Airdropped legendary vs self-made legendary...

[Pablo-wood]

Ranked-up needing Merit (click item to filter)  
Note: Currently Heroes ranking-up to Legendries with 1k initial Merit airdrop are not detected.
Note: New Era Newbie: First Merit >= 17/09/2018; Old Era Newbie: First Merit < 17/09/2018.
Note: Subsection filters ranked-up users with at least 1 received sMerit in the selected Subsection.

My question is the New Era Newbie are they those users in the pre-merit system and Old Era Newbie are they users in the post-merit system because the filtered date is a bit confusing.

As you can see the sign <> indicated in the dates between the new era newbie and the old era newbie so it is to tell you the difference is before and after the aforementioned date (17/09/2018;) which means that the new era newbie is those that registered after the introduction of the merit system while the old era newbie is those that register before the merit system. Don't know if am wrong, someone can still correct me

What are you saying? Where did you see <>? What is there is < which means less than. And >= which means greater than or equal to. By the way merit system started in January 24, 2018 and the date there is 17th of September 2018.

[m2017]

This post raised my curiosity, which is the reason for this thread.

Keep in mind that vas majority of legendary members became legendary before merit was introduced. And back then you only needed activity.
Nowadays its much harder to rank up due to merit requirements, and with good reason tbh

When I was a newbie, I was told that the majority of legendary members got their ranks before the merit system. I have become a legendary member and likewise many other persons, yet someone still believes that airdropped legendary members are still more than self-made legendary members.
Any data to compare both?

Everyone believes in what they want to believe.

From a formal point of view, airdropped legendary members is no different from self-made legendary members: no one gets more or less privileges. But there is an indirect parameter that can affect the "value" of rank. These are merits. Personally, when I see legendary with a lot of merits, then this user's posts are a higher priority for reading, because merits don't just fall from the sky (if don't take into account merit sources). This means that this user has put in more effort, for which he received some recognition of his posts. If I see an old legendary account with a basic number of merits, but a lot of posts, then such a user remains in the rank of a shitposter for me. That is, informally, the value of these legendary members (airdropped and self-made) can vary greatly.

For me, the cover (rank) is not as important as the background of the user behind this cover, which he can bring benefit (the content can vary greatly) to the BTC-community.

[KingsDen]

Many people actually misunderstood the post. This thread was not intended to compare the quality or relevance of pre-merited legendary members and self-made legendary members. I only wanted to know if the number of self-made legendary members is now more than pre-merited legendary members since many users have ranked up to legendary rank and many pre-merited legendary members are now inactive.

The closest data I got was from Nutildah, showing that pre-merited legendary members are still more than self-made legendary members.

I'll lock the thread in 24hrs.

[348Judah]

This post raised my curiosity, which is the reason for this thread.

Keep in mind that vas majority of legendary members became legendary before merit was introduced. And back then you only needed activity.
Nowadays its much harder to rank up due to merit requirements, and with good reason tbh

When I was a newbie, I was told that the majority of legendary members got their ranks before the merit system. I have become a legendary member and likewise many other persons, yet someone still believes that airdropped legendary members are still more than self-made legendary members.
Any data to compare both?

Either of the ways, being recognized or reputable does not have to do with ranks, but what you can contribute to the forum base on what you know, i hope some of us would have been surprised with the speed of powergloves when we started to have achieved more higher ranks requirements faster but left with activities to meet up those ranks.

That been said, if you're a newbie of this era and works hard, you can achieve the rank of a legendary, though the change there may be uneasy as merit is most the lacking aspect to get there after some must have already gotten the required activities, as for those beneficiary of the airdropped merits, they have the privilege and to have been given such is not bad because they have all arrived earlier before us and before the merit system was being introduced, while the reason for the merit system was majorly intended to die down the incidence of spammers ranking up.

[cryptoaddictchie]

The closest data I got was from Nutildah, showing that pre-merited legendary members are still more than self-made legendary members.

I'll lock the thread in 24hrs.

I think this make sense, since there are more members joined before and considering how the merit system was implemented and how hard to reach legendary due to merits, I believe without data the premerited will be dominant. Btw why you ask about this anyway?  Curiousity? Good thing I am one of those self made and I can say its worth to become legendary after merit system cause you can feel the journey how you become one.

[mikeywith]

If I see an old legendary account with a basic number of merits, but a lot of posts, then such a user remains in the rank of a shitposter for me.

While i agree that this applies to a large group of people, I would carefully apply it to many others, earning merit in itself is a sort of skill, you will find many members with little to no knowledge of how BTC actually works and still have thousends of merit (not going to mention names but they are all over), on the other hand, with a random example of Kano and CK who would be in the top 10 of the most knowledge and beneficial users to Bitcoin EVER only have a few hundreds earned merit.

While the merit system in general is a good indication of the user's performance, it can be entirely misleading in many cases.

[LoyceV]

you will find many members with little to no knowledge of how BTC actually works and still have thousends of merit

I'd argue you don't need to know how Bitcoin really works (on a technical level) to be able to use it, but I get what you mean.

on the other hand, with a random example of Kano and CK who would be in the top 10 of the most knowledge and beneficial users to Bitcoin EVER only have a few hundreds earned merit.

Who? I assume they don't post that much. I'd love to see more posts of knowledgeable people, but if they don't post, they won't earn a lot of Merit (except for satoshi).

[apogio]

with a random example of Kano and CK who would be in the top 10 of the most knowledge and beneficial users to Bitcoin EVER only have a few hundreds earned merit.

While the merit system in general is a good indication of the user's performance, it can be entirely misleading in many cases.

It's not only about the technical aspect of Bitcoin though. The merit system is universally applied in the forum, which means that people earn merits everywhere, even if they don't discuss about bitcoin at all.

There are many examples of top merit earners who admit that they 're not technical people. It's not bad, in fact, it's normal and better this way. Technical expertise is kind of subjective because even for super technical users, we can't measure who is more skilled than the other.

Is gmaxwell more skilled than achow101 and is kano more skilled than CK? And most importantly, how much more skilled? (my questions are just to enhance my argument, not to be replied)

[LoyceV]

Is gmaxwell more skilled than achow101

Gmaxwell earned more Merit with less posts, so if that's any indicator, I'd say yes.

[apogio]

Gmaxwell earned more Merit with less posts, so if that's any indicator, I'd say yes.

But the reason why we say "more skilled" is because we have the knowledge of what they do and how they have helped bitcoin.

What about 2 hypothetical users:

User A - 800 merits, 2000 posts, engaging primarily in bitcoin technical board
User B - 1500 merits, 2000 posts, engaging everywhere else than bitcoin board

Who is more skilled?

Apparently user B is "a better poster", but is he more skilled?

[LoyceV]

Apparently user B is "a better poster", but is he more skilled?

Let's just say it's easier to earn a lot of Merit in the WO-thread, than on the tech boards

[God Of Thunder]

It's just a forum account rank.

We care about the forum rank, probably because of the signature payment rate we get from the campaign. There should not be any comparison with the ranks. The rank does not define much. You should be judged based on what you have in your mind and your knowledge. There are dozens of discoveries of the year ,and some of those newbies have better knowledge than most of the Legendary ranked account holders.

People like Apogio, PowerGlove, and n0nce came to the forum only a few years ago. But they contributed a lot. Some other legendaries here for a decade, but did not do much except for making some money through their signature space.

[philipma1957]

It's just a forum account rank.

We care about the forum rank, probably because of the signature payment rate we get from the campaign. There should not be any comparison with the ranks. The rank does not define much. You should be judged based on what you have in your mind and your knowledge. There are dozens of discoveries of the year ,and some of those newbies have better knowledge than most of the Legendary ranked account holders.

People like Apogio, PowerGlove, and n0nce came to the forum only a few years ago. But they contributed a lot. Some other legendaries here for a decade, but did not do much except for making some money through their signature space.

Also the game changed. My value would be mostly in mining ⛏️ and over the years from 2012 to 2018 I should have earned thousands of merits as I helped many members get into mining.

Now in this climate mining at home pretty much sucks. So earning merits in the mining threads are less than in other threads.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5537370.0

i started the thread above yesterday. If you mine the thread is very valuable as it will help you make your miners preform better and last longer.  But who mines at home with two 3500 watt miners in their garages.

So that thread will likely not earn a lot of merits as most people in the forum no longer mine.

[mikeywith]

Who? I assume they don't post that much. I'd love to see more posts of knowledgeable people, but if they don't post, they won't earn a lot of Merit (except for satoshi).

They don't post too often — that's one of the reasons. But then look at core devs or ex-core devs in the technical section, or theymos, or many other examples of members who don’t post much, but when they do, they get a ton of merit. That’s why where you post is very critical when it comes to earning merit.

I suppose they have a low merit count mainly because the mining board has always had just 1–2 merit sources. I think right now I’m the only active merit source there. Before me, it was just the admin frod, who didn’t have a large allocation. Of course, other factors like attitude also play a role in your ability to earn merit.

What I’m trying to say is that merit count can be very misleading — not just from a technical perspective. Some people contribute very little and still earn merit, and the opposite is also true.

On a side note, those two members don’t really participate in the merit system. Kano, for example, doesn’t send merit to anyone, which is the main reason I don’t merit him much — because those sMerits would just sit there, and I don’t have a large enough allocation to sacrifice, besides, I think other people are more "in need"for those merit given that Kano and CK are already known and visible to most people, so, I rarely merit them. But if I had the ability to, I’d drop 10,000 merit on them without a second thought, just to help them stand out even better — even though I know both of them couldn’t care less about merit anyway.

[LoyceV]

On a side note, those two members don’t really participate in the merit system. Kano, for example, doesn’t send merit to anyone, which is the main reason I don’t merit him much — because those sMerits would just sit there, and I don’t have a large enough allocation to sacrifice, besides, I think other people are more "in need"for those merit given that Kano and CK are already known and visible to most people, so, I rarely merit them. But if I had the ability to, I’d drop 10,000 merit on them without a second thought, just to help them stand out even better — even though I know both of them couldn’t care less about merit anyway.

Feel free to post some of their good posts in Report unmerited good posts to Merit Source, I don't mind unloading some sMerit once in a while. Kano I can find, but CK, although I've seen the name, is probably not this user. Found him on the Mining board: -ck.

[philipma1957]

Who? I assume they don't post that much. I'd love to see more posts of knowledgeable people, but if they don't post, they won't earn a lot of Merit (except for satoshi).

They don't post too often — that's one of the reasons. But then look at core devs or ex-core devs in the technical section, or theymos, or many other examples of members who don’t post much, but when they do, they get a ton of merit. That’s why where you post is very critical when it comes to earning merit.

I suppose they have a low merit count mainly because the mining board has always had just 1–2 merit sources. I think right now I’m the only active merit source there. Before me, it was just the admin frod, who didn’t have a large allocation. Of course, other factors like attitude also play a role in your ability to earn merit.

What I’m trying to say is that merit count can be very misleading — not just from a technical perspective. Some people contribute very little and still earn merit, and the opposite is also true.

On a side note, those two members don’t really participate in the merit system. Kano, for example, doesn’t send merit to anyone, which is the main reason I don’t merit him much — because those sMerits would just sit there, and I don’t have a large enough allocation to sacrifice, besides, I think other people are more "in need"for those merit given that Kano and CK are already known and visible to most people, so, I rarely merit them. But if I had the ability to, I’d drop 10,000 merit on them without a second thought, just to help them stand out even better — even though I know both of them couldn’t care less about merit anyway.

I am a merit source and do give merits to mining section

[mikeywith]

I am a merit source and do give merits to mining section

ops, sorry phill, i am getting older and my memory isn't serving me well.

still, even the both of us combined are "small" in terms of merit, I think theymos should increase your sack.

[mcdouglasx]

I think that, although there are more legendary users from the pre-merit system, some of them deserve it just as much, and even more, as the legendary users from the post-merit system. Additionally, there are contributions from Hero or Sr. members that are even worthy of legendary status, especially in the technical and development areas. Merits, while they represent a rank/status, do not necessarily reflect the quality of each individual’s contributions. I created this account a couple of days after the merit system was introduced, but if I ever reach legendary status at some point, I suppose I would appreciate it more than if I had obtained it by default, since I personally wasn’t as active in my early years as I am now.

[God Of Thunder]

Also the game changed. My value would be mostly in mining ⛏️ and over the years from 2012 to 2018 I should have earned thousands of merits as I helped many members get into mining.

Now in this climate mining at home pretty much sucks. So earning merits in the mining threads are less than in other threads.

Considering how active you are and how much time you spend on the forum, and how much you helped people, I do believe you could have earned several thousand merits if there were a merit system back then. You are still more active than a lot of us. I guess you spend a lot of time on the WO thread and you earned your most merits from the WO thread, but you are everywhere lately.

Mining is not very profitable for solo miners or people who mine on a small scale. I know some people still mine as a hobby and still look for solutions on the forum. So, I believe you still have a chance to help people which you love.

[Mpamaegbu]

you can’t compare them with any measurement system that works.

Exactly! I believe that too.

Look at the events you chronicled out there, detailing some of the steps you took to advance knowledge of Bitcoin and ETH in the past (and still doing), no one should say airdropped legendary accounts didn't work harder than self-made legendary accounts. That won't be fair. However, it goes the other way too that there were also legendary accounts who shitposted during the time you were actively teaching members for free at the detriment of your time and comfort. The same is still happening now.