Yeah, some members got their merit just for being around for a long time, and don't particularly contribute high quality posts to the forum. However, that's fine you can't expect everyone to contribute solid ideas or information. But, these people will be highlighted because they aren't earning any merit points. Merit points only really effect those who want to earn from the forum. A newbie can contribute equally as much as a legendary.
Sorry, English isn't my native language so perhaps you get me wrong. I mean their post quality is good, but I just hate to admit it for some reason.
It's a major feature, and is still new. Years back you could get your rank merely by posting, and activity wasn't a thing. When theymos implemented the activity feature there were many threads. Especially, because a few people that were Hero Member got demoted. This is expected with any new feature that severely impacts the members of the forum. Unfortunately, such a feature limits the account farmers, and signature campaigns spammers so there will naturally be more people complaining, and pushing their ideas out.
Yeah, I know. This story kind of repeats itself in history. Niche forum becomes mainstream, then spam attack, then reputation point introduced, then illegal trade or abuse of reputation occurred, and finally lose to a dedicated platform. In this case, a dedicated bounty platform. It's similar to early days of e-commerce. This situation might be good for the discussion forum, but who knows? As you said, a newbie can contribute equally as much as a legendary in a discussion. So, I don't think merit point is a problem for a good discussion.
