I think this is becoming a joke. There's one shithead with -15 still wreaking havoc in DT1, extorting other members with exclusions/inclusions. I think the idea was that such a person would ultimately stop being eligible for DT1 due to not having 10+ inclusions from merit-earning users but that's clearly not happening and with more and more merit being spread around there will be more merited idiots including other idiots.
Isn't his -15 DT1-strength evidence of the DT-system working as intended?
Maybe, if the intent was to allow such users to extort other DT1 users. They can't directly affect DT ratings but still can do so indirectly, for example by including someone who is at -1 or excluding someone who is at 0 in DT1.
I agree with LoyceV on this one, surely the fact that this user is on -15 shows that what they are doing isn't working, and causing more members to distrust him? I could be wrong, but it seems like there are lots of eyes on this users dubious use of the trust system. Specifically, about
22 DT1 &
DT1 members, who collectively should be more than capable of reversing any exclusions/inclusions made. Possibly more relevant to the topic, this user's DT2 strength would be
-14, as they are excluded by 1 more
DT1 member than included. If this "shithead" (as you kindly put it) was dropped or blacklisted from DT1 then they still wouldn't be on DT2 either. This is very different from the cat's inclusions & exclusions, as this feline would still be on -1 DT1 strength if not blacklisted from DT1. See the difference here?
Perhaps exclusions should count against DT1 eligibility (e.g. if you're excluded by 2 users with 250+ merit, then that negates 2 inclusions from users with 250+ merit) but that probably would open other avenues for abuse.
Merit-based exclusions would clearly wreak havoc on the trust system as you considered, probably also dropping the number of eligible members in half I'd imagine. While I know many DT1 members feel that the number of members on DT1 should be reduced considerably, it would be much more prone to trust abuse from merited sock puppets, than the current conditions imo. It'd be easier to generate exclusions than the current conditions of generating inclusions, if merit took precedent over DT1 strength, which is what you're suggesting.
Indeed, this was the quote I was looking for. Probably didn't find it as it's nearly a year old now
Your graph nicely confirms what I expected to happen back then. And you probably couldn't find it because I posted it from Mobile:
This means it is possible that a DT1-exclusion leads to a member being on DT which wouldn't happen without blacklisting.