Second chances for merit sources?

[Vod]

Theymos,

OgNasty mentioned today that he is a merit source.   Again, and after stealing coins from all of us.

Can I be a merit source as well?  My only crime was giving away too many merits per post, which is common practice today.

[Mia Chloe]

~snip

I think the criteria to becoming a merit source is pretty far from this lol... Nevertheless why don't you try? Come up with a couple of posts you think are lacking merits based off quality and drop an application here. You never can tell if it's good enough you could eventually be added as a source.

Unless you might just be kidding though. Nevertheless I think it's kinda obvious to know who a merit source is or isn't merit history tells a lot most times.

[Vod]

~snip

I think the criteria to becoming a merit source is pretty far from this lol... Nevertheless why don't you try? Come up with a couple of posts you think are lacking merits based off quality and drop an application here. You never can tell if it's good enough you could eventually be added as a source.

Unless you might just be kidding though. Nevertheless I think it's kinda obvious to know who a merit source is or isn't merit history tells a lot most times.

I'm not kidding.  I used to be a merit source, and the quality of the posts I merit is unchanged.    If Theymos would rather I give merits to every post of people I don't dislike then I could do that too, but I would rather continue to merit quality posts.

[Mia Chloe]

I'm not kidding.  I used to be a merit source, and the quality of the posts I merit is unchanged.    If Theymos would rather I give merits to every post of people I don't dislike then I could do that too, but I would rather continue to merit quality posts.

That's interesting.... Did you willingly drop the position or something else happened... pardon my interrogation but if I had to make a suggestion I'd still refer back to what I said earlier. Just pull up another application format for formal sake I guess. But I'm not really sure if Theymos will be adding any sources sooner.

So the possible bad news is you're gonna have to wait for probably a longer period of time likely till we get a general workaround the forum I guess.

[Vod]

That's interesting.... Did you willingly drop the position or something else happened...

I had over 1,000 smerits and was getting 100+ a day.  I'm not everywhere like LoyceV so I followed Theymos' advice to give more merit to a post.  I send 50 smerit to around 5-10 posts, Quickseller complained and then Theymos removed me.

I understand why I was removed.  I do not understand what private deal Theymos and OgNasty made to remove their distrust of each other and give Og power to influence people, but Theymos will be called as a witness in my trial by Og.  It's almost as if Theymos is giving OgNasty permission to scam again.  I've never scammed a single person. But I am open to correction if someone can provide a logical reason.  

[Churchillvv]

~snip

I think the criteria to becoming a merit source is pretty far from this lol... Nevertheless why don't you try? Come up with a couple of posts you think are lacking merits based off quality and drop an application here. You never can tell if it's good enough you could eventually be added as a source.

Unless you might just be kidding though. Nevertheless I think it's kinda obvious to know who a merit source is or isn't merit history tells a lot most times.

I'm not kidding.  I used to be a merit source, and the quality of the posts I merit is unchanged.    If Theymos would rather I give merits to every post of people I don't dislike then I could do that too, but I would rather continue to merit quality posts.

When I read this part I immediately thought one thing that you were sending huge numbers of merit to people who agree with your opinion when it had to do with person issues or two parties which you were one part and that lead to the abuse of merit which got theymos to remove you.

And having found the thread I guessed right: Vod is abusing his merit source position to give 50 merit to his supporters

[Vod]

And having found the thread I guessed right: Vod is abusing his merit source position to give 50 merit to his supporters

Yep, I guess I did give 50 smerits to people supporting me at the time.  How is that any different than giving a smerit to every person who posts on a multi-page thread except for someone who does not support you?  

Did you see post 3 where I quoted Theymos?  He should not be playing favorites, esp with thieves he has personally accused.  

[MarryWithBTC]

And having found the thread I guessed right: Vod is abusing his merit source position to give 50 merit to his supporters

Yep, I guess I did give 50 smerits to people supporting me at the time.  How is that any different than giving a smerit to every person who posts on a multi-page thread except for someone who does not support you?  

Did you see post 3 where I quoted Theymos?  He should not be playing favorites, esp with thieves he has personally accused.  

I can remember that I read somewhere where theymos said that it is better to award 50 merits to one quality post that spreading it to many non quality posts. I might not have said it the exact way he made the post, but I know I am within the context.

I checked the thread above, the allegation wasn't about the number of merits per post only, but that he selectively gives to his supporters.
If you wish to become a merit source again, you can just Pm theymos. I don't think there's need for a fresh application and hopefully this time you'll do better.

[Vod]

If you wish to become a merit source again, you can just Pm theymos. I don't think there's need for a fresh application and hopefully this time you'll do better.

I don't remember any announcement that OgNasty was being reinstated as a merit source after Theymos exposed his theft.  And just today I learned Theymos will be a witness for Og for my lawsuit.   If that kind of deal is being done privately, I'd rather my application be public.

[theymos]

OgNasty was never removed as a merit source, so he didn't need a "second chance". He was added in 2018 (the same as you), and then never removed.

The last time I thoroughly reviewed merit sources, about a year ago, I wasn't putting any time into considering whether anyone should be removed. I only removed inactive sources. And prior to that, the last time I thoroughly reviewed merit sources was in 2021. Outside of one-off urgent changes, I only seriously look into merit sources rarely, in big batches.

Merit sources are supposed to represent a wide variety of views, so I'm reluctant to remove them just because I have negative opinions about them: that'd risk creating an echo chamber favoring my views. For example, Vispilio and Quickseller are still merit sources, despite them having negative trust. Of course, if any merit source uses merit in an inappropriate way (and it comes to my attention), then I would remove them.

But after considering this complaint, I decided to remove OgNasty, because he has a large amount of responsibility for allowing the feud between you two to escalate and persist for way too long, to the detriment of everyone on this forum -- and him being a merit source is just going to exacerbate that even more. For example, he has frequently been meriting posts which agree with his position against you, including giving 50 merit to an old "anti-Vod" post. (Though at least lately, you have been escalating your feud much more than him, and annoying far more people on the forum with it...) Furthermore, OgNasty's recent merit sends have not been very useful, consisting mainly of meriting people participating in contests, people who agree with him, and old already-over-merited posts.

I would in principle not be opposed to making you (or OgNasty) a merit source again someday, but:
 1. You are currently too volatile.
 2. In the automated scoring system I use to analyze merit sends as an initial starting point to decide who would make a good merit source, you are ranked 2393 out of 2497. For comparison: LoyceV is #8, and MaxMueller (the top non-source) is #15. So you would not be up for consideration.

[Vod]

Though at least lately, you have been escalating your feud much more than him, and annoying far more people on the forum with it...)

Is this why OgNasty is calling you as a witness?  All I am doing is defending myself.  I don't think your job as Administrator is to support people who have stolen from us.  He wants to drop it - he's guilty of damaging my reputation - of course I need to escalate!

Thank you Theymos - I appreciate you removing him.  I'll stop asking to be one in fairness.