No. It's to stop shitposters shitposting their way through the ranks. Now making unsubstantial posts will get you nowhere. If you don't have anything interesting to contribute then you will find yourself going nowhere fast. This is the only way to prohibit low-quality posters and reward people who are here to actually contribute something worthwhile.
Yes, I agree the shit posting needs to stop but I am talking about the people that are not making shit posts and will never exceed the Member status with this system.
Like I said above, people do not send Merits, even if you help them or post constructivly.
Plenty of people will achieve their rank, just as long as they're a great poster. The only "exclusive" club it will be is for people who who can contribute something worthwhile. The only people complaining about it will be those who either can't speak English sufficiently or people who just can't be bothered putting the effort into their posts.
I see a lot of sr/hero/legendary members that do not use proper English in their posts. How is this fair? What contributions did they bring?
With the old system, an active poster would reach Full Member status in about 3 months. Let's assume it's about a good poster that tries to bring value to this forum. With the new system, reaching the same status will take years (at least 5).
For example I try to do quality posts and help out where I can but have not received ANY merits for my posts directly. I am by no means a great poster, I would like to think I'm average, but definitely not a spammer. So, something is definitely not working with this system.
I still hope this system will be changed and the intent wasn't about creating a closed group. Not giving everybody the same opportunities will lead to people moving on to other forums or just keeping those ideas to themselves and not sharing, because they're fine with just reading.
I have also proposed some alternatives: new ranks on top of legendary or a "likes" system that is easier to use and is not limited to the amount of sMerit you have. Check my posts in this sub forum.