Quote from: nutildah on January 10, 2020, 07:08:02 AM

I'm right in the middle on this one... It would appear this guy writes questions using alts and then answers with The-Devil. This is somewhat confirmed by these alts supporting his frivolous flags. Definitely not trustworthy behavior.

However, I don't think merit farming explicitly makes one "high risk" for trading. If it were trust farming on the other hand, then yes, I could see that being high risk behavior.

I'd say it's shady/deceptive and is obviously going to be frowned upon, but whether someone thinks that is worthy of a flag is up to them.

Quote from: Upgrade00 on January 10, 2020, 07:51:00 AM

This case clearly shows the dualism of the forum. The user in question was supported by a lot of well-meaning members including myself when they thought him/her to be a well-meaning and devoted member. But when evidence pointing to the contrary surfaced it was also investigated and acted upon.

There has been a lot of drama in between the line, to whether the merit dump was deserved or the trust flag justified, but it is a system that checks itself and balances almost in the middle, most of the time. So the right decision is taking 'most of the time'.

Never underestimate how sneaky and conniving people can be here. Anyone with a bit of cunning can quickly learn how to game the system here and many do, especially on the hunt for merit. We used to see it a lot with feedback/trust where people would seek out cheap trades with the right people just to build up some 'green' (and I'm sure it still happens).