In this case, i do get your point... But what if somebody that used to be very active and a real asset of the forum took a leave of absence just before the merit system was introduced and wanted to come back right now? Wouldn't he/she be entitled to the same perks as the rest of us instead of being stripped from his/her merits just because he/she didn't log in for 5 years? There are plenty of cases of really helpfull people that just went away, but they used to be super helpfull. I'd still like those old accounts to be able to wear a sig, even if they haven't posted for years... And if they come back, they should still have their merits, their signature, their rank,...
If you want solutions, there are solutions. The forum could put a signature ban until people earn 10 merits and in those cases that you are saying, those who returned to the forum would be able to earn 10 merits in no time. They would have their merits and rank intact and their clickable signature right away.
But i do get your point that it's frustrating to see people that have never earned a single merit spamming just because they have been a member for so long that they didn't have to work for their merits... I'd personally just hope that such a person gets banned or receives red trust sooner or later, that way their spamming days should be over...
The guy in the example has red trust, but it serves him to get paid to write garbage, although I don't want to focus on that as I said before.
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Thanks for that. I am going to report him.