Why would someone investing money into a project not be picky about which project they invest in?
I am super selective when picking an ICO.

Recognize that an idea is just the first step, and many others have equally good or better ideas. The process of putting that idea into practical use is the actual task.

Many cooperate companies are already taking advantage of the potential in cryptocurrency and the blockchain protocol. And also the crowd funding as as means of raising financial resources.

There are many common mistakes traders make, especially newbies and amateurs,
Entering unprepared, some fail at demo trading, but still choose to go live. 

Starting off big, as a newbie you should start with as little capital as possible, tbis allows you learn without the pressure of huge losses.

Not getting emotional.

And never make excuses, ever.

An ICO (initial coin offering) is an event by which a token/coin is distributed to the public bybthe developers.
It is divided into different stages, each with it's different specifications and clauses.
The project developers holds the rights to skip or omit any of the stages.

All the different stages can sometimes be confusing to investors, or anyone connected to the ICO, so let's walk through the stages of an ICO.
An ICO is usually divided into three parts;

1) Private sale
2) Pre sale
3) Public sale

- Private sale: The private sale is usually reserved for big investors.
The minimum investment in this stage is higher than all the other stages. And the bonuses per investment is also significantly higher than other stages.

During the private sale the project reaches out to potential investors (or group of investors), who are interested in the goals and targets of the project. As the project at this stage is still at the development stage, so the investors are basically investing in an idea.

- Pre sale: This could be private pre sale, or public pre sale, and hence it's could come before the private sale or public sale.
In essence, the pre sale ushers in the next stage of the ICO. It allows the project developers to decide how to best handle the sale, in terms of duration and bonuses.
The pre sale also has more bonuses than the suceeding stage. And the minimum investment is also higher.

- Public sale: This is also called crowd sale, as it is open to the entire public, this stage usually has the most publicity and the lowest bonuses.
It also has the lowest minimum investment option.

The project developers can choose to stretch any of this stages or omit any depending on the outcome of the TGE (token generation event).

As it has been stated, while looking for quality posts to merit, also make positive, quality contributions to the forum to enebles you enjoy that cherished feature.

I think you have to cross 28 activity to become a Jr member, and thus usually takes four weeks.
It could take less, as the merit window opens every two weeks, and you could join in close to the end and still get promoted.
But you need to make 14 posts in two weeks and same in the next two weeks.