Thank you for your answer TheQuin.
I'm currently coming to think there could be some way of making the ongoing merit requirement proportional to activity. That way satoshi and Hal are in no danger or anyone else that contributed early but either doesn't come very often or at all.
That looks definitively interesting - I understand that in such a model long-term members would need less "earned merit" than newer members. In another thread I suggested that if such a type of reform is implemented, only accounts created in 2013 and later should be "punished" if they don't meet the requirement. I think it was that year when signature campaigns and spamming begun - albeit on a
much lower level than now. (Edit: Myself I registered in early 2013, and it was this time when Bitcoin definitively crossed the "nerd/average joe" barrier.)
So maybe the "curve" of the activity/required merit formula could begin at an activity level corresponding to a registration in late 2012 or early 2013, and earlier members should be considered "veterans" and need no merit requirements at all. (The only downside could be that these old accounts then would become very valuable for sellers, but "bought accounts" now regularly get red trust if abused.)
I do like your hybrid suggestion but I haven't really spent any more time on this because I don't think these sorts of proposals are being considered seriously.
Yes, you may be right that there are lots of proposals to improve the Merit system but few reactions from theymos and the forum staff. It may be simply too early to really detect weaknesses of the system, and that's why it would be understandable if they still don't want to implement "premature" reforms before the system is thoroughly tested.
And it wouldn't be the worst scenario if simply banning the worst offenders - the "high-ranked spammers" that got their Legendary or Hero rank thanks to account farming - without additional measures is enough. I'm however a bit disappointed that the spam level hasn't really lowered in the past months, and that's why I'm still looking for interesting proposals.