For the most part, I've tried to contribute high quality posts, but I still worry that the scarcity of sMerits will make it extremely difficult for me to rank up to the next level.
That's because the system is currently not working as theymos intended. This is from another thread:
@DooMAD
If they're really not adding anything, then they shouldn't get merit. But it doesn't need to be mind-blowing, either. Someone suggested a feature where all umerited posts would be hidden (which I may do at some point) -- I think that it'd be good to look at it as asking what posts you would want in such a summary. So not just incredible posts which might've taken an hour or more to write (those should probably get 10+ merit), but also the questions, arguments, jokes, etc. which couldn't be removed from a thread without starting to lobotomize it.
It's all very new, of course, so maybe this strategy will not actually be the best, but it is what I had in mind when designing the system.
@TMAN, I have been adding sources, and I will continue.
What I gather from that is that
anything of value should get a merit. That's also why you may award more than 1 per post. It seems like the scarcity problem is being worked on, so let's just give it time.
That makes a lot of sense, but it seems like the sMerits are too scarce. I liked the OP's post, so I gave him my first merit. However, I only started with 5 so I feel like I can't give them away too easily UNLESS I start to receive them relatively easily. If what you described plays out, it should work pretty well so I hope people are generous with them.
Your reply definitely made me rethink how I should be spending my own sMerits, so you'll get one from me see well. I'll make a conscious effort to try and spend them as frequently as possible, regardless of how many I hold.