...
But on the long run (when the merit system will be fine tuned) we can set up the ignore system like this:
- No ignore (can see everyone)
- Small ignore (ignoring users with default merit, who haven't gathered additional merits)
- Medium ignore (ignoring those who gathered less than 10% additional merits for their rank)
- Strong ignore (ignoring those who gathered less than 30% additional merits for their rank)
In this case, ignore lists are not needed, it can be automated (and still not mandatory to use, to let people choose if they really want to read shitposts...)
This needs the merit system to work as expected, so it needs time, but it can be a kind of automated solution.
EDIT:
I've changed my mind.
Why not to implement the second solution immediately, to test it? If it's not mandatory, people can not complain about it.
For newbies, who had no chance to gain merits, there will be the merit sources (with no ignore list activated of course) so they will have the chance to gather some merits to escape the ignore lists.
How does this help with the Spam problem? Its just personal preference. And there are legit users who haven't earned little or any merits, who have more than average level of posts. I don't think this would be that great of an idea.
This is why I wrote that it should not be mandatory to use this ignore function, and it will be useful when the merit system will work 100% as it was designed and every legit user gets the merit he deserves, in that case this would be an easy solution to let people avoid shitposts.
As soon as people start to use this ignore function, bounty managers would realize that the shitposters' posts won't show up at all in the forum, so they won't pay for them. This would stop a part of the spam, not all of them.
I know it's not the near future, it was just an idea