All great idea yet some users who posts with pure and high quality doesn't even get some spotlights to be merited. Nowadays, its hard to gain merits whenever you try your best and whenever you make or start any threads.
It isn't really hard to get merits, but in order to receive them you need to get your post read. One of the things that turns me off is the sight of a long quote or list of quotes, especially if it is a full quote of the opening post. I usually just skip the post without looking for the comment ( if any ).
I read you post to enable me to make this comment, otherwise I would have skipped over it.
One tip I used to give to sales trainees is to put themselves in the place of the prospective buyer. If you think about the things that would encourage you to buy, then you can adjust your sales pitch to optimise your chances. The same thing applies with merits. Think of yourself as a merit awarder, and then look at your post. If it doesn't provide any value - then no merits. If it is badly written, and you didn't bother to check for spelling errors -then no meits. If you are rude about the system or the merit awarders - then no merits.
I'm sure you can think of many other reasons for your post being ignored, just try to minimise them, and you will find that you will start to receive merits.