is earning merits really the determining factor of a quality poster?

[Revolution2025]

i came across a reply by nutildah about the reason why he issued a signature ban to a user and it was obvious that merit was used as a criterion to why he sigbanned the account. there were 109 merit sources initially before it was cut down to 84 merit sources that we have currently. a lot of these merit sources are not even active in merit distribution so how do nutildah assume that every good posts will be merited?

the dumbest criteria to use for a sigban is counting on "earned merits" because the merit system is very biased since most users circulate merits amongst themselves and their circles while those who do not belong to any gang and clique are left behind to either hunt, farm or fish merits in merit fishing threads.

If the main reason of my sign ban is due to lack of earned merits as shown in your tool, it is undeniable that it is hard to earn merits on the gambling board but I always try to post something as informative as possible there but rarely received merits.

This is a valid point but how is it possible to know if you've been making informative posts if you don't receive merits for them?

Do I really have to force myself trying to be like other people who have extensive knowledge about Bitcoin or are good at finding alt accounts/scammers to be considered as giving contribution to the forum?

No. There's plenty of ways to earn merits. Merits are ideally given for good posts, regardless of the section of the forum. So the best way to earn more merits would be to write better posts. According to TryNinja's Signature Ban dashboard, the average merits per post for all sigbanned users is 0.04, which is the equivalent of 1 merit every 25 posts. Since the introduction of the merit system, you are earning less than that, at 0.037 merits/post. The average merits/post for the Gambling board, where the majority of your posts are, is 0.10.

[BIT-BENDER]

- Unoriginal or low effort replies, including inappropriate use of AI content.
- Repetitive, previously-expressed or generic comments that don’t add value or encourage conversation.
- Consistent burst posting (regularly writing posts less than 10 minutes apart).
- Off‑topic posting or shallow engagement (doesn't provide insight, analysis or perspective).
- Posting in principle for signature campaign payment and not for the sake of contributing actual discussion.

These are the states criteria to getting signature banned, in it there is nothing written about earning merit, that aspect is just more like an opinion in addition to the person either being active in the states criteria.

And most times merit is raised up it's either for obvious reasons like a very large amount of post in addition to a long period of time without earning merit, basically it may not be a criteria but it raises eyebrows.

[Z_MBFM]

i came across a reply by nutildah about the reason why he issued a signature ban to a user and it was obvious that merit was used as a criterion to why he sigbanned the account. there were 109 merit sources initially before it was cut down to 84 merit sources that we have currently. a lot of these merit sources are not even active in merit distribution so how do nutildah assume that every good posts will be merited?

Earning Merit is not only one reason for signature ban. Nutildah tools match a few conditions to give an account health score. However, signatures are not banned based on the tools' scores alone. They must be checked manually before being banned.

- Unoriginal or low effort replies, including inappropriate use of AI content.
- Repetitive, previously-expressed or generic comments that don’t add value or encourage conversation.
- Consistent burst posting (regularly writing posts less than 10 minutes apart).
- Off‑topic posting or shallow engagement (doesn't provide insight, analysis or perspective).
- Posting in principle for signature campaign payment and not for the sake of contributing actual discussion.

the dumbest criteria to use for a sigban is counting on "earned merits" because the merit system is very biased since most users circulate merits amongst themselves and their circles while those who do not belong to any gang and clique are left behind to either hunt, farm or fish merits in merit fishing threads.

Yes, it is true that high ranked users get merits more easily than new users. But that does not mean that younger users will not get merits. Here the ratio of posts and merits is also seen. Now it is not like you cannot earn 20 merits by posting 200 posts. It is much easier if you can post quality.

Anyway, some users will get merit even by replaying this topic of yours. Isn't it easy?  

[Odohu]

Merit is not the only criteria for signature ban, I think it may  even come last among the reason used for issuing the ban. However, you will agree with me that if you are a good and active poster, your chances of earning merit will greatly increase and there is no way you will not earn some merits in 120 days. The merit system is not perfect just like every system we have but it does have some good sides which has kept this forum going.

[Joy- maker]

- Unoriginal or low effort replies, including inappropriate use of AI content.
- Repetitive, previously-expressed or generic comments that don’t add value or encourage conversation.
- Consistent burst posting (regularly writing posts less than 10 minutes apart).
- Off‑topic posting or shallow engagement (doesn't provide insight, analysis or perspective).
- Posting in principle for signature campaign payment and not for the sake of contributing actual discussion.

These are the states criteria to getting signature banned, in it there is nothing written about earning merit, that aspect is just more like an opinion in addition to the person either being active in the states criteria.

And most times merit is raised up it's either for obvious reasons like a very large amount of post in addition to a long period of time without earning merit, basically it may not be a criteria but it raises eyebrows.

No doubt, merit was not stated as an official criteria for getting a signature banned, but I was surprised to see the information below when I checked the tool to find out why @Bitinity was given a signature banned. If I'm misunderstanding anything here, someone should explain it to me so I can understand it better.

[Yablee0]

the dumbest criteria to use for a sigban is counting on "earned merits" because the merit system is very biased since most users circulate merits amongst themselves and their circles while those who do not belong to any gang and clique are left behind to either hunt, farm or fish merits in merit fishing threads.

You think so?
Because I am just curious how a new member like you would know much about the system even more than some older folks.

Moreover, how sure are you of your claims?

I will suggest you should be more careful so you wouldn't make any blind accusations that may later hunt you. Try to have some facts to back up what you're saying. Peace....

[Perfectbaby]

Do we really need this topic to be created?
I do not see any reason why we should be discussing this issues anymore after much deliberation has been made on this same subject.
Why not just put efforts to make sure you earned merits?

There are people reviewing post which I think you can submit your comments to their thread so that your post could be reviewed.
At least if I am not mistakenly, fillippone are still reviewing post and there are people submitting their post over there.

[Woodie]

IMO anybody else answering this question is merely speculating, if this is regards with the Sig bans you know who to ask but obviously to avoid repetition of answers to this, one has to read more of the signature appeals as the person with the ban hammer 🔨 has always offered answers to all affected user's and directly/indirectly answered such questions to set precedent.

[MisFoxie]

the dumbest criteria to use for a sigban is counting on "earned merits" because the merit system is very biased since most users circulate merits amongst themselves and their circles while those who do not belong to any gang and clique are left behind to either hunt, farm or fish merits in merit fishing threads.

Merit can be used to see how well a user makes posts. Some users stop paying attention to post quality as much as before after achieving Legendary rank because they will not rank up anymore, so there is no need to earn Merit either. That is why they will avoid those boards where they can earn Merit by posting. (Not all users think or act this way.)

In the past month of July, there were a total of 105,068 posts on the forum among which 38,702 were in Gambling Discussion and 5,946 were in the Gambling. So almost 50% of forums posts in that month were made only in these two boards. Seeing this it feels like this is not a Bitcoin forum but a gambling forum.

[Ambatman]

Shouldn't but It is.
I can merit a meme or sarcastic responsew I find funny doesn't mean it was of quality or solved a problem.
I just liked it.
I'm just noticing the shortage I thought it was increased some months ago
Would have given it a try but I'm too lazy to. It takes alot if you one.
I noticed something when compared to the other forum where their metric is own and can be given by anyone
Lol but it's easier getting merit here than the alternative there even if it should be more with more suppliers.

the dumbest criteria to use for a sigban is counting on "earned merits" because the merit system is very biased

Dumbest means you know alot of alternative.
It's nothing new the merit system isn't perfect but one of the easiest to use.
 

Anyway, some users will get merit even by replaying this topic of yours.

Replying.
You are welcome.

[Vod]

For some reason, Theymos keeps the outdated merit sources instead of spending a few million coding for a few hours to fix it.  I feel it's for the drama; it keeps the forum (and thus him) relevant.

[crwth]

It's all subjective and depends on how the person gives it.

Merit just measures recognition, like when you receive a "merit" award in school or at work.

Also, if you look at the merit statistics, different boards would have different merit economies. Some boards would generate a lot because they have many merit sources or merit givers. Some people would get less attention. This would produce an outcome unrelated to quality.

[Mia Chloe]

~snip

In as much as people are gonna write long stuff to try to sugar coat it, the genuine answer is yes it is. There are barely quality posters here without merits and even if there are it's just a matter of time before they eventually get noticed generally by the forum.

However on the other hand it doesn't automatically mean everyone with much merit is a quality poster obviously because it could potentially be an account from the product of merit farming. Besides the merit system even if it is effective in general ranking is not flawless.

[criptoevangelista]

In the local board where I participate, a few really suspicious accounts popped up, pretty old ones by the way, and started trading merits among themselves in a subtle way. And if these accounts popped up on our board, they've probably shown up across several other local boards and sections too. That's the issue here, a kind of merit corruption and abuse just so people can get campaign perks or reputation. Look, we live on a forum where everyone is free to give their merits wherever they find a post interesting, but certain accounts and certain people raise a lot of red flags, so it's only fair to penalize that.

Bottom line: it's not about handing out merits, it's about using merits with ulterior motives. And as for chasing merits, the more you look for them, the more they'll slip away from you. Just participate without thinking about it and they'll come naturally.

[CryptoHeadlineNews]

i came across a reply by nutildah about the reason why he issued a signature ban to a user and it was obvious that merit was used as a criterion to why he sigbanned the account. there were 109 merit sources initially before it was cut down to 84 merit sources that we have currently. a lot of these merit sources are not even active in merit distribution so how do nutildah assume that every good posts will be merited?

the dumbest criteria to use for a sigban is counting on "earned merits" because the merit system is very biased since most users circulate merits amongst themselves and their circles while those who do not belong to any gang and clique are left behind to either hunt, farm or fish merits in merit fishing threads.

Merit is not the only determining factor to identify a quality poster, but however, it is the only distinguishing factor to know the difference between a comment that solves a problem and the one that don't. Because one thing I have noticed about posts that have the most merit is that they either solves a problem or address a pressing issue among members on this forum. And secondly, one thing you also need to know is that people give merit base on different reasons, as some can just merit you base on how your post was able to make them feel (e.g smile, happy or emotional), an likewise others can also merit you base on how you were able to answer a question professionally. So both works hand in hand.

[Upgrade00]

Despite the whole arguments about merits being handed around or used to return back scratches, for the most part it is still giving for helpful, quality contributions. You can say the standards may have changed with time cause it was easier to get merits a couple of years ago than it is today, this means you have to really stand out to get a lot of it.

Lack of merits also doesn't mean lack of quality. Only one merit has been given in this thread, but it is a good example of communication in a forum; people giving their honest and original opinions. All the replies have contributed to the conversation and interacted with each other. I would not base the quality of a post or poster solely on the merits they get.

[GameKyuubi]

[notocactus]

the dumbest criteria to use for a sigban is counting on "earned merits" because the merit system is very biased since most users circulate merits amongst themselves and their circles while those who do not belong to any gang and clique are left behind to either hunt, farm or fish merits in merit fishing threads.

I see nutildah revealed that "earned merit" is not the only and main factor for considering a signature ban. Merit won't save you, he said.

You can check this thread The future of Bitcointalk and get your own conclusion like does "earned merit" decide an account is a quality poster or a shitposter.

Shitposters can change to better posters when they need merit.
"Earned merit" posters can be shitposters from beginning, just farm merit, then after farming enough for achieving wanted ranks, they will spam in the forum.
Good posters can change to be shitposters too.