I do not understand people who say the board is unnecessary.
Pretty sure nobody is saying that, and if they are they're mistaken.
Theymos's quote is still partially correct. Seems like few people actually
read stuff in Meta; a lot of members just
post here in hopes of earning merits or getting in the good graces of DT members--and I'm not talking about the Meta regulars but typically "unknown" users who stop by to offer "helpful suggestions" about issues that have already been discussed ad nauseum. Also notice that when we had the 1-merit requirement for ranking up Newbie accounts implemented, we had multiple members complaining in Meta that they wished there had been a discussion about the decision beforehand and that they were taken completely by surprise when the change went into effect.
Meanwhile, that particular issue had indeed been debated for months before Theymos actually did anything. If the newly-busted Newbies had been
reading Meta, they would have not only known that it might be coming but could have given their input.
The posting-for-merits has died down considerably in Meta since September, and for that I'm grateful--except now those garbage posters have been replaced by genuinely quality posters who are at war with one another about the trust system, and there's also been a spike in trolling. This does make for some excellent reading and provides a good dose of entertainment (except for the trolling, which isn't done well), so all in all I'd concur with OgNasty that times have certainly changed in this particular section since 2014 and before. I wasn't around until 2015, but even then I don't remember Meta being this active.