Do we need merit sources for low ranks?

I don't know if it has been suggested before, but I was thinking, perhaps there could be two types of merit used. The system as it is, and in addition a "lower trust" type of merit that has no impact on the forums trust systems, but allows users to rank up and unlock various forum privileges. This could help solve some of the issues with newbs not getting enough attention from merit sources, and allow for a more liberal application of secondary low trust merit sources without severely compromising the integrity of the system as a whole. This would also have the added benefit of familiarizing newbs with merit use while also removing most of the risk of abuse, as even if it was abused the impact would be negligible. It would also serve as a way to expose and root out gaming the system at a very early stage by building demonstrable ties between account farming and abuse networks.