Signature Ban Appeal for Nrcewker

[Nrcewker]

I would like to understand why I have been issued a signature ban.

I like to discuss gambling, trading, Bitcoin prices and HODLing and I wont deny the fact that I am most active in these sections. But this doesnt mean that I post there just to increase my post count. I read other sections of the forum as well and whenever I find something interesting to post about, I post in other sections too.

Since I mostly discuss things in the gambling section, I came across an incident involving multiple accounts and reported it as well:

Possible Accounts Involved

1. Al-Ghifary
2. shendy
3. StreakW
4. bots1
5. guffie

Today, user Al-Ghifary created a thread in the Gambling section. After reviewing the thread, I noticed that all of the replies were made by the accounts listed above.

What caught my attention is that these accounts had been inactive for some time and suddenly became active in the same thread.

In addition, the other three accounts sent merit to Al-Ghifary shortly after participating in the thread.

Merit history of Al-Ghifary:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1116100


Registration Dates

• shendy — February 2017
• Al-Ghifary — August 2017
• bots1 — September 2017
• StreakW — October 2017
• guffie — Feburary 2017

All five accounts were registered within the same general time period.

While this alone is not conclusive proof that the accounts are connected, the coordinated activity, sudden reactivation of accounts, participation in the same thread, and continuos merit transfers to Al-Ghifary raise concerns about possible account connections and merit abuse.

The gambling site itself also appears questionable, particularly because it is using a .xyz domain, which prompted me to take a closer look and share this information for community review.

I have also contributed to my local forum whenever I find something interesting to post:

So Happy Raksha Bandhan to all the brothers and sisters. Nowadays we have a tradition of giving gifts to each other, so it works both ways that is brothers give gifts to their sisters and vice versa.

Have any of you guys thought about gifting crypto instead of cash? I am more interested in gifting Bitcoin, as its the final boss of cryptocurrencies. I am planning to gift 0.00025 BTC to each of my sisters. I will also educate them about how precious Bitcoin is and how its value has risen from practically nothing to almost a million dollar asset.

Since the amount isnt very high so I am planning to have them open P2P accounts (through my referral link ofc ) and transfer the BTC directly to their accounts. What are your thoughts on this? And how many of you have already done something similar?

These are some examples of posts I have made in other sections as well. Its quite surprising that I have to quote and show that I have actually contributed to the forum and am not making low quality posts just because some user thinks that according to him, my posts dont add any value.

Isnt the main purpose of the forum to discuss Bitcoin or is it to poke other people, get involved in their fights, and give opinions on who is correct and who isnt? I used to provide technical input on the forum in the initial days but nowadays I dont get enough time to get into those discussions. I participate because I genuinely enjoy discussing things with people.

But I still dont know why I got signature banned. Nutildah please, if possible, review my request and consider reversing the ban.

[nutildah]

I would like to understand why I have been issued a signature ban.

Your writing is decent but nobody seems to be connecting with your posts. This may be because they are often in threads where nobody appears to be reading what anybody else is saying. For example, is a reply like this to the OP really necessary on the 6th page of a thread?

Do not end up like this man 👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻

People need to understand that trading isnt easy or guaranteed money. There is always a risk associated with it. If you are putting money into trading or investing then you need to mentally prepare yourself for the possibility that you could lose it. Hence it is advisable to only trade or invest a small portion of your earnings.

You should follow the golden 40:30:30 rule that is use 40% of your earnings for monthly expenses, 30% for investments or taking calculated risks and the remaining 30% for savings. If you dont manage your finances properly, no one else can help you. Its really sad to hear news like this. Sadly there isn’t much more we can do about this.

Its not the worst post but its generic banter that doesn't seem written to be read. You may argue that almost none of the conversation in that thread is compelling or necessary, and you'd be right. Its empty, forced conversation taking place exclusively to fill signature quotas. But we have to start somewhere.

And I know it doesn't seem fair because your posts are often surrounded by posts that are worse in quality. Not many people seem to be reading any of it, but they are not appreciating your posts in particular -- its the only explanation for how you've more-or-less avoided merits all these years after thousands of posts.

You've also had a fair number of posts deleted by moderators, which suggests your posts are actively unappreciated by readers and staff.

Isnt the main purpose of the forum to discuss Bitcoin

Yes, it is.

I used to provide technical input on the forum in the initial days but nowadays I dont get enough time to get into those discussions.

I checked, and your account never much got into technical discussions, but the "initial days" you was indeed more technical-minded than the current you. The initial days you was also Chinese, and their primary purpose was to promote a Chinese exchange called LakeBTC.

This is actually one of your better more interesting posts IMO... honest, straight & to the point; it harkens back to a simpler time:

I hope your mom won't be china dama, risk is coming

[Nrcewker]

Your writing is decent but nobody seems to be connecting with your posts. This may be because they are often in threads where nobody appears to be reading what anybody else is saying.

Are you serious? So rather than sharing my opinion and answering the question that was actually asked in the OP, I should first filter out which threads will have people appreciating my posts and replying to me? Now I have to write in order to please people?

You may argue that almost none of the conversation in that thread is compelling or necessary, and you'd be right.

So, isnt it the moderators job to remove such topics or archive them? The posts, information and debates shared might not be necessary for you but another person "might" find them useful right?

And I know it doesn't seem fair because your posts are often surrounded by posts that are worse in quality.

How can you say my posts are bad? Its just your perspective.

Not many people seem to be reading any of it, but they are not appreciating your posts in particular

Leave "many" aside but "some" are reading it right?

its the only explanation for how you've more-or-less avoided merits all these years after thousands of posts.

I think I mainly share my opinions on Gambling, Trading Discussion, Bitcoin Discussion and the Speculation board. If you compare these boards with others, mainly Meta, Reputation, Technical Discussion etc, then the overall merit distribution is lower on those boards hence I have lower merits.

You've also had a fair number of posts deleted by moderators, which suggests your posts are actively unappreciated by readers and staff.

Yes I can see that. Plenty of my posts have been deleted, all thanks to your exceptional BOT/Tool that you have created and that has counted these points against me.





At first I thought what cryptofrka said was wrong, but now I understand the importance of his statements.

Maybe, just maybe, his tool is a piece of crap.

What saddens me is that you didnt check my post history twice before pushing that ban button. You relied on your tool and simply initiated the ban. I dont know why you are doing this (maybe to create an impression that you are really fighting against spam or to show off in front of other members) but manually reviewing the posts and then issuing a ban would have been more appropriate.

And are people who only post in Gambling, Trading Discussion, Bitcoin Discussion and the Speculation board, without receiving many merits, automatically bound to be sigbanned? Are the campaign managers who accept these users completely ignoring their post quality?

Yes if I had used AI or plagiarized my posts, then the ban would have been justified. But being sigbanned for sharing my own knowledge and experience and for not participating in the other politics here is something I simply cant digest. I still have faith in you, Nutildah.

[nutildah]

I think I mainly share my opinions on Gambling, Trading Discussion, Bitcoin Discussion and the Speculation board. If you compare these boards with others, mainly Meta, Reputation, Technical Discussion etc, then the overall merit distribution is lower on those boards hence I have lower merits.

But you earn significantly fewer merits than your peers on those boards, and I have to assume its because nobody thinks your posts are actually very good. Admittedly that is just an assumption.

What saddens me is that you didnt check my post history twice before pushing that ban button. You relied on your tool and simply initiated the ban.

That's not true at all. I spent a significant amount of time reviewing your post history and weighed several factors before making this decision.

And are people who only post in Gambling, Trading Discussion, Bitcoin Discussion and the Speculation board, without receiving many merits, automatically bound to be sigbanned?

No. Having low or no merits isn't the end of the world, but for accounts as old as yours, it suggests something about the overall quality of the posts. The large number of deleted posts (also relative to your peers) suggests something similar. BPIP shows 76 deleted posts, I'm not sure what Bitlist is looking at.

[Nrcewker]

But you earn significantly fewer merits than your peers on those boards, and I have to assume its because nobody thinks your posts are actually very good. Admittedly that is just an assumption.

Okay so now you have started banning people just based on your assumptions. And who are these peers? Am I in a race to earn merits? Did I sign up here to race with these peers or did I sign up on the forum to share my opinions and discuss things with others?

Merit is a new system created in order to reward quality contributions to the forum. Now to rise through ranks you will also need to acquire Merit in addition to Activity.

I am simply discussing my opinions on the forum. Whenever a user feels that my post is a contribution, they can give me merit. But I am not here to contribute to the forum by creating tutorials, guides etc. I would rather discuss things with people about Bitcoin, how to gamble with Bitcoin, how to make more money with Bitcoin etc.

Merit was introduced so that people who contribute to the forum can rank up faster. It wasnt introduced to judge people's posts. I dont want to teach someone how to recover a lost wallet and contribute to the community with a tutorial. Rather I would love to discuss how my favourite player played yesterday's nail biting match.

That's not true at all. I spent a significant amount of time reviewing your post history and weighed several factors before making this decision.

So your decision was like, "Oh, he doesnt have many merits so he is definitely not contributing. Definitely his signature manager isnt checking his post quality, so lets push the ban"?

but for accounts as old as yours, it suggests something about the overall quality of the posts. The large number of deleted posts (also relative to your peers) suggests something similar. BPIP shows 76 deleted posts, I'm not sure what Bitlist is looking at.

Bitlist showed the recent posts deleted by the mods whereas BPIP showed the lifetime deleted posts. Bitlist even showed that I dont have any deleted posts since 2024 or earlier. So are you using this as a metric to determine the ban? We all know how in the initial days, we used to post one liners and hence those deletions were in place.

But tell me one thing, why are you comparing me with my peers? Is there any rule anywhere that says I need to be better than X person? I truly feel like you just randomly found my post in the Gambling section, entered my ID into your tool, saw my score, started initiating the ban and for you, your daily quota was done.

But for me it really hurts because I am within the forum limits and not breaking any rules. Whenever possible, I try to teach people about holding Bitcoin, teach people about stop losses in trading and teach people to take less risk while betting, but you still pushed the ban.

Instead of these random bans ask theymos to give you an option similar to the "Report to Moderator" feature, such as "Report to Nutildah" so that real users can report a user's post that is off topic. Then based on those reports, you could check their post history to determine whether they have multiple off topic posts just to increase their post count and then issue the ban if necessary.

I am really disappointed at the moment.

Please revoke the ban and I will be grateful.

[nutildah]

Okay so now you have started banning people just based on your assumptions.

No, because the ban isn't based on just that.

And who are these peers? Am I in a race to earn merits?

In the interest of fairness, I can make the merit data presentable to give you a clearer idea of what I'm talking about, let me know if you'd like some raw data and we can debate its relevance.

The best way I can put using merit as an indicator for accounts like yours (ranked up pre-merit system) is the presence of merit doesn't always mean a poster writes quality posts, but the absence of merit almost always indicates a lack of quality. The mindset seems to be: since the account reached Hero rank - good enough to get in most campaigns - no real effort needs to be made to write quality posts from hereon out.

You've had years to accrue merits even just incidentally - not as part of a ploy to rank up or get in a campaign - but during the course of interaction as a human being on an internet forum. Perhaps a more personal approach would have yielded more attention (in the form of merits) from other users.

Did I sign up here to race with these peers or did I sign up on the forum to share my opinions and discuss things with others?

You can still do that.

I am simply discussing my opinions on the forum. Whenever a user feels that my post is a contribution, they can give me merit. But I am not here to contribute to the forum by creating tutorials, guides etc. I would rather discuss things with people about Bitcoin, how to gamble with Bitcoin, how to make more money with Bitcoin etc.

That's the thing: it doesn't seem to me like you're actually "discussing" very much. You're not talking to anybody through posts like these:

I dont think the work we do throughout the day has a direct effect on the gambling we do. I think how we gamble or the outcome of our gambling, completely depends on luck. So I dont really understand how these responsible gambling practices will enhance my luck when gambling.

I am sure these activities can help you gamble with less stress but at the end of the day, the ultimate factor is still luck. I also dont like to mix things like my day to day job and gambling. I only try to gamble when I feel that I have a higher chance of winning. Hence this leads to less losses.

Its still your right to make posts like this but its hard to argue they are beyond low quality.

So your decision was like, "Oh, he doesnt have many merits so he is definitely not contributing. Definitely his signature manager isnt checking his post quality, so lets push the ban"?

No, its never that simple. I looked pretty thoroughly through your recent and past post history and my conclusion was your posts in general have a low signal/noise ratio. Meaning, you take more than you contribute. To be honest, knowing you aren't the original owner of the account doesn't work in your favor. If your posts were exemplary then it'd perhaps be easier to overlook, but then again we wouldn't be having this conversation.

[Nrcewker]

I can make the merit data presentable to give you a clearer idea of what I'm talking about, let me know if you'd like some raw data and we can debate its relevance.

First of all there isnt any rule that says I need to be better than any other person, whether in terms of merits or post count. This isnt a corporate organization where I have to chase ratings (merits) over other members to get better rewards. I still dont understand why you banned me, the reasons arent clear and seem to be based mainly on personal observations. But yes I would like to see the raw merit data, how you are comparing me with my "peers" (which is of course, unnecessary), and what exactly you are considering.

Perhaps a more personal approach would have yielded more attention (in the form of merits) from other users.

Merit is something that another user voluntarily gives to a user when they feel that a post deserves it. But I dont make a post thinking "Will this earn me merit?" I simply make a post because I have something to say about the question asked or because I want to participate in the discussion. If a user finds what I said useful then they might give me merit. If not, thats completely fine as well right? So I dont think I am at fault for not receiving enough merits.

Its my choice where and how I want to participate in the forum.

For example, if someone asks a question about gambling and I share my opinion or feedback on it, I consider that a discussion. It may not be something that deserves merit but does that automatically make it a spam or low quality post?

That's the thing: it doesn't seem to me like you're actually "discussing" very much.

This is where I can see that we have different views regarding what is called a "discussion." I dont think a discussion has to result in a long technical explanation or an educational conclusion. Sometimes people like me simply exchange our opinions, views and experiences. And for me that is the definition of a forum. Yet you are calling it a low signal/noise ratio?

I dont get involved in forum politics that is who is DT, who is getting more merits, who is making funny posts about members, who is trolling members and who is calling others various names. I have seen enough of these dramas in day to day life.

You can still do that.

I want to do these things only. I want to continue participating in the forum in the way I want to while obviously staying within the limits and rules. I havent scammed anyone, I havent begged anyone, and I havent broken a single forum rule.

snip~

Its still your right to make posts like this but its hard to argue they are beyond low quality.

I can understand that you personally dont find that post valuable but it was an experience that I shared in response to OP's question. Isnt the thread created to ask for opinions?

No, its never that simple. I looked pretty thoroughly through your recent and past post history and my conclusion was your posts in general have a low signal/noise ratio.

So I am asking you to consider that my posting style is simply different from what you consider valuable, instead of treating this as evidence that I am intentionally generating noise.

Long story short: I am here to participate in topics that I find interesting. I dont chase merits (otherwise I could have always been hanging around in Reputation and Meta, where I could have chosen either side of an argument and instantly received merits) nor do I compete with anyone. If I really made low quality posts, then I shouldnt have received any signature campaign offers to promote.

I think Nutildah, that you dont have any solid reason for banning me and I want to understand the actual reason. Please let me know and if possible please revert the ban decision.


Edit: Regarding your complaint about my low number of merits:

Top Boards by Merit Transactions:
And through this visual the top boards where the most merit transactions happened are shown and among them at the very top is Speculation and Meta.

You can see for yourself where I should have been making posts to receive those merits. But as I said I love discussing Gambling, Bitcoin and prices, so it was destined that I would receive fewer merits. Now please dont tell me which sections of the forum I should post in and which ones I shouldnt.