Hmmm I see... The ever so common saying "Beying at the right time at the right place"... Well the merit is a good addition anyway, gaining activity is super easy, merit not so much...
I've thought about the right time part before.. and if getting on the first page of popular threads is about timing (on the english speaking parts of the forum) then those always awake in certain time zones are likely going to reap more rewards purely by timing, while the rest will be on supplemental pages and get less to none.
That might be true to an extent but it depends on the type of thread. Some evolve into discussions and you can get merit many pages into those if you're contributing to the debate.