I agree that a lot of messages began to appear in the last time, which are repeated and do not carry new information. However, these new rules are not finalized in my opinion. To get Merit in principle is not realistic. You become a hostage to people with high rank.
1. You help advice to a newbie. And you do not get Merit, because a newbie can not give it to you.
2. You write news on the forum, which is important, fresh. Published 2 minutes ago. This post flies to 20 page in 5 minutes. Since in the heap "what should I buy for $ 5?", "How to make x100?" the normal topic is simply lost. And you do not get Merit.
3. There must be an automatic mechanism for obtaining Merit. Since in this form, as it is now - this is a totalitarian regime with elements of pressure.
I'm not against innovations. But I do not want to depend only on the likes of high ranks. At least half of Merit can be charged by the forum system if the messages meet certain criteria.
Or maybe you should question why it is that merit points are so important to you. I'm thinking that if you're so concerned about getting (or NOT getting) merits, you're on the forum for the wrong reasons.
I didn't come here to join a sig campaign in 2015. I was a lurker for about a year, just enjoying the drama and watching people scam each other and so forth. This forum always had something interesting going on, and when I finally created an account, I still did more reading than posting. The posting I did was for my edification, and I didn't join a sig campaign until about 9 months in, if I recall correctly.
Nowadays you've got word spreading all around Asia that there's this great forum where you can get paid to post, and no experience or skill is required.....except that's changed now. The merit system has upped the requirements significantly, and it's a beautiful thing.
I wouldn't give a single merit point for the above post, because it's babbling in lousy English. People who can't speak the language are going to have a very tough time advancing here, and that's exactly how it should be. Shitposters BE GONE.