In the initial January 24 merit distribution, theymos gave 500 merits to all hero members; however, about two weeks later, he rethought his initial distribution decision, and he decided to give an additional 500 merit (initial distribution) to all hero members who had at least 778 activity points at the time of the 1/24 initial distribution. 

Theymos concluded that the additional 500 initial distribution merits would be more fair concerning those higher activity level hero members, perhaps partly based on the quirky and quasi-random way that the forum's algorithm ranks up from hero to legendary, which can take place anywhere between 778 and 1100 activity points (something like that).