I will try to be simple :
- Depth1 = actual sources, limited number even 200 aren't that good number imo to cover whole forums parts.
- Depth2 = good users that may collected a reasonable amount of smerit but they have actually less. They might be chosen in the future as sources but they should wait years maybe.
People are complaining about their posts aren't receiving the proper attention (i am not talking about trashy ones), sources couldn't cover all subs (local,...etc), number of users are increasing constantly...etc.
Depth2 are active users in many subs, all they need is more smerit to share with others, someone with +100 smerit doesn't deserve to be in depth2, while someone with 10 smerit (and +100 spent) may deserves to be in.
It is all about flexibility & decentralisation and at the same time keeping the Merit system cheat-free as possible.
The merit system is very early doors at the moment, and merit sources will be in the hundreds. I don't think it's been limited to 200 as far as I know. Adding a depth 2 would just complicate a relatively simple system. Plus, I don't think it brings any major advantages. If a person is deemed good then he'll likely be added as a merit source. If someone has run out of their initial sMerit and doesn't generate enough on a regular basis to show they have the capabilities of picking out quality content but, has a eye for good posts then they can fill in an application and send it off to theymos. I don't think we need to over complicate by adding a depth 2.