I think that while the merit system is good, the limits for rank upgrades are too high. I got 10 merits so I was able to upgrade to a Member, but upgrading to a Full member is an impossible task - I can't imagine how many excellent posts should I write to get another 90 merits. Has anyone succeeded to get so many merits yet?
You don't need excellent posts. The only thing which can bring you up the ladder now is powerful friends.
I don't know about that but as far as I know if you really are skilled and know a lot of stuffs you can share, you don't need to think of having a low rank. Most of the low ranks find this new system unfair but I think the unfair here is these type of gaining merits. It must be earned through hard work and not by asking your friends to give you some.