Maybe its true that earning merit is almost impossible now
I disagree with this. Earning merit is by far not impossible.
It is just that few subs are extremely spammed by low quality content. Threads inside these subs get read way less, therefore less merit is given on average.
But for high-quality content merit is still being given. There are a lot of helpful guides, answer to questions, tutorials, discussions, etc.. which all receive 5+ merit.
If someone wants to receive merit, he should create quality content. Not just the daily average price discussion talk..
Maybe some people here are too desperate to have merit, or cant post a quality one. Well, its been 6mos since this rule implemented and yet people are still asking for a merit. It will come to you as long as you derserve it, its better to have it through your work than to take a shortcut using your money.