Topic: Merit & new rank requirements - page 329. (Read 167808 times)

So the main purpose of this is


Great Idea, but still in some point it will disregarded or doesn't matter. If you know what I mean.

I wish there would have been some sort of option of giving dislike (-ve merit) to the spam/LQ posts and if any post receives certain -ve merits/dislikes,it should be automatically deleted /hidden

Agree 100% with this.  A new window, or maybe just code in a little box next to the post where you can type the Merit you want to give and then hit Give or something.

So I noticed it says unused Merit can be decayed at some point in the future - What's the point of this?  Is it just to keep people from stagnating their Merit and not using it?

Also, what are your thoughts on people here using their numerous alt accounts to abuse the Merit system?  Granted, there's not much to "abuse", but someone who has a dozen alt accounts, say one of them gets selected as a Merit source, couldn't that have a negative impact on the system?

EDIT (wanted to add): Are you worried about people paying for Merit just to rank up?

I'm not complaining by any means, I like the new stuff.  Just wanted to ask a few questions.

I already don't like the way clicking on +merit takes you away from the thread.  Can you please have it open in a new window?

tl;dr explanation as long as there is no infographic:

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Does that mean all merit sources are hand selected? Is there a list of currently active merit sources? Sorry, I was lazy, should have read in full first.

I'll try this.

In addition to activity, everyone now has a merit score, and you need both a certain activity level and a certain merit score in order to reach higher member ranks. The required scores are:

Rank	Required activity	Required merit
Brand new	0	0
Newbie	1	0
Jr Member	30	1
Member	60	10
Full Member	120	100
Sr. Member	240	250
Hero Member	480	500
Legendary	Random in the range 775-1030	1000

You get merit points when someone sends you some for one of your posts. Additionally, when someone sends you merit points, half of those points can be sent by you to other people.

Certain users are designated as "merit sources". They can create new merit out of nothing, up to a limited number per month (which differs per source). I will not be posting a definitive list of merit sources (so that people don't bug them too much), though you'll soon figure out who they are if you pay attention.

There is currently no such thing as a "demerit". I'm hoping that the positive merits alone will be fine. I could add demerits pretty easily later on if necessary, though.

I'm hoping that this system will increase post quality by:
 - Forcing people to post high-quality stuff in order to rank up. If you just post garbage, you will never get even 1 merit point, and you will therefore never be able to put links in your signature, etc.
 - Highlighting good posts with the "Merited by" line.

While we will not be directly moderating this, I encourage people to give merit to posts that are objectively high-quality, not just posts that you agree with.

Do not beg for merit excessively.

Useful infographics

Forum users have helpfully created some infographics to explain the merit system:
paxmao's infographic
ibminer's infographic
8Habits's infographic
JetSet11's infographic
zentdex's infographic
alia_armelle's infographic

If you want to be a merit source:

 1. Be a somewhat established member.
 2. Collect TEN posts written in the last couple of months by other people that have not received nearly enough merit for how good they are, and post quotes for them all in a new Meta thread. The point of this is to demonstrate your ability to give out merit usefully.
 3. We will take a look at your history and maybe make you a source.

I am especially eager to have merit sources in sub-communities such as the local sections.

Trivia:

For current members, your initial merit score is equal to the minimum required to your rank. Of that, a certain amount (less than the usual half) is spendable. The spendable amount was calculated based on your current rank and the number of activity points you earned in the last year. A Legendary member who hasn't posted in the last year would still be Legendary, but would not have any spendable merit.

If someone sends you 1 merit, the 0.5 sMerit is not wasted; it is just not shown until you get another merit point.

There are stats here, and you can find someone's merit summary by clicking the "merit" link on their profile.