the day I got my one merit, I was excited to participate more and today I am active to some extent and likewise to some newbies who received their first merit in the forum and the excitement that follows.
If not the above energy boosters in the forum, many users would have used their energy in another profitable platforms or using here as a chatroom. Is there any other energy or immune booster?
Yeah, you're not wrong. However, I think the merits should take a back seat.
Personally, I don't see the forum as a place where we talk about our investments, but more as a place where we talk about the technical aspects that make our investments quality ones.
As joker_josue said, knowledge is priceless, and this forum is probably the best place in terms of resources and centralisation of knowledge. Many forum members are real sources of knowledge and make their knowledge available to everyone. I could have spend 10 years on Reddit, I wouldn't have learned the 1/10 of what I learned here.
There's also the local aspect: it's excellent to have Local Boards that can help cover current events and explain difficult concepts and ideas in their mother tongue. If Bitcointalk didn't exist I don't know where people would come to ask questions specific (for free I mean) about their country's legislation, taxation, legal changes etc...