Am I really going to have to set a rule saying that Newbies can't link their own post on their first day at the forum, especially if their post is all about sMerits?
Sure, you should. Real newbies are not able to know about Meta board, and have their first targets as merit hunting. If an account created, and jump instantly into meta board to beg for merits, it is not a real newbie. I am sure about that. I suggested to restrict that accounts should have more than 30-days old to be accepted. 
A newbie should not even know a merit is something that has an importance, I think a newbie can be spotted real quickly if his only purpose is to gain merit...
Just as an account with 100-200 activity and 0 merit usually isn't a real asset as well
or more a trolling person .... 
