Busted?
The fact that you were able to get merits for your posts means the system works.
If the poster above me is right in his deduction, the system does work. Merit abusers are falling in their own traps trying to feed their alts. The forum is cleansing itself.
What were you thinking OP? That you will give yourself some merit and then start a thread in meta to whine how the merit system sucks?