Topic: Can a merit source re-start Ratimov merit threads. (Read 627 times)

What do I have to tell on this issue concerning Mr Ratimov?
Is just that someone such as him can't just stop what he's doing for no reason and I also saw when a user quoted one of his post and it seems like he did something to it showing that something went down with his post, like he deleted it or something.
So I'd say things ain't the same with him. Well I think without him on the mix the Forum will still do better and I feel he can be replaced and another thread can come up just like his old thread.

Yeah, sure. 



But honestly, there's also one truth that should not be ignored, which is that in terms of participating in campaigns, some managers do require some maximum number of earned merit in the last 120 days; as such, it's also earned merit that helps some members to be able to get selected in those campaigns.


 I think that some people don't usually appear on time to a thread; before they do, their comments might end up on page 5 (up) and it might be difficult to receive merit because some members that give merit only visit pages 1 and 2 because they believe that all good opinions are just on the first and second pages, while there could be other quality comments on page 5 too. Another thing I noticed too is that in terms of merit distribution, some are sentimental and do so out of favoritism. For example, I have seen where the first comment was more of a quality than the second comment, but the second comment got the merit.

Pray tell us why? You seem to know a lot from all indications so you can tell us why he left?. Anyways, I won't drag the matter out of context  because it seems the Op wants another merit source to continue Ratimov's good work and honestly, I quite agree.
 
 Just like others have helpfully supplied, there's many threads where merit sources are doling out merits to good posts and to be frank, they are doing a good job to make one forget that Ratimov has been MIA. So if I were to suggest to the Op, I'd say you make use of them and let Ratimov's thread be.

Show me 50 users with good English (or Dutch) posts) who need 10 to 50 Merit to reach their next rank, and I'll bump them up. But I don't have the time to read through users' post histories.

I don't think the problem is with missing @Ratimov as much as it is in the method of distributing merits. Ratimov way of sending merits to users who have a little left to the next rank means that you will easily get 10 to 50 merits once you reach 90% of merits requirements, which is different Of the majority who either review post/topic individually or send 1-5 merits.

This is a good point and something I will look at more in the future.
Your position is sensible, yet, many users could be discouraged posting, without seeing their post being noticed, which isn't good either.
For this balance, I propose my review for the users who might feel more rewarded by a merit, rather than the pure joy of sharing their toughs.

You are right; if a post deserves an award, it will be noticed. But lately, the topics where posts are sent for verification by merit sources resemble a school or university, where students submit their posts, like tests or even a thesis.

Aren't we on a forum just to discuss Bitcoin? We force merit sources to read undervalued posts while other users pass by them. If the post is good in itself, then everyone will see it. Why direct someone's eyes there?

It doesn't seem entirely sincere. The forum is designed for simple communication; however, we want every word to have a price.
Or else, if users do not rate posts, does that mean no one reads anything?

Sometimes you see a user whose merits come only from the source of merit. It turns out that it is only good for one person.
And still, we will be disingenuous when we say that people gathered on the forum only out of great love for crypto and not for the sake of ranks.

I'm not quite sure if that is necessary as there are many threads as similar as the one ratimov had. For example we have hugeblack, LoyceV, fillippone who have their own thread for merit distribution. Of course, it is encouraged to to merit, deserving posts and everyone has different way of meriting. Some prefer it as posted as a thread, some prefer it as manually reading every comment. Can't judge it really. Even before ratimov became a merit source, other sources distributed merits and after the incident of ratimov, merits are still being distributed. So I don't see any problem here. Having one thread deletes doesn't effect the forum much. Don't you think so? Again new ideas and thoughts are always encouraged.

You can read an explanation here: Should Ratimov aka Symmetrick be in DT1?. Or, a sum-up here.


Yes. His last trick before exiting the stage.

It is true that such topics help encourage newbies. However, I would say that there are more important topics that need to be created than recreating these. Because already many have mentioned that many members have already taken this same objective and their topic is still running.
I think creating this topic (Ratimov's Forum Guides, Tutorials & Lists) is more important than the topics you mentioned, not only this topic but also all the tutorial lists of this topic are very important for beginners. I don't know about the internals why he blanked them out but I think they need to be re-created by anyone, maybe it's the op(rati) himself?
By the way did Ratimov change his name to Symmetrick?

It's going to sound absolutely hypocritical of me to say this, but I agree with you 100%.  But if I went that route and just merited good posts I just happened to stumble upon, I'd never get rid of my sMerit stash.  That's important to me (even though I'm failing miserably at the moment), because circulating merits keeps the whole thing going--and believe me when I tell you that creating the merit system was a genius move on Theymos's part, and one that I owe part of my sanity to.  

If you make people come to you for merits, you just have to be able to say no to shitposters when you see them.  I've had to reject so many requests for post reviews, it'd make your head spin.  I don't know if Ratimov needs a break or what, but he definitely kept those merits flowing.  If he decides to become much less active as a merit source as a result of all this drama, it might be a bit of a problem.

Brother, you speak the truth with that one.  But we're not living in an age where men are stoics--that time is long gone.  Not making knee-jerk reactions to attacks, insults, and whatever else is hard sometimes but if you can control that anger....well, some of us just can't do it all the time.  Gotta go for the prefrontal cortex every time except when you're in love.  That's my idiotic advice that none of y'all should listen to.

You always make good posts, so I dropped you 25 for that Foxpup praise post.

Those threads were very helpful to a lot of members on this forum as they quickly got a complete merit to rank up. Despite that, I was not a beneficiary of those threads, but I can tell how it helped most members rank up. But now that the thread is not functional any more due to reasons best known by the OP, there are yet other threads by other merit sources that you or other newbies can still apply for and get their complete merit to rank up. According to your question, OP, there are still other exiting threads that merit sources are using to award merit to members, so I don't feel any merit source will yet want to start a new thread. I am not saying they won't if they want to, but I know and I hope you understand that among the active merit sources we have on the forum, not all of them have a merit thread, but yet they still have their own pattern for distributing their merit.

Why could all this happen?
Even though I saw in your thread, you often help beginners and even seniors.
Sorry if I'm being presumptuous, I don't fully understand the rules of this forum and how it works.

It makes all sense if other merit sources could continue where @Symmetric stops this work, open their own or be sure to be regularly visiting that thread to help the growing users. I am one of the last sets that was helped by him and I am very happy about this, which is one of the reasons why agree with you on the suggestion as merits for some people who are even good posters are not easy to come by.

As for Symmetric, I hope all is well with him, the behaviour is so unusual to the point that he stopped his paying campaign. All I noticed was that there were many attacks on his person prior to the change of attitude. To be angry is normal, but as a man, we should know that emotion is a weakness and the ability to overcome annoyance goes a long way.

I wish him all the best and hope he will be back to his usual!

gave you 50 it will help you over the dry spell

I don't think it's a good option to speak up like this, not offend you OP but merit sources have thier own way of giving merits and also there are many good merit source still watching some other users and if they gonna like your post then they will give some merits.
Also like what other said above there are many threads who are still active for giving such merits all you need us to explore the forum and find those one.
Op we can't beg for merits so let us make a good post in order to receive one so Op nothing gonna happen about this thread sorry but no offend OP.

Yes, that's true the work you and some other merit sources are doing is a really tough work and I really appreciate the work that you and a few other merit sources are doing for the other members of the forum. There are many members who make good quality posts but still don't get enough merits and I believe that such members can get great help for the effort they are putting in their posts.

I must say that the your post review thing is still unique and has been quite helpful for many members. You have been very helpful with your post review history thread and I believe that only a few people can dedicate their time to review others posts and reward them merits for their contribution.

SHH.

I haven't "fallen out of love" with doing post history reviews, nor have I gone the route of Ratimov but as of late I've been up to my ass in alligators in real life and my motivation for doing them has dropped dramatically.  I'm hoping that 'ol mojo will come back soon, but right now I've got a queue of members who've PMed me and for who I still need to reviews.  I haven't paused my offer, but just know that any new requests are going to be in for a long-ish wait time.

Sometimes doing stuff like this is a pain in the ass.  I suspect that's why you don't see more merit sources doing giveaways and the like.

Ratimov is actually a generous giver as I know and has helped lots of people without undermining whether such person is from their locals or not, but the past hit on him made him remain muted for long now and has no strength to involved himself in any activities including merits distribution. But no need to panicked as time goes we often have some people who are always with enough merits to offload but sometimes they are too occupied to do that and all they need is to have spare time to go through everyone post to give out merits. I can see they have already listed lots of thread that talks about what you are requesting so there's no need to be extremely worried because I know whenever you have a quality post you will surely be merited even though you didn't report your post to anyone. I don't know if The Skeptical chemist is still doing post review but you can find out more details on his thread to know as well then you may submitted to him also.

I don't think that's the main reason why he entered ghost mode. Nobody's giving him pressure when it comes to the merit aspect, I have this feeling that there's something we really don't know that went down because how can he just lock a thread that has been on for years without any better reason... Even when he's online he's not like he was... Well let's see if there'll be any changes.

We all have our ways of processing things when we get overwhelmed by them and you can agree with me that Ratimov seemed to have come under a lot of pressure lately and coupled with how tasking and demanding trying to meet up with merit requests, probably he just felt that zoning out would be a better option. I dunno.

I just observed the name change and it will interesting to know what is the real reason behind it. Honestly if I not read your thread I would never recognize him.



This thread was so much helpful because it was the fast way to get promotion at the time when you get very close to achieve next rank. He helped many quality posters who deserve more Merit but sometimes due to limited system of Merit and number of users couldn't achieve next rank with ease.


Yes I support and wish someone start new thread with same rules which benefits the member just close to next rank. I am so far from next as I ranked up to Hero some week ago. symmetric helped me when I closed to full member. He awarded our local members with 15-25 merit. Currently Meriting local board best posts is also locked and I think Merit source should pay attention to it. The main goal is to encourage member upon quality posting. When there is any thread which award quality posts , I hope we will see more quality poster.

I think that's not what Despairo was trying to do here, as you solely talked about Ratimov's thread so maybe He(Despairo) thought you might not be aware of any other merit source threads from where you can get merits by applying. I hope that's what he was trying to say because besides this I don't see him counter this idea.

As a matter of fact, I also benefited from Ratimov's thread AFAIR I also applied in that and gained merit to rank to the nearest position. I liked the thread as it is really motivating for newbies and those who are stuck on merits and not getting any thus not achieving new ranks.

Not exactly what he said but rather just to continue what Ratimov doing by providing merits to those who's near to rank up. Ratimov does a great job on his merit thread because he is the one who checks each user profile voluntarily without the need to request on him as long as your merit is within the range he set.

This is indeed a great service but time consuming and I doubt that all merit source is willing to spare their free time just browse those users that near to rank up and review all of their post history.

Its not that merit shared is increasing, its more about having fever active members each year (especially new ones) which then gives impression that amount of merit shared has been constantly increasing. Before theymos did the last merit readjustment 2 and a half years ago (and basically doubled monthly merit allocation) there were 50%+ more active members and 50%+  fewer merit sent (those numbers are probably even bigger) on the monthly basis, which then made it much harder to rank up. Situation now is diametrically opposite which makes it much easier for shitposters to rank up, especially since its usually not their first account so they are experienced when it comes to merit farming.

At the same time, some parts of the forum are still undermerited and I hope that theymos will sort that out as well in the future, along with maybe decreasing merit allocation for some boards.

He needs a break?
I don't think he needs a break. If you feel he needs a break, what would you say to other merit source? They need a vacation? Common, everyone of them (merit sources) choose to take that responsibility to serve the public (at least to merit any quality post) of being a merit source and they know the pressure that comes with it so I don't really think I'd agree with you on what you said about Ratimov needing a break.
Yes he might need a break but not by shutting down what he has already started, something isn't right.

I read OP and as far as I understand, it seems you are seeking other forum members especially merit sources to give you merits and if you ask me what it means is that you are gettingi them to send you merits and because of that, you can see that no one merited you here. When I read the OP, I thought you are going to start the same thread or similar thread that you have mentioned. It's not against the forum where you create threads like that either you are s merit source or not.

Seems like he made his point clear and basically answered your questions already.  It's not like Ratimov kicked off the first merit-sharing thread here, and he likely won't be the last one either.  So pretty obviously there ain't exactly rules against people starting up these kinds of threads if they want, regardless of whether they are merit sources or not.

Don't ever worry about it - you should not depend on such threads if you have good knowledge and skills in creating quality posts. Not only will you get merit from merit sources - while other users who have sMerit will also pay attention to your posts, so again don't rely on such things. Several other merit thread are still active - in fact you can still use them to get some merit if you have quality posts.

Of course creating such a thread isn't against the rules - but forcing merit source to do might not be a good idea. I see a lot of merit sources really ddon't like being forced to spend the sMerit they have - but of course it would be good if you found a powerful way to get your posts noticed by merit sources, especially because of their quality.

You are quite right about this and I'm sure there are users who wish the same thing the op has said but for me, it's best to not depend on these merit sources for your next rank up because it may make you not put inore effort to hustle for yours and you'd easily get affected if such an action gets stopped.
It can be quite telling to do such things and still maintain your online presence and while we really can't place or give a reason for Ratimov going AWOL, I feel the guy needs a break to process. 

It is better for merit sources to just go around and look at topics and try to dump their merits where they see fit instead of calling everyone (including spammers / alt-accounts and such people) to their own thread. That is the approach which I use, and it is not like Ratimov is the only merit source on this forum anyway.

I have my own merit distribution thread.
I am using it when my merit bag start growing too much.
Lately I am on a constant low level of merits, I found myself dry of merits for a few days, so I have been slacking on that thread.
I am sorry a merit source gave up sending merits, yet I feel the forum has plenty of opportunities for a good post to be noticed.

I made this post earlier this month:

I'm still a tad critical who to accept, but anyone with decent posts is more than welcome to post a few links. Make it easy on me, don't make me read through your post history.

I opened that thread 2.5 years before Ratimov opened his. I did it to prove a point: not many good posts go unmerited.

I remember that Ratimov stopped sending merits for about several months ago and the current stop may be temporary but merit sources spend merits on a voluntary basis and therefore just like the majority of people whenever they have free time they will spend.

I created this topic -----> [Merit] Help posts in local boards that did not receive enough merits , but it is the end of the year, and in my country, in the last two months, the work will be more, as the previous budget is closed, so I do not have enough free time. As soon as I have it, I may return one of @Ratimov’s ideas if he does not do so.

The most important thing is to focus on making high-quality posts and the merits will come sooner or later.

I'm not sure if Ratimov's thread can be replaced or any other merit source can continue from where he stopped.
I really don't know him that much like some of you members who have stayed for long in this Forum but I don't know or understand why things with him hasn't been the same, like he left without any better explanation. Ratimov thread really helped so many members in this Forum, wish he could come back.

You still haven't learned that the forum is much bigger than the few boards you mostly visit? The reason you are looking for is in the Reputation board.


I have never considered this a desirable way of distributing merits, although I understand that some members simply remain out of reach of most merit sources because they reduce their activities mainly to boards that are full of spam and megathreads. Maybe all those who so eagerly want merits should change their strategy a little, and not look for their "success" in an easy way.

I feel like merit distribution is always increase every year, there are many unknown users ranked up easily by merit sharing with their alts or friends. Instead of asking a new merit source, I'd ask a de-merit feature.

And this is what the Beginners & Help or Reputation sections looks like when many merit sources to create their own thread. Then you or any user will request theymos to create a dedicated board for merit giveaway, when it's not necessary at all if the first problem wasn't created.

What is your point exactly?
If any merit source decides to open a similar thread like this one, does it defy any policy or rule. Will it be a bad idea if any merit source decides to open such a thread, even if there are similar threads.. Or do you like to counter every possible idea?

There is one more to add to it.

[Merit] Help posts in local boards that did not receive enough merits

Another thing is that theymos should increase the merit sources. He can also remove some merit source. I hardly notice 50 active merit sources among the 109 merit sources that we have.

The topic that perfectly same like you asked:
1. [v2][Self Moderated] In Merits, Count Down To Your Next Rank...

Bonus (related to meriting someone post):
1. [self-moderated] Report unmerited good posts to Merit Source
2. *Restarted* Post history review offer
3. [Merit] Share your best posts/threads with Fillippone to be merit assessed

So, what you need next? every merit source has it's own policy, rule or subjectivity to merit someone post.

Yes that thread was a beneficial one, but it wants Ratimove personal decision, there are other merit sources that have their own way of distributing their merits example is The Sceptical Chymist who prefers PM for personal review and also hugeblack who has his own thread for local Board. Some of this things are not easy as you see and are tiring or could even affect the merit source outside forum schedule. So I will say they should do there thing

Also there is another thread by Fivestar4everMVP on merit countdown that members can drop their application because other merits sources also go there to help

Recently I observed that symmetric, formerly known as Ratimov fell out of love with some of the forum activities. I do not know why because he didn't make any thread to why.
I also know he had two threads which helped newbies and other ranks close to the next rank with upto 25 to 50 merits.
Re: Helping Potential Legendary, Hero, Senior and Full Members (May 2023 Update)
[Merit] Help newbies and those who have a little left to the next rank

Although I haven't benefited from any of the threads because it wasn't difficult for me to get my first 100 merits. Going to senior member, my movement is as slow as a snail and that reminds me that I will be needing a help at some points and likewise other low rank members.
I know people are missing the kind gesture already but they might be afraid to speak up not to get into troubles.

The reason for this thread is plead with any merit source to re-start a similar thread. I have seen some merit sources who say they don't exhaust their merit allocation. Such a thread could help ease their merit distribution stress and also serve as a reference point where other merit sources could look into to spray some merits.