Hi there,
Im just new to forum and as far as I know, merit is given to quality post around forum by ppl who got sMerit. However, it just come from few ppl as Merit sources and it depend on many factors for giving Merit such as a friend want merit, so just give him some or sell and trade Merit between ppl. Merit system is abused by ppl and its all centralized, control by ppl. This is funny while forum is all about cryptocurrencies and focus on decentralized.
Yes, man, you're new to the forum, so you are not completely understanding how the merit system works.
1.- Merit sources are not the only sources of merits, people earn merits and sent to others.
2.- Merits have to come from somewhere, everyone with a certain rank was given some merits, when those are gone, then, even legendaries have to earn merits in order to give them to others.
Sometimes I am shocked about how many users want the forum to take the shape of a social media. The "thank" system you are proposing seems similar to the "like" system in Facebook, Instagram, and so. This
is not social media, man. This is a place for discussion and earning knowledge. If, by doing so, you can rank-up, well, this is a "plus" only, but every newcomer can visit, learn and participate in most of the boards here.
You don't need to rank-up to learn or discuss in here, so, why the rush?
Again, you've said that: you're new, and maybe you don't completely get the system function yet.
Just chill and participate in here, the merit system is kind of "organic", and if you are a participative, intelligent, creative, useful user, you will be rewarded.