the trust system became too obsolete that even theymos had to come up with a new thing we now see as "Trust flags".
I don't think that's why he came up with the flag system, though I have to admit I haven't paid much attention to it and have yet to make a flag against a member here. TECSHARE has always brought up the issue of the difference between dispicable behavior and trustworthiness in business deals--and sometimes, but not always, they're the same thing. As an example, I think TECSHARE is an angry loon but I would do business with him with no hesitation because of his track record on the forum of not screwing people over.
There have always been allegations of trust abuse by DT members, but the fact is if that happens those DT members would be called on it and probably would be kicked off DT via exclusions by other DT members. TECSHARE is actually one example of that happening (years ago), but there have been others too.
I'm comfortable with all the negs I've left for members, which mostly deal with account sales. But back in 2017-18 before the merit system was launched, I was leaving negs for shitposters because there were no other tools available to combat them. I was never comfortable doing that and ended up removing all of those feedbacks after the merit system came along. If you're on DT, you have to be careful about leaving either positive
or negative trust just because of the weight it carries. Hopefully new DT members realize this and act accordingly.
You really are obsessed with me aren't you? This is why I rarely back off people like you, because even when I do they still can never let their obsession go. Maybe you can regale us all with the story of how I left you that neutral rating that one time. The problem with your logic is you might know to ignore those frivolous ratings and that I am safe to trade with, but new users, a large percentage of my trade base don't. As a result those abusive ratings have a direct impact on my ability to trade even though they are left for dumb shit like accusations of "trolling" or stories about "trust abuse". The trust system is still used to punish people for criticizing certain members on a daily basis and no one kicks them off the DT.