Option to Allow / Restrict merits on the OP Posts

[decodx]

I don't think this proposal is totally necessary.  Sending merit depends more on the person deciding to send it rather than restricting when to send based on OP posts.  If someone appreciates a post, they should be able to send merit no matter what. So we don't need more rules around that.  Let people decide on their own when a post has earned merit rather than forcing restrictions.

[Franctoshi]

It still not a bad idea though, but it isn't necessary because everything is working quite fine with the merit system already in place, and besides restricting people from sending merit to a post is just like restricting people from their freedom of expression because people use the merit system to express their feelings about a post they come across here, so sending of merit should remain a choice in the way it is working.

[KingsDen]

In general, everyone will allow the OP post to be merited but there can be situations like if any admin or mod, posts a thread he does not need merits and therefore he may restrict the post to be merited, so people and/or the merit sources do not send merits to those posts and rather give merits to ordinary people.

Let me know your comments on this idea 

Oops!
You digressed. Just when I thought you will arrive at what is in my mind, then there's a deviation. Let me refine this your idea with what I think could be a better option.

Just like there's self moderation, how about if the Op will have an option to make the thread unable to receive any merits(whether to the Op or to others on the thread). With this, people who spams in ongoing conversations in order to hunt merits will not post in that thread. It will be like a serious discussion thread. I don't know if anyone understands me.

[TravelMug]

As others have said, meriting a post is base on our criteria, so it's subjective for each individuals. And then we have been thought that merit will decay and so we have to spend it the way we wanted, whether we agree or disagree with the thread.

So for me and no offense to the OP, this is not necessary to be implemented and it seems that after the merit has implemented, everyone has settled down and we have our own yardsticks on what post we want to merit and how much merit we gave, not restrict it.

[SatoPrincess]

Just like there's self moderation, how about if the Op will have an option to make the thread unable to receive any merits(whether to the Op or to others on the thread). With this, people who spams in ongoing conversations in order to hunt merits will not post in that thread. It will be like a serious discussion thread. I don't know if anyone understands me.

I don’t know about that. The motivation for many spammers is the money they get from signature campaigns, “moderating merits” will not stop them from spamming threads to reach their weekly quota. Besides the community can see through these merit hunting posts, there is little chance of them getting any merits from members.

[Saisher]

What an idea but OP's reason will not convince members to support or even use this feature if ever this is installed, merits is a reward system that tells the creator of the post that he created very good content, merits and reputations are what define our account here so why would you want to restrict other from meriting your posts.
And by generating smerits you'll be able members to rank up and commend their posts, OP mentioned sending merits instead to ordinary people, even though we are on different ranks we are still equal here.

[CODE200]

As others have said, meriting a post is base on our criteria, so it's subjective for each individuals. And then we have been thought that merit will decay and so we have to spend it the way we wanted, whether we agree or disagree with the thread.

So for me and no offense to the OP, this is not necessary to be implemented and it seems that after the merit has implemented, everyone has settled down and we have our own yardsticks on what post we want to merit and how much merit we gave, not restrict it.

It isn't necessary in any way and I don't even believe that there's a way that it makes sense that you would limit someone's post just because a lot of people are giving it merits, that's just straight up jealousy in my opinion, people have a subjective look on things so it's expected that some of them might not see what you're seeing as quality post, that's just how it is, we can't do much about it. Maybe you can protest that you get this option but you will be the only one that will get it, that way you're sleeping peacefully. Also, can you imagine that if someone gets attacked in the forum and they would get mass reported thus having them stricken with the unmeritable posts.

[Pmalek]

I'm happy with how the merit system is working so far, but in certain cases I think your idea has some worth too. This doesn't happen in most cases, but if the OP doesn't want merit on his thread then he can create his own local rule as a warning. Asking admin to disable the merit function on certain thread seems possible, but I don't know if admins have ever agreed to it in the past.

Are you sure they can do that? I have never heard or seen that merits can't be sent in certain threads or to a particular individual. I don't remember ever seeing a discussion about it either. Besides, OPs suggestion isn't about restricting merits for the whole thread and all the users posting in it. It's about preventing the thread starter to get merited because they don't want to/don't need the merits.

And then we have been thought that merit will decay and so we have to spend it the way we wanted, whether we agree or disagree with the thread.

sMerits don't decay and become useless and non-spendable. There are no time limits to the merits in your account. It's only source merits that decay if the allocation isn't completely depleted in a 1-month cycle.

[Sandra_hakeem]

I don't think this is necessary or needed. How many times are people going to not want merit. If someone feels a post is notable then let them have the opportunity to say so with merit.

Sad that everything has retrograded overtime... I mean, you don't have to believe whatever allegations you've seen/ known about this -- maybe because there's a little to what changes you can make?...Yes, but that isn't the reality? Nahh!...^{[I get sick of this everyday]}

If the mods didn't get enough merits or received much less than other quality members, they won't be the manager's first choice despite their forum status.

Malek, for the first time, I'd have to disagree with you... Managers prioritize recognition, merit status and post quality.... I mean, you could get screwed for not getting enough merit despite making quality post ( I am an example of what I described). That doesn't mean I support the notion on what the purpose of this topic is -- my reasons are in-between the counter-imbalance in merit circulation by the supposed most merited users (low ranking members) and the hesitation of farming up alts with the Smerit surplus blizzare.

sMerits don't decay and become useless and non-spendable. There are no time limits to the merits in your account. It's only source merits that decay if the allocation isn't completely depleted in a 1-month cycle.

Ehhhh ... Boy, why are you not part of the cycling club shit?

[Pmalek]

Ehhhh ... Boy, why are you not part of the cycling club shit?

I guess I am not a high-quality cycler to be invited to a premium club like that. I'll have to cycle harder. I can always start identifying as a member of the merit cycling club and change my pronouns. That's popular in this time and age. Then, I will finally get the merit recognition I deserve.

[LoyceV]

if any admin or mod, posts a thread he does not need merits and therefore he may restrict the post to be merited, so people and/or the merit sources do not send merits to those posts and rather give merits to ordinary people.

Reading between the lines, you seem to think Merit is scarce, so it should be preserved for "people who need it". That's the wrong approach. Merit isn't meant for "people who need it". And Merit isn't scarce, good posts are. I wouldn't like it if someone stops me from Meriting the posts I want. It's hard enough to get rid of sMerit already (and that's coming from someone who sent 49687 sMerits).
If we'd reserve Merit for people "who need it", we wouldn't have needed the Merit system in the first place. Back then, every shitposter could rank up as many accounts as they wanted.
Merit is supposed to stop many people from ranking up!

[Alpha Marine]

It is not the owner of the post that determines if a post should receive merit or not, it's the post itself that determines that. It doesn't matter who makes a post, if a user or users feel the post deserves merit and they have, they give out of their own free will. I understand that some reputable members get merits to posts that ordinary members wouldn't have gotten merit from, but it's still the choice of those who gave them the merit. They gave the merit because, to them, the post was a good one and deserved it.
In my opinion, the merit system is a reward for a good post, if a member makes a post that he/she feels deserves merit, there are ways on this forum to get that post merited.
So, whoever "needs merits" should make quality posts.

[Sandra_hakeem]

Reading between the lines, you seem to think Merit is scarce, so it should be preserved for "people who need it". That's the wrong approach. Merit isn't meant for "people who need it". And Merit isn't scarce, good posts are. I wouldn't like it if someone stops me from Meriting the posts I want. It's hard enough to get rid of sMerit already (and that's coming from someone who sent 49687 sMerits).

Oh C'monnn!!.... I seen this already ^{[for like twice or so]} then I keep wondering; what's your criterion for a quality post?  looks to me like the only set of writings that makes much sense to you are "technical post"...?
look, I'm not tryna be a thorn in your ass, neither am i against your judgements merit-wise....(It could have been what you thought presumably)but if you're observant, you'd realize that all through my newbie days to this day, I've always been against the usual sentiment of meriting already-made potential legendary members alone.I've achieved my ranks althrough to being a HM - I could decide to not bother about getting merited, YES! but how about them newbies?.. how well would you cycle if you had to do this all by yourself?what's the essence of having Smerit in the system?

Edit: The second point i made wasn't about you either!

That doesn't mean I support the notion on what the purpose of this topic is.

[LTU_btc]

OP, you answered it yourself - such thing wouldn't have much use. How many users would opt not to get merit for their post? I suppose it would be very few and it's not worth to implement thing which isn't needed much.
And if someone don't nned merits to rank up anymore, it doesn't means that he don't need merit at all. Merit is neede for recognition, emphasizing good posts. It's not like tht we have situation with lack of merit when it's given away to people who don't need it anymore instead of giving it to lower ranked members.

[KingsDen]

Just like there's self moderation, how about if the Op will have an option to make the thread unable to receive any merits(whether to the Op or to others on the thread). With this, people who spams in ongoing conversations in order to hunt merits will not post in that thread. It will be like a serious discussion thread. I don't know if anyone understands me.

I don’t know about that. The motivation for many spammers is the money they get from signature campaigns, “moderating merits” will not stop them from spamming threads to reach their weekly quota. Besides the community can see through these merit hunting posts, there is little chance of them getting any merits from members.

You are right and this means there are different levels of spamming.
A spammer wearing signature; This doesn't care much about merits since the weekly bucks will be coming.
A spammer trying to rank up;
Here will be the type of spammer that would be stopped by my proposed idea. This spammer will try everything possible to earn merits.

[Pmalek]

Merit is supposed to stop many people from ranking up!

It's supposed to stop those that don't have the quality and, thus, don't deserve to rank up. If 9/10 are all quality contributors, then they should all rank up with the help of the merit system. If only 1/10 has the needed knowledge and quality, then only that one person should be rewarded enough merits to climb the rank ladder. The system still works.

[crwth]

It's like not having the like button on a post. How are you going to show your appreciation without spamming on the thread? I think this wouldn't be necessary or helpful when implemented.

[Mia Chloe]

I don't think this is necessary or needed. How many times are people going to not want merit. If someone feels a post is notable then let them have the opportunity to say so with merit.

This is very true because since merit is a form of progress on the forum, everyone would like to have it. I bet you from the highest merit earners to the lowest merit earners, all of them are quite happy when they earn merits. However assuming OP's suggestion was feasible, it would create an avenue for some users to attack certain posts tagging them as merit fishing just because the Op probably didn't turn off merit receiving from the particular post.
Just like The Sceptical Chymist mentioned, in my opinion also the merit system is quite ok as too many modifications would not be necessary. I believe theymos is aware of all these suggestions and isn't accepting most mods on the forum because of the effects they may have especially on the merit system.

[JollyGood]

I have tried to find any possible reason for why this functionality should be added to the system but cannot think of even one. Unless I am missing the obvious, there cannot be any  reason why anybody would be benefitting by have access to this function. This option should not even be considered to be added on the shortlist of any potential patch.

Though it does not have much use case but i think while creating a topic when there are so many options like whether it be a self-moderated thread or not, etc, why not add another option that we can restrict or allow if anyone can put merit on the post?

In general, everyone will allow the OP post to be merited but there can be situations like if any admin or mod, posts a thread he does not need merits and therefore he may restrict the post to be merited, so people and/or the merit sources do not send merits to those posts and rather give merits to ordinary people.

Let me know your comments on this idea 

[coin-investor]

It's like not having the like button on a post. How are you going to show your appreciation without spamming on the thread? I think this wouldn't be necessary or helpful when implemented.

Every human being needs to be appreciated on the platform, venue, or place where he is active, this is why all social media platforms replicate that need by having like buttons on their platform, and Bitcointalk's version of appreciation is the merit, so why would anyone discard merit?

Even the members with the highest numbers of merits still create quality posts for contribution and merits if there is a poll for this I don't think it will generate support.