Sure you can.  You just have to be patient and put in the effort and talent to rank up--just like everyone else.  And if you're talking about bounties that don't depend on rank, it's a level playing field then, right?

I think the merit system is going to work out, and I've written this before so I won't write it again.  What I think the forum also needs is some tighter rules in place for campaigns, meaning that in order to run a signature campaign, participants should be required to have X merits and be Sr./Hero/Legendary, no negs from DT members, and probably some other rules too.  That's been discussed, but thus far Theymos has been silent on the matter. 

It's usually noobs who are shitposting, and they're obviously doing it because they're getting paid from a campaign or bounty, or they're desperately trying to rank up (not gonna happen these days).  I think with some campaign rules in place, this forum would really get cleaned up.  It wouldn't even require much extra effort from the mods.