Congrats to you on getting on the list, OP. You obviously put some effort into your posts and deserve the merits you received, which is what anybody who wants to rank up ought to be doing.
Thank you. After making decent efforts, and after nearly 18 months since merit system birthday, I have known that merit system does not ruin my life. In fact, it changed me unimaginably.
I was on DT2 when the merit system was implemented, then I was kicked off for a while after being excluded by Tomatocage and OgNasty if I'm not mistaken. I'm not sure how long I've been on this particular list, but the DT thing definitely came first--and it wasn't for good posting, either. I couldn't tell you exactly why I was put on DT, but it was probably for helping to expose account sellers and trying to clean up the forum that way. That and the fact that I never scammed anybody.
DT members actually are high trusted users, especially long-standing DT1, DT2 members (I don't mention about newly-added DT2 members, whom need more time to demonstrate that they deserve). DT members have been well-known, not only from their good posts, but also from their contributions in different ways (like you mentioned, cleaning shitposts, spams, account sales, merit abusements, scam projects, and so on).
However, I am just curious because being DT member is not what I desire, because it might cause unexpected, and annoying personal issues. I saw some DT1 members withdrawn their positions, not because they used their power wrongly (not all of them), but they actually felt annoying with attacks on them.
It is true that there are some DT members, sometimes use their power inappropriately, especially new ones. We are all human, DT members too, so just try to use power (when you have it) appropriately, friendly, and wisely. When someone makes others paranoid, they will react with negative responses, includes attacks.
It probably looks like having tons of merits and being on DT are linked, but there's not exactly a clear-cut correlation. You have to have been on the forum for a while, made yourself a presence in a positive way, and had a positive reputation in order to even be considered for DT inclusion--at least that's the way it used to work. Now it's strictly a matter of politics, i.e., getting enough "votes". But I would also say that you kind of still have to do all those things, because you won't stay on DT long if there's something sketchy about you. It's very easy for other DT members to vote you off the island if they think you don't belong.
Me too. Nevertheless, there is a fact that there are 50 DT members (both DT1, and DT2) in the top 100 merited profiles, while there are only 131 merit sources in total. It means there are more DT members as merit sources beyond top 100, and there are normal users chose as merit sources.
I think theymos has his clear purpose to maintain balance among merit sources.
There are 131 merit sources with a total merit generation of up to 21045 sMerit per 30 days
I think most users became DT before the merit system was implemented, as the pharmacist said.
Just sometimes, but it is not always true. High reputable users sometimes get merits for their jokes, but it does not occur too often. The determinant factor which decides posts receive merits or not is post quality.
I agree with pharmacist here. Having tons of merit is an indicator that you use the forum a lot, post a lot, and put some effort in your posts. Users that are highly merited usually have a good reputation also.
