How do we know that merit holders are actually going to reward them based on posting quality?

The supply implications (e.g. decay and how actively people use the merit system) also aren't obvious. So, even if people do use them as intended (as a reward for quality posts), we don't know how well-distributed they will be. For example, it's theoretically possible that once the initial sMerit awarded yesterday is mostly spent, that sMerit mostly circulates within limited social networks that revolve around merit sources.

So there's little guarantee that the system will be equitable. As a Hero Member, I won't complain, but TBH this just feels like an extension of the flawed Default Trust system. We don't technically know who merit sources are, but my guess is that it will become obvious that there is a lot of overlap between DT and merit sources.