I suppose we have to grind for those merit points. I dont think its a bad idea to have a merit system because it prevents spam, but I'm sure it's a bit of a grind to earn them. Luckily I dont need to worry about getting my 10 merits for a while. I also see that a full member account requires 100 merits! I imagine that will take some time and loads of quality posts. Anyway good luck.