Therefore, I believe that after some time it`s necessary to analyze the result of previous innovations, draw conclusions and introduce new regulations in order to continue the forum improvement.
LoyceV is already doing that here:
- In the first week after the announcement, 286408 posts were made (-19.05%).
- In the second week after the announcement, 280503 posts were made (-20.72%).
- In the third week after the announcement, 259694 posts were made (-26.60%).
- In the fourth week after the announcement, 263685 posts were made (-25.47%).
- In the fifth week after the announcement, 240339 posts were made (-32.07%).
Given that the "1 merit for signature" rule has consistently reduced the number of posts by 20-30%, we can confidently draw the conclusion that it is reducing spam. Since we know that it is working, it seems silly not to take it further and raise the threshold to 10 merits, at least as a trial, and monitor to see if this reduces spam further. It almost certainly would, as it removes the "lucky" 1 merit receivers, makes it 10 times costlier to buy, and makes it 10 times harder for one account to level up all their alts.