him 6 months test period to see if he can bring back law in order in Gambling board or not 

[cryptofrka]

A small bump, considering that advertising mixers will be banned soon, there might be even more interest in the gambling boards.

Let's make a small step towards the right direction there

[Shenanigan]

A small bump, considering that advertising mixers will be banned soon, there might be even more interest in the gambling boards.

Do you want to meritsource for quality posts? Or do you want to meritsource gambling?
Do you want to become a temporary meritsource before mixers are banned or do you want to be a forever meritsourcer?

[BenCodie]

A small bump, considering that advertising mixers will be banned soon, there might be even more interest in the gambling boards.

Let's make a small step towards the right direction there

Why would there be more interest in the gambling board if mixers are banned?

There are only two reasons that I can deduce:
1. The casinos will be used as a new frontier for mixing, which (no matter innocent privacy intentions or not) would be considered as money laundering.
2. As paid posters will now have to post in the gambling board to reach their quota's, which would mean that there would be an increase in posts where genuine posting isn't the motive, but rather to meet their quote.

Tell me how there could possibly be a positive increase in gambling board posts as a result of the mixer ban?

[cryptofrka]

Tell me how there could possibly be a positive increase in gambling board posts as a result of the mixer ban?

I hope some old/new casinos/sportbooks take advantage and start advertising instead of mixers.
We might be seeing new competitions, paid pools, whatever.

There wasn't much interest in sponsoring anything other than football, considering football is taken care of for the season and there's a gap to fill, maybe we start seeing basketball, tennis, cricket competitions appearing.
We already saw SB having F1 pool that went really well.

It's a guess, but a decent one. But even if gambling lost 50% of traffic, it would still need a dedicated merit source.

These boards are where most interaction on the forum is happening, and it's not all bad. Far from it.

Do you want to meritsource for quality posts? Or do you want to meritsource gambling?
Do you want to become a temporary meritsource before mixers are banned or do you want to be a forever meritsourcer?

Quality posts in gambling boards, permanent merit source.

[SamReomo]

A small bump, considering that advertising mixers will be banned soon, there might be even more interest in the gambling boards.

Let's make a small step towards the right direction there

I agree with you that once the mixers will get banned the attention of the users will be on gambling boards as most of the signature campaigns that are intended to promote their casino have a rule of having at least 5-10 posts in gambling board and to reach that quota users might make valuable posts there. I believe that someone like you should be a merit source of the gambling board and I truly hope that theymos may consider your merit source application and appoint you as a merit source of those boards.

[ABCbits]

A small bump, considering that advertising mixers will be banned soon, there might be even more interest in the gambling boards.

Let's make a small step towards the right direction there

Why would there be more interest in the gambling board if mixers are banned?

I think OP speculate there will be more signature campaign run by casino.

There are only two reasons that I can deduce:
1. The casinos will be used as a new frontier for mixing, which (no matter innocent privacy intentions or not) would be considered as money laundering.

Irrelevant, mixers still exist and people can use it anytime they want. Besides, using platform which ask KYC to perform money laundering is nothing new.

2. As paid posters will now have to post in the gambling board to reach their quota's, which would mean that there would be an increase in posts where genuine posting isn't the motive, but rather to meet their quote.

I agree, but what matter most is quality of the post itself.

[examplens]

A small bump, considering that advertising mixers will be banned soon, there might be even more interest in the gambling boards.

Let's make a small step towards the right direction there

Why would there be more interest in the gambling board if mixers are banned?

I think OP speculate there will be more signature campaign run by casino.

I think it points to another thing.
After January 1, about 150 members will appear without a campaign and the vast majority are quite active and at the same time write high-quality posts. It is to be expected that some gambling campaigns will restructure and make room for some quality posters. This must certainly result in greater interest in the gambling board.

[digaran]

about 150 members will appear without a campaign and the vast majority are quite active and at the same time write high-quality posts. It is to be expected that some gambling campaigns will restructure and make room for some quality posters. This must certainly result in greater interest in the gambling board.

And how many of those 150 posters are merit sources? I'd say if that's the case then we might even think about removing some sources since they will all be concentrated on gambling boards. If that happens then we might as well rebrand the forum and call it gamblingtalk forum. This should be a good indicator to identify true Bitcoin contributors and those only interested in earning money by any means necessary.

[cryptofrka]

And how many of those 150 posters are merit sources? I'd say if that's the case then we might even think about removing some sources since they will all be concentrated on gambling boards. If that happens then we might as well rebrand the forum and call it gamblingtalk forum. This should be a good indicator to identify true Bitcoin contributors and those only interested in earning money by any means necessary.

Yup, partially that's true. Then again, if only those that contributed to Bitcoin write here and use Bitcoin, it'd still be worth 5$.
You need people to use Bitcoin. A lot of people receive their first Bitcoin by being in sig campaigns.

They learn how to open wallets, send and receive BTC, they tell about it to others etc. You have a snowball effect which you otherwise would not have.

Hate gambling boards all you like, but crypto bookies and casinos have made a significant contribution to BTC being used more and more worldwide.