I guess you guys didn't notice but both DirtyKeyboard and I are already Legendary rank and we don't need merits. I don't care if I never get another merit as there's nothing left to prove by this point.
And DirtyKeyboard doesn't wear a paid signature.
That's also why many of us don't criticize how merits are distributed on WO. The regulars there are a special case—most have been on the forum for over a decade, are early adopters, and don't wear a paid signature. They view merits as just another part of the fun there.
Those of you who criticize this "exchange" of merits will have a hard time comparing this to merit farmers who send merits to their alts to rank up and have lots of accounts with which to monetize the junk they clutter the forum with.
Exactly!
The problem is that it "hurts" those who are still new or somewhere in the middle of the journey, who need merits and work hard to write quality posts in the hope of receiving 5 or 10 merits from a single person!
For those people, it is frustrating to see others receive 50 merits with very little effort, even if it is just for fun or without any real benefit in terms of building a reputation or joining a signature campaign.
It is like Bitcoin! For ordinary people, 0.001 BTC is a lot, but for those who have been around here for more than 10 years, that is what they might spend on an hour of gambling without thinking twice.
Anyway, the merit system was created precisely to prevent accounts from ranking up too easily. For those who are already at the top, that purpose becomes somewhat distorted. Perhaps there should not even be merit distributions for users who are already Legendary!?
