speed = merit

[sleepfirefly]

when reading a thread and it has multiple pages already, do you just read the beginning part (the first few replies) or do you read the ones recently posted aka those in the latest page?

if you reply to a post and your post is on the first page, does it have more chances of gaining merits? it seems like if you are a little late to the discussion, not much merits may be given since no one sees your post anymore

is this a valid assumption?

[Welsh]

Partly yes. The sooner you post, the more likely you're expressing unique thoughts rather than rehashing several different users already made points. Plus, as you suggested you have more exposure for those who don't read the entire topic. So its a valid assumption yes.

I don't think there's any realistic way to alleviate that though, and make it more 'fair'.

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

when reading a thread and it has multiple pages already, do you just read the beginning part (the first few replies) or do you read the ones recently posted aka those in the latest page?

if you reply to a post and your post is on the first page, does it have more chances of gaining merits? it seems like if you are a little late to the discussion, not much merits may be given since no one sees your post anymore

is this a valid assumption?

It's not an assumption, it is true and actually exists.

You can see that if OP ask questions for help, and forum members, posters reply in that topic can help OP through their replies. The very first replies, if can answer OP's questions accurately and help OP to resolve his issues, will be considered as most constructive and helpful posts. Merit will be given to these first and most helpful posts.

This can be naturally or it can be used as a strategy to creating thread for discussions while prepare their replies before to answer OP very quickly. It can be a favorite strategy to get merit, and there are some posters got accusations with this style. It's hard to say they (topic starter and poster with a first reply) are from a same farm or community but who knows.

Cantsay needs to change
@Cantsay - possible abuse of merits + alt accounts
User @Hazink & @Quker481 - fake discussion + merits fishing.

[TheUltraElite]

Replies will keep coming and soon enough the major gist of the discussion will go into one direction.

It is best to assume that you will not be getting any merits in the pages beyond page 5 when it has started to enter into the shitposting domain.

I try to read posts in between longer threads and I feel I have merited some in between as well.

[MisFoxie]

It doesn't matter you're first or last if the reply contain satisfactory answer you will get more attention it's also true that being first and content has what needed then it will get most attention. People won't try to read a topic that has already a satisfactory answer. Sometimes with good reply someone won't get merit while sometimes with just simple reply get many who knows how thing work.

[acroman08]

if you reply to a post and your post is on the first page, does it have more chances of gaining merits? it seems like if you are a little late to the discussion, not much merits may be given since no one sees your post anymore

is this a valid assumption?

Yeah, when your post in the first page, it has a higher chance of getting merit compared to the posts that are on the second page, since posts on the first page get more attention. Someone even tried to abuse it, if I remember correctly. What I mean by it is that they would post either a blank post or a short sentence to make sure their post is the very first response in the thread, and then they edit it and then write their full post.

[rat03gopoh]

if you reply to a post and your post is on the first page, does it have more chances of gaining merits?

What I knew back then was that the chances were greater. And that later became a "bug" that someone exploited. I don't remember the nickname, but I do remember him pretending to ask questions using new accounts, then replying with a pre-prepared post using his main account a few seconds later.

No matter how well-planned the cheating was, it was eventually discovered. I think meritors are less impulsively spending their merits these days.

[Charles-Tim]

Just like this thread that you ask for individual's opinion, I can post on any page of this thread to give my own opinion,  but not all threads are like this. In fact, most threads are not like this.

Most of the useful answers would be seen on the first page of the thread. In fact, the answer would have possibly be on the first five posts, but there are some other threads that the discussion will be constructive and the thread will be validly longer.

There are some people that post good at times on more than first page and receive merit but some of them could have been posting on the first page or see someone to quote to make the thread to be constructive.

[libert19]

I scroll through ALL pages as long as it's doable number of pages, and read responses from members whose responses I think should be worthy to read.

if you reply to a post and your post is on the first page, does it have more chances of gaining merits?

In my experience. I'd guess so, yeah.

it seems like if you are a little late to the discussion, not much merits may be given since no one sees your post anymore

I wouldn't be discouraging myself like that, post because you have something to say, not like posting costs money anyway.

[Tetu100]

when reading a thread and it has multiple pages already, do you just read the beginning part (the first few replies) or do you read the ones recently posted aka those in the latest page?

if you reply to a post and your post is on the first page, does it have more chances of gaining merits? it seems like if you are a little late to the discussion, not much merits may be given since no one sees your post anymore

is this a valid assumption?

I think you're just trying so hard to find out why you are not getting more of merits as you please , I can understand how you feel about it but it's fine. All you need to do is just step up more on your posts quality possibly it doesn't matter weather your posts happens to fall on the first or last page of the thread, perhaps their are many merit source here on the forum and when ever any of the merit source come across it despite how long, it must surely be merited.

So their is no big deal rushing to spam up the first page on the thread seeking for attention, however the forum standard remains constant, if your post lacks the required quality regardless being on first page, just still forget it because their will still be no merit for you.

[Mia Chloe]

when reading a thread and it has multiple pages already, do you just read the beginning part (the first few replies) or do you read the ones recently posted aka those in the latest page?

Every user is not the same. If someone asked a question and you find a couple of replies there courtesy demands you just read through the first few replies that you have and after that you can say something meaningful and new. Reason you should read though is to avoid repetition and that's spamming.

That aside as for merit it depends a lot on the board in question some boards don't have that much quality to prompt people to read far but I can assure you if it's the technical board it doesn't matter what page.

[GeorgeJohn]

if you reply to a post and your post is on the first page, does it have more chances of gaining merits? it seems like if you are a little late to the discussion, not much merits may be given since no one sees your post anymore

Not all replies on the first page have the chances of earning merit...people are saying yes due to replies on the first pages attracts attention..whereas what attracts someone to send out merit to user, is how meaningful and educative is the reply on the pages... despite that people don't like to read all the replies on the pages before responding, merit is been awarded if I like your reply.

Replying what's not meaningful in the first page can't fetch a user a merits, merit are been awarded to users due to its contributions...i have seen a thread, people who replies on the first page did not earn a merit compare to people who replies on the second [2] pages..so it's an indication that second pages replies on that thread are meaningful and understanding than the replies on the first pages.

[DPHOR]

Not true.. what matters is the level of your contribution so, if people reading the topic found your post or comments more worthy it would definitely receive Merits. But if you rushed to post to make sure your post be on the first page whereby it doesn't conveyed enough information to the reader they wouldn't mind skipping you to the next person who their post and comments is really carrying enough information or that seems to help them the more. If I could remembered vividly, I have made a comment where it was around page 8 something there about, it receive merits because the lost was helpful to the reader.

[Richbased]

when reading a thread and it has multiple pages already, do you just read the beginning part (the first few replies) or do you read the ones recently posted aka those in the latest page?

Okay, so what i do is to read the OP then jump to the last page to see if there is any reply i can quote, if there is none then i reply to OP directly.

if you reply to a post and your post is on the first page, does it have more chances of gaining merits? it seems like if you are a little late to the discussion, not much merits may be given since no one sees your post anymore

This is where i respect JayJuanGee and vapourminer, both of them can merit a post regardless of the number of pages they found a meritable post. First page replies attracts more merits since anyone who opens a thread needs to read the first page but that doesn't mean that other posts made in farer pages are not merit worthy or merited.

The obvious reason why some persons doesn't like meriting posts in the last page is due to spamming, you might just find out that many people are just repeating what has been said in the first page.

[GeorgeJohn]

The obvious reason why some persons doesn't like meriting posts in the last page is due to spamming, you might just find out that many people are just repeating what has been said in the first page.

They will not give same reason the first replies give, because when you read the composition of op texts, you can decides to react or respond without reading other posts based on how many numbers of pages involve...but that doesn't mean that your responds another person's responds will be the same....

It will be similar but not the same, they're people who likes to break explanations down to a lay man understanding, respond to answer is like maths...no matter how simple is maths, your steps of deriving answers many not be the same with another person but both of you will arrive in the same result....

I have said it earlier, that first pages replies always be attractive in a thread, but that does not mean that all first page replies are solution to the question or meaningful...you can found more facts and reasonable answers from the last pages also.

[Rikafip]

Earlier replies do often increase chances of getting merit, but only if your post is actually informative, and not some bullshit you write in a hurry just to be among the firsts.

Merit farmers are aware of that, so they even used a tactic where they would create a topic with an alt account, and then few minutes later they would come with their main account and leave already prepared answer.

[TokenTikas]

when reading a thread and it has multiple pages already, do you just read the beginning part (the first few replies) or do you read the ones recently posted aka those in the latest page?

In this forum, every thread is created so that people can ask about different topics and also learn some important and informative matters through discussion. The first post of each thread is usually very important and based on that post, others share different kinds of useful information to help everyone understand the topic better. I always try to read all the outputs of the posts, if I can add more informative or better value than what is already shared, then I make sure to post it. I don't reply just by checking only the first page or the last page, I go through the whole discussion from beginning to end to fully understand the matter before replying, especially if I have something valuable to add. Also, if there is any reply that needs correction, I try to correct it politely and in a proper way.

Getting qualified mostly depends on how informative and how good the quality of the post is. If someone can make a high-quality post, then they will surely earn qualification on that post. For me, whether a post is made earlier or later is not that important but if a person can share important and informative content at an early stage, it becomes easier for them to get qualified. When both quality and quantity are maintained and a well-structured post is made early, it usually carries more value.

[FinneysTrueVision]

There are megathreads where people still regularly earn merits, even if their reply is on page 100. Depending on the subject of a thread, you don’t necessarily have to be early because you can still make a an informative reply to keep a conversation going or submit a useful report in threads like the AI spammers topic.

If someone asks for help and they’re given good advice early, then yes, those early replies are more likely to receive merit because late responses will tend to be repetitive or unnecessary.

[mcdouglasx]

Yes and no, because it depends on how the thread is being discussed. If it's an interesting topic that requires a technical solution, for example, the most appropriate solution for the thread will be given merit with greater certainty, regardless of which page it's on. There could even be threads where only the OP receives merit because their content is self-sufficient and doesn't require extensive discussion.

In short, the quality of the answer is valued more than its position itself, and if you offer it first or with better justification, you will gain merit.

[DYING_S0UL]

If it's one of those megathreads with infinity pages, I would just read the most recent replies and the one made by the OP. As for the rest of the pages, it's hard to consume all those. So if I see anything meritable in those two spots, I would merit them. But if it's a post with 4-5 pages, I normally go through each page's (even if it means glancing from a distance, not reading everything line by line). And then I would proceed with the next step. As for your other question, speed equals merit, that's already been answered by many, and I believe that too. Then again, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th posts doesn't guarantee anything. We might end up with a good reply at post no 5th. So remember, Merit is a subjective thing.