I don't look at trust. I don't lend or borrow money, or trade in the forum, apart from domain names. The domain names I buy or sell are run through my registrar's market place, and that includes an escrow service. I feel that trust shoud relate to trading or financial activities, but it has become a measure of reputation, and I think that may have reduced it's usefulness for traders. However, a metric for reputation is a useful thing, so I'm not sure of the best solution. For example, there is no indication that a merit beggar is likely to default on a loan. In fact one could argue that if he is keen to rank up, then he is less likely to want to gain a bad reputation. The alternative argument is that merit begging or purchasing is cheating the forum, so if he is prepared to cheat the forum, he may be prepared to cheat other members.