There is no other way to get merit except to have such a system.
We are only required to be able to study digital currencies much better.
Without knowledge then we can not get anything, we can only grieve and look at the situation. Believe in knowledge will also be able to give us the opportunity to gain success.
Imagine when we have the knowledge then we will find it easy to do various things that can bring in income. All of these are worth a try and we will have a happy success.
To be honest, mate why do you think the name of this forum is called Bitcointalk.org? It is mainly to talk about Bitcoin, and other cryptocurrency. The other boards are created to have such boundaries to specific topics. The signature and bounty campaigns are introduced only to advertise their campaign, it may be apps, software, gambling websites, porn sites etc. you name it. So they use cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin as means of an investment, that is to
advertise. That's why there are signature and bounty campaigns. So that's why theymos mentioned that by removing your signature will likely make you earn Merits.
Several may tell you "Make quality posts, as easy as that" because that's the usual advice they (even me) can give to you but honestly, earning merits is not as easy as that. For me, quality post is not enough because if that is the only requirement then why good posters on a particular thread rarely get merit points? and why there are still good users whose merit points remain stagnant? In my opinion, it would be an advantage if you are a little bit popular here in the forum or you have couple of friends that you can easily approach for asking a merit and with some presence of luck also.
Do you really want to know why? Because, those people are posting in the wrong thread. What I mean is, there are number of Members that usually posts in the
Mega threads, that is by the way, high ranked members (which is obviously has more sMerits to give) have no interest in reviewing those threads. Therefore, even if you create a constructive post in some threads like:
Bitcoin vs Gold,
Can bitcoin solve world poverty?,
Can Bitcoin help the economy?, etc. you will not likely to receive Merit(s).
So posts in threads that have 10 ~ 20 pages at most. So that many people will still review this thread.