There's enough merits, if hoarders aren't selfish.

[Peanutswar]

Merit sources are the ones who distribute the number of merits to those quality and helpful contributions on every thread, and those who you think hoarders it's up to them if they want to give their sMerits we have different qualifications of giving merits sometimes can be subjective or base on their quality of the post. There are no benefits of holding too much sMerit at all.

That's why we have a thread related to this.

[v2][Self Moderated] In Merits, Count Down To Your Next Rank... by Fivestar4everMVP
[self-moderated] Report unmerited good posts to Merit Source by LoyceV
[Merit] Share your best posts/threads with Fillippone to be merit assessed by fillippone
[Merit] Share your best local board posts/topics by hugeblack

[xLays]

I'm probably the biggest sMerit hoarder on the forum, and if not, I'm certain I'm in the Top 5. I'm also the Top 1 most generous Merit sender. What does this tell you? Nothing

Merit isn't scarce. Good posts are.

Absolutely!

There are enough Merit Sources on the forum, we don’t need any more. Plentiful Merit is sent by sources to deserving posters.

There is definitely not a lack of Merit, there is definitely a lack of top quality posters, especially new accounts. It is not hard to receive Merit, many sources are if anything over generous. Be a helpful member of the community, make good quality, constructive, clear and concise posts and you’ll be feasting on Merit in no time.

I know that the bitcointalk merit system is designed to reward quality posts and improve overall forum content. However, one of the problems I see with this merit system is that even if you make a quality post, if no one sees it or no one wants to give merit, it might be like a normal post. I think that's what OP want trying to discuss. This can be discouraging for users (like me, lol) who put in some effort to contribute but are not getting enough merit.

[Churchillvv]

I'm probably the biggest sMerit hoarder on the forum, and if not, I'm certain I'm in the Top 5. I'm also the Top 1 most generous Merit sender. What does this tell you? Nothing

Merit isn't scarce. Good posts are.

✂️

I know that the bitcointalk merit system is designed to reward quality posts and improve overall forum content. However, one of the problems I see with this merit system is that even if you make a quality post, if no one sees it or no one wants to give merit, it might be like a normal post. I think that's what OP want trying to discuss. This can be discouraging for users (like me, lol) who put in some effort to contribute but are not getting enough merit.

Perhaps the merit system is subjective and not what you feel is a quality contribution can be a quality contribution to th merit source. you can be convinced that this post is merit worth while the person with the merit thinks the opposite.

Maybe your post are not always first, or in the first pages I believe naturally this are contributors to merit rewards, because you can't say something that will look too convincing for merit in the third page because it's assumed someone from the first page most have thought and spoken about it.

LoyceV what exactly do you consider quality post ? perhaps everyone has th definitions of quality post and categories so maybe if share yours and what you expect from people before you can hand them merit then it would be easier to make such post. let's hear from you.

[LoyceV]

even if you make a quality post, if no one sees it or no one wants to give merit, it might be like a normal post.

I've seen this statement before, which is why I created Report unmerited good posts to Merit Source back in 2019. It turns out there aren't a lot of good posts that go unmerited after all.

Allow me to highlight the bolded part: if nobody sees your post, it's not a good post. A good posts also means it's interesting, and posted in a place where people can find it and want to read it. The second part: if nobody wants to give it Merit after reading it, it's not a good post.

This can be discouraging for users (like me, lol) who put in some effort to contribute but are not getting enough merit.

What's stopping you from posting your best posts in my thread? If they're really good, I'll dump 50 Merits on them. And others will probably join. I've seen people with good posts quickly rank up that way, but it is a rare thing to find a user with really good posts that were somehow completely overlooked.

LoyceV what exactly do you consider quality post ? perhaps everyone has th definitions of quality post and categories so maybe if share yours and what you expect from people before you can hand them merit then it would be easier to make such post. let's hear from you.

If you think people should adjust their posts to earn Merit, you're going at it the wrong way. Merit shouldn't be the reason to post, and adjusting your posts for it doesn't work either.

[Sexylizzy2813]

LoyceV what exactly do you consider quality post ? perhaps everyone has th definitions of quality post and categories so maybe if share yours and what you expect from people before you can hand them merit then it would be easier to make such post. let's hear from you.

You making it look like is all about the merit that why members need to get themselves here to post, if that's the case then it will only make merit source to over look many post on the Forum because the posters are not doing it for the main purpose they're suppose to but having it in mind that they will get something in return (merit). You notice that the effort of dropping quality post won't be there and you see users always posting where merit sources are and even quoting them just to  get attention and merit, for me is best to post without expecting merit but post something interesting, if you always think of getting merit when you post then you'd be disappointed when it doesn't come and it will discourage you from posting even if you have the best idea of dropping a quality post.

[pakhitheboss]

I know that the bitcointalk merit system is designed to reward quality posts and improve overall forum content. However, one of the problems I see with this merit system is that even if you make a quality post, if no one sees it or no one wants to give merit, it might be like a normal post. I think that's what OP want trying to discuss. This can be discouraging for users (like me, lol) who put in some effort to contribute but are not getting enough merit.

I agree with you that even if you write a quality post the chance of getting merits on it is low. I have experienced it in the past and till today facing the same issue which is still okay for me with my rank. The problem happens when a newbie is trying to get some merits to rank up, he tries to come up with a good topic/reply but he has to struggle to get merits from the global boards. On the contrary, it is easier to get merits if on local boards as they have dedicated merit sources. I never felt that on my local board merit hoarding is an issue as everyone who has smerits is always distributing it to a quality post. The problem that we are facing is officially retired merits sources which is causing the activity of our local board to go down.

[EarnOnVictor]

Merit sources are the ones who distribute the number of merits to those quality and helpful contributions on every thread, and those who you think hoarders it's up to them if they want to give their sMerits we have different qualifications of giving merits sometimes can be subjective or base on their quality of the post. There are no benefits of holding too much sMerit at all.

That's why we have a thread related to this.

-snip-

You nailed it, but no one cares if they hoard the merit until there is a rule/sanction that makes them care. They will continue even if they know there are no benefits in doing that, people's behaviour is random and could be so ugly at times. This is obvious on the forum where some users who have been blessed with enough merits will find it difficult to reciprocate it on others. This is worse to the extent that their 120 days sent merits page will be 0 despite receiving 100s of merits in months.

Such people are the real hoarders. Are they not reading any posts? If possible, such like them should be penalised one way or another to force them to at least share merits as it's also important to the forum to make the good and deserving users feel appreciated and known. Besides, I always appreciate those merit sources who dedicated their time to creating threads to view the unmerited posts that deserved it. But more is needed to make it effective even as some of those links above are no more effective.

[Findingnemo]

Such people are the real hoarders. Are they not reading any posts? If possible, such like them should be penalised one way or another to force them to at least share merits as it's also important to the forum to make the good and deserving users feel appreciated and known. Besides, I always appreciate those merit sources who dedicated their time to creating threads to view the unmerited posts that deserved it. But more is needed to make it effective even as some of those links above are no more effective.

There is no point in hoarding the merits

There is no point in hoarding sMerit; keeping it yourself does not benefit you, and we reserve the right to decay unused sMerit in the future.

But it's up to them whether they want to send it to anyone or they want to let it decayed if that ever happened and I don't think penalizing them is not the right way either. Usually members send merits to worthy posts but it's very rare to find people who is not sending any merits at all and probable reasons are they are not interested in reading other replies or they set the standard too high that can never be met.

[LoyceV]

such like them should be penalised one way or another to force them to at least share merits

Let's start with this guy! Hoarding sMerits, how dares he!

as it's also important to the forum to make the good and deserving users feel appreciated and known.

If theymos thinks the average user doesn't earn enough Merit, he can easily double the entire supply. There's no point in blaming individual users for it.

[rachael9385]

Mind you, there's a difference between hoarders and merit sources, to begin with.

What's your opinion?

The job of a merit source is different from someone who has an Smerits. Merit source are to merit and quality post that they see on a  board or thread, even if the post is not %100 quality but is %70 upword, they might consider it as quality post and merit it but the number of merits that is supposed to be given to the post will reduce because it's not %100 quality.
But someone that has an Smerits will not merit any post that is not %90 to %100 quality because they believe that they worked hard to receive their Merits, so they will need to see a 100% quality post before they distribute sny number/s of merits according to their choice.

[philipma1957]

I'm probably the biggest sMerit hoarder on the forum, and if not, I'm certain I'm in the Top 5. I'm also the Top 1 most generous Merit sender. What does this tell you? Nothing

Merit isn't scarce. Good posts are.

Absolutely!

There are enough Merit Sources on the forum, we don’t need any more. Plentiful Merit is sent by sources to deserving posters.

There is definitely not a lack of Merit, there is definitely a lack of top quality posters, especially new accounts. It is not hard to receive Merit, many sources are if anything over generous. Be a helpful member of the community, make good quality, constructive, clear and concise posts and you’ll be feasting on Merit in no time.

I know that the bitcointalk merit system is designed to reward quality posts and improve overall forum content. However, one of the problems I see with this merit system is that even if you make a quality post, if no one sees it or no one wants to give merit, it might be like a normal post. I think that's what OP want trying to discuss. This can be discouraging for users (like me, lol) who put in some effort to contribute but are not getting enough merit.

But look at it this way I could not care less about gambling so if you post their I won't read it.
I don't read foreign languages as I really am only good with English
I read Meta
I Read  btc mining
I read alt mining
I read btc technical
I read bitcoin discussion
I read economics
I read development & technical
I read marketplace

 So maybe 35% of the forum is read by me
 I give a lot of points each month.

I am certain that I could give more as my hoard is under 500 points to give.

[Igebotz]

such like them should be penalised one way or another to force them to at least share merits

Let's start with this guy! Hoarding sMerits, how dares he!

as it's also important to the forum to make the good and deserving users feel appreciated and known.

If theymos thinks the average user doesn't earn enough Merit, he can easily double the entire supply. There's no point in blaming individual users for it.

Satoshi, who flee into space a decade ago, is competing with an average active user for merits received in the last 120 days. Sounds hilarious when you ponder deeply. I can't even keep up with his pace, and the last time he posted, I was still eating tacos. 

Bro is hoarding over 3k smerits that's -3 possible Legendary accounts. If theymos is going to penalise us for not sharing enough merits, he ought to start with the top guy Satoshi- I support

But look at it this way I could not care less about gambling so if you post their I won't read it.

Bro is missing all the fun on gambling board, who's going to tell him.

[Churchillvv]

LoyceV what exactly do you consider quality post ? perhaps everyone has th definitions of quality post and categories so maybe if share yours and what you expect from people before you can hand them merit then it would be easier to make such post. let's hear from you.

If you think people should adjust their posts to earn Merit, you're going at it the wrong way. Merit shouldn't be the reason to post, and adjusting your posts for it doesn't work either.

Right! we shouldn't adjust our post for merits, instead we can provide helps to people who needs them and in the process we might fall intto merit rewards.

[SamReomo]

But look at it this way I could not care less about gambling so if you post their I won't read it.

You're not the only one merit source staying away from gambling boards. There are many merit sources who don't visit gambling board or its sub-boards as they don't find those boards interesting.

To be honest, those boards doesn't get enough merits and the ones who post at those boards may not get many merits even if they make very useful posts.

[EarnOnVictor]

such like them should be penalised one way or another to force them to at least share merits

Let's start with this guy! Hoarding sMerits, how dares he!

Hahaha...satoshi of all people? I won't even go there, but regular users.

There's no point in blaming individual users for it.

This is not about blaming anyone but pointing to the good side of recycling the merits which I don't think is bad for the forum. But on the contrary, hoarding it for several months doesn't serve the forum any good and neither will it reflect the good intention of theymos on this.

[LoyceV]

Hahaha...satoshi of all people?

It's called making a point

hoarding it for several months doesn't serve the forum any good and neither will it reflect the good intention of theymos on this.

Don't you think theymos accounted for a certain percentage of sMerit to never be sent, when he decided how much sMerit each source can send per month? It was even adjusted a few times. I'd say the total number of sMerit sent is more or less okay now.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Allow me to highlight the bolded part: if nobody sees your post, it's not a good post.

It's gotten to the point where I'm very tempted to start up a thread in Meta about the decline of post quality forum-wide, because the only good posts I see lately have been coming from Legendary members who most likely aren't bots or members using AI to write the most bland, generic shit possible--and I've always tried to reserve my sMerits for members below Legendary status. 

On top of that, my discouragement has led me to do less reading than ever before, and that's not a good thing.  I love this forum, warts and all, but man....we're not even talking about warts anymore.  We're headed toward a condition that the best team of dermatologists in the world couldn't even identify much less cure.

[LoyceV]

It's gotten to the point where I'm very tempted to start up a thread in Meta about the decline of post quality forum-wide

I'd say: "do it!", but I already know that's not going to improve post quality. I find it harder and harder to empty my Merit source. I now have 200+ source sMerits remaining, and it increases by the hour.

members using AI to write the most bland, generic shit possible

I really don't get why the obvious spammers get such a soft treatment nowadays.

my discouragement has led me to do less reading than ever before, and that's not a good thing.

Even the tech boards get shittified by chatbot diarrhea. Call me old, but I don't like it.

[ABCbits]

such like them should be penalised one way or another to force them to at least share merits

Let's start with this guy! Hoarding sMerits, how dares he!

Hahaha...satoshi of all people? I won't even go there, but regular users.

How do you define regular users? And while we're it, how can this forum measure their activeness or participation rate on this forum?

[The Sceptical Chymist]

It's gotten to the point where I'm very tempted to start up a thread in Meta about the decline of post quality forum-wide

I'd say: "do it!", but I already know that's not going to improve post quality.

I think I'm going to, if only because I'm a cranky old curmudgeon who'd discontent with the way a very old-school internet discussion forum is being corrupted by AI after already being massively corrupted by incentivized posting.  I like to bitch until steam comes out of my poor listeners' ears, but as I said I also have a fondness for bitcointalk and see its decline and possible end coming sooner rather than later.

Even the tech boards get shittified by chatbot diarrhea. Call me old, but I don't like it.

One ought not be old to be horrified by such madness, only intelligent and alert.