Another merit giveaway thread. This time by Wonder Work

[JollyGood]

My original assumption was correct, the topic was was moved. It would be interesting to see what opinion theymos would hold on the matter. Imagine compulsive liar and chief manipulator "naim027" creating a merit giveaway thread and handing out merits to his farmed accounts, the mere idea of that would be unacceptable.

I cannot be sure but I think when I discovered the thread it was not in Off Topic, it could have been moved there by a moderator. As I stated, I am not sure but maybe someone will correct me.

It was originally in the main bitcoin discussion sub. Personally, I don't think people should be holding competitions to give away merit. As you've mentioned, it is ripe for abuse and could easily be used to launder merit. Farmers will quickly exploit it and if one person does it even more so will try it.

[LoyceV]

My original assumption was correct, the topic was was moved. It would be interesting to see what opinion theymos would hold on the matter. Imagine compulsive liar and chief manipulator "naim027" creating a merit giveaway thread and handing out merits to his farmed accounts, the mere idea of that would be unacceptable.

The only unacceptable part, from the forum's perspective, would be ban-evasion. Non-Merit sources can do use their sMerit any way they want.

[NeuroticFish]

Yes the problem is not widespread but probably because of other accounts being exposed as merit cheats and it being frowned upon at the time. From experience, it is safe to assume usually when threads such as that are created there is more going on than meets the eye.

OK, I understand that you've found a possible account farm. And in that case I agree with you, something must be done.

But banning/considering bad all the "merit giveaway" threads is imho an exaggeration we don't need. Imho threads like 🔥 GingerWallet.io | LN Quest ⚡Up to 50 merits should not be banned.

So it's more difficult to take the things into account. A general ban is not OK and it's most probably not easy to tell which giveaway is harmless and which is ill-intentioned.



I will add only one more detail. You know, like trust feedback, meriting is not moderated. Yes, this can easily lead to abuses, but from my understanding theymos didn't consider that a real problem and I tend to believe it won't be easy to change his mind.



(My) conclusion: it may be easier to do something against WW and his siblings or minions (obviously, with proof) than stepping up against merit awarding topics.

[lovesmayfamilis]

I think that Jolly is very suspicious of Wonder Work, but the more topics are created without real evidence, the more cautious everyone who feels that they are being watched will be. So I would not pay attention in this particular case; at least I would give it time for the "action" to continue and then draw conclusions.

If we discuss the topic being moved to the off-topic, and there it became less noticeable, then we can remember and check how many "well-read and literate" newbies rushed to the topic in that section when someone asked to recommend a book and gave out four merits for advice. For everyone who likes to be a detective, this topic is an "untapped field."

In the same way, the topic of push-ups (I'll be a bore ) has nurtured more than one newbie. Therefore, the topic from Wonder Work is really a drop in the ocean, although of course one can guess that he was counting on help for his "distribution" from sources of merit.

[AB de Royse777]

Non-Merit sources can do use their sMerit any way they want.

+1
It seems OP is acting like he is ignorant. Truth is he needed another topic to support his agenda against a person he does not like.

[JollyGood]

OK, I understand that you've found a possible account farm. And in that case I agree with you, something must be done.

But banning/considering bad all the "merit giveaway" threads is imho an exaggeration we don't need. Imho threads like 🔥 GingerWallet.io | LN Quest ⚡Up to 50 merits should not be banned.

So it's more difficult to take the things into account. A general ban is not OK and it's most probably not easy to tell which giveaway is harmless and which is ill-intentioned.

NotATether has used his initiative to create a thread that works as an incentive to promote the lightning network to members. With his LN Quest he has used the words "This is a marathon, not a competition" and he deserves credit for his attempts.

I think a blanket ban is not recommended and each situation as to be judged on merit (no pun intended). When relatively new or shady accounts feel they have participated in the forum enough to take bold steps to try to further their own agenda by creating those pointless merit giveaway threads, the appropriate course of action is to highlight them and discuss their activity.

(My) conclusion: it may be easier to do something against WW and his siblings or minions (obviously, with proof) than stepping up against merit awarding topics.

For quite some time now, account farmers are getting better at leaving less clues behind therefore it becomes difficult to link account together. Having said that, not all merit awarding threads are operated by puppet masters. As mentioned, NotATether has been contributing in a fantastic manner with his thread to bring the use of lightning nodes to more members.

If we discuss the topic being moved to the off-topic, and there it became less noticeable, then we can remember and check how many "well-read and literate" newbies rushed to the topic in that section when someone asked to recommend a book and gave out four merits for advice. For everyone who likes to be a detective, this topic is an "untapped field."

I found that thread yesterday and was surprised at some of the names making book recommendations. In the end many gave up even though the thread remains open beecause the OP stopped sending merits therefore the highly literate newbies had no incentive to post.

In the same way, the topic of push-ups (I'll be a bore ) has nurtured more than one newbie. Therefore, the topic from Wonder Work is really a drop in the ocean, although of course one can guess that he was counting on help for his "distribution" from sources of merit.

It seems you have captured the intent, he probably hoped for merit sources to give him merits in order to recycle the nonsense and replicate it by creating new threads for new merit giveaways. It might be a drop in the ocean but it causes no harm to have these discussions from time to time as it reminds us of the tactics some members use in the forum to further their agendas.

[Perfectbaby]

Unspent S Merits right now = 6.

That makes a Merit giveaway thread kinda pointless

I think he is doing that to attract the interest of those whom are merits source to dump on him or to encourage him with some few smerit, but unluckily the thing wasn't as planned if truly on 6 smerits to be spent over there, then this is a kinda fishing for merits.

[BenCodie]

I think that both merit nor trust should be involved in giveaways, contests, or sponsorships. Merit should be earned by making valuable posts, and trust ratings should be given when both parties risk enough in a deal where they needed to trust each other to follow through.

However, since casinos and other entities can buy/farm trust ratings by doing giveaways in the games and rounds thread, or by throwing money at people in the form of sponsorships, then I can't support the much smaller (but similar) problem described in the OP.

[memehunter]

I think that Jolly is very suspicious of Wonder Work,

The problem is that when you see something that is not compatible with your intuition, it is hard to ignore it. Especially when you see the person posting frequently. This is the same in a family (Indian joint families ), Sometimes you just don't like an individual, which is OK, and you are free to investigate and argue in a decent manner (giving a tag based on your hunch is not OK). Liking and  Disliking is personal; no one needs to prove it to anybody. I am also fixated with one account and feeling the same situation when something just doesn't make sense, I am sure we all are mature enough to introspect and take the right course.
Now, regarding the merit giveaway thread, this type of merit sending is not optimal for the overall spirit of this wonderful forum, but it is OK. This much room for freedom should be maintained for merit giving.       
       

[Pmalek]

As someone who has created such a word game in the past, it would be unfair of me to oppose other people who did the same. I honestly don't mind. The OP can create many rules to try and fight abuse just like I did a few years ago. I also think there are easier ways to partake in merit abuse if someone wanted to than to create a thread for it and thereby having more people follow your actions. If Wonder Work wanted to merit their alts, why not simply single out a few of their alts' posts and merit those?

[Mahiyammahi]

As someone who has created such a word game in the past, it would be unfair of me to oppose other people who did the same. I honestly don't mind. The OP can create many rules to try and fight abuse just like I did a few years ago. I also think there are easier ways to partake in merit abuse if someone wanted to than to create a thread for it and thereby having more people follow your actions. If Wonder Work wanted to merit their alts, why not simply single out a few of their alts' posts and merit those?

You game was simply awesome when I saw your game. But I missed that cause I was a total newbiew that time, didn't know how to interact and I learned very few words on crypto that time. Maybe your game was the first of that kind. A lot of users joined that time and everyone was enjoying what I saw on your threads.

By watching your thread and getting inspired I created similar a word game for my Local board. I created it cause no one ever created in our local board. I wanted to attract more people and let them learn and to learn my self. Rather than abusing S merits I found it very Fun 

এই ফোরামে কয়েকটি শব্দের খেলা (Word Game) দেখেছি, যেগুলো Pmalek, cygan ও  deadsea33 দ্বারা বানানো। আমি চাইতেছি আমাদের বাংলা লোকাল ফোরাম এর জন্য একটি শব্দের খেলা আয়োজন করার জন্য। যেখানে মজার ছলে খেলার সাথে সাথে আমরা নতুন কিছু শব্দ সম্পর্কে শুনব আর জানব সে সম্পর্কে। এটা শুধু মাত্র আমাদের লোকাল ইউজার দের জন্য

This was my on local board.

Can we have some consensus on the matter?

If enough members agree that this sort of nonsense has to stop, maybe we can get theymos to make a statement on it too.

Although he wasn't abusing his S merits. A @Pmaklek there's more better way to abuse it. Even moderator moved it to off topic cause he thought of it irrelevant to that board.

But I think you consider his afford to be a nonsense. It's valid that you think of it that way, nowadays peoples are finding lots of wat to grab some quick merits. It could be that type of intent.

The only fault I see with him is that he didn't get feedback from everyone before starting this word game.  Because he launched the word game without knowing whether everyone on the board on which he launched this word game would be interested in it or not.

[The Cryptovator]

Theymos isn't so serious about spending merits, I am too if there isn't at least merit selling allegations.

If a DT member tags you for something stupid involving merit (ie. probably anything less than selling merit), then they're not going to be a DT member for much longer.

Merit circulation is an important part of the forum. There are rules; only merit sources can't sell their merits. Other than that, I can't find any restrictions from forum admins. They don't even like tagging merit senders if there is no merit selling happening.

[Pmalek]

You game was simply awesome when I saw your game. But I missed that cause I was a total newbiew that time, didn't know how to interact and I learned very few words on crypto that time.

You could have participated as a newbie if you wanted to. In fact, I gave Newbies, Jr. Members, and Members a certain advantage in that they could guess the words one day before users of higher ranks. 

Maybe your game was the first of that kind. A lot of users joined that time and everyone was enjoying what I saw on your threads.

I took inspiration from soliton's Bitcoin Crosswords but I did something different. He edited his OP so you can only see an archive of it on Ninjastic Space if you are wondering how it looked.

[JollyGood]

When lower ranked farmed accounts create merit giveaway threads in order to get some merits for themselves and then use it as cover to give merits way to the accounts they operate/own, then it is merit abuse as can be seen here: Questionable Merit History From: deadsea33

If senior respected accounts do something similar I doubt anybody will object but when the low ranking OP of the merit giveaway thread in question that already has a dubious account history, it is correct to question their motives and also to question whether these types of threads and the accounts used to create them should be frowned upon in the same manner as account trading.

Merit circulation is an important part of the forum. There are rules; only merit sources can't sell their merits. Other than that, I can't find any restrictions from forum admins. They don't even like tagging merit senders if there is no merit selling happening.