Is the first Merit the hardest Merit to get?

[Hatchy]

I disagree here, in the "Local board" you can basically just say "Hey I am new here and want to be Full Member could you guys please help me?" and whops, you got like 50 merits in a couple of days.
I just saw one example some days ago. The user: "PytagoraZ" https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=3559721
Got a lot of merit just because he begged in the Local board, I don't say it's wrong, but you can't compare it with someone that don't have a local board and need to start from scratch and use the brain to create good posts that other users like.

You can't go around accusing everylocal board on the forum like that mate. From what you said here. @ pytagoraz didn't beg for merits, he got his merits from a threads in his local board where you are to drop your best post and get merits. Some how I still don't understand why you are so annoyed at the local boards. The merits source are given to some local boards to help award good posts. Not all local boards have enough merit source e.g NIGERIA which only has @CryptopreneurBrainboss for the now and of course a lot of other like Igebotz, Charles-Tim have applied and hasn't been approved yet. So what I'm saying here is that the local boards aren't their to share merits. But to bring people with the same Language together. Alot of people don't speck English and sometimes you can never find them on other boards but on their local board. So if they aren't any merits source there on their local board, how do you expect good posts to also be merited?.

Earning your first merits is never too difficult you just have to learn and understand how the forum works. If you can do that then in a matter of 1 month you can earn 1 or more to take you to a junior member or member rank.

[1715091788]

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[1715091788]

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[Pmalek]

It all depends on how you post. You can get your first merits for the first post you make here if others deem it good enough. But that doesn't happen most of the time. Like with anything, it takes a learning curve to figure out how to generate quality posts. Many new users simply don't know it due to lack of experience and lacking the knowledge to discuss bitcoin or whatever the topic of discussion is. It takes time to get there.

A few things need to happen for you to get merited. First of all, what is meritable is subjective, and each individual decides for themselves. If you are helping someone or posting recommendations the right way, it helps if you are the 'first responder'. If your post solves the issue and/or shows intelligence or logic, chances are someone will like it. Obviously, those who were the quickest to find the solution, have greater chances to get merited. If your post was the 30th in the topic, but the issue already got solved after posts 3 and 4, chances are very low someone will find what you wrote useful and merit-worthy if it only repeats what was said before.

Besides being quick, being visible is also important. A quality post is less likely to be merited if the right people don't show up to participate in the discussion. A person with sMerits or a merit source will need to be there and like what you wrote to merit you.

To sum up, quality first and foremost. Then quickness and being seen by people who share merits. 

[SmartGold01]

OP, I don't think getting merit will be difficult for you. I received my first merit after about three or four months of being on the forum. But yes, at that time I was "ill" from the bounty, and of course, no one would give merit to a bunch of reports. But after completing my stupid journey of hunting for shitcoins and the next steps to expose scam projects, they gave me a lot of merit. The point is that you can’t just sit and wait for someone to come and give you something. Publish what you know; your skills will probably be useful to the forum and community. People see sincerity and know how to be grateful. The main thing is not to go out of your way to always be where there is an opportunity to catch merit. In addition, ranks that have a lot of merit cannot transfer some of the merit to their alt accounts. Firstly, this is not fair, and secondly, the community will see this, and it may turn out that, due to greed, a person will ruin his account, acquiring a bad reputation.

You are absolutely correct!
I have actually anticipated in just single bounty that's phase 1 & 2 and it happens that the project also launched their phase 3 but along the line I got some important information and also came across people saying about joining bounty is a scam but then my knowledge isn't that exposed to know my left and right towards the forum. Actually my first merit didn't take me much time but I guess it came before that rage of months you made mention maybe or above that..

But before I started seeing merits as if I work to earn them was when I had an encountered with one of my thread I created and people poured out their heart towards me then I learnt my lesson and began to make changes including changing my posting pattern, in fact I am now very patient to read the whole lot of topic in order to derived something very important from that topic and replied according to what they are saying. After which then it started flowing and I have never gaped a week without at least receiving a merits from people around here.

The fact is when merits become the major target of a user it became a burdens to the mind, and partially it also affects our posting styles since we are wanting to earn merits by all means by then we may still end up not even seeing any of it. But when user share his heart and mind or give a good post that is free being merits attractive that is when they will see it coming and off course people who are giving out merits always want to see improvement before rewarding merits to newbies.

So in my own case it's still shocking to me and I can't even say how come about it but was rising the way couldn't expect. It's true newbies should stay away from bounty's for them to earn merits otherwise reports aren't counted as quality post rather being a no effort post.

[jokers10]

I disagree here, in the "Local board" you can basically just say "Hey I am new here and want to be Full Member could you guys please help me?" and whops, you got like 50 merits in a couple of days.

This is a common misconception. I don't know about many local boards, but if you compare the merit per post stats for Russian board for instance, you'll see that the number is nearly the same as for entire forum, which is including huge Bounty board, Off-topic and everything else. Try to ask merits for getting a new rank on a Russian board and it would be interesting what result you'll get. I bet you'll get a report on such post for merit begging and not merits!

If you know some exact case it doesn't mean it can be scaled.

[DYING_S0UL]

I don't think so. It just happens so quickly. If you are posting in order to earn merits you will never get any. Believe me. You should always cast aside the thought of "Merits" and think of "learning". I still remember the first merit I got. It was from "Ratimov" and it was so sudden. I didn't even expected any merits either. I only posted the questions I had, or answer the questions if I knew. Contributed where I could. If you are determined to learn and contribute, of course you will get merits. It's not that had. I even worked with some legendary members. Helped them translate their posts to my local language and also got merits there. 

[DdmrDdmr]

<…>

I’ve always been of the mind that getting the first few merits is relatively easy, but doing so in the mid-to-higher ranks is not; at least that’s the perception I get overall, backed by looking over the Ranked-up tab on the Merit Dashboard.

Sometimes being a Newbie or Jr. Member plays in favour, since the meriting bar may be lower for some awarders. Of course it could also work the other way round for some, since those that tend to make the best posts are those that are more versed in the matter. On other occasions, people get a first few merits and then struggle for a while (i.e. long gaps) before becoming merited regularly. There are so many factors involved, that pinpointing which Merit is the most difficult to achieve is bound to vary from one to another.

It goes without saying though that, for those that do not put time and effort, it definitively will take a long time to come-up with something original or informative, thus the amount of people we see trying to take shortcuts via plagiarism.

I can perhaps come-up with a quick chart later on to show how much it too each member to earn their first Merit (not right now though - gtg), though numbers lack the specifics behind each case (i.e. content, persistence in posting, boards, rank, etc.), which is what really tells the story.

[KingsDen]

First merit is not the hardest to get. As a newbie, what you need is to put a little effort and you will be rewarded with merits. What established members do is to understand the purpose the newbie came to the forum. If it is a genuine one, I.e to learn about bitcoin, getting merits will not be difficult for that newbie in as much as they can make understandable posts.
Instead, I can say that the difficult time to earn merits is when a user attains a hero or legendary level. The idea that such a user doesn't need merits again will partially be planted in the heart of merit givers.

[BabyBandit]

I disagree here, in the "Local board" you can basically just say "Hey I am new here and want to be Full Member could you guys please help me?" and whops, you got like 50 merits in a couple of days.

Can you pointed out which user did this? I mean you can't just write this because of your own assumption or anger. It's correct many new accounts get a lot merit in local board, but we don't understand about the language, using google translate isn't really accurate though.

If someone else is begging in local board and the moderator didn't delete such kind post, even more it get supported by the other users, it's worth to take an action.

Personally I don't care if someone get 1000 merits in local board, the problem is if these users are participating in signature campaign.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5253221.msg62387639#msg62387639

This is just one of the topics he beg for Merits... With this system he could have ten account ready to be Full Member by now.
I think that is wrong, when it's people without Local boards that maybe contributes good but don't even get close to the Merits a Mertit whore get.
And now I don't think about myself, I normally post low quality posts (but doing my best) but the most thing I do is to read other post, and learn about bitcoin.

And this is only ONE example. I promise you it's a least many many many many more!

Cheers buddie.

I disagree here, in the "Local board" you can basically just say "Hey I am new here and want to be Full Member could you guys please help me?" and whops, you got like 50 merits in a couple of days.
I just saw one example some days ago. The user: "PytagoraZ" https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=3559721
Got a lot of merit just because he begged in the Local board, I don't say it's wrong, but you can't compare it with someone that don't have a local board and need to start from scratch and use the brain to create good posts that other users like.

Some how I still don't understand why you are so annoyed at the local boards. The merits source are given to some local boards to help award good posts. rank.

I am far away from annoyed But say that everyone play on the same terms is a lie.

I disagree here, in the "Local board" you can basically just say "Hey I am new here and want to be Full Member could you guys please help me?" and whops, you got like 50 merits in a couple of days.

Can you pointed out which user did this? I mean you can't just write this because of your own assumption or anger. It's correct many new accounts get a lot merit in local board, but we don't understand about the language, using google translate isn't really accurate though.

If someone else is begging in local board and the moderator didn't delete such kind post, even more it get supported by the other users, it's worth to take an action.

Personally I don't care if someone get 1000 merits in local board, the problem is if these users are participating in signature campaign.

I really agree with you. But 99% of them doe's actually participating in campaign's.
I also see people reply to something from "another account" like they forgot to log out from their "other account" and did a mistake... This seems to happens a lot!
But forum members are fast to find it out and point it out, so that's good!

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Thanks for all other answers, fun to see how other people see on it! Hope you all doing great! -BabyBandit-

[Pmalek]

This is just one of the topics he beg for Merits...

That's a thread in the Indonesia local where members can provide links to their posts and threads they believe deserve merits. If merit senders agree, they can reward them appropriately. I don't see that as merit begging. Merit begging would be: Hi, I am Pmalek. Please, please give me 5 merits sir. I need it to rank up.

Such threads where people can 'show off' their quality posts exist in many local boards. The Croatian and German subs have them too. In the reputation board, there is Report unmerited good posts to Merit Source. It's been there for years and there is no problem with that whatsoever. If you feel like you haven't received the merits you should have, you are free to post there. It's impossible to catch and reward every post because they can easily get lost and buried. Such threads are useful. 

[stadus]

Merit will come easily if your primary purpose for posting is to help. We have many merit sources here, and I believe they are adept at finding organic posts that are helpful to the community. You may encounter difficulties if you prioritize merit over the quality of your posts, as this could lead to disappointment if your expectations are not met. Most merit hunters are often participants in signature campaigns or aspire to be accepted into them. However, as I mentioned, merits will naturally come your way as long as you consistently create organic and helpful posts.

Usually, it's easier to earn merits on local boards, but only if the merit sources in that board are genuinely helpful to their members in ranking up. In my opinion, while merits shouldn't be the primary focus, based on my observation, when a member receives merits for their posts, they become more inspired to create valuable content. I believe we can encourage this behavior within our local community. Having more active members on the forum is beneficial as it leads to a greater exchange of ideas, which ultimately benefits all of us.

[BabyBandit]

This is just one of the topics he beg for Merits...

That's a thread in the Indonesia local where members can provide links to their posts and threads they believe deserve merits. If merit senders agree, they can reward them appropriately. I don't see that as merit begging. Merit begging would be: Hi, I am Pmalek. Please, please give me 5 merits sir. I need it to rank up.

Same shit, different name.

[DdmrDdmr]

I’ve looked a bit further into how long it took for accounts to obtain their first Merit, and unless I’ve messed-up somewhere, this is what the overall data looks like:

I’ve compared the date of the first received Merit against the date of the account’s creation if greater than 25/01/2018, or the 25/01/2018 if the account was created before this date (date when the Merit System kicked-off (*)).

It surprises me the amount of accounts that, overall, have been merited "as soon as possible", in a day range of [0..1] days with regards to the above definition). A lot of this happened on the first days of the Merit System, but still.

Due to the above, I took a look specifically at accounts created during 2023, with the following results:

Though the numerical base is now logically smaller, the percentage of accounts that get merited on same day or the following after their creation is way more than I’d expect. Most 2023 merited accounts are receiving their first Merit within 30 days, with only 21,8% after this period of time. Of course this is a running year, so data is still moving, and accounts still being created (or very recent).

2022 created accounts:

I’ve left the base data here if anyone wants to take a deeper look into it:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ATURn8YgMo5MtFxeiwx6F25JzVewQaRQkTe3-aqmOXA/edit?usp=sharing

I considered throwing the Rank into the charts, but didn’t want to overcomplicate it here on this thread (i.e. to see how a concrete rank played with the time to receive the first Merit).

In any case, not all late first merited accounts suffer later down the road. I’ve seen in the data accounts taking over half a year to receive their first Merit and then becoming Legendary later on. It all depends on the effort and time one can put into the forum (plus a bit of savoir faire I guess).

Notes:
- (*) Technically, the Merit system kicked-off late on the 24/01/2018 (forum time –> late UTC), where 127 accounts received their first Merit. For the sake of simplification, I’ve assumed that these 127 accounts were merited of the 25th.

- I’m also performing a simple datediff in days, not performing the calculations in hours (i.e. if someone created an account late on the 01/01/2023, and received his first merit early on the 02/01/2023, this counts a 1 day to receiving the first merit (although technically only a few hours).

- Obviously, accounts considered here are those that have been merited at some point.

- Other interesting stuff could be breaking the data by the board where the first Merit was received, Meriter, etc.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

Once you start on the forum, you can get your first merit any time, any minute, but what matters and what can determine how quickly you earn your first merit is how you started, either with a sensible and quality post or with some joke comments or topics. I remember when I joined the forum, I did not make my first merit on my first topic or comment, but before my activity could reach for a junior member rank, I already earned my first merit, and before my activities could also reach for the next rank, my merit was already reached. So, OP, no merit is too difficult to earn; just don't expect it in a rush by trying to please anybody; just be yourself and come up with some organic comments based on your experience, and you'll see yourself receiving the merit.

[Macoach]

Getting your first merit might seem easy sometimes, but for beginners, it's actually the toughest. When you're new, you're not sure what works. When I got my first merit, it was a big surprise. Now, I've learned to take my time before posting. Some people have good ideas but don't have the patience to express them well. A good tip is to read posts that got merits to learn what works on the forum. And I think everyone has a nich that goes well for them . They are lot of sections with different topic on this forum, just find a topic you know stuff about and share your insight it makes it easier

[Synchronice]

I been here a month now and finally got my first Merits

(I really like the point with them, it shows that you have been here long and have contribute with good posts! Thank you guys with a lot of merit I have for sure read a lot of your helpful post!)
What Merits is the hardest Merit to get? Is it the first one's or maybe the later ones?

First merit is not a first million, so, no merit is hard to get. I didn't even know about Merit when I got the first one.

Just a interesting question I started to think about.... I think it can be logical to have it harder to get Merit in the beginning before the forum learn to know you.

No one gives you merit because they learn more about you. You get merit if someone thinks your post is good, nothing more, nothing less.

I also think this might be a merit-begging thread disguised as a discussion of the merit system created by a newbie who knows exactly how important merits are and what the earnings potential is by virtue of being a higher-ranked member of the forum.

This is the next merit-begging thread, definitely! I notice that there is a tendency people open threads like this and are getting merits, while actually the whole post is a total nonsense, so, this is another similar one.

This is just one of the topics he beg for Merits...

That's a thread in the Indonesia local where members can provide links to their posts and threads they believe deserve merits. If merit senders agree, they can reward them appropriately. I don't see that as merit begging. Merit begging would be: Hi, I am Pmalek. Please, please give me 5 merits sir. I need it to rank up.

What's the point of the thread that has one typical question but the whole post is full of words that still aim one question? People open similar threads and get merits, you probably can't notice that but I noticed, it's an easy way to open a little bit emotional long thread about Merit or some kind of struggle related to Merit and then you get some easy merits from someone who is probably naive and empathetic. But this time, this thread didn't get merits and that's good indicator.

[Pmalek]

Same shit, different name.

That's your opinion and you are entitled to it. If you want, ask the admins to lock those threads and explain what rules they are breaking and see how that goes. While you are at it, you can also tell The Sceptical Chymist to stop his post history checks where he looks into the posting of certain members and rewards them with merits if they ask him to look through their posts. Maybe he should be banned, the prick.

[Etranger]

It really depends on what are your first posts about, i which board and topic you posted them and who saw them from the forum members. Sometimes it is just a matter of luck, of right time and place. Also, newbies who came to the forum to present some worthy project or service (exchanger, mixer, etc.) or are managers of a new signature campaign earn their first merits very easily. But mostly, I notice that the less merit a user currently has, the harder it is for him to earn new ones. Most often, merits are sent for those posts that have already been evaluated with merits.

[Ultegra134]

I disagree here, in the "Local board" you can basically just say "Hey I am new here and want to be Full Member could you guys please help me?" and whops, you got like 50 merits in a couple of days.
I just saw one example some days ago. The user: "PytagoraZ" https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=3559721
Got a lot of merit just because he begged in the Local board, I don't say it's wrong, but you can't compare it with someone that don't have a local board and need to start from scratch and use the brain to create good posts that other users like.

You can't go around accusing everylocal board on the forum like that mate. From what you said here. @ pytagoraz didn't beg for merits, he got his merits from a threads in his local board where you are to drop your best post and get merits. Some how I still don't understand why you are so annoyed at the local boards. The merits source are given to some local boards to help award good posts. Not all local boards have enough merit source e.g NIGERIA which only has @CryptopreneurBrainboss for the now and of course a lot of other like Igebotz, Charles-Tim have applied and hasn't been approved yet. So what I'm saying here is that the local boards aren't their to share merits. But to bring people with the same Language together. Alot of people don't speck English and sometimes you can never find them on other boards but on their local board. So if they aren't any merits source there on their local board, how do you expect good posts to also be merited?.

Earning your first merits is never too difficult you just have to learn and understand how the forum works. If you can do that then in a matter of 1 month you can earn 1 or more to take you to a junior member or member rank.

Unfortunately, I've also noticed users on local boards racking up merit way too fast. I haven't bothered to check if it's by begging or not, but the user that was mentioned in the previous post has quite a lot of merit in posts that have been deleted, which is quite suspicious if you ask me. Anyway, I'm not going to put all eggs in one basket and claim that all local boards are abusing merit, but we can agree that it's happening in some of them.

Personally, I rejoined the forum in 2020 or 2021; I can't remember correctly, I had only two accumulated merits (250 from senior members and 2 from users), and it took me approximately less than a year to surpass 500 merits. I would have received more if I wasn't away for the last year in the military and generally had limited access to my phone and computer, but I'm saying that acquiring merit is feasible if you work hard enough and create constructive content.

[SamReomo]

Same shit, different name.

That's your opinion and you are entitled to it. If you want, ask the admins to lock those threads and explain what rules they are breaking and see how that goes. While you are at it, you can also tell The Sceptical Chymist to stop his post history checks where he looks into the posting of certain members and rewards them with merits if they ask him to look through their posts. Maybe he should be banned, the prick.

I think @OP is totally wrong about those meriting threads where reputed members and merit sources try to support the members to get merits for their contribution to the forum. The OP misunderstood those threads and thought that someone who begs for merits gets merits from those threads. I strongly disagree with OP's opinion and I believe he really doesn't understand the motive behind creation of those threads. By the way those threads aren't for everyone because if someone doesn't qualify to get merits due to low quality posts then that person won't get any merits from those threads. On the other hand if someone makes good quality posts but those posts didn't get any merits then the merit sources from those threads try to help those members for their contribution by meriting their posts.

There is nothing wrong in helping those members who deserve to get merited for their contribution and The Sceptical Chymist is the best example on the forum who tries to help all those members who contribute their share to this forum. His post history checking thread has helped many good members who deserved those merits and someone like him should get respect for doing such a great service. He's one of the most reputed members of the forum and he has contributed a lot to the forum and also helped those members who made good quality posts. I truly respect him for his great thinking and he's someone who's trying to help all those members who are making good posts but aren't getting enough merits for those posts.

To @OP! Getting merits isn't hard if someone focuses on contributing valuable information on the forum. The ones who are contributing good information on this forum are getting so many merits within short duration of time. I have seen newbies receiving so many merits by sharing valuable information in the honest way while there are many other newbies or low rank members who have been begging for merits but they aren't getting any merits. If someone really wants to earn merits then that member has to provide valuable information on the forum, and if providing valuable information is hard for someone then surely getting merits is also hard for that person.

[JollyGood]

I been here a month now and finally got my first Merits

Congratulations on your first merits. Welcome to the forum  

I disagree here, in the "Local board" you can basically just say "Hey I am new here and want to be Full Member could you guys please help me?" and whops, you got like 50 merits in a couple of days.

Can you pointed out which user did this? I mean you can't just write this because of your own assumption or anger. It's correct many new accounts get a lot merit in local board, but we don't understand about the language, using google translate isn't really accurate though.

If someone else is begging in local board and the moderator didn't delete such kind post, even more it get supported by the other users, it's worth to take an action.

Personally I don't care if someone get 1000 merits in local board, the problem is if these users are participating in signature campaign.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5253221.msg62387639#msg62387639

This is just one of the topics he beg for Merits... With this system he could have ten account ready to be Full Member by now.
I think that is wrong, when it's people without Local boards that maybe contributes good but don't even get close to the Merits a Mertit whore get.
And now I don't think about myself, I normally post low quality posts (but doing my best) but the most thing I do is to read other post, and learn about bitcoin.

And this is only ONE example. I promise you it's a least many many many many more!

Cheers buddie.

Without doubt you are absolutely right, there are many many many many more! examples. Some are simply shameless begging and some are flooding the WO thread. Another trend has been for what appear to be posts made for merits in the Save your nice merit records here thread. The number of pointless posts made there in the hope others will see and then merit them even though some there are posting images of merits  and activity that, well, simply do not fit the bill according to the thread title.

Begging for merits can be carried out in various manners from the blatant demanding to the subliminal requesting (and many more different ways).